hello. welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm we begin in japan, where health authorities confirmed the latest deaths in the greater tokyo area bringing the total to 1001. over 26,000 people have tested

positive, including more than 700 cases from the cruise ship. one infectious disease expert is calling on people to become vigilant saying the number of seriously ill patients have been increasing. he says local medical services need to swiftly improve their capacity in case of a further spike in cases and deaths. health officials in japan are ramping up pretesting as cases grow. tokyo is now regularly seeing daily case numbers five times higher than those seen when internal travel restrictions were eased. there were 168 new cases in the capital on monday. slightly fewer than the 200 plus cases it saw for many days over the past two weeks. the latest figures bring the total number of confirmed cases in the capital to over 9500. moving forward, people who live or work in neighborhoods considered high risk will be

able to get tested free of cost. previously publicly funded tests were only available to those who had close contact with infected people. among the latest cases are many young people who work at or visit nightclubs. japan's top government spokesperson says the next step toward dealing with the infection hot spots could be visits from police. >> translator: on top of surveys being done by public health officials, current laws also allow for police to inspect those sorts of establishments. it could urge operators who take thorough coronavirus measures and comply with all regulations. >> officials have confirmed cluster infections at night life districts across japan including central tokyo. the minister in charge of the coronavirus response says the government will consultant experts on the plans to further

easing of restrictions for major events. >> translator: there are still a large number of cases. if restrictions on the number of people going to events are eased, there will be many moror attendees at t these large venu and the crowds might not gather just for the events themselves but also before and after them. >> right now no more than 5,000 spectators can attend big events. the government plans to lift the restrictions on august 1st. he said the government will hear from experts on the matatter lar this week. he already met with leaders of three major businesss organizatitions who called for e government to create several new economic and social measures. the chairman of the japan chambeber of c commercee and iny asked the government to createe an environment where s small medium-sized businesses can step up activities without being overly concerned.

the recent up tick in cases has some people in the country on edge. some wonder if it still makes sense to reopen schools and businesses. >> translator: it may have been the right decision to ease restrictions a month ago, but the actual situation seems to be calling for the reintroduction of some restraint. >> translator: i'm concerned but to get the economy running, we have to be able to move around. >> cases have gone from being confirmed in 12 prefectures a month ago to 29 as of saturday. that's prompting companies to reconsider business trips. this disaster prevention company had drastically cut the spending on business travel during the initial outbreak and then eased back to about 70%. now they're struggling to finalize a new policy on trips which are essential for its operation. >> translator: what we're trying to balance is fulfilling our

responsibility while ensuring the safety of our employees. >> educators are having to make tough decisions. 95% of japan's boards of education plan to shorten the summer break to account for lost time in the class room. >> translator: it cannot be helped. and i want my child to study in school to make up for the setback. >> the economic impact of the latest surge, especially in tokyo, has hit the central government's plans too. on friday, the tourism minister announced tokyo would be excluded from a domestic trarav campaign set to launch this week. >> translator: i know there were huge expectations, and that the decision to exclude tokyo is heart breaking. >> the decision means people heading to and from tokyo won't be eligible for discounts and coupons on transportation and accommodation. it's caused mixed feelings in

places outside the capital hopeful for an economic bump, but wary of further spread. >> translator: the summer holidays are coming up soon, and i want people from outside the prefecture to visit. but it's only natural for some pepeople to feel afraid. >> translatotor: i'm grateful t the p people w who started the campaign. we want to do everything possible to protect ourselves against coronavirus. >> the travel campaign kicks off wednesday. but with the biggest city and its wallets out of the picture, the launch and its ability to bolster japan's economy may be a more muted affair. >> people working in the vicinity of a u.s. military base in japan's okinawa prefecture have been tested for the coronavirus. this follows a number of cluster infections at american facilities in the southern region. members of a local medical

association and prefecture officials took samples from about 200 people from the home to camp hansen. among those tested were taxi drivers and employees of bars and flight clubs frequented by people connected to the facility. there have been about 60 conf m confirmed cases at the u.s. base. test results will be available as earlyly as tuesday. over 70 cases have been found at the u.s. marine corps air station. the association is mulling testing japanese civilians who work on such bases and are likely to have come into contact with u.s. infected military personnel. now to the united states where there's a debate over whether everyone should be wearing face masks.

president trump says he does not support a nationwide mandate. he made the comment as the number of coronavirus cases is surging again. >> i want people to have a certain freedom and i don't believe in that, and i don't believe in the statement that if everybody wears a mask everything disappears. >> he talking to fox news in an exclusive interview. he said he'll leave it up to state governonors to decide if mask wearing s should be a reququirement. his expeperts a are u urging th of masks. >> i would urge the leaders, the local politicalal and othther leadaders in states andnd citied towns to be as forceful as possible in getting your citizenry to wear masks. >> but trump said dr. fauci once advised not wearing one. the president said his top healthexpepertadee some miakes but he addedhe t

ha vyy good relationipip. > the u. i the world's worst affected country. daily infections reportedlyy surpsesed 70,000 for two days in a row last week. there's no sign the spread of the virus is slowing.

some prominent pro democracy activists including joshua wong filed papers monday to stand in hong kong's upcoming legislative election. it's still unclear if they'll be allowed to run. september's vote will be the first since beijing enacted a national security law which clamps down on political freedoms in the territory. >> our voice is our vote, and we hope to let the world to know how we will not choose to surrrrender and kowtow to china. >> wong was onene of several prospective candidates to win unofficial primaries earlier this month. more than 600,000 people voted to choose representatives for

the opposition movement. others who led last year's anti-government protest were chosen in the primaries and registered. the pro democracy side has set a lofty goal aiming to win a majority of seats for the first time. establishment candidates also filed papers monday, setting the stage for a potential showdown between pro beijing and anti-governmnment camps. china's national security law says every candidate must agree to uphold hong kong's mini constitution known as the basic law. they must also swear allegiance to the local government, someththing wong refuses to do. pro democracy a activists s sayy may urge more people in their ranks tooile papers warning some candidates will be disqualified after the registraration period i is o ov. officialsls in japan and th united arab emirates a are celebrating a successful rocket launch.

it's part of the uae's mission to mars which scientists and researchers think could shed new light on the red planet. >> the hope probe began the 7-monthh journey to mars on monday morning. it wasas carried into space by e h 2a rocket from a space center in south western japan. people have spent years working on the project and watched the launch from the space center in dubai. for many, it was an emotional moment. >> i'm s so proud and hapappy t have t this -- to be part of th historic project, and to be -- and see the launch successfully happen. >> the hope explorer is about 8 meters wide and weighs roughly 1.5 tons. the uae plans to put it in mars' or built in 2021 and the country celebrates 50 years sinince the founding. onone of the mission's goals io

help reduce the country's dependence on oil a a transition to a knowledge-based economy. mitsubishi h heavy industries coconducteted the launch. itit's the fourth time the japanese company has used the h25 vehicle to launch a foreign vehicle into space. recovery efforts are continuing in the areas of south western and central japan that were devastated by torrential rains more than two weeks ago. the downpours that battered the kumamoto caused a local river to overflow and triggered landslides. 65 people died. about 1,000 workers have begun searching for two people who are still missing. a 63-year-old man and a a 90-year-old woman. officials say they could have been swept away by the swollen river. members of the self-defense force searched for traces downstream and in the mouth of the river. the nephew of the 90-year-old

woman joined the search. he said he was shocked by the extensive damage to his aunt's house. >> translator: she was like my mother and took care of me, my children and grandchild. i hope we can find her today. >> in some areas intense rainfall continued for almost a week. across the country 77 people died. in north korea, kim jong-un has reportedly visited a hospital under construction in the capital. state media said he had all the officials responsible for the project replaced due to financial mismanagement. kim said no budget for the project had been created. the report said he rebuked the officials for creating a public burden. observers say pyongyang wants to show it's working to improve the medical system as the pandemic

continues to grow. however, the government still claims that no one in the isolated country has been infected. voters in syria cast their ballots on sunday in parliamentary elections. the main opposition alliance is denouncing the vote. describing it as a theatrical election by the assad regime. the ruling party is expected to win a landslide victory as most candidates support his government. the country's state-run media says authorities set up polling stations in all provinces, but it's believed that onlyy residents in government-controlled areas were able to cast votes. the prime minister claimed the election will lead to genuine democracy in syria. the civil war in syria began in 2011. government forces are now in control of much of the country after recapturing wide portions of opposition territory.

the united nations says over 5.6 million people have fled the country and 13.1 million people inside syria are in need of assistance. >> people in tokyo experienced a break in the rainy season monday. our meteorologist joins us now to explain how long the wet season will continue in tokyo. >> much of japan is sunny and warm on monday. and the rainy season ended in amami today. it was 21 days later than normal and it's a actually the longest wet season in recorded history. there were 71 days of the wet period. now, sunny weather and hot weather will continue the whole

week there. watch out for heatstroke. the three main islands of japan are still in the rainy season. we have a front and low approach in the country, so these systems will affect much of japan including the north and western japan into the next couple of days. even tokyo will start to see rain on your wednesday and thursday. by the way, thursday is the national holiday. rainy weather on wednesday and thursday with a high of 28 degrees. finally there is a chance for a beautiful sunny weather on sunday as well as monday. the rainy season will likely come to an end soon in tokyo. now, ho ckkaido is the only prefecture without the rainy season and now the sign of summer is appearing. look at this. hokkaido. the lake side park is well known for it sun flower fields and 1.3 million sun flowers have blossomed as of mondayay. some o of t these w will grow u 1.1.2 meters.

tourists from different parts of the prefecture have come to visit and check out the view. the flower viewing season will likely come to tokyo next week. let's look forward to that. the rainy season has been very active in china, especially along a river basin. we had the rainy season front across china once again. this is expected to move up toward north this week. areas north of the river basin will see the heaviest rainfall this week. some areas will see more than 150 millimeters of rain. heavy rain could lead to flooding as well a as landslide and typically the front will move up toward the north as the season progresses. now, we have a huge high pressure system affecting many places of australia. lots of sunny weather for you, and temperatures are cooler. this is a cooling in the morning hours. later a high of 12 on tuesday. in the morning it could be only 5 degrees. watch out for the cold weather

and temperatures are going to be in the teens in sydney as well. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪ ♪ >> that's all this edition o nhk "newsline." thank you for watching and stay with us for more.

one of japan's favorite theme parks is lifting the entry restrictions so anyone from around the country can come and visit. universal studio of japan in osaka began reopening on a limited basis last month. it had been closed since the end of february. initially only people from western japan were allowed in. it now says anyone can enter, including people from tokyo where cases have been risingng. >> translator: i think the safety measures are quite

sufficient. it's good to know we can disinfect anywhere in the park. >> still, the park cautions visitors to think about their health. it asks everyone to carefully consider their decisions to visit. this is "newsline biz." japan's government says it's going to compensate people for cancellation fees for bookings made under the discount program to promote domestic tourism. the go-to travel campaign is set to start wednesday. it's aimed at helping revive the economy which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. last week travel to and from tokyo was dropped from the program. trips by tokyo also excluded. the came as the number of cases in the capital rose significantly. the government initially said it wouldn't cover any of the cancellation costs. now it's reversing that decision as calls for compensation arose from people who made plans in the hopes of discounts.

>> translator: the tourism ministry is looking into the situation and studying measurer to support the industry while reducing the trouble for users. >> the confusion has been mounting with only two days before the campaign starts. travel agents have been swamped with questions. the government says it aims to come up with measures to address the situation quickly. digital currencies are increasingly popular around the world. and now the bank of japan launched a task force to study issuing such money in the country. the move comes after government economic guidelines called on the boj to examine the feasibility of a digital currency that can be exchanged through smart phones. the task force is looking into the technical challenges of a krip to currency in japan and would study the handling of personal information and any legal issues. it will coordinate with other central banks and prime f firms

such as telecom carriers. they agreed to look into digital currencies with china's central bank and others. it's been drawing attention worldwide. japan's latest trade data shows the country's exports and imports both continue to decline last month as the coronavirus pandemic weieighed on economic activity. trade with the united states and europe fell, althougugh it's recovering with china. >> exports in june were down 26% from a yearr earlier, and impors decreased over 14%. the trade balance in june showed a deficit of $2.5 billion. it was a third straight month that a deficit was posted. exports to the u.s. fell by almost half with significant declines from vehicles and parts. experts to the european union fell by 28%. exports to china were only 0.2%

down. imports from the u.s. and eu fell. imports from china increased 0.8% due to a sharp increase in textile. yarn and fabrics, including face masks. a japanese beverage company would have a solution if you're thirsty and don't have your wallet. it's testing vending machines that can use facial recognition. the drink company has adopted technology developed by an electronics firm. customers have their face scanned and enter a pass code to make a purchase. users must have their facial image and a credit cacard registered first. the company wants to roll outut the machines in the next fiscal year. if the trial goe well their main targets are offices as well as places like factories where workers often don't carry wallets or smart phones. beaches are another possible venunue.

the coronavirus has up ended the wedding plans of many soon-to be married couples. it's threatening the existence of companies in the business. they answer too both setss of problems is going online. we see how it works. >> reporter: blue skies, blue ocean and the dream destination. picture perfect conditions for a memorable wedding. only one thing is missing. the guests. they are back home, watching the ceremony online. if they wish, they can send guests over the internet. the company that arranged the ceremony out of necessity, the virus had diskucouraged couples from having big parties. >> translator: our business model runs on people gathering

in close proximity, so we had to come up with an entirely new concept for our clients. >> reporter: this couple had given up on holding a ceremony. their friends were outside the prefecture, and the cost would be high. then they found out about the online option. >> translator: i thought we would end up with just a photo shoot. when i realized we could hold a wedding ceremony online, i got excited. >> reporter: to reduce the virus risk, they only met with the wedding company twice. invitations went out online. the big day looked perfect. friends and femamily near and f joined a live stream, about 30 people in all.

>> translator: i was nervous at first. i'm glad we had this ceremony. >> reporter: and for the wedding industry, the possibility of living happily ever after. nhk world. all right. let's have a look at the markets.

fromom the "newsline" biz" team thank k you for joining g us.

>> hello, and to her for joioing us. good to have you with us. we start with the summit where a you leaders have been discussing the block's budget and how much to spend to help member states recover from the coronavirus pandemic. leaders disagree with the size and form of the recovery fund. some countries like the netherlands one fewer grants, more loans, and reaching a deal has proved so tough, that instead of lasting two days, the talks are set to resume in brussels for a fourth day. peter o'brien reports. >> in brussels, two days of negotins