♪ hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo with the latest at this hour. officials in tokyo say the capital passed the sobering new record in the fight against the coronavirus. there have now been more than 20,000 cases. the tokyo metropolitan government says it confirmed 250 new cases on thursday. it's the second straight day more than 200 new infections have been reported. officials met with health experts who stress the virus is

spreading amongst elderly people in particular. nationwide more than 65,000 people have been infected, over 1,200 people have died. tokyo's chie ota ward introduced a system that ranks restaurants according to infection prevention measures. the class one category is given to restaurants which take basic steps. class two is awarded to those with more advanced measures in place following an n site inspection. this restaurant was among the first outlets to be assessed on thursday. public health officials went through a checklist off 40 qu y queries related to the restaurant's disinfection measures. >> translator: it's reassuring that a public healt officials are conducting on site investigations. we can now welcome our customers with confidence. >> translator: taking preventive measures such as these will be beneficial. our public health center is providing support so that restaurants can continue to operate.

>> officials told the restaurant it will issue stick ergs as soon as its certification is decided. now to south korea where doctors have launched a nationwide strike in protest of a government medical reform plan as the country struggles with a su r resurgence of the krien. 441 new infections were confirmed on wednesday. the first time since early march that the country's daily tally exceeded 400. the south korean government says about 3,500 medical institutions were closed on wednesday, the first day of the planned three-day strike. doctors in s seoul a and surroug areas with high infections have been ordered to return to work. the government says doctors who did not follow its order could have their licenses revoked. the striking doctors say the government created the health care reform without listening to their opinions. the plan includes boosting admission quotas at medical schools by 4,000 over the next ten years in part to be able to

better respond to public health crises like the coronavirus. the strikers say it would flood an already competitive job market. the korean medical association the united states and china could both be escalating a show of force. u.s. military officials say they're figuring out what kind of ballistic missiles the chinese military fired yesterday into the south china sea. u.s. military sources say four chinese missiles fell between hainan island and the paracel islands, they have territorial disputes over islands there. it has built airstrips and radar facilities on artificial islands. . the hong kong based south china morning post reports two types were launched, one called the df-21d is designed to attack ships from land.

this is known as an aircraft carrier killer. the day before the missile launches, china denounced the u.s. for sending a reconnaissance plane into a no fly zone it established for live fire drills. the u.s. military made the flight in what it described as the accepted international rules. chinese forces have announced exercises in the bohai sea, the yellow sea and the east anand south china seas. they have trained frequently in the south china sea during the past two months. the u.s. started multinational drills around hawaii earlier this month. those drills happen every other year. the u.s. military has also been holding exercises in the south china sea since monday. the united states is sanctioning 24 c chinese firms claims have been helping the chinese military construct artificial islands in the south china sea. it's the first time the u.s. h s taken n such measures.s.

the desisignation n effectivives the e companieies from d doing businenesses witith u.s. firms. among themem are sububsidiariei state owowned compmpanies. wawashingtonon ss bebeijing hasn rapidly building military outposts that undermine the sovereign rights of its partners in the region. the united states has h historically remained neutral on the issue, but last month secretary of state mike pompeo says most of beijing's claims are completely unlawful. in addition to the sanctions, the state department has also placed visa restrictions on chchinese individuals s linked the artificial islands. ♪ the shooting of a black man by a police officer in the united states is prompting another wave of racial reckoning in the country and causing ripple effects in the worlds of sports and politics. jacob blake was severely injured when police shot him multiple

times in the back, and well-known figures are speaking out. tennis star osaka naomi is pulling out of her semifinal match at the western and southern open. in a tweet she said as a black woman she feels there are more important matters at hand. she added, if she can get a conversation started in a majority white sport like tennis, she considers that a step in the right direction. >> the u.s. national basketball association postponed playoff games scheduled for wednesday following a boycott by the milwaukee bucks, the only team in blake's home state. in major league baseball, some teams called off their games mere hours before they were set to begin. protests have been raging in wisconsin since the sunday shooting, and have now turned deadly. 17-year-old kyle rittenhouse is facing a homicide charge after two protesters were shot dead. local media described the suspect as a white teenager and say he allegedly clashed with

protesters before opening fire. the kenosha county sheriff says the incident may be linked to calls to deputize people to assist police during the protests. >> i had a person call me and say why don't you deputize citizens who have guns to come out and patrol the city of kenosha, and i'm like, oh, hell no. and what happened last nightht, and i think chief miskinis is going to talk about it, is probably the perfect reason why i wouldn't. >> the u.s. justice department has now deployed more than 200 law enforcement agents and marshals to respond to rioting and unrest. on the third day of the republican national convention, u.s. vice president mike pence made his case for the re-election of president donald trump, taking on an attack dog roll, he mentioned democratic

rival joe biden more than 20 times, calling him a trojan horse for the radical left. >> joe biden has been a cheerleader for communist china. he wants to repeal all the tariffs that are leveling the playing field for american workers. >> pence pushed a law and order theme in his speech, referring to the widening protests in kenosha, wisconsin. >> last week joe biden didn't say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country. so let me be clear, the violence must stop, whether in minneapolis, portland or kenosha. >> pence is in charge of the white house response to the coronavirus pandemic. he said scientists are developing a growing number of treatments that are saving lives all across america. >> i'm proud to report that we're on track to have the world's first safe, effective

coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. >> the four-day convention will end on thursday with trump delivering an acceptance speech from the white house. in other news the united states is warning countries about a north cokorean scheme, saying hackers are robbing backs remotely and could be using the money to fund pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. the treasury department and the fbi are among the four federal agencies taking part in the investigation. they're calling it a fast cash 2.0 and say it involves fraudulent wire transfers and atm cashouts. the hacking group is referred to as the beagle boys. the u.s. says it's likely been active since 2014 and has targeted more than 30 countries. in one instance, the hackers allegedly stole $81 m million fm ththe bank of babangladesh. experts s say the f funds may b helping the government finance

operations as it contends with stifling international sanctions. the u.s. is advising financial institutions to wrap up security measures and ensure their systems are up to date. authorities in california say they're using all their resources to fight raging wildfires. the fires have left seven people dead. they've destroyed or damaged 1,700 buildings. multiple forest fires a are ragg in northern california. they've scorched 520,000 hectares. the state says authorities have deployed 15,000 firefighters and more than 2,400 fire engines. >> it's awful seeing all this. my gosh, there's's nothing. >> i've been firefighting for just about 30 years now and this is one of the busier fire seasons. we have 96% of all of our

equipment commimitted to wildfires. >> the official told nhk lightning strikes are coming on top of hot dry weweather. the governor s said wednesday ththere have been more than 400 lightning strikikes in 24 hours. he said they sparked wildfires in 50 places. firefighters face the added challenge of the coronavirus. they have their temperatures checked before they rest in theiramps and they have to practice social distancing. japanese authorities continue the search for a consnstruction worker in yokoha near tokyo who is believed to have fallen into a huge disused underground storage tank. the man in his 60s went missing from a constructctn site on n tuesday. there's also no o sign of the earth h moving machinery he wa operating at the time.e. the site is the former oil storage fafacility which was us by the u. . military..

the e man was engageged in woro turn the site into a park. the facility had been under u.s. control for 60 years after world war ii until it was returned to the yokohama authorities. the tatank is roughly 4545 mete wide, 30 meters deep. part of the tank's lid was found to have collapsed.d. officials say about 10,000 cubic meters of water have to be pumped out as part of the rescue operation. they say the water level was lowered by one meter on thursday morning, but so far, neither the man nor the machinery has been found. they expect it to take 24 hours to completely drain the tank. japan's government has been trying for years to find a permanent home for highly radioactive waste. a small town in hokkaido has become the latest flashpoint in that debate. local officials are considering taking part in a preliminary survey to host the storage facility deep under ground.

as you'll see in our next report, not everyone is on board with the idea. >> reporter: a town wrestling with two problems common in rural japan, a declining population and the financial shortfalls that come with it. local officials are keen to find an injection of cash. to that end, the mayor held a closed door meeting on wednesday with about 20 people. they included members of the e town assemembly and representatives from local business groups. after 2 1/2 hours of discussion, it was clear that opinions were sharply divided on the prospect of storing highly radioactive waste nearby. >> translator: we had a very meaningful discussion. i think it's a very good thing for this community. >> translator: three industries, tourism, fisheries and manufacturing are the might financial resources in suttu.

it's impossible t to co-exist wh nuclear waste. >> reporter: the mayor admitted that many were concerned aboutu potential pitfalls. >> translator: many people are worried about what the waste would do to the town's image. i think we should move forward by including everyone in the these discussions. >> reporter: therere's major financial incentive for the community of 3,000. the central government is offering up to 2 billion yen or nearly $19 million in subsidies to any municipality that allows a survey. that's nearly 40% of suttu's annual budget. it's part of tokyo's long hunt for a place to build a permanent storage site. the idea is to store highly radioactive waste 300 meterers under groround for tens of thousands of years, but so far there have been no takers, so

the waste is being stored at facilities elsewhere for the time being. adding to the challenges in suttu, it's not just residents who are against holding the initial survey. so is hokkaido's governor. >> translator: we will voice opposition if t the town allows the government to conduct an initial assessment and permits the government to take further steps. >> reporter: in contrast, the centntral government is happy tt town officials are even considering the idea. >> translator: we w want to monitor the situation a little longer to see if a consensus emerges. we are also prepared to provide a more detailed explanation if necessary, either from the ministry or the nuclear waste management organization of japan. >> reporter: for now, the mayor is pledging to hold meetings in each of the town's districts to hear from residents. he says a decision on the survey won't be made until october at

the earliest. >> it's time now for a check on the world weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. a former typhoon called bavi made landfall on thursday in north korea bringing heavy rain and strong winds. what's the latest? >> it looks like we'll still be talking about bavi at least in terms of the remnants of it as we go throughout the next day or so. the system moved toward the north, made landfall in north korea early thursday morning. now it's moving through china and impacting even southeastern portions of russia. here is video of how things unfofolded on thshshz as the st made landfall and dropped heavy rain and uprooted trees. the country was combat tered by torrential rains earlier this month as well. authorities have issued an alert to prevent crop damage and casualties. south korea escaped major impact, but international and domestic flights were canceled because of the storm. now we do have these remnants of

the storm still moving through china into russia. it's going to drag in a lot of southerly flow. as it does so, we're going to still see plenty of rain along the korean peninsula and bring many some very warm air across japan. we're seeing some highs moving into the mid to upper 30s as we go through friday. we're definitely talking about wet weather. look at the temperatures here. 35 for the high in tokyo with partly cloudy skies coming up on friday. we're definitely going to be on the warm side. make sure you take it easy if you're outdoors. heat stroke definitely a higher risk as we go through the day. looking at rain from vladivostok, highs into the lower 30s as we go through the day. we're talking about a major hurricane laura that made landfall thursday in louisiana along the western coastline here. it's still staying quite strong, no longer a category 4 storm, but still keeping its

characteristic eye as it moves through louisiana and brings impacts all across t the state d even into p portions of eastern texas and arkansas. the rain continues to be a big part of the story but the storm surge really moving inland. we're talking about some serious to possibly catastrophic damage. we're having to wait and see how the assessment takes place once the storm clears out later in the day. in the meantime, this storm still means business. it's still going to move toward the north and eventually spreading itself toward the north and east. from arkansas into places like tennessee, you'll see the transition as we head closer to the weekend. from beaumont, texas, over into shreve port, louisiana, thunderstorms thursday, friday and into saturday. hope you have a safe day wherever you are. ♪

♪ that's all for now on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard, so do stay with us.

honda motors unveiled its first electric vehicle for the japanese market. it wants to offer a cleaner alternative for traditional cars as more people worry about the state of the environment. the company says the compact ev can be used for tasks such as commuting or shopping. the car can travel 300 kilometers on a single charge. drivers can unlock or start the vehicle with a smart phone. it comes with a high-tech hands free parking system. the car goes on sale from late october with a price tag

starting at 4 1/2 million yen or about $4$43,000. the automaker hopes to sell 1,000 of the vehicles eaeach ye. other japanese car companies like toyota, nissan and mazda are gearing up to get new evs on the road this year and next. this is "newsline" biz, i'm ramin mellegard. the chief executive of video sharing app tiktok has quit just months after starting the job. that comes as washington steps up pressure on the firm and its china-based parent company. tiktok announced kevin mayor's departure on wednesday. he said he was leaving due to the rapidly changing political environment surrounding the firm. mayor was walt disney's top streaming executive before taking the post attic tok in june. u.s. president donald trump has been p pressuring tiktok and it parent firm bite dance. he banned transactionss with bye dance starting in late december.

trump says tiktok could be a security threat as user information could be abused by the chinese government. the company denies that. trump has ordered the sale of the u.s. operation. microsoft is currently in talks about buying it. japan's government says the economy is still in a severere situation in august, although it's showing signs of picking up. that assessment is unchanged from the month before as the country grapples with the pandemic. in his monthly economic report thee government says exports hae been starting to rise led by strong growth in car shipments to the u.s. and china and says production is showing signs of recovery in some industries. personal consumption also appears to be increasing. the government said the same last month. officials say companies continue to face large declines in earnings and that employment remains weak. the government says lit keep a close eye on whether the recovery in exports continues.

in june and july it revised its assessment upward. the south korean bank pointing the a resurgence of covid-19 cases. the bank predicts gdp will shrink 1.3% from 2020 in the previous year. in may it estimated only a slight c contraction of 0.2%. the bank of korea says improvement in private consumption has lost steam. a sharp decline in the number of people employed. asia's fourth largest economy saw the biggest drop in more than two decades when asia suffered a financial crisis. on wednesday, south korea confirmed its highest daily number of coronavirus infections since march. people and businesses in japan have long used seals to stamp official documents, but

some major companies are shifting from tradition by promoting digital signanatures instead. 11 firms including nec fujitsu and hitachi set up the japan digital trusust forum on thursd. they hope to make business smoother especially as more people work from home amid the coronavirus. they plan to create a tamper-proof common standard for digital signatures by year end. current electronic signatures in japan have separate standards which can make them tough to use between companies. traditional seals or hanako have a long history in japan, used on everything from mortgages to marriage certificates. about 30% of japan's total population live in the greater tokyo area, the capital and surrounding prefectures. since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of people have been switching to remote work. from the peace and quiet of their home founds out in the countryside. we look at one man who made that

move three years ago. >> sato yoshihisa is a consultant for an i.t. company in tokyo, he lives in yamagata prefecture, 330 kilometers away, he's heading to his office inside his parents' house, just five minutes walk from his home. sato develops i.t. systems for companies. in 2017, he decided to leave tokyo and return to his hometown. now he does all his work remotely. as a rulule, all of his s meeti with colleagues and clients s a done online. they also o like to o chat onli during breaks in their work. >> translator: we always used to chat in the office while we were working. i'm glad we've kept that same culture. >> translator: we're all spread

out now, so it's important to keep in touch individually with each of our junior workers. >> reporter: as soon as his work is finished sato heads home. when he was working in tokyo, he rarely h had a chahance to hava didinner with his family on weekdays. after dinner, he gives his baby a bath. on his d days off, sato helps h father with his farm work. >> translator: it's great to be here in n the place i like bese. it's an opportunity to get to know my hometown better.

well, i probably could go back, but i don't want to. >> reporter: more than a few people in tokyo tend to prioritize their work, but a growing number are following sato's example and moving back to their hometowns, far from the city, but close to their families. >> okay. let's get a check on the markets. ♪

and that's it for "newsline" biz from our tokyo studios, i'm ramin mellegard, thank you very much for joining us.

♪ >> the man whoho shot dead 51 people in a new zealand mosque last year sentenced to life in prison without parole. it is the strictest sentence the country has ever handed down. a 17-year-old white man arrested after two people were shot dead in protests in kenosha, wisconsin. violent