♪ hello and nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara. we start here in japan where the prime minister revealed he plans to visit vietnam and indonesia next week.k. it'l'll be suga yoshihide's fif trip abroad since assuming the post last month. officials are arranging for suga

to meet with leaders of both coununtries during the fouour-d trip. he spoke about the plans onn tuesday at an execucutive meeti of japan'ss main r ruling liber democratic party. he described thehe association southeast asian nations as key to promoting a free andnd opepe indo-pacific region. vietnam and indonesia are both membmbers of that asassociation. suga also s said he aims to sho at home and abroad that japan will contribute to regional peace and prosperity. the japan coast guard says two chinese patrol ships have been in japan's territorial waters off the senkaku islands for more than two days, the longest intrusion into the waters in eight years. officials say the vessels entered the waters off the senkaku islands in the east china sea shortly before 11:00

a.m. on sunday and tried to approach a joop knees fishing boat. they s say the shihips were e sn the waters as of 9:00 a.m. tuesday in an area about 7 kilometers south-southeast to 14 kilometers south-southwest of taisho island. this is not the first intrusion in recent months. in july, two chinese patrol boats stayed in japanese territorial waters for more than 39 hours, but this latest incident marks the largest intrion since japan's government purchased the islands from a private japanese owner in 2012. the coast guard has sent patrol boats to the area and continues to warn the chinese ships to immediately leave japan's waters. japan's chief cabinet secretary says a strong protest has been launched with china. >> translator: japanese leadership will continue to work seriously with relevant mininistries to gather informatn to protect our territory, waters and airspace. the government will do all it

can to watch the area around the senkaku islands. at the same time we'll continue to respond calmly and resolutely to the chinese side. >> japan controls the senkaku islands. china and taiwan claim them. the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory in terms of history and international law. it says there's no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. the japanese government is signaling that a three-way summit with china and south korea is at risk of not happening this year unless seoul handles a contentious wartime labor issue. hosteding duties rotate between the countries with south korea set for this year but no date has been fixed yet. the dominant view in the japanese government is that suga cannot visit south korea until seoul handles the issue of wartime labor in what tokyo considers an appropriate way.

the tension goes back to south korean court procedures to seize and liquidate the assets of nippon steel to compensate plaintiffs who say they were forced to work for the firm during world war ii. the japanese government says any right to claims was settled completely and finally in 1965 when the two nations normalized ties. the suga administration upholds ththe stance of urging seoul to rectify a situation that violates international law. suga told south korean president moon jae-in during their first talks by phone last month that bilateral ties a in a very difficult situation and should not be left as is. suga urged seoul to take steps to restore healthy relations. china has signed a free trade agreement with cambodia. it comes as western nations raise red flags over suspected human rights abuses in the

countries and as china and the u.s. remain on the outs. chinese foreign minister wong ye mett c cambodian prime minister monday where the pair reportedly underscored the need to solidify ties. china's ststate-run media quote wong as saying his country will stand firmly with cambodia no matter what happens in the ininternational situation. the new trade agreement should open up market access to industries such as tourist and agriculture. >> the signing of this agreement signifies an even stronger tie between the two countries and marks another key historical milestonee for cambodia-china relations. >> the nations began work on the agreement eveven before theheir economies were struck b by the coronavirus pandemic. the european union dealt another blowowo cambodia in august when

it partially withdrew special trade prefereesnc citing human rights violations. japan's tourism minister is promising to pour more funds into a popular campaign promoting domestic travel. the announcement comes after a number of travel agencies slashed the discounts they were offering. the go-to travel campaign kicked off in july in a bid to limit the pandemic's impact on thehe tourism industry. it provides state-funded discounts of 35% for transportation and hotel stays. the government subsidizes the businesses involved based on their projected and actual sales. some firms started offering smaller price cuts as their funds r ran low. that happened after tokyo was added to the campaign earlier this month leading the a flood of new customomers. the tourism minister apologized to the public on tuesday morning for the confusion.

>> translator: i told the tourism agency to take necessary measures so that companies can continue to offer the 35% discount. >> he added that travelers who have already purchased products with smaller discounts will be able to seek compensation. some businesses are already responding to the government's announcement including yahoo travel and other online booking sites. akaba says they should all be offering the same markdowns again by noon wednesday. u.s. pharmaceutical giant johnson & johnson has paused clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine after a participant became sick. the firm made the announcement monday. it described the illness as unexplaiainable and d d not giv details about the person's symptoms.

johnson & johnson's final stage trial started in september. they were set to involve up to 60,000 participants from around the world.d. ththe company saidid serious ade events are an expected part of large studies. it says it will decide whether to resume the trials after an independent panel determines if the person's illness is rerelat to the vaccine. jansen pharmaceutical, a medical supplies division of johnhnson & johnson has also paused phase one clinical trials that began in september in japan. u.s. president donald trump is back in the campaign trail less than two weeks after testing positive for covid-19. trump spoke to large clouds in the key state of florida on monday as the race for the white house heats up. his doctor says the president is no longer infectious after testing negative on consecutive

days. trump was bullish about his recovery from the virus. >> i went through it. now they say i'm immune. i feel so powerful. i'll walk into that audience. i'll walk in there and kiss everyone in that audience. i kiss the guys and beautiful women and everybody. i'll give you a big fat kiss. >> trump will head to pennsylvania and iowa next with just three weeks to go until election day. meanwhile his rival joe biden was in ohio where he criticized trump's response to the pandemic. >> you notice the president said when he was asked about his responsibility, he said i take no responsibility. that was the quote. i take no responsibility. no national standard has been set by this administration. >> both campaigns are focusing on swing states as voters prepare to go to the polls.

malaysia is once again tightening coronavirus restrictions amid a surge in new cases. more than 4,400 infections have been confirmed so far this month. the measureres will be in place for two weeks starting wednesday centering on the capital and some other areas. officials are closing schools, restricting social trips and banning travel between some districts. the government wants to mitigate the impact on the economy. so it's issuing permits to allow commuting. malaysia had earlier brought its outbreak more or less under control by curbing travel and other activities, but the strict rules hit businesses hard. a group supporting victims of sex crimes has staged a demonstration outside the

headquarters of japan's main ruling liberal democratic party over a remark by one of its lawmakers. a lower house member of the party led by prime minister suga yoshihide said women can lie as much as they want in reference to victims of sex crimes. the group launched an online petition drive demanding that sugita retractct her remarksks resign as a lawmaker. they visited ldp headquarters on tuesday to submit a petition signed by over 136,000 people. the party refused to accept the petition saying sugita has already been reprimanded byy a senior ldp official and posted an apology on her blog. a member of the group said her comments trample on the dignity of victims of sexual violence. >> translator: such comments are a repetition of what the victims suffer from the perpetrator.

we want the party to understand how victims could be affected if lawmakers say such things. >> sugita also faced harsh criticism in 2018 saying in an article that sexual minorities are unproductive as they can't have children. the publisher later apologized. more than 9,000 people in japan are still unable to return home due to construction by the typhoon last year. reconstruction efforts are on going with local officials exploring new preventive measures. our next story looks at how one prefecture is modifying existing resources to reduce future flooding. >> reporter: a dried up reservoir should be cause for concern, but for residents in nagano city, it is a beacon of hope and a reminder that they'll be ready when another typhoon

hits the region. memorieses of last y year's destruction are e still fresh. it's compelled local officials to rethink disaster prevention. overflow into rivers and cause it's a simple strategy.overflow into rivers and cause more flooding. so far, 18 of the 28 reservoirs along the asakawa river have signed on. officials estimate it'll accomplish as much as a pumping station running at capapacity f ten hohours. >> translator:r: delaying the amount of water flowing into the river will give people more time to escape. it will also reduce flood damage. >> reporter: among the reservoirs that have signed on is this one e that wasas built

than 450 years ago. nearly 300,000 tons of water ws drained ahead of this year's typhoon season. >> translator: i think my ancestors would be happy that itit's being u used for r disae prprevention.. >> repororter: now, the plan i being applied to one of the biggest rivers in japan. prefectural officials estimate if the over 500 reservoirs along this river each reduce water levels by 10%, it will be equal to building two medium-sized dams. but a survey of reservoir owners shows about half are hesitant. some say they're too old. others worry about water shortages. an e expert agrees it is a heae burden, but says the p plan cane executed t through pper r planng and coordination from the government.

>> reporter: in many cases, farmrmers manage the reservoiri themselves, and flood prevention is an extra responsibility. so i think the government needs to take on a greater role. >> reporter: discussions are now under way to expand the program. and the hope is that it will be operational from the next fiscal year. people in parts of japan including tokyo had a calm and unseasonably warm day tuesday, but cooler weather is in the forecast later this week. our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us now with the details. sayaka. >> as people in tokyo enjoyed unseasonably warm weather, the rise rose to about 27 degrees, kimang it more like mid september. but it looks like temperatures will drop gradually into the weekend. we have a tropical depression. used to be typhoon chan-hom to the south of japan.

this system will likely maintain intensity and make its way towards the north. because of that, central japan including tokyo will likely see heavy rainfall friday and into the weekend. there's a cold front that will move over northern japan as we move into wednesday. a line of rain is possible after the cooler air is flowing in. that will cool things down. sapporo's high only 17 on wednesday, down to 12 on thursday. meanwhile tokyo's high 23 on wednesday, down to 16 on saturday. it's going to be the coolest morning of the season so far. but thanks to the cooleler weather, leaves are changingg their colors in northern japan. take a look at this video from the tohoku region. the signs of fall are appearing across northeastern japan as the foliage changes color. kaz know city in akita prefecture is one of those locations. visitors are able to see beautiful shades of red, yellow

and orange on the trees. when a minimum temperature drops below 8 degrees, leaves start to change colors. the foliage is in its peek in tow these areas seeing gorgeous conditions late november and into early december. a succession of low pressure systems and also storms has been bringing heavy rainfall to the indochinaa peninsula. in vietnam they experienced 1.6 meters of rainfall in six days, that's half of its annual rainfall. more rain is on the way unfortunately. we have trop system nanka. the system is bringing heavy rain to the hong kong area as well. this will likely make the second landfall in northern vietnam by wednesday afternoon local time. we have a tropical depression near the philippines.

this system will likely affect the philippines into thursday and eventually head towards the indochina p peninsula as we go into the latter part of this week. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪ one last story. an ancient temple in japan has revealed a centuries old secret using special x ray equipment. staff has uncovered images of

buddhist saints at a world heritage site. the temple was built nearly 1,000 years ago. it opens onto the temple's main room known as the phoenix hall. temple officialsls and researchs began analyzing the wooden door two years ago. they detected traces of pigment including led and copper across its surface. those formed the outlines of buddhist saints flying on clouds. >> translator: it't's surprisin that traces of these images have remained over the years. it's amazing thahat a scientifi investigation revealed something so unexpected. >> the chief priest hopes to show the discovery to the public. >> that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. thanks for watching and do stay with us for more.

♪ indonesia's natational airle is pitching in to promote coronavirus etiquette. they've papainted face masks on the e noses of two o of its pla. the first effort was a simple surgical mask unfailed earlier this month. now they've added a new one

designed by a member of the public. it includes local motifs including a komoto dragon. the logo on the body reads "let's wear masks" in indonesian. the airline's president said they wanted to show their support for the government's mask campaign and send a message to the world. >> translator: we want to say that the indonesian people are part of the global community and share the concerns about the pandemic. >> indonesia is struggling to deal with the covidid-19 outbre. more than 340,000 people have caught the virus and the infection rate is growing. this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. japanese automaker mitsubishi is slashing winter bonuses this year. saying they're shaving 20% off the payout for most of the domestic workforce. the company is trying to cut costs and rebuild its business

in an unpektsdly tough year. sources say the labor unions have agrd eeto the cutbacks whichh will affect around 13,00 people. mitsubishi managers already negotiated a lower than usual winter bonus, but now they say they can't hit that target. it's the first time in 16 years that they've had to cut bonuses after agreeing to a figure. the automaker is also planning to shed about 550 domestic workers by offering voluntary retirement packages for next month. fresh data from show both imports and exports rebounded sharply in september. that suggests business activity is recovering both at home and abroad. customs data show imports surged by double digits for the first time in three months. exports grew just under 10% f fm aa year earlier. it was the fourth consecutive month of gains. some of the activity reflected robust demand for masks and

medical equipments. shipments for stay-at-home items such as laptops and household appliances also surged. china posted a surplus of $37 billion last month, about 40% below the previous month. the balance was tripled by unexpectedly strong imports. analysts expected the surplus to be about the same in the month before, at nearly $60 billion. >> translator: the trade environment is complicated and difficult. coronavirus infections are still spreading globally. uncecertain conditions are increasing. >> the world's second largest economy is also facing trade tensions with the u.s. which have been heightened going into the presidential election. china's trade surplus with the country last month was more than $30 billion.

for many people there's nothing like a cold beer to wrap up a long day, but with bars closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, some are bringing this tradition home and enjoying drinks in their living rooms instead. this is just one of the changes the beverage industry has experienced in recent months. we s spoke to the ceo of suntor holdings, which is one of the largest brewing and distilling firms. >> they saw their first half operating profit thiss year declinine by 20%. demand has been steady from consumers who drink at home, but he says this hasn't been enough to make up for losses from bars and restaurants closing. the situation is just ass bad fr the company's overseas

operations which account for about 40% of sales. the group's u.s.s.-based whihis mamaimer beam suntoy has also bn hit. >> it's really suffering. wine is affected by a lot of closing of restaurants and the bars. it hasn't come back t t. >> reporter: but niinami says changes in consumer denands brought by the pandemic has presented his company with new opportunities. for example, many people are exercising less as they stay indoors and seem to be seeking healthier bove raj options as a result. suntory's non-alcohol briere saw a 20% jump in sales from january

to june c compared to last year. thee companyny decided too intre the line to the u.s. in june. >> we have to put more resources to r&d to give the solutions to consumers willing to drink beer, for example, and alcohol content, people drink less alcohol nowadays. they have to provide products wi less alcohol but feellsafe. tetechnology matters and distil technology matters, too to absorb the huge desire from consumers. >> reporter: things may be looking bleak right now, but niami says he's confident that the beverage industry will eventually recover. >> i believe niininami 80%,%, ay probability in my mind is 90%, hopefully 100%.

the reason why is peoeople stil have strong desire to drink and eat together. that's human nature. and human nature will create lots of innovative ideas for people to get together. >> reporter: there's no ends to the pandemic in sight, but niinami says suntory will continue to grow by responding to the changing demands and economic conditions. >> all right. let's have a look at the markets. ♪

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