tv Newsline LINKTV September 10, 2020 5:00am-5:31am PDT
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♪ hello. thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start in tokyo where officials confirmed 276 new coronavirus infections on thursday. it's the first time in a week the capital's daily tally has topped 200. in total more than 22,400 people have now tested positive for the virus. officials and experts met to assess the current situation. despite thursday's numbers, an expert noted the daily average
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of new cases in the past week fell to 149 compared with 183 the week before. >> translator: the rate of decline in the number of new cases is still slow. we need to be on the alert for another possible spike in infections. >> officials say they're lowering the coronavirus alert level by one notch after it was atat the highest level on a four-point scale for nearly two months. >> translator: we need to promote economic andnd social activities whihile preventing t spread of infection. on september 15th we will end our request for shortened business hours. >> bars, restaurants and other establishments that serve alcohol in tokyo had been asked to close at 10 p.m. but starting next week there will be no restrictions on their operating hours. now, 19 sumo wrestlers are among the people who recently tested positive for the virus in tokyo.
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the cluster came to life after a sumo wrestler at the tamanoi was positive. it was confirmed on thursday, that a further 18 wrestlers from the same stable had subsequently tested positive. 12 of the wrestlers are currently in hospital with mild symptoms. the other seven have no symptoms and are being isolatated within ththe stable. the september grand sumo tournament sparts on sunday and all the wrestlers from the stable withdrawn from the event. russian scientists have begun the third and final phases of the clinical trials in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine. the government says it plans to administer the vaccine to health workerss in november. media reports say the trials will take six months and involve 31,000 volunteers. the vaccine is named sputnik v after the sovietet-era space program and named after the research center.
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presidenent vladimir putin announced the approval in early august before the vaccine e had even started phase three trials. the r research team reported in british medical journal early clinical trials showed no serious health effects. critics have questioned say political goals may be guiding the approval process. now to sing poor where all residents including children 7 and up will receive a free wearable coronavirus tracing device from the government. the bluetooth enabled device known as the trace together token is part of singapore'e's memeasures to fight the virus. ththe city state has already reduced the contact tracing app for smart phone users to identify people who may have come within two meterss of an infected person for more than half an our. only 40% of the population have downloaded the software so far. while privacy con verns been raised, the government says the
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data collected by the voluntary devices will be encrypted and kept for a maximum of 25 days. the tokens also have no gps connectivity so location data will not be gathered. doctors in the united states are seeing the number of new coronavirus cases drop week by week. still they're treating a lot of patients in parts of the midwest and the south. as nhk world's catherine kobayashi reports, they're concerned about the spread across college campuses and beyond. >> reporter: college students have returned t to class, but my haven'tt learned their lessons. those at this university in mississippi are struggling through social distancing 101. >> colleges want to stay open, and just to have such little patience and to have such little restraint -- if someone is having a party, don't go. >> reporter: many university haves imposed rules on social distancing, masks and the use of
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technology to track the spread. still, thousands have been infecteded. their neighbors say students have brought the virus back to collegee towns. >> we've seen this dramatic spike including in the last month doubling the number of deaths we've had this year. >> reporter: some college administrators have put those who test positive into quarantine in dormitories. others have sent studentss back to their home towns. doctors fear they could infect their families and their neighbors. >> in many ways we're inn much worse shapepe entering thehe fa than we were enterining the summer. of course, wee know in t the f with schools and colleges openining we're going t to pror see a lot more cases ahead.d. >> repeporter: particularlrly i peopople continue t to gather l this. new yoyork university suspendedt least 20 students for violating rules on health and safety. >> it's totally contrary to everything you know. we're not acting in a spirit of
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japan's two biggest opposition groups have merged in the hopes of taking control from the ruling liberal democratic party. members voted thursday to give the helmm of this new alliance o ththe man who led one of the tw. >> translator: if the ldp tries to dissolve the lowower house t hold the election and escape debating us in the diet, we will be ready to take them on and provide an alternative for the people. >> members also chose a name for the group, the c constitutional democratic party of japan, it will have 149 sitting lawmakers including people from edeno's par party they'll hold a convention
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next tuesday to officially launch the party. earlier aichi cheed dough put this news into context. >> how do you see this merger affecting japan's political landscape, uko. >> at nearly 100 members, this is the biggest party to sit in the lower house in nearly eight years but the liberal democratic party is still three times bigger. that does not mean the opposition lawmakers have no chance at power. in 2009, the democratic party of japan was around this size. they were able to take advantage of ldp scandals to win power. >> that was the most recent time but there was also another brief period in 1993, but that means that the ldp has been in power nearly continuously since it was formed 65 years ago. so why have other parties found
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it so difficult to break through? >> recently, they've struggled to prove their stability. over and over, the groups had splinters, creating new parties whenever policy differences got in the way. the public gave the democratic party of japan a chance at power and for the most part, people think they failed to prove themselves. many thought the lawmakers were too inexperienced to properly handle the 2011 nuclear disaster. >> and what do you make of the constitutional party of the elections chances under edano. >> that may come down to party. he said he's preparing to lead the party into an election as early as next month. it would be very very difficult to beat such a powerful
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incumbent at any time but a snap election would leave the new party withthittle timeme to get thinings in n order. that said, adano has leadership experience on his side. he's been a cabinet t minister, and d he spent so much time in public after the 2011 disaster that many people worried he didn't sleep at all. as for a new platform, adano is known asas left leaning and supportive of the middle and lower class. if the election is held now or one year from now, he will likely push policies aimed at preparing the economy hit hard by the coronavirus. >> meanwhile, the three candidates vying to lead the ldp and the country are hitting the campaign trail ahead of the party's leadership election on monday. former ldp secretary general ishiba shigeru is visiting areas hit by the 2011 earthquake,
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tsunami, and nuclear accident. chief cabinet secretary suga yoshihide visited the offices of party lawmakers to seek their support. >> suga is also connecting with local party members online. ldp policy chief kishida fumio visited the northeastern prefecture of miyagi. he met local rice farmers who are worried about low demand for their crops amid the coronavirus pandemic. >> 394 ldp lawmakers have votes in choosing the new party leader. in addition, local chapters in the country's 47 prefectures
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will have three votes each. suga appears to be the front runner after securing support from major ldp factions. next wednesday, the new party president will be virtually assured to win the vote for prime minister in the diet as it is controlled by an ldp-led coalition. the person will succeed abe shinzo who announced last month he is stepping down to deaeawith health issues. ♪ walt disney is facing a backlash over itits release of e of the bigiggest movovies the year. someme criticscs are calling fo boycott t of the live action remakef f "mul" bebecause e e film wasarartial fililmein a chinese regionhehere oiciaials haveeeeen accused cracking down oetethnicinoritie the film pmimieredast t we on disney's streami s servi. it fuses on yoyoung inesese
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woman who sgsguisehersrselas a man sohehe can te e her ther's spotot in a r.r. e movie was suppeded to releeded in eatetersarlierer this year but was deyeyed duto the coronirirus pdemimic. in t m movie clolosi credits disney thanks a numb o of governme o organatioionsn xinjia.. some media report that one of these organizations is a public security bureau blacklisted by the u.s. government. washington has accused chinese authorities of committing human rights violations against uighur muslims in the autonomous region. it says they are being detained in mass internment camps there. the u.s. government has imposed sanctions on a number of chinese officials and band some companies from doing business with some chinese organizations. china's foreign ministry spokesperson denied the existence of reeducation camps on tuesday. >> the vocational education and training centers are in accordance with the law, and actively explore useful methods to prevent terrorism and
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radicalization. >> an international human rights group and a hong kong democratic activist are among those accusing disney of turning a blind eye to the abuses in xinjiang. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo is pushing american friendships to asean nations. pompeo joinedd a teleconference on thursday with the foreign members of the ten asean nations. in the meeting pompeo reiterated that the u.s. . regards chinina claiaims to resosources ross m of the southth china sea as completely unlawfuful. the waters are claimed by china, taiwan and some asean members. >> beijing doesn't respect the fundamental democratic values or those enshrined in the asean charter. independence, sovereignty, equality. don't let the chinese communist party walk over us and our people.
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america will be here in friendship to help you. . >> the administration of president donald trump is taking an increasingly tough approaoac against china's activities. last month, it imposed sanctions on chinese firms for their involvement in the construction of artificial islandnds in the south china sea. at the east asia summit, foreign ministers meeting on wednesday, juan ye accused the u.s. of being the most dangerous opponent to peace in the south china sea. switching gears now to a check on the weather are our meteororologisist sayakaka mori. pelele dealing with ththefry r and thunderstororms o on thursd. what's the latest? >> r radar detecteted abobout 1 millimeters of rain in a spann f only one hour in aichi and miyagi preekts. warnings for landslides across the eastern half of japan.
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heavy popup thunderstorms appeared in central and northern japan. it looks like northern japan will continue to see heavy rainfall tonight and western japan tomorrow morning. we have a torontoal system in the middle of the country to the south and the warm and humid areas coming in. to the north there's cooler and drier air. these air masses are colliding and it looks like we'll continue to see the same setup at least into the weekend. more rain is possible across many places of japan. tokyo might see heavy afternoon showers. so watch out for that. roads could turn like rivers quite ququickly, even 30 centimeters of flowing water could carry away your vehicle. be careful and we'll check for landslides as well. tornadoes and also hail are possible as well for the next several days. tokyo's high will be 31 degrees. again, there's a possibility of rainfall on friday. sapporo will see calm weather and a high of 26 degrees.
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naha will remain sunny for the rest of the workweek. let's go to india. this is the southwest monsoon season. heavy rain is popping up in many places of the south continent. it looks like heavy rain will continue to pound the west coast. we have the alerts for h heavy rain posted foror the corn taka region.. the heavy rain will conontinue least into sunday there. wildfiress are buffeting many places of the western united statates. oregon is expereriencing the woe is of it as well. high temperatures and strong winds caused new wildfires in oregon on wednesday. 37 blazes are occurring as of wednesday there. at least two people were killed by a fire southeast of salem. thousands of people have fled their homes. approximately 3,000 people have been working on oregon wildfires in recent weeks. about 200 fires are occurring in about ten u.s. states at this moment.
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♪ this is "newsline" biz, i'm ramin mellegard. japanese government officials are investigating a major case of financial fraud. they're d demanding answers fro the operator of an e money service that was used to illegally access several bank accounts. mobile carries ntt dodocomo run docomo accounts. it allows users to link to their bank account so t they can use their smart phone to make
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purchases or transfer money. criminals exploited and linked it to other people's bank accounts. so far they'y've made more than0 withdrawals and stolen some $170,000. >> translator: these cases occurred solely because theid confirmation process for docomo accounts was not secure enough. we want to express our deepest apolologies to everyone affecte by this. >> the victims have no idea their bank accounts have been linked to docomo's service. one person lost more than $5,600. officials with the financial services agency have ordered ntt docomo to explain how the fraud occurred. researchers studying the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic have published grim new figures. they say since february at least 500 companies across japan have
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gone under. the researchers say the firms have either declared bankruptcy or shut up shop and started prepararing for lick decision. they say the pandemic has been particularly hard on the dining center causing nearly 70 restaurants to fail. they say more than 50 hotels and inns have gone under and 34 clothing retailers have called it quits. this former restaurant closed in mid march and was ordered too start bankruptcy proceedings. > translator: lots of smalll restaurants are operating on very tight cash flow, surviving day to day. unfortunately many of them succumb to the pandemic and have to close. >> analysts at tokyo shoko research warned the situation could get draramatically worse. they estimate more than 300,000 firms nationwide are at risk of
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closing. >> authorities in new york city are to allow people to dine inside restaurants. sitting indoors had been band for the last six months to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. customers have been allowed to eat and drink outdoors since june. but restaurant owners were worried the indoor ban could have put them out of business if it continued. >> we're now announcing today we can go to 25% of indoor dining with certain restrictions that. will be enacted on september 30th. >> the city is asking staff to check customer temperatures and obtain their contact information. meanwhile, los angeles has announced restrictions on halloween activities. the custom of children going door to door asking for candy will be who hinted. authorities say the practice is incompatible with social distancing. halloween parties with people other than family members will also not be allowed even if they're held outdoors.
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the ongoing covid-19 pandemic is affecting the sales and staff of companies aroundd the world. now, businesses in japan and honduras have joined forces in a project that could point the way to a brighter future for all involved. >> reporter: this coffee roastery opened last year. the shop owner carefully selects beans from honduras, a rich aroma that goes down well with customers. she first visited honduras in 2013, one of the poorest countries in central america. it's past of the japan overseas cooperation volunteers program. that was when she tasted the local coffee for the first time. honduras has a robust coffee industry that produces high quality beans. since 2016, she's been buying
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them directly from local producers. she displays information about the growers and their farms in her store. >> translator: by importing coffee beans directly from farmers, i hope the customers to see their dedication and passion for growing thehe coffee they love. >> but in may, imai received a message from nancy hernandez, one of her growers in in honduras. she asked for advanced payment. she explained she and fellow farmers had lost vital business because of the government's stay-at-home order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. >> translator: she's never asked me more money before, so i knew she was in big trouble. >> this man who owns a saki
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brewery offered to collaborate with imai so she could help her friend overseas. >> i came up with combining the flavor of her coffee and our distilled liquor. >> they started developing a new product that infuses it with honduran coffee. a test batch was finally ready for tasting. >> imai showed hernandez the product in an online call. the label design incorporates the logo for her farm. she hopes her customers can imagine a farar away honduran farms as they savor the lake core. >> i'm grateful for your
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support. thank you for starting thihi wondnderful collaboration. >> translator: i strongly believe we can over come hardship by w working hard together.. >> reporter: she launched a campaign and offered the newew gift for donors for a new gift. she's raised about $17,000. far surpassing her initial goal. with no end to the pandemic in sight, mutual support among businesses may be one of the keys to surviving the covid era. >> let's get a check on the markets.
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>> france warns local lockdowns are possible as the country reports that yet another spike in coronavirus cases, but how does the picture in france cocompared to the rest of t the continent? we will take a core -- a totour around southern europe as our correspondence bring you the latest in italy, greece, and spain. forced to spend the night outdoors. authorities trying to arrange temporary shelter for 12,000 people. this is after a second fire broke out destroying almost all that remained of the camp. the french preside,
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