hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." we begin in the united states with the race for the white house. president donald trump says he'll debate democratic challenger joe biden next week as planned despite being ill with covid-19. trump tweeted he's looking

forward to the event on october 15th in miami, but there are safety concerns now that he and several top aides have tested positive for the coronavirus. on the campaign trail, biden express ed reservations. >> i think if he still has covid, we shouldn't have a debate. >> he added strict guidelines would need to be followed if the event dowels go ahead. hours earlier trump claimed false ln on social media covid-19 is far less deadly than the trushl flu that. prompted twitter to mark it as false information while facebook took down the post outright. trump also announced negotiations on the covid-19 relea rerelief package are suspended. that's a day after trump returned from the hospital being treated for the diseaease which has killed over 200,000 in the united states alone.

trump's doctors say hee had no symptoms as off t tuesday morni. conflicting stimts about his condition over the weekend have raised questions about the true state of his health. the coronavirus continues to spread through the white house. trump's adviser stephen miller announced on tuesday he had tested positive. a group of democratic lawmakers is criticizing the administration for failing to take adequate precautions. in a statement they said they're alarmed by the disregard for the health of staff and journalists at that time white house. they describe the outbreak there as out of control. more than a dozen people in trump's inner circle have been infected. meanwhile top u.s. military leaders are in quarantine after a senior official tested positive. that sparked concerns over the country's defense. but the pentagon says the armed forces will keep operating as ususual.

on tueuesday the defefense department said ththe vice commander of t the coast guardr had tetested posositive. he joined d meetings last week with other milititary chchiefs. it said people in close contact are now self quarantining out of an abundance of caution. they include general mark millie and the air force chief of staff. the pentagon says they'll continue performing their duties while in quarantine. and the u.s. food and drug administration has set out requirements that suggest a coronavirus vaccine may not be avavailable ununtil after the november elelections. the agency has released guidelines for drug makers if they want to request emergency use authorization for their vaccines before completiting clinical trials. the requirements include at least two months of follow-ups afafter study participants received thehe vaccine to asss their immune responses andnd otr results. the guidelines also require safety data for more than 3,000 vaccine recipients showing the effects on their health.

the decision may deal a blow to president trump's plan to have a vaccine available before the november 3rd vote. in response trump took to twitter calling the new rules just another political hit job. democrats and medical experts had criticized trump for putting political pressure on the fda to expedite the process. some exper s say t guidelis will ense the saty of a ccine to a certain extent. others say that stricter requirements are still needed. this just in from sweden. the nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to two female scientists for developing a method for genome editing. >> the royal swedish acted me of sciences has today decided to awar the 2020 nobel prize in chemistry jointly to emanuel sharp tea air and jennifer douda

for a development of a method for genome editing. the nobel assembly says the pair discovered one of gene technology's sharpest tools. with them they can change the dna of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision. hey added it's having a revolutionary impact contributing to cancer therapies and can make the dream of inherited diseases come true oochs. japanese government officials have been grilled in a lower house diet committee over prime minister suga yoshihide's refusal to appoint six nominees to one of the nation's top academic bodies. >> translator: on what basis were the six people not approved while the other 99 were? >> translator: i acknowledge that the prime minister who appointed the council members named them in accordance with the law to ensure that the body

could work with a comprehensive view. >> opposition members also asked whether the past record of the researchers were behind suga's decision. they include criticizing the government's security legislation that drew public protests in 2015. government officials say the prime minister's choice had nothing to do with the position of the researchers on the legislation. the science council advices the government on policies, half of its 210 members are replaced every three years basased onn internal recommendations. the privilege makes the final appointments but the council's choices are typically approved. the leader of the constitutional democratic party told reporters the prime minister should explain his decision and swiftly appoint the six researchers. japan's nuclear regulators have effectively given the green light to the country's first nuclear fuel processing plant to begin operating. the facility is a key component

of the government's fuel recycling policy. the plant is being built in the northern prefecture of aomori. it will produce mocks fuel using petroleum extracted from spent fuel. based on the stricter regulations after the 2011 fukushima nuclear accident, authorities called for the plant's quake resistance to be upgraded by 50%. regulators on wednesday unanimously endorsed the draft certificate. final approval is expected after the authority solicits public opinion on the plant. the regulators also gave the go-ashed in july to a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant being built in the same compound. construction of both facilities remains far behind schedules and costs are exceeding plans. next fashion lovers across the globe o are mourning the loss of takada kenzo known for his blend of japanese culture

and modern aesthetics. the fashihion decider died on sunday from complications of covid-19. >> reporter: h lisegacy began here. people from around the world come to this r this school to learn about fashion's history and map its future. taka da is one of the famous f college's most famous graduates. >> translator: this sad news has made many people in fashion recognize his work again. i'llll do the same. i want to take this chance to find my own identity as an artist. >> translator: i respect him. i hope to become a designer who is active for six to seven decades just like him. >> reporter: after studying fashion in tokyo, he moved to paris at the age of 25 where he

brought something new and innovative. takada became known worldwide for his joyful use of color and patterns. again and again he broke the rules organizing runway shows in unconventional locations like pubs and movie theaters. takada opened his own fashion house called kenzo. it makes comfortable and ready to wear garments free from corsets and other restrictions. his adopted country has celebrated him. after news of his death broke, the french president himself praised the designer's signature authenticity and elegance. his friends and family gathered to mourn him on tuesday praising his many achievements. those who worked for him said he had a talent for making people both beautiful and comfortable. >> translator: he revolutionized fashion and his clothing allowed women to enjoy freedom of

movement. i would like to ekt press my greatest gratitude to him. >> reporter: back in japan, these young designers are hoping to embody his passion in their work and maybe follow in his footsteps. >> translator: i want to be a global designer and someone who is active in the fashion world, living bhief life as he did. >> reporter: his legacy will move on with each new kenzo piece that hits a pir ris runway and every man and women who wears them. risasa, nhk world. fighting between military forces of azerbaijan and armenia shows little sign of reaching an end. turkey remains kept cal of global calls for a cease-fire.

>> translator: let's have a cease-fire, okay, but what will happen after that? will you be able to tell armenia to immediately withdraw or are you able to draw up a solution for it to withdraw? no. >> turkey's foreign minister met with azerbaijan's's president o tuesday to discuss the conflict. azerbaijan is behind intense shelling of stepanakert, a city in gornnao-karabakh. it's primarily populated by ethnic armemenians. more than 280 p pple havee d di in the conflict since it erupted in late september. ararmenia shows no sign of accepting a cease-fire. armenian prime minister visited on monday and met with a militant group of local ethnic armenians.

kyrgyzstan is rocked by protests over vote rigging in sunday's parliamentary election. it's now set to hold a new election t. nation remains on the brink of chaos. people took to the streets in the capital bishkek and elsewhere on monday after the country's election commission released preliminary results indicating a land side victory. western observers say vote buying marred the election. on tuesday some suopposition supporters broke in. opposition groups are demanding the resignation of the president. kyrgyzstan, a hot spot for foreign goal mining companies haha been hitit hard by the coronavirus. frustration has been growing by supporters of the former president who was found guilty

of corruption and jailed in june. in other news, russian opposition politician navalny says russian intelligence officials are to blame foror h falling seriously ill d during flight in august. he alleges he was poisonedd on the orders of president vladimir putin. navalny made the accususions during his first video appearance since being dischaharged fro a a h hospital germany. he s says the put t tan administration saw him as a threat ahead of next year's parliamentary elections. he actede's worki with a physio therapist and getting better every day. his accusations echo findings from german experts who say the kremlin critic was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent developed by the former soviet union. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons has analyzed samples which indicate the use of the drug.

russia has denied any involvement in the attack. eddie van halen hasas died at 6. his blistering solos helped preparing the band baring his family name to globalstar dom in the 1980s. he suck cocumbed to cancer on tuesday. eddy was born in the netherlands, but grew up in california. he and his brother alex founded van halen in the early 1970s. their album "1984" was a blockbuster thanks to the monumental single "jump" and other hits like "panama" and "hot for teacher." his appearance on "beat it" from michael jackson's "thriller" alum. fans have been laying guitar picks and flowers in his hand prints before a music shop in los angeles. >> he's been my idol for 40

years. nobody played the guitar better. i'm pretty lost. japanese musicians have been posting social media messages mourning his death. even japan's chief cabinet secretary expressed his condolences. he said it is verery sad to los the leader of one of the world's iconic rock bands. my heart and prayers go out to him. eddie's son wolfgang said in a tweet, my heart is broken and i don't think i'll ever fully recover from this loss. it's now time for a check on the weather with meteorologist jonathan oh. jonathan, it's been cool and dreary for people in tokyo while a typhoon looms near the southwestern part of the nation. what's ahead for the rest of the week? >> looks like we'll be dealing with rain for a good portion of japan and much more stormier conditions for t those locatate near okinawa and kyushu.

this is the storm that's moving toward the northwest and west. you can see that spin taking place as chan-hom tries to get itself together. this is a typhoon with gusts of 180 kilometers together. just to give you an idea, there's okinawa, there's kyushu. the storm is expected to make a turn torward the north and northeast and depending on the high pressure system and how much force it has, it's going to likely be very close to the coastal areas and then stay over the waters. that doesn't mean we won't have impacts. we'll still see a lot of rain for a decent amount of japan as we go throughout the next few days. at least for those in okinawa, look out for gusts up to 160 kilometers per hour with rainfall amounts close to 350 millimeters and waves as high as 11 meters. the storm is expected over the next few days to eventually turn to the north and east and moving long the pacific coastline as

we go throughout the next few days, rest of the week, into the weekend, in fact. we do have a stationary front that has kept things on the wet side. we have high pressure bringing colder air. it's about to get a lot colder in tokyo. 15 is all we're going to see on thursday. 19 on friday, 18 on saturday, and then we're back to the low 20s. osaka and amami dealing with rain as we go through the rest of the week. over into the caribbean sea, we're keeping an eye on hurricane delta. it has been moving toward the north and west and battering the yucatan peninsula which is just getting over gamma at the beginning of this week. now, this hurricane is expected to weaken just a bit as it moves over land, but then invigorating itself as a major hurricane over the warm waters of the gulf. louisiana, you're next on this. in the meantime, looking at 350

millimeters of rain in the yucatan peninsula and storm surge of around four meters or so. also looking at serious rain and storm surge concerns into new orleans. stormier weather going into friday and saturday. that's a look at your forecast. hope you have a safe day wherever you are. ♪

and that concludes this edition of nhk news line.

i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard. so stay right there. ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. japan's industry minister pledged to support private sector efforts to produce and supply coronavirus vaccines in the country. he visited the factory of drug manufacturer june general in

geef few prefecture in central japan on wednesday. the company teamed up with a major pharmaceutical firm for vaccines for 30 million people by the end of 2021. >> translator: we want to ensure coronavirus vaccines will be available in japan as soon as possible by making the most of production bases like this. we hope the supply vaccines will help people economicc and sococ activity. >> kajiyama says they'll work to help companies boost a vaccine production. a key gauge of business conditions in japan improved slightly in aust.gu that's promptedd an upward revision in the assessment of the economy for the first time in 15 months. the cabinet office says its coincident index tipped up 1.1 points in july, a third straight month of gains. as a result the latest assessment says the fall in the

economy is halts. that's an upgrade in the previous view that saw the economy worsening. officials say economic activities hit hard by the coronavirus are gradually recoveri recovering. car exports to the u.s. in particular have picked up. the cabinet office says the index is still low compared with the its levels before the pandemic and the economy needs to be watched closely. japan's mizuho financial groups plans to allow about 45,000 full-time staffer to take up to four days off per week if they want to. the major financial institution says employees choosing to work fewer days will be able to do a side job, look after family members or study on their time off, but tirhe base pay will be cut by 2020% for those wororkin four days a week and 40% for those opting for a three-day week. executives say the option will be available starting in december if they reach an agreement with labor union

officials. telecommuting and flexible working hours have become common practice as the corporate world adjusts to living with the coronavirus pandemic. google, apple, facebook and amazon could face calls for stricter regulations including the possibility of being broken up. that's the recommendation and report by a panel of u.s. lawmakers looking into the activities of the tech giants. a house of representatives subcbcommittee has been investigatingg whether the four companies violated antitrust laws. the panel says its probe exposed how the firms used dominant power to undermine fair competition. the report says google hinders other firms from entering the online search field. it says apple holds monopolyy power in the distribution of apps and facebook prevents competition by acquiring firms that could become rivals. amazon's market share of over 50% is seen as giving it dominant power in do mess mess

tick online shopping. democrats in the house took the initiative in compiling the report. republicans are less keen to intervene in the affairs of business. it's not clear if stronger regulations can be expected any time soon. muay thai or thai boxing is thailand's national combat sport, offered at more than 5,000 gyms in the country. but much like sports around the world, the pandemic has put the martial art in a tough spot, pushing one prestigious gym to try out new moves on social media in a bid for sur rival. nhk world dusupa has more. >> reporter: in muay thai, trained martial artists battle using fierce kicks and punches. thailand is said to have some 20,000 of these athletes. this famous gym in bangkok has

40 such members. after being shut down for months due to the pandemic, practice resumed in june. professional muay thai athletes are still facing tough times. even this former champion can rararely find c competition the days. he initially picked up some temporary work in construction to support his family. for the tournaments that remain, sponsorship is down. his prize moneyey is a quarter what it wouould have been befor the pandemic. >> translator: before the coronavirus, my career was taking off: but when the pandemic hit it ground to a halt. >> reporter: the situation has also cast a dark shadow over the gym as student numbers decline. foreigners made up 60% of the patrons at the gym. most of them are gone and sales

are declclining. before the outbreak the gym's main customers w were muay thai enthusiasts whoho came for everything from training. >> translator: foreign visitors were our main source of income. the situation has had a serious impact. >> reporter: amid the tough situation, the gym has started a new type of battle, a fight to survive using social media. its popular athletes personally tell t-shirts online. the gym has also been streaming less experienced athletes who are unlikely to get opportunities to compete during these times. they are trying to promote themselves for staying motivated. recently a new initiative was

launched to vote for your favorite athlete. the winner was featured on a talk show stream on social media. the efforts have been a hit. fans around the world have bought the products. athletes also received r respons from overseas including singapo singapore, south korea, laos and other asian countries. >> translator: we have to survive by employiying new soci media marketing tactics that will attract more followers and viewers. >> reporter:r: with the situaua likely to remain difficult, the gym will keep trying new ways to use social media to battle back from the ropes. tamarin dasupa, nhk world bangkok. okay. let's get a check on the markets.

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