♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo this is nhk "newsline." we start with japan's latest economic growth figures. gdp for the april to june quarter has been revised downward confirming that the economy shrank at a record pace as the coronavirus impact was bigger than initially estimated. the cabinet office now says the economy shrank at an annualized rate of minus 28.1% in real

terms. that is a bit worse than the preliminary figure of minus 27.8% announced in august, which was already a record. corporate capital spending was the biggest drag. businesses are holding off from making investments due to the uncertain economic outlook. personal consumption, which accounts for more than half of japan's gdp, was hit hard as well. the quarter on quarter was revised to minus 7.9% from minus 8.2% announced earlier. campaigning to choose the next leader of japan's main ruling party and the country is officially getting under way. three political heavyweights are vying to succeed prime minister abe shinzo who is also president of the liberal democratic party. abe is stepping down because of health issues. the chief cabinet secretary suga yoshihide has been one of

abe's closest aides and a popular spokesperson throughout abe's eight yeaears in office. suga promises to continue abe's policies including his goal of containing the newew corononavi while maintaining economic activity. ldp policy chief kishida fumio says he w will promote economic policies prioritizing middle income eararners and alsoo pledg to use his expererience as a former foreign minister to put japan's technology and culture at the centerr of the country's diplomacy. ishiba shigegeru is running to party leader for the fourth time. the former ldp secretary general and defense minister has long bebeen seen as abe's rival. he says he will improve living standards in rural areas by creating jobs and raising incomes. 535 votes will decide the winner next monday. 394 of those will be cast by party lawmakers. the remainder will come from

representatives of local ldp chapters, which have three votes each. the party will announce the new president later the same day. japan continues to reopen to countries and territories where it deems the coronavirus to be largely contained. starting tuesday entry restrictions are eased for long term residents from taiwan, malaysia, cambodia, laos, and myanmar. the same move has already been made for vietnam and thailand. japan also aims to strike a deal with singapore by the end of the month to mutually allow short and long term visitors. the government is also negotiating with china, south korea, and australia. it hopes the moves will help reviveve jajan's economy. people in p parts of japanad south korea are cleanining u up afterr the typhoon batteredd bo countries.

the stotorm left t two people d andd several o othss missingng southwest j japan.. 96 others were injured in the country. haishen brought strong winds and heavy rain to kyushu and other regions. a woman died from a head injury after falling into a gutter on her way to a a friend's house. and a man died after he fell trying to protect his house from the storm. in miyazaki prefecture rescue crews are searching for four people who may have been in buildings hit byy a landslide ad swept into a nearby river. two of them are vietnamese trainees who work at a local construction company. the owner of the company spent ten hours trapped by the mud slide but was eventually able to free himself. in south korea the storm clclmed at least t two liveses r it made landfall on the southeastern tip of the peninsula. local media say about 3,000

people were displaced. two remain missing and five are injured. two powerful typhoons hit japan in the space of around a week this month causing widespread damage. our next story shows how the ever present natural threat has led authorities to roll out a new surveillance system to monitor rivers around the country and warn people when storms and heavy rain threatete property and lives. >> reporter: typhoon hagibis last october brought record breaking rainfall and caused widespread damage across japan. in a city near tokyo the embankment of the river collapsed, flooding many houses. local residents went to check the river during the torrentnti rarains. seseeing it was about to overfl he warned his neighbors by phone. he took a risk. just 30 minutes later the levee was breached.

>> translator: the levee was at a breaking point. the situation was unbelievable and scary. >> reporter: the typhoonon prompted the government to expand the network of river surveillance cameras it had been developing to help local residents check the real time situation remotely. nationwide, cameras will be set up at a total of 3900 locatioio at rivers where potential disaster lurks. the system was set up at less cost than previous ones by omitting camera functions such as zooming, by using solar powor soso the camereras can be insta easily without connecting to a power supply. the video images are posted on the government website and residents can check them on their smart phones or other devices. >> translator: i can see the situation without going to the river bank. now people don't have to take the risk i did.

>> reporter: the community where takahashi lives formed a group on a sociaial media platform to ensure residenents can see the videos and share other disaster information. >> translator: it is unavoidable that this area will have floods, so it is essential to evacuate quickly. i think sharing information using social media will be the key. >> reporter: both government and residents need to continue to look for ways to take advantata of the latest technology to protect communities from floods. maurititius is workingng to clean up an oil spill and japan haha pledged a an unprecedented level of support. the prime ministers spoke on

monday b by telephone. the japanese owned bulk carrier ran aground off mauritius in late july spilling about 1,000 tons of oil. jajapan will workk to ensure sa navigation and recover the ecosystem. he also said japan will provide fishery equipment as part of an effort toward economic recovery in mauritius and says the countries will work closely together. >> translator: japan plans to offer support now but also in the medium to long term. >> motegi says gratitude was expressed for japan's offer and for sending disaster relief teams. the vice president of the international olympic committee has told french media the tokyo olympics will go ahead next year regardleless of the corononavir situation. the 2020 games were postponed in march due to thehe panandemic. theyey are now set to open on jy

23rd, 2021. he said, quote, we will have athletes coming from places where the virusus iss under conl and some from where itt is n no. he added, there are 216, so there is a masassive task being undertaken on the japanese side. he also said, quote, now very much these will be the games that conquered covid, the light at the end of the tunnel. the chief cabinet secretary said on monday the japanese government along with the ioc and the tokyo metropolitan government will make preparations to ensure the games are safe for both at elites and spectators. the british prime minister boris johnson says if the uk and eu fail to agree on a trade deal by october 15th the two sides should move on. that is the date of a meeting of eu leaders. a statement from johnson setting

the deadline was released monday, a day before britain and the european union resumed their post brexit trade talks. he says the uk is entering the final phase of the negotiations. the two sides remain at odds on fishing rights in britain's waters and other issues. tariffs would come into force if no accord is reached before the transition period expires at the end of this year. that would deal a serious blow to the european economy already hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. doctors treating russian opposition activist alexei navalny say he is out of a medically induced coma. navalny is an outspoken critic of president vladimir putin and fell ill on a russian flight on august 20th and was taken to a hospital in berlin. doctors there say his condition has improved. he is responding to verbal stimuli. but they say it is too early to know the potential long term

effects of the severe poisoning. german chancellor angela merkel announced last week that navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from a group of chemical weapons developed by the former soviet union. russia called those claims unsubstantiated. and now for world weather let's turn to our meteorologist. hello, yoko. >> hello. >> let's go back to typhoon haishen. can you give us more details on the effects on the korean peninsula? >> so the typhoon made landfall in one of the largest cities in south korea, knocking out power to thousands off people. following typhoon maysak, haisishen is the second powerfu

storm to hit south korea in a week. maysak brought over a thousand millimeters of rain to the island last week and on top of that we saw over 500 millimeters of land from haishen. this has become a low pressure system but water shed showers and strong winds are still expected across northeastern china and southeastern russia on tuesday. the ground is already saturated in some areas so flooding and landslides are the main concerns. conditions will improve in seoul as we go into tuesday with a high of 26 degrees and sunny conditions will return to tokyo on tuesday. at the same time temperatures will rise once again across much of japan. highs will be around the mid 30s in tokyo and fukuoka. even in hokkaido the high may reach 33 degrees on tuesday. speaking of heat, california has been dealing with forest fires, a heat wave affecting the southeastern u.s. creating

scorching temperatures and drought conditions. things will change significantly as cold air arrives. snow was falling in parts of montana late monday evening after days of heat. the temperatures dropped 27 degrees in just one day. temperatures will fall dramatically in the rockies and the plains on tuesday. people in the mountain areas may see some snow that could be one of the earliest ever snowfalls in places like montana. the high marked 36.1 degrees in denver on monday but the low may be under zero on tuesday morning with a chance of that is all for now. stay safe. ♪

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that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you for watching and hope you'll join us again. ♪ xxxx ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." 75 years has passed since the end of world war ii. many of those who experienced the horrors of war have continued too speakak out aboute importance of peace, includingn those who lived through the atomic bomb attacks in japan. however, their efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament received a setback last year when the u.s. formally withdrew from its intermediate range

nuclear forces treaty with russia. today we introduce three stories about people who are calling for the total abolition of nuclear weapons, each in their own different ways. ♪ that tune you just heard was played on a piano from hiroshima which actually survived the devastation of the atomic bomb attack. in our first report we look at the background of that piano and the man who brought it back to life. ♪ >> it was a memorable day for yagawa. the piano he had restored was played at the annual ceremony for the first time. the instrument survived one of the most destructive events in human history. it w with stood the blast and t heat wave that followed in the house just three kilometers s fm the epicenter.

people started donating pinnos affected by the bombing to yagawa nearly two decades ago after he built up a reputation for restoring old and used instruments. he brought them to h factory and used his skills as a tuner and repairman to carefully disassemble and clean them. he says he always found traces of the blast. despite the damage, he has brought six of these pinnanos bk to life. he says they all sing again, hammering out beautiful tones. ♪ yagawa said the hardest part was taking possession of the instruments. most of the original owners cried as if t they were parting with a family member. >> translator: i can never forget the tears of the atomic bomb survivors. they handed me treasures of such special significance. i realized i it was my mission

a piano tuner in hiroshima to convey a message with these pianos. >> reporter: yagawa whose parents both survived the atomic bombing became a determined anti-war campaigner. he bought a four-ton truck to transport the instruments. over the next 15 years, he held about 2,000 concerts for peace across japan. he even started making trips overseasas. ten years ago, one of the piano was played at a a sepeptember 1 memorial in n new york citity. and in 2017, it was partt o o t peace cerememonies honoring an o that campaigns to abolish nuclear weapons. so when organizers in hiroshima canceled a major performance at this year's memorial because of the coronavirus they turned to yagawa.

♪ when the moment arrived, the keys he restotored ringigint for all to hear. >> translator: the piano doesn't speak out with words but the tune can still deliver a message of peace. as more people who survive the atomic bombing leave this world its role will become even more important. >> reporter: yagawa believes the piano's tones trans end language, religion, and race. the 68-year-old is determined to continue on his journey to get the world to a future without nuclear weapons. yotsumoto jun, nhk world, hiroshima.

a new movie has just been released in japan based on the actual story of the piano that survived the bombing. it is insnspiring youounger peo to find out more about yagawa's work and the tragic legacy of the war. next we turn to this photo book called testimonials from nagasaki. first published 50 years ago it features images of people who survived the atomic bomb attack. the book was long out of print but the photographers f feel no is the time for the stories to be known again. >> reporter: the pictures were taken by a group of amateur photographers. the leader of the group was in his 30s at the time. he was not particularly skilled at photography but hoped to portray his subjects as intimately as possible. this woman w wro poems about her experience as a survir was ee of his models.

she always wore a wign public after losing her hair after exposure to nuclear radiation. for this, she made an exception. >> i asked her to take her hat off when i photographed this. as she was taking it off, she said, i'm a woman, also. and her eyes swelled up with tears. i'm so grateful to her for enduring such humiliation to pose for this >> reporter: the leader of a civic movement organized by the survivors also posed. he agreed to be photographed taking a bath. >> translator: though some of my requests were unusual i think the survivors were cooperative because they wanted to show their true selelves.

>> reporter: many years later he became the first atomic bomb survivor to give a speech at the u.n. holding up the photograph, he pled for the abolitition of nuclear weapons. all the survivors in the book have since passed away. he decided a new issue was needed so their voices could still be heard. >> translator: i feel bad for them because our world hasn't made much progress, even though they exposed thehemselves in the photographs to promote their message.

>> reporter: this is one of the photographers on the team. he continues to document efforts to ban nuclear weapons. this is an annual memorial. high school students read the poems. he captured the same event last year. another photo shows the choir singing about the lives of atomic bomb survivors. >> translator: i hopee the survivors' messages will be expressed through these two additional photographs. >> reporter: the two photographs were included at the end of the photo book with a message. it readads, as long as we do no forget about the s survivors an their desire to create a peaceful world without nuclear weapons, their spirit will live forever. >> the photo book has been given the print run of 4,000 copies.

the group plans to donate half of them to schools in hiroshima and nagasaki as well as the libraries across japan. in the years since the war, many survivors have spoken out about the horror of what they lived through as part of their efforts to see the abolition of nuclear weapons. in our last report we introduce a woman who is carrying on that campaign inspired by@@ her own grandmother's experiences. >> reporter: she spends her free time interviewing survivors of the atomic bomb. it is part of her efforts to be certified by hiroshima as an a-bomb legacy successor. the training takes about three years and gives people the knowledge and skills they need to recount experieiences accurately. she visited one woman who was 13 years old at the time of the bombing. her sister and brother did not

survive. >> translator: i want to understand the survivors' emotions so i can pass on their stories with people from around the world. >> reporter: she was ipired to stt her mission by her 87-year-dd grandther. iko has been iolved ineace iko has been iolved ineace tivism f more th 60 year seiko traveled around the worrell asworld and campaigned for the global abolition of nuclear weapons.

>> reporter: seiko recently suffered a stroke and is having difficulties telling her story. >> translator: at one point i almost gave up on passing down my grandmother's stories, because of her condition. but i soon realized that it is my duty to continue her >> reporter: ahead of the 75th anniversary of the bombing, they visited hiroshima peace memorial park together. they remembered the more than 300,000 victims and the hopee that suchh a tragedy never occus again.

>> translator: it may not be possible to pass down all t the memories of survrvivors, but i' do my best to convey their hope for world p peace to the next generation. >> there are now about 150 people who have become story tellers to pass on these experiences for future generations. a further 200 are undergoing training ranging in age from teenagers to people in their 80s. the three reports we've shown you reminded me of the tireless work of the prominent nuclear activist.t. the 88-year-old is herself a survivor of the bombing and in august she sent a letter to the leaders and heads of state

around the world urging them to ratify the u.n. treaty on banning nuclear weapons. she believes the abolition of nuclear weapons is simply much too important just to leave it to the polititians. i'm sure shehe is pleased there are people coming onboard committed to achieving

convicted of murdering journalist, shut -- journalists jamal khashoggi had their sentences reduced. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from london. the belarusian president is accused of trying to eliminate his rivals after an opposition leader is grabbed off the streets. treatingn hospital alexey navalny says he is out of his, and is responding. the staggering unemployment in ecuador. how and nation of jobless