♪ >> hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo with the latest at this hour. we begin in coronavirus here in japan. the country has hit a new daily record once again. nearly 1,500 cases were confirmed on friday and the figure is expected to rise further by the end of the day. tokyo also saw a record high number of cases, 463.

that brings the total number of infectionsns in the capital to nearly 12,700 with more than half coming in july. >> translator: we're almost at the point where declaring a state of emergency just for tokyo has to be considered. i want to ask evereryone to tak action so that we can avoid furtrther measures. >> the governor is asking residents to refrain from traveling and taking part in events and gathering this summer. the coronavirus continues to spread throughout japan. more than 1,200 cases have been reported in each of the pastt three days. experts warn demand for ventilators and icu treatment may rise as certain cases have a tendency to follolow the o over trend. ministers and experts met on friday to discuss antivirus measures. they creatated a new way to classify situatitions across th country. the head of the expert panel said tokyo and osaka are

currenently at what they descri as a gradual increase while otheher labels are being labele sporadic infections. >> translator: if a rapid increase occurs, it's too late. we need to finderly signs so the government can take stronger measures. >> the minister in charge of the coronaviruss response said he asked the panel to suggest ways to monitor the s situation. >> translator: we wanant t them discuss how to quantitatively evevaluate the strain on medica systemems as well as the numberf serious cases, elderly patients and new infections. >> in total more than 37,000 people havave tested positive f the coronavirus here in japan. over 1,000 have died. the head of the world health organization has stressed the role of young people in the resurgence of the young people in many countries.

he says they're not taking the risks seriously enough. >> young people are not invins ce ab able. young peoeople can be infected, young people can die and young people can transmit the virus to others. cluster infececons are occurring among young adults who gather at beaches and nightclubs in spain, france and other parts of europe during the summer break. the w.h.o.'s technical chief say some who recover suffer from extreme fatigue, shortness of breath and difficulty resuming normal activities. she says the w.h.o. has reached out to some patients to explore effective measures of rehabilitation and care.

local media in hong kong are reporting the government is going to postpone legislative elections scheduled for seseptember 6th. this comes on the heels of the government banning 12 pro-democracy candidates from running in the upcoming vote. earlier this week, officials reportedly discussed the possibility of postponing the election due to the coronavirus. but opposition parties say the real reason is rising anti-beijing sentiment after the

enactment of a new national security law for the territory. prominent activist joshua wong isis stronongly criticizing the postpoponement. he's among the candidates who were disqualified on thursday. >> beijing has staged multiple acts to prevent taking majority hong kong legislation oopgs. >> the september 6th election would be the first vote since beijing enacted the new law last month. many hong kong residents have voiced concern the law undermines the one country, two systems framework, which is supposed to guarantee hong kong a high degree of autonomy and judicial independence. moving now to taiwan where people are mourning the death of the island's first democratically elected leader. lelee teng-hui passesed away on thursday at t the agage of 97. local tv showed his life and achievements.

>> lee hadad been receiving treaeatment t at a taipei i hos. staff idid theausese odeath h was ptic sho and mulplple organ ililure. lee s born othe isla in 19 when itas underapanese le. he becamthe firs taanese-bo preside in 1988 d pursuea prograof democric refor in996, he woa landslide victory the fir d direct presidential election. his final years in power were marked by friction with beijing. in 1999, he proposed the two-state theory, , defining taiwan's t ties with chihina as special state to state. beijing accused lee of promoting independence. on the mainland,e's still viewed with contempt. a spesperson for china's taiwan affairs office commented lee's passing by saying the idea of taiwanese independence is a dead end. beijing maintains that taiwan is a part of china.

but the u.s. secretary of state praised lee for his role in transforming taiwan into what he called a beacon of democracy. mike pompeo also said the u.s. will continue to strengthen its ties with the island.. japan's prime minister, abe shinzo, said lee promoted friendly ties with his country, so many people in japan have a special affinity for him. we spoke with our taipei correspondent who reported how lee is being remembered. >> reporter: messages of condolences are pouring in from politicians who were close to the former leader. lee's belief in the importance of taiwan's democracy has inspired many to follow in his footsteps. that includes the current president tsai ing-wen. she was particularly close to lee after working as policymaker in his administration. tsai describes his passing as a

huge loss. she also instructed the government to support lee's bereaved family with a funeral and other matters. he was known as mr. demomocracy for helping to usher in direct elections on this island just as it emerged from decades of nationalist party dictatorship. he will be remembered most for laying the foundation for a free and democratic taiwan. that was no small feat, and there was a lot of pushback. atat the time, many people cherished d taiwan's ties wiwit mainland china, and some still look back at the change in course with mixed feelings. but t today taiwan has taken it own place as one of asia's most vibrant democracies, and in contrast to what's happening to hong kong, taiwan has the power to decide its own fate. so the impact of lee's legacy is clear. his achievement will be hard for future politicians here to surpass.

china says its space-based navigationon sysystem has been completed and covers the globe. the bay dough 3 navigation satellite system or bds is intended t to rival thehe u.s.-operateted gps. >> i declalare the official commissioning of the bds 3 global navigatioion satellitete system. >> the announcement was made at a ceremony on friday. the vice chairperson of the central military commission praised bds as a great achievement for china. the system is reportedly accurate to within five meters. chinaa claims ovever h half of

world's countries will use it. it's a likely cause of concern for the united states and its allies. it's believed buy jing expects to use it for missile guidance and other military purposes. while 2020 is a year not many people will forget, the chinese communist party is looking ahead to the future. leadership will hold a key meeting in october to discuss its long-t-term targets for 203. state media say a plenary session of the party's central committee will take place in beijing. it will also discuss its regular five-year plan which sets out basic economic policies and social development initiatives. one of china's previous long-termm plans made in china 2025 kicked off fiviveears ago and sparked a strong reaction, including tariffs from the united states over chinese ambitions in the high tech industry. experts point to that plan as one o of the triggers on the ongoing tensions betweween washinington and beijing. ahead of thursday's meeting, xi

told a symposium no country or individual can stop the historical pace of the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation. in other news, a nasa rover is embarking on a seven-month journey to mars after a successful launch. the mission's goal, to find possible traces of life on one of earth's closest planetary neighbors. >> and liftotoff. >> the atlas v rocket blasted off thursday from cape canaveral in florida. the spacecraft separated after 55 minutes after liftoff. mission control was able to establish communication 23 minutes lalater. the rover dubbed perseverance is scheduled to reach the red planet in mid february. it will search for traces of potential past microbial life and conduct geologogical meteorological s surveys.

the world is onene step clor to s securing a nenew form of c, sustaiainable energy. this week workers began assembling an experimental nuclear fusion reactor in france. as this next r report shows, it a testament toto international cooperation as w well as scientific ingenuity. >> translator: what brings together people and nations is stronger than what pulls them apart. >> reporter: the coronavirus forced organizers to scale back this ceremony, but the achievement remains monumental. the french president dububbed ia promise of peace. after all, the international thermonuclear experimental reactor project, or iter, may be a dream energy source. the prototype would replicate the e process of nuclear fusion within the sun. in theory, thehe massive reacto will creatate more energy than consumes, making it commercially viable. it would rely on fuel partially derived from seawater and release no carbon dioxide.

iter says eventually reactors would cost about the same as those used for nuclear fission but without the waste or safety issues. but assembly will require incredible precision. these magnetic coils made in japan are massive. four stories tall and 360 tons. in order to work, these and components made in other countries need to be installed within a few millimeters of technical plans. reaching this point required unprecedented teamwork from countries in asia, north america, and europe. the milestone is more impressive given the challenges. the project has run over budget and been delayed. countries came together despite differences. japanese prime minisister abe shinzo emphasized that point through a message read by his science minister. >> translalator: i hope the

project will continue progress through strong solidarity among its members. >> reporter: current rising tensnsions betweenen the member ststates, includuding u.u.s. an china, had to be put aside. all leaders stressed collabororation in theheir vide messssages. as c chinese president x xi jin said in n his statement, scicie is not bound by national borders. iter's chief strategist says members forged a path despite complicated situations that could have put the project at risk. >> translator: proving nuclear fusion is scientifically achievable is half its purpose. the other half is demonstrating humans can resolve common issues through cooperation. >> reporter: the project aims to achieve nuclear fusion in 2035. >> it will likely still be decades before the dream is fulfilled, but researchers here

have taken a major step to a clean, sustainable energy. donovan raynal, nhk world, france. now a cheheck on the weathe with meteorologist jonathan oh. tokyo residents went through a week of rain and mostly overcast skies. jonathan, we're heading into august. how is the outlook into the first weekend. >> hello. if you've been a little tired of seeing the constant clouds and rain in tokyo and eastern japan, the weekend may be getting a little brighter. we'll see a change in the pattern. the western areas of japan have already started seeing drier, sunnier skies. temperatures jumping into the low to mid 30s and we're expecting it to be the case as we go through the weekend. we have one little caveat to this brighter forecast. we're looking at a low pressure system to roll through the northern portions of 1y57 pan, and that may bring the possibility of thunderstorms as we go into the earlier parts of

saturday. after that we're looking at a dry forecast as we go through saturday, sunday and monday for a good portion of japan, sapporo near 30 degrees. tokyo, partly cloudy skies on saturday. finally seeing a little sunshine. highs in the upper 20s to upper 30s into the first part of next week. osaka in the mid 30s. fukuoka looking at 35 by monday. we're starting to see some summertime weather as we go through august, at least the first few days of august. we broaden out the view. while we don't see a major pattern of that rainy season front visible in the forecast, what we are looking at is some instability to be in place to where, for example, beijing will be looking at rain and thunderstorms and down near hong kong, we may see moisture coming in from the waters there that will bring thunderstorms as we go through saturday. high of 29 in hong kong as we go into the weekend. chongqing at 43. shanghai, you're the dry spot, looking at 34 with sunny kais as we go through the day.

we've been keeping an eye on isaias which is now a hurricane moving through the caribbean. it has finally gotten itself together. already battering puerto rico on its way to the north and west. it looks like the bahamas are next as the storm continues to move toward the north and west at 28 kilometers per hour. wind speeds of 130. we have hurricane warnings posted for the bahamas as the storm moves through. so especially since this storm is likely to be moving slightly west, that means the strongest side of the storm is expected to roll through the islands. we're expecting it to make a look to the north and east. south florida is looking at tropical storm conditions as we go through part of the weekend and eventually turning out to the north and east as the storm moves along thehe eastern seabod of the united states. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

♪ recapping one of our moin stories this hour, local media in hong kong are reporting the government is going to postpone legislative elections schedulul for september 6th. it comes on the heels of the

government banning 12 pro-democracy candidates from running in the upcoming vote. earlier this week, officials reportedly discussed the possibility of postponing the election due to the coronavirus, but opposition parties say the real reason is rising anti beijing sentiment after the enactment of a new national security law for the territory. prominent activist joshua wong is strongly criticizing thehe postponement. he w was among the c candidates disqualified on thursday. >> beijing h has staged multipl acts to prevent opposition from taking the majority in hong kong legislation. >> the election would be the first vote since beijing enacted the new law last month. many hong kong residents have voiced concerns the law undermines the one country, two systems framework which is supposed to guarantee hong kong a high degree of autonomy and judicial independence. and that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline."

i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard. please do stay with us. the covid-19 crisis is taking a serious toll on the eurozone economy. in the april to june period, it suffered its biggest contraction since data tracking began in 1995. the eu statistics office says the gross domestic product fell 12.1% in real terms for the

previous three months. the figurure drarans lates into analized rate of minus 43%. in retailers, auto manufacturers, tourism and other businesses have resumed much of their operations. there's a growing view that the worst is over for the region's economy but concerns remain about a resurgence of infections. this is "newsline biz," i'm rah min mellegard. the plunge in tokyo stocks has spurred a meeting between the japanese government and the bank of japan. the two sides discussed their response to the volatility in financial markets. the meeting brought together senior officials from the boj, finance ministry and the financial services industry. >> translator: is government and the bank of japan shared the view that market stability is extremely important. we remain vigilant and will be keeping a close eye on developments in the financial

markets. we will work in unison as we watch the underlying market moves and the economy. >> the benchmark nikkea average finished 2.8% lower on friday, the sixth straight trading day of declines. investors are worried about the continuing impact of the coronavirus on the country's economy. the japanese currency has also seen volatile moves. during tokyo trading hours it rose to the lower 104 yen level against the dollar. hotels in japan are continuing to feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. the number of people who stayed at hotels and other accommodations in the country tumbled by nearly 70% in june from last year. the japan tourism agency says the plunge continued for the fifth straight month. the number of guests from abroad was down over 98% compared to a year earlier. the overall occupancy rate for hotels and other lodging improved slightly from may, but

was still only about 20%. resort hotels had about 12% occupancy and full-service oh hotels stood at roughly 18%. with summer upon us, nhk world's few gina shimpay spoke with an expert in the hoe trel industry to ask if there was any hope for japan's travel industry. >> reporter: last july the government launched the go too campaign to boast domestic travel. critics say it's not enough, especially as the capital is not included in the scheme. >> a last-minute excursion for tokyo residents -- and tokyo itself as a travel destination sent a strong message to the people not to travel now. the government has stepped on

both the accelerator and the brake at the same time. clearly they will offset each other. >> reporter: he's concerned about no-frills, limited service hotels whose operators may have trouble making the rent each month. >> most of the limited service hotels in japan are under the long-term lease contract. many operators are technically in default in this contract. many are waiting for a verdict to be kicked out unless they come to an agreement where the landlord. >> reporter: meanwhile, full service hotels are mostly run by their owners, so they are safe from rent problems. however, he says how to make use of their banquet rooms is crucial.

>> -- hiring more employees at limited service hotels. they have large banquet facilities which can't find user under the situation. no one would like to gather people in the congested areas. >> reporter: resort hotels are also in trouble, but he thinks there are ways to take advantage of the situation. if many people continue to work remotely, he says, that may create new business opportunities even in the off season. >> -- staycation is a kind of newly emerging demand. how to shift the peak demand volume to off peak season. this is a way for the travelers

and resort operators, because during the low seasons the risk is much lower. >> reporter: one thing that is clear is that businesses need to adapt to the situation through creative thinking. that helps drive new demand and gets customers through their doors again. fujino shimpei, nhk world. the south korean central bank says north korea's economy grew in 2019 for the first time in three years. the bank forecasts the north will face tough going ahead due to the impact of the coronavirus. the bank of korea estimates the north's real gapped increased 2.9% from the previous year. this is a comeback from an estimated 4.1% contraction in 2018, the largest drop in more than 20 years. exports grew 14%. bank officials say shipments to china of products of china not

included in u.s. sanctions such as clocks, watches, hats and wigs increased. construction also grew to the development of tourism districts and power plants. the officials also say the north was less affected by droughts or typhoons, but they say the challenging situation will continue as the north korean border with china remains closed due to the pandemic. china accounts for over 90% of the north's trade with the rest of the world. okay. let's get a check on the markets.

>> elections in hong kong postponed by a year. sites theexecutive worsening coronavirus outbreak -- it follows months of protests. we'll go live to hong kong and our correspondent for the very latest. the former u.s. president barack