[beating drums rhythmically] . hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. we start with the latest on the race for the white house. u.s. president donald trump and his democratic rival joe biden are rallying supporters in key swing states as the campaign enters the final stretchch.

the coronavirus pandemic continues to loom large. addressing the crowd in pennsylvania, trump again touted an experimental treatment he was given while hospitalized with covid-19. >> the drug that they gave me, i'm going to -- we're going to be distributing it all over the country to hospitals and everything else. >> a day earlier, health authorities said 19 people who attended two trump rallies in minnesota last month tested positive for the virus, but they say it is unclear if these people werere infected at the rallies. the u.s. government's top infectious disease expert, anthony fauci, has warned that holding large gatherings is asking for trouble. meanwhile, biden held a rally in florida where he criticized trump for his handling of the pandemic. >> so many lives have been lost unnecessarily because this president cares more about the stock market than he does about, you know, well-being of seniors.

>> biden also plans to visit pennsylvania later this week where he is likely to continue his focus on the public health crisis. more than 215,000 people in the country have died after contracting the virus. staying in the united states, supreme court nominee amy coney barrett faced a marathon of questioning over divisive social issues. it was the second day of the senate hearing on her nomination. barrett was grilled by democratic vice presidential candidate kamala harris about her personal views on abortion rights and the health care law known as the affffordable care act. >> prior to yoyour nominination were you aware of president trump's statementsts committingo nominate judges who will strike down the a affordablble care ac? and i'd apappreciate a y yes or answer, please.

>> i've never been asked to make a commitment, and i hope that the committee would trust in my integrity not to even entertain such an idea and that i wouldn't violate my oath if i were confirmed and heard that case. >> the conservative jurist repeatedly stressed that she is committed to the basis of separation of powers and would always adhere to the rule of law. barrett is president trump's pick to replace the late liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg. trump is pushing to have her confirmed by the republican-controlled senate before election day to please his conservative base. u.s. authorities are revealing details about the plot to kidnap the michigan governor. investigators san jose the people accused in that case also targeted the governor of virginia, another democrat. >> because that is an ongoing criminal investigation being handled by the fbi, i will not take questions or make any additional comments related to

it. however i do want to emphasize that the first lady and i are safe. >> northham held a news conference after an fbibi agent testified d at a pretrial heari. authorities arrested 13 people last week in connection with the alleged plot in michigan. the accused belong to groups that oppose whitmer's policies. lockdowns occurred in mish gand and virginia to control the pandemic. many criticized such measures saying they could undermine the economy. governor whitmer says the suspects are members of hate groups. she also criticized the president for refusing to condemn such entities. the trump camp disputes that claim. north korean leader kim jong-un has reportedly made unusual remarks indicating regret for his inability to help

an area hard hit by a typhoon last month. the wednesday edition of the ruling workers party newspaper reported that kim visited local homes and a mine in an eastern province that suffered serious damage by typhoon may sack. reconstruction efforts are underway. kim inspected homes built more than half a century ago. we did not realize how badly the people were struggling. we must blame ourselves for making people live in such a poor e environment. in a speech at saturday's military parade, kim also referred to the difficult lives of the people and his lack of efforts to help them. japan's main governing liberal democratic party has begun reviewing the structure and management of the country's top academic body called the

science council. it comes after the prime minister declined to appoint some nominees to the influential body, a move that critics say will hamper academic independence. ldp policy chief told a working group that he plans to s submit proposed changes by the end of the year. >> translator: it's important to discuss the issue objectively and in a future-oriented manner. >> the group is expected to look at whether the council should become independent of the government and whether its membership size of 210 is appropriate. it's also expected toxponsider ways of using university research in the country's national security policies. the science council has traditionalllly been c cautious about supporting research into military technology. >> translator: the council was

set up to better reflect science in the admiministratition, industries and people's lives, but unfortunately it's unclear to us now whether the council's role is functioning well. >> the publicly funded council is tasked with advising the government. half of its members are appointed every three years based on internal recommendations from the council itself. prime minister suga yoshihide broke with precedent by rejectingg six of the nominees. all are members of an association opposed to japan's 2015 security laws which allow the country to exercise the right to collective self-defense on certain conditions. scholars from that a aociationo are demanding an explanation for suga's decision.n. >> translator: it is clearly illegal for a prime minister not to appoint people recommended and selecteted by the science council. suchn act may l lead to

infringement and suppression of the freedom of thought and expression. >> the group is urging the government to reverse course and appoint the six academics. a survey of schools in japan shows that more thann10%% had students who were absent because of a fear of coronavirus infection. the japan teachers union did a survey after the summer break. more than 1,000 schools from elementary to senior high reonspded. 23% of the schools said the number of students who do not attend or who do and spend time at the nurse's office has increased after the break. asked if their parents would not let their children go to school because of the coronavirus, 15% of schools responded yes. the union said a more-than-expected number of students stay away from school for fear of the coronavirus. in japan, more than 90,000 people have been confirmed infected and over 1,600 people

have died. for months people across japan have been taking precautions to prevent the risk of spreading the coronavirus. many have been staying home. but that social distancing is creating a new concern for some of the most vulnerable members of society. nhk world's sato case kay reports. >> reporter: 88-year-old woman lost her husband in the great east japan earthquake. she lives in a public housing complex for people whose homes were destroyed in the disaster. her friends used to come over after going shopping and her niece would also pop in for a check. since march she's seen few people. the pandemic is keeping them away and she's been staying indoors. now she spends most of her time listening to the radio.

>> translator: i often talk to myself while listening. my niece noticed i chat to the radio. she's right. i don't have anyone to talk to other than the radio. >> reporter: the results of an nhk survey of 800 evacuees show she's not the only one. in fact 70% of respondents say they feel the same way. >> translator: i lost the chance to see my brothers and grandchildren. now i don't leave the housing complex at all. >> translator: i leave my room only when i go downstairs to check my mailbox. my future appears completely bleak. >> reporter: this public housing complex is also for people who lost their homes in the disaster. but the community is dealing with an unprecedented issue. in august a woman in her 80s died alone at home.

she wasn't discovered for at least ten days. the chair of the residents association used to organize monthly events and visited residents regularly, but after april the events had to be canceled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. in japan, the number of people dying a lonely death has been increasing. matsura faces a big challenges. 60% of his residents are elderly and live alone and he can't visit them as he did before. >> translator: it would be helpful if all the residents take care of each other so that lonely deaths don't occur again. i think it's important for residents to talk to each other asking, are you all right or how are you. >> reporter: people affected by the disaster have been making efforts to rebuild their communities. and now new opportunities need

to be created for them to safely engage with others in a meaningful way. saito, nhk world sendai. a japanese tourist in peru received a rare treat when he was the sole visitor allowed to visit machu me chew.w. oops >> katayama jesse igiginal rived at a nearby village in mimarch h tending g visit the siteftfter, and hihis ans wewer put on hold after the peruvian government issued an order that halted all tourist access. that didn't detour the 26-year-old that waited in hope for seven months until a local newspaper featured his story. after a flood of messages of

support the government relented and allowed him into machu picchu on saturday for the photo opinion of a lifetime. over the past few months, people living just outside tokyo have been complaining of a mysterious odor. it's been reported in cities across kanagawa prefecture, prompting officials to investigate. our next story looks at t effor to pinpoint its origins. >> reporter: there's something in the air, but what it is and where it's coming from has been baffling officials since june. >> translator: it smells like gas, sulfur, or maybe cigarettes. whatever the odor is, it doesn't smell good. >> translator: it's concerning, and the most worrying thing about it is that we don't know what the cause is. >> reporter: the smell isn't confined to just one city. fire departments across the prefecture have received at least 300 calls related to the stench. one theory was that it may have

been emanating from a tanker sailing off the coast, but navigation records show there were no nearby vessels that matched the timing of the complaints. monday there were more than a dozen reports of a foul smell around yokohama station, the busiest transport hub in the prefecture. local fire officials were dispatched to investigate. they were also able to collect air samples from their nearby headquarters, a first since the mystery began. >> translator: the wind was flowing from this direction. so i sampled the air from this side. i could even smell it inside the building. >> reporter: the samples were then brought to the yokohama

city science research institute. >> translator: we'll use that machine to separate the different components that are in the air, and we'll try to identify the properties. >> reporter: just a day lateter officials released their findings. >> translator: we detected fuel-related substances like isopentene, pentene, and butane. the levels a are higher than normal. and butane. the levels are higher ththan normal. we assume this is what caused the odor but we still haven't determined where it came from. there is no immediate threat to public health. >> reporter: the city is now working with the prefectural and central governments to try and determine the source of the stench. they're encouraging anyone who smells it to contact their local fire department immediately. people in the indochina

peninsula have been contend being a string of storms since last week. another tropical storm has made landfall in the region. our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us with the latest. sayaka. >> a train of storms has been pummeling the indochina peninsula. vietnam is experiencing the worst of it. since last week in j just eight days, we've got over 1.9 meters of rainfall in hue, the central region of vietnam. that's over 70% of its annual rainfall. another system is making landfall at this moment. nangka is drifting over northern vietnam at this moment. this is the second tropical storm to hit vietnam in just four days. we have one more storm over the philippines. nangka with likely make its way towards the west. more rain is expected because it's not a fast-moving storm. a tropical depression over the

philippines will likely get close to manila on thursday and drift over the ocean. by saturday it could hit the central areas of vietnam once again. heavy rain is expected at least into the weekend so the risk of landslides will remain very high. not just vietnam. there's a potential for heavy rainfall in cambodia, thailand as well as myanmar into the weekend. it's been a very calm day in tokyo, but the coldest air of the season is flowing into northern japan. we might see mountain snow in hokkaido and tohoku region. the air is cold enough to turn any precipitation to snow in the higher elevations. we have much cooler air across the northern areas of hokkaido. we might see snow in the low lying areas as well. temperatures will be dropping to the single digits in the morning hours in sapapporo every day in the weekend. tokyo will see cooler conditions

on saturday and rain will continue into the weekend. kyoto will see cooler temperatures on saturday. autumn is a fall season. look at this footage. there was a majestic sight on tuesday, warm moist air flowing north from the pacific. this caused the air to cool and condense as it rose. but at the top of the mountain that cold dense air began flowing downhill. this phenomena is visible into december. beautiful. now, let's go to india. we have a system which used to be a tropical depression in the middle of the south continent. this system will likely move to the west. rain is expected into the west coast for tomorrow. that's it for me. stay safe.

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that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. thanks for watching, and do stay with us for more. ♪ >> this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. japanese authorities are investigating a tokyo-based auto parts maker for data falsification. joyson safety systems japan allegedly shipped seat belts that did not meet legal safety standards. the transnsport ministry says t

company's factory in shiga prefecture may have falsified quality-related data including diermt. the ministry says there have been no reports of defects in the seatbelts so far. the company took over the operations of failed japanese air bag maker takata in 2018 that went bankrupt due to a devastating safety scandal that saw massive global recalls of its air bags. joyson's parent company in the u.s. says the firm is reviewing data related to the matter over a 20-year period. joyson does business with several japanese automakers. toyota motors says it's told the parts maker to provide detailed data to assess the impact on safety and the need for recalls. other automakers including honda and nissan are also l looking io the issue. semi conductor manufacturers are showcasing their latest

technologies at an international exhibition in shanghai. it's hoped the trade fair will help boost domestic production in china. major chinese chip makers and related local anand overseas companies are taking part, displays cutting edge products including components for smart phones. >> translator: our company is gears up to try to meet china's national strategy. i'm fully confident about the future outlook. >> the exhibition comes amid deepening trade friction between the united states and china. in september washington tightened restrictions on chip supplies to chinese telecom giant huawei. earlier this month smic said it has also become subject to u.s. restrictions. the international monetary fund has raised its outlook for the global economy this year, but the projected growth rate still remains well into negative territory.

the imf's updated world economic outlook forecasts a global contraction of 4.4% in 2020. that's an improvement of 0.8 points from the previous forecast in june. the imf says recovering personal spending that came with the reopening of the economy is behind the upgrade. china is the only major country with a projection of positive growth. its economy is expected to expand 1.9%. the u.s. expected to see negative growth of 4.3%. the country has the largest number of coronavirus cases in the world. the outlook for j japan is mini 5.3% while germany is at minus 6%. u.s. carrier delta air lines posted a net loss of almost $5.4 billn for the thirduarter as the coronavirus pandemic continued to ravage the travel industry. it was delta's third straight quarter of red ink, and that's

partly because passenger revenue dropped 83% from the same period last year. delta's president says it may take two years or more until the company sees revenues returning to normal. the u.s. airline industry has been crippled byhehe panmic.c. carriersncncludi delelta american and uninid have receiv b billis ofof dlars i i govement grants. they have been makg g effos toto cut costs including laying off workers. publishers in japan are taking a new approach to sales. now offering much more than traditional reading material. >> people are snapping up offerings like this. it's an eight-page magazine with a box attached. open it up, and inside there's a designer brand bag. the bag is good quality with a suede texture. it's far from a conventional

giveaway. the prproducts are known as multi-media merchandise. magnifying reading glasses boast sales reaching $15 million. and this foam pillow was even more lucrative, racking up about $19 millioion. the items are marketed by takamajish, a publisher that's largely focused on fashion. members of the editorial department are taking a close look at bags for a campaign. the company is shifting its focus to goods instead of words and pictures to boost sales. >> translator: publishers need to think beyond d the written word. in order to survive we need to provide new products that meet the demands of the times. >> reporter: they're expanding sales channels beyond

bookststores. a key target is the magazine rack of convenience stores. it's not the type of environment where customers stop and browse for long, so it's important to grab shoppers' attention. products are packaged up in transparent wrapping. this swedish brand t-shirt was launched in july, and it was so popular some stores even ran out of stock. >> translator: the magazine section used to be a tough challenge for 7-eleven. but now sales are soaring. >> reporter: newew products are being launched for the coming winter. >> translator: it features a slim silhouette. >> reporter: a down jacket that packs down to a compact size will be boxed up for sale only at convenience stores. the price tag is about $50. the jacket manufacturer hopes to get and brexposure and access to a potential new customer base. >> translator: since we began selling our products at convenience stores, our brand became known to men as well. >> reporter: the business s mod

extends well beyond the book and magazine industry. >> translator: we no longer think of our compapany as a publisher, but rather as a content maker, and we hope to keep our customers entertained. >> reporter: the company sees a strong future with a new product category it calls convenience store apparel. as the sales figure show, shoppers are enjoying the novelty of the neatly packed additions to magazine shelves. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

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claudette zepeda-wilkins: american is a relative term. what is american? personally i think the border is, you know, just a speed bump in between two countries. as a child, i think we took tj for granted not because it was a different country to me. to me, it was just like, "oh, it's just tj. it's where the other half of my family lives." and even if i i was in tj my entire lilife, being this far n north,u aare sort ofof removed f from te otherer parts of mexico and the cultuture. youu're mexica b but you don'n't real know.