♪ hello and welcome to nhk ewsl"nine." yoshi ogasawara. we start this hour here in japan, where prime minister suga yoshihide delivered his first policy speech in the diet since taking office last month. topping the agenda was the coronavirus pandemic. >> translator: the number of confirmed case s accelerated in

late june, but the spread of infection began to decline. the downward trend is slowing, and at the moment the situation is unpredictable. we will do everything to prevent an explosive increase in infections and protect people's health and lives. we will also resume social activities and revitalize the economy. >> suga says the government plans to bolster capabilities so global economic activities can safely resume. he says the aim is for 20,000 people, notably from business and educational sectors, to be able to enter the country every day by the end of next month. suga also says his administration is trying to secure enough vaccines to supply all citizens by the first half of next year. the ruling coalition is hoping to pass legislation to secure coronavirus vaccines by the end of the diet session, running

until december 5th. he also talked about the olympics and paralympics, wanting to ondcuct them in a safe and secure manner. on the subject of climate change, suga announced he wlli aim to achieve a carbon neutral society by 2050. the secretary general of suga's liberal democratic party commended the speech. >> translator: the prime minister explained his policy agenda in a straightforward and resolute manner. >> the leader of the ldp's junior coalition party, says t government clearly laid out their priorities. >> translator: what impressed me the most was he focused on imminent challenges and stated his policy goals in a concrete and detailed manner. >> but the leader of the largest opposition party had a different take on suga's speech.

>> translator: he just listed out his policies like a table of contents. to my disappointment,th e speech did not show any vision about what kind of nation or society he's trying to create. >> during the current diet session, opposition parties are expected to focus on the controversy surrounding suga's decision to reject several nominees for the country's top academic body. some accused the prime minister of hindering academic independence. >> translator: the speech did not refer to the government intervening in personnel affairs of the science council ofu japa. that's abnomal. additionally, the speech didn't provide any details about how the government will protect people's lives and livelihoods from the coronavirus. >> the prime minister will face questions from lower and upper house lawmakers later this week. japan's shrinking population

has long been one of the country's biggest problems. now officials are planning to draw up measures to help people continue working while they receive fertility treamentt. one of the iggebst challenges is juggling work and time consuming medical appointments, which has led some to quit their jobs. officials from the health and labor ministry met for the first time in discuss the issue. >> translator: we should promote understanding of fertility treatment in workplaces and society so we can recognize the importance of environments where people can keep working while receiving such treatments. >> translator: reducing the financial burden is not enough to support workers in fertility treatment. employers should introduce new systems so people can keep going to the hospital more easily. >> the officials discussed improving information and consultation services to boost

understanding of fertility treatment. they also talked about allowing rkewors to take days off for treatment. they agreed to put together concrete measures by year end. that's on top potential financial aid for people seeking treatment. a united nations treaty bannng inuclear weapons will go into effect next january after it was ratified by 50 nations. japan is not among them, but a roup comprised of people who survived the hiroshima and n nagasaki bombings says they'll continue to push countries who havne ota rtified the treaty to join it. as of september this year, the japan confederation of a-bomb sufferers organization have gotten 12 million people around the world to support their cause. on monday, the group held a press conference in tokyo. >> translator: we want to get

the japanese government to properly follow the treaty when it comes into effect. the most important thing is for japan to trratify the treaty. >> nagasaki counts down the days until the treaty takes effect january 22nd. the city's mayor thanked atomic bomb survivors for their efforts, but says more needs to be done. >> translator: i would like to work with you to achieve a world without nuclear weapons for your children and grandchildren. our next story looks at how people in hiroshima and nagasaki are hoping the treaty will add momentum to the global movement to abolish nuclear arms. >> translator: i hope this means there will be no more nuclear weapons. >> translator: we must pass memories of the tragedy down to

the next generation so it will never be repeated. >> reporter: kito survived the bombing of nagasaki. now 80 years old, he has spent years urging all countries to ratify the treaty. >> translator: i think the treaty will be the beginning of the end of the use of nuclear weapons. i will continue to raise my voice for the cause. >> reporter: when the treaty goes into effect, nuclear weapons wil bel deemed illegal in international law for the first time. the treaty covers armed conflict and bans the development, possession, and use of nuclear arms. countries with nuclear weapons and those without remain divided over the treaty's true value. the five major nuclear powerss a well as countries such as japan that fall under the u.s. nuclear umbrella have not joined the treaty. japan's top government spokesperson reconfirmed the country's position on the treaty

on monday. >> translator: japan will not sign the treaty because its approach toward advancing nuclear disarmament is different from our country's. >> reporter: one expert says japan is in a position between two conflicting forces. on the one hand is the push to control arms in asia. on the other is japan's moral obligation to make sure the tragedy of 75 years ago is never forgotten. >> japan is surrounded by china, russia, and u.s., nuclear powers, and we have north korea developing their indigenous nuclear weapons. so japanese goverment must handle this security threat as well as our moral obligation at the same time. >> reporter: japan says it will continue to be for the abolition of nuclear arms. a top u.n. official has high hopes that japan will play a

leading ole whn the treaty comes into fore. >> translator: our expectations for japan regarding nuclear disarmament arereater than ever. as the only country to have suffered atocmi bombs and war, we hope japan will strengthen its efrts. one of those efforts is to bridge the p between nuclear and non-nuclear states. >> reporter: survivors in hiroshima and nagasaki hope the horrors they have experienced will never be repeated. the treaty is set to go into effect on january 22 of next year, 90 days after meeting the requirements. turning to the u.s., where campaigning for the white house is intensifying. with less than ten days to go until the electioelection, both are focused on swing states. >> this election is a choice

between a trump recovery, and i call it a trump super recovery because that's what's happening, you see the name. and a biden depression. if he gets in, you're going to have a depression. >> the u.s. president was in the eastern state of new hampshire which he narrowly lost in 2016. he's focusing on the economy in a last-ditch effort to woo voters. >> -- this made the difference in this election. >> meanwhile, democratic vice presidential candidate camila heart -- kamala harris was in michigan, urging people to go to the ballot box early. harris described trump's handling of the pandemic as the greatest failure of any administration in u.s. history. she made the comments a day after the white house said two senior aides to vice president

mike pence tested positive. pence himself says he hastes ted negative. people have been casting ballots early in record numbers. new york saw long lines over the weekend as advanced voting got under way there. polling was set up at the madison square garden for the first time. >> i think it's kind of cool. it's a very new york thing. we live up here, and it's kind of nice to come to this kind of iconic place and cast your vote. so it's -- it's awesome. >> more than 59 million americans have cast a ballot as of sunday, shattering the previous record. with the u.s. election quickly approaching, we're airing a series of reports on the issues at play for countries in the asia pacific region. from new delhi, nhk world reports on how the election is viewed in one of the world's most populous countries, where people are closely tracking the

race. >> reporter: many people in india are following democratic candidate joe biden's campaign, partly because of his choice of running mate. senator kamala harris is the daughter of an indian immigrant and the first asian-american to appear on the presidential bat. but there are other reasons, too. people are concerned about the trump administration's protectionist immigration pol y policies. that includes tightening visa rules in the technology and service sectors. forei a foreign policy expert mentions one change in particular over the visa for highly skilled professionals. most of the recipients are indian nationals. >> there e a lot of things that trump has done, signed by executive order, which has made it very difficult for people to obtain green cds, apply for visas, even sdent visas have

been called into question. some that biden can easily reverse with a stroke of a pen, but theore comprehensive nmmigrationeform, which may people are demanding on both the right and the left in the u.s. >> reporter: when it comes to regional security, it's a different story. republicans and democrats alike are in favor of a strong u.s./india partnership. they view new delhi has one of washington's best strategy partners to counter china's increasingly aggressive moves in the region. recent border tensions with china eadded a new geopolitical angle. india needs american support to deal with the crisis. >> chinese aggressivene thssat is directed not just at india but a number of other neighbors, including japan, including

southeast asia, he south china s sea, taiwan, all places where the u.s.ctua ally has treaty alliances orobligations, security obigations of other kind so i think, you know, the india/china border standoff is seen as part of the larger trend. >> reporter: but in the world of business, india and the u.s. have disagreed for years on tar i hata tariffs and foreign rules. they've been trying unsuccessfully to reach a deal on these issues. both countries have their work cut out for them on the economic front. still, there is a good chance india will remain strategically important for the united states, irrespective of who wins the presidential race. abhishek dhulia, new delhi. the u.s. senate is expected to take a final confirmation

vote on president trump's supreme court justice nominee as early as monday, just over a week before the presidential election. the republican-controlled senate voted on sunday to limit debate time on the nomination to 30 hours, which would be until 7:00 p.m. monday. republicans have been pushing for a final confirmation of amy coney barrett ahead of the november 3rd election. barrett's confirmation would expand the supreme court's conservative majority to 6-3. democrats have protested the move, saying the winner of the election should choose the nominee. you can find all of nhk japan's u.s. presidential election information on the website. scan the qr code on your screen. next week when voters head to the polls, we'll bring you the latest updates andanalysis on how the results will affect japan and asia.

a string of tropical storms has been pounding southeast asia, dropping a staggering amount of rainfall. deadly floods have been hammering the area this month. our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us now with the latest. >> hello there. the western pacific has been very busy so far this month. we've got five named storms already. making it the first time in seven years for the month of october. the most affected area is vietnam, where about 2.5 meters of rain has fallen in the central region, and more rain is on the way. now, in vietnam, three named storms made landfall so far this month. an additional tropical depression hit the country, as well. one more storm is on its way to impact vietnam. the storm made landfall in the philippines. take a look at this footage.

a powerful tropical storm slammed through the northern philippines overnight sunday into monday. the typhoon was packing 125 kilometers per hour winds and brought heavy rains that led to flooding. at least 12 fishmen are missing, and tens of thousands of people have been given evacuation orders. this comes after another tropical system ran ov er the country last week. the storm is expected to hit central vietnam as we go into this coming wednesday. it is expected to dump copious amounts ofea hvy rain. as i mentioned, the area also saw 2.5 meters of rain. an additional 250 millimeters of rain is expected for the central region. flooding and landslides will be ya ver high concern for the next several days. meanwhile, we have another storm to mention. we have tropical system zeta near the yucatan peninsula.

this is the 27th named storm for the atlantic hurricane season. zeta is expected to hit the yucatan peninsula near cancun tonight. cancun was hit by another hurricane, delta, three weeks ago. this system could pound the area with 300 millimeters of rain and powerful winds. after affecting mexico, it could veer to the north and east. might make landfall in louisiana or mississippi on wednesday night local time. it could be the 11th landfall of the year for the united states. been a busy hurricane season for the u.s., as well. very low temperatures we're seeing across many locations in the u.s. on sunday, the morning low dropped to minus 34 degrees in parts of montana. the extreme cold will continue to grip the united states into the next couple of days. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪

♪ that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi oasawara in tokyo.

thanks for watching, and do stay with us for more. ♪ a japanese company has used a drone in a test to quickly disinfect the seats of a stadium. it hopes to use the method to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. the trial took place in an arena in a city in western japan. sky ocean says the drone can spay about 5,000 seats in as little as one hour. >> translator: the drone can disinfect a large stadium with

very little manpower. that's really efficient. >> sky ocea'sn president said he hopes to start operating the service next spring. this is "newsline biz". i'm gene otani. the association representing the world's feature airlines calls for flexibility, increasing the cargo capacity of passenger jets so they can transport covid-19 vaccines. it is estimated the equivalent of 8,000 boeing 747 cargo planes will be needed to carry enough vaccine to give all 7.8 bilioln people in the world a single dose. iata says 60% of the passenger aircraft have been grounded due to the pandemic, drastically cutting cargo capacity. iata's head of cargo, glen hughes, said three to four weeks will be needed for maintenance

and test flights before the grounded planes can resume operations. he said the shortage of cargo capacity may continue once vaccines are available. >> a number of carriers have taken the seats out of their passenger aircrft and worked with the civil aviation authorities to approve those aircraft for use of cargo-only transport. >> hughes indicated that aviation regulators need to show similar flexibility in improving conversation -- conversions, rather, to transport the vaccines. the prices for services of companies in japan have fallen for the seventh month in a row. accommodation and transportation fees stayed low, as firms curtailed business trips amid the pandemic. bank of japan says the producer price index was down 0.5% from a year ago. the gauge excludes the effects of the consumption tax hike last year.

hotel prices plunged 33%. domestic air travel prices declined 6%. boj sysa corporate activity is still slowly recovering. bank officials say they will monitor the effects of a government subsidy program for the tourism industry, to see how it affects pricing. researchers in japan are testing 5g communication technology to try to expand access to high-quality helalth care. they've conducted an experiment that demonstrates the future potential of remote medicine. mobile carrier dokomo and a women's university partnered up. there was medical equipment and 5g technologies. an inexperienced doctor was examining a patient while 4k images were sent to the specialist. viewing ultrahigh video in realtime requires fast

processing of large amounts of data. 5g handled it with little or no delay, said the team. >> translator: in the future, we'll have a mix of experts always available from around the world to help fight illness. >> the professor says the technology could also be used to cope with a shortage of doctors in the country. the covid-19 pandemic crippled tourism industry around the world. japan's small railway companies rely on international visitors and have been facing setbacks. we visit one railway company that's implemented an unexpected strategy to persevere. >> reporter: these passengers are riding the rails in style and comfort. in september, the railway in niigata prefecture offered tickets for a special tour on a

remodelled sightseeing train. those who took part are all locals who got to rediscover the benefits of where they live. from the landscape to various kinds of local sake. >> translator: it's nice to ride a train for a change. i like watching the scenery. >> translator: i had a good time because i haven't been able to travel much since the pandemic began. >> reporter: the railway company's president says most of the usual passengers have been students. so he created the tour to try to broaden the appeal. >> translator: the locals don't use our line for travel, but i thought that they would ride our train if their purpose was to enjoy the ride itself. >> reporter: when te company separated from japan railways, it took over a deficit-ridden railway line. it introduced luxury trains and profited by attracting foreign tourists. but the pandemic took its toll on travel and tourism and the company lost nearly $190,000 in just six months.

it changed course by spotlighting more out of the way places and developed them as tourist destinatio ns.a passengers rarely use this unmanned station. its underground passage stretches seemingly rever. the company included it in a mystery tour and locals snatched up the tickets. they think other obscure sites could also be rebranded as tourist spots. he's also planning a gourmet tour by train that will include an affordable meal at a high-end restaurant. he hopes to continue creating ways for the locals to appreciate the culture in their own backyard. >> translator: the pandemic will end someday for sure, and tourists will flood back into the area. we hope they utilize the railway to promote the local culture

when that time comes. >> reporter: torizuka didn't let the pandemic knock him off the rails. instead, he proved that the resilience of one small railway company inspires new possibilities. all right. let's have a look at the markets. ♪

from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene otani. thanks very much for joining us. .

there is more to come. this is a pretty bad picture. >> half past the hour. we will remind you of the breaking news. donald trump announcing that israel and sudan have agreed to normalize relations. when this happens it will become the third ever nation to do such a deal. he held a phone call with israel's prime minister earlier. he told congress he was removing sedan -- sudan from the list. >> and sudan, they wanted to do a deal.