♪ hello, and welcome to this special edition of nhk "newsline" as we follow a u.s. presidential election unlike any other with the outcome too close to call and millions of votes still untallied. republican incumbent donald trump says he plans to mount a legal challenge. >> so, we'll be going to the u.s. supreme court. we want all voting to stop. we don't want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add them to the list. >> trump provided no further explanation of his intentions

but claims he has won and alleged election fraud without providing any evidence. earlier, democratic contender joe biden told supporters in delaware the results look good. >> we believe we're on track to win this election. >> yes. [ honking and applause ] >> we knew because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote, that it's going to take a while. we're going to have to be patient. >> despite these claims, it's still unclear who will take the presidency. our u.s. partner, abc news, is projecting trump will take the key battleground of florida and texas. the crucial midwestern state of ohio, which usually swings to the overall winner, is also projected to go to trump. but biden is still very much in contention in a presidential race that will most likely come down to a few key wins. abc news is also projecting the democrats will maintain control of the house of representatives.

both trump and biden have spent a lot of time and money campaigning in north carolina, arizona, wisconsin, michigan, and pennsylvania. those races have yet to be called and could decide who takes the presidency. now, this has been an unprecedented election year in the united states, both because of the coronavirus pandemic and because of the widening social rift. for many, these close results seem to point to a deeply divided country with supporters on both sides saying the stakes are high. >> you know, if biden was america, it'd be like a fair fight. and you know, but -- and whether i'm falling for the sham or scam or whatever it is, that's why i'm voting for him and that's what it's about, america. >> at the end of the day, it's about getting trump out of office. it's about getting somebody who's suppressed the right to vote, someone who's put the rights of minorities on hold. >> businesses in many parts of the country boarded up their windows in advance of tuesday's vote with the expectation that

rioting could break out, but so far, no major incidents have been reported. joining us now in the studio is professor fujiwara kiji from the university of tokyo. he's an expert on international politics. professor, thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you. >> it's been quite an election day in the united states, with a close vote. and president trump falsely claiming victory and threatening to go to the supreme court. what do you make of all this? >> it's hard, to say the least, although it does make sense in the trumpian sense, because early mailed-in votes, especially in the state of michigan, very possibly favor biden and not trump. so, if you exclude those votes, and, well, bring it to the court, then that certainly would, well, be in the favor of president trump. >> well, we have been talking about the coronavirus pandemic being one of the focal points of this election, and countries across the world are dealing

with the fallout, especially the economic fallout from the pandemic. >> that's right. >> the u.s. is no exception. so, could this election help or hurt the u.s. economy? >> if there was any effect on the election, it has happened a long time ago. during the election year, the government pays a tremendous amount of money, a lot of public investment in the market, and especially on this year because of covid-19. a very large amount of federal budget was paid out to the electorate, which means that after the election, a negative impact is sure to come. well, that's where we are now. >> well, we are focusing on that u.s. economy, but how about the impact across the globe? how about the global economy? >> it will have, unfortunately, a significant impact. many countries are entering the second or third surge of covid-19, so there could be a

prolonged economic crisis. and the crisis coming out of the united states would only accelerate such economic crisis. now, what is the problem is that whenever there is a combination over global economic crisis, you need international cooperation. otherwise, the crisis becomes much bigger. the trouble is that very few nations have the international capacity to do so right now. >> well, you've been talking about just the international corporati cooperation now. how about the international cooperation towards a vaccine for the coronavirus? >> well, we don't really see that, do we? each nation, although health scientists are working together, it's as if each nation is working on their own, somehow branding their vaccine in patriarchical color, which certainly should not be the case. this is an action that requires

international cooperation, but as you can see, w.h.o. is not really paying -- being successful in bringing out collaboration on that. >> all right, if i can turn now to the relationship between the u.s. and europe. it's been drastically changed during trump's term in office, the four years now, particularly the nato alliance. why is that? and do you think it will change again after this election? >> from the eu/u.s. viewpoint, the allies were essentially free riders who made use of american support. that was always there. but president trump somehow exerted even further pressure on burden-sharing, threatening, if i may, to pull out u.s. troops. that will not be the case if mr. biden is elected. >> okay. well, in a related question, how do you expect u.s./russia

relations will evolve after this election? >> well, that's an excellent question with president trump, u.s./russia relations will somehow be very good between the u.s. and mr. putin. with biden, it's going to be different. with biden, it's all about government to government. with trump, it's about person to person. and there's no question that, well, putin and trump have very, very close relationship. i don't really know the reason. that will not be the case with biden. >> you just talked about the personal-to-personal relationship. there has been that sort of relationship between former prime minister of japan, shinzo abe, and president trump. so, we now have suge in office. when they get together next year in 2011, what kind of

relationship -- what kind of issue do you think they'll first talk about? >> well, if mr. trump is selected again, then it's going to be all personal. whether prime minister suga can build a warm personal relationship, which actually means that he will say yes to everything to mr. trump. with biden, it's going to be government to government, so it will be in a way more manageable, but less personal. the key issue would be burden-sharing and trade relations, and if possible, environmental policy, which is high on the agenda of prime minister suga. >> thank you very much, professor fujiwara kichi from the university of tokyo. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. thank you. japan's prime minister suga yoshihide has ruled out new

nuclear plans or reactors for its country as it aims to become carb carbon-neutral by 2050. suga responded to questions sunday on the outlook for nuclear power in japan from constitutional democratic party leader edano yukio in the lower committee. >> translator: many of the people who were forced to evacuate after the accident at the fukushima dai-ichi nuclear plan are still inable to go home. it is inconceivable to build a new nuclear plant. >> translator: i've declared that japan would become carbon-neutral by 2050. despite differing views within my liberal democratic party, at this point, the government has no plan to build or expand any nuclear plants. >> in the same committee, economy, trade, and industrial

minister katayama hiroshi, said they would upgrade the safety plan so nuclear power would remain an option in 2050. he said efforts include development of new technologies, such as advanced innovative reactors. egypt has lifted import restrictions on fishery products from seven japanese prefectures. it imposed them following the 2011 fukushima dai-ichi nuclear accident, meaning import restrictions on japanese food products have been completely eliminated across africa. egypt maintained radiation tests on fishery products from fukushima and six other prefectures, even after it eased other import conditions in stages. japan's fisheries ministry said it was informed by the egyptian government, restrictions were lifted as of monday. 18 countries and regions, including china and taiwan, continue to have conditions for food items produced in some parts of japan. the japanese government says it will push the countries and regions to scrap the restrictions.

in other news, japan's draft resolution calling for the app litigation of nuclear weapons has been adopted at the u.n. disarmament committee. it was the 27th consecutive approval of a similar draft japan submits every year, as the only nation attacked by atomic bomb. the first committee of the general assembly approved the resolution by a majority of 139 votes. the united states and britain voted in favor. five members opposed and 33 abstained. some nations, including austria, abstained because japan's resolution made no direct mention of the u.n. treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. the resolution includes six joint courses of action for all countries, including nuclear powers, to realize a world without the destructive weapons. one course of action calls on all states, in particular, nuclear powers, to enact measures enhancing transparency and mutual confidence. another calls for action to reduce the risks of nuclear detonation.

nuclear disarmament, education, and interaction with atomic bomb survivors are proposed as well. the resolution also stresses the importance of the new strategic arms reduction treaty between the united states and russia. japan's transport ministry has approved new coronavirus safety measures sought by taxi operators that could allow drivers to reject passengers who refuse to wear face masks. about a dozen tokyo operators wanted a review of the current rules to protect drivers worried about being infected by passengers. they say some inebriated passengers often speak loudly inside their cab without wearing masks. the ministry says drivers should first ask passengers to wear a mask before rejecting them. officials add, the measure is aimed at protecting other passengers as well as drivers. other taxi operators and public transport systems are expected to follow suit.

japan has joined three other countries in maritime exercises off the coast of india, mit mounting tensions over chinese activity in the indo-pacific region. the annual malor drill kicked off on tuesd with ships from japan, india, the united states, and for the first time, australia. forces will practice antisubmarine warfare and stopping missiles. first round of drills is due to end friday with a second phase in mid-november. a spokesperson for china's foreign ministry said the country hopes the exercises contribute to peace and stability in the region, not the opposite. the united states has announced its latest move to provide taiwan with weapons and sell it drones along with other military equipment. the u.s. government on tuesday notified congress that it had approved the sale to taiwan of four mqbc guardian drones and

other equipment worth $600 million. a state department official told nhk that the arm sales will be made to strengthen taiwan's self-defense capabilities. the official renewed u.s. calls on the chinese government to stop pting milary diplomatic and economic pressure on taiwan and engage in dialogue. this is not the first u.s. weapons sale to taiwan. recently it decided to sell its air-launched land attack missiles and other weapons, and later, harpoon antiship missiles. taiwan's foreign ministry expressed welcome and gratitude for the trump administration's decision. it said, this is the tenth decision during trump's term in office and the third in the past two weeks to provide taiwan with weapons. it says the decision will make taiwan more capable and confident in protecting peace and stability in the region. now to hong kong, where police have arrested a local tv producer in connection with a program related to antigovernment protests in the territory. the hong kong journalist

association condemned the arrest, criticizing police for abusing the law and infringing on freedom of the press. the 37-year-old female journalist is a producer for the public broadcaster rthk. she worked on a documentary about a mob attack on antigovernment protesters and others in the territory last year. the program identified the owner of a car near the scene by analyzing security camera footage. police arrested the producer on suspicion of hiding her purpose for obtaining the identity of the car's owner. police have been criticized for their investigation into the attacks on protesters. it's believed the arrest could heighten opposition to the police. next, switching gears to world weather, we turn to our meteorologist, jonathan oh, for an update. jonathan? >> hello. we have been dealing with relatively calm weather across japan. the exception is up toward the north in hokkaido, where we saw plenty of cold air, and that brought some first-time snow for

the season in some of the locations up to the north. and we are looking at a lot of cold air coming in from the north because of high pressure. that will help bring the possibility of even more snowfall for the northern portions of japan as we go through thursday. elsewhere, it's going to be dry and sunny. and so, if you are looking forward to seeing some calmer weather, that's going to continue as we go through thursday. looking at 12 for the high with partly cloudy skies, hendi 16, 20 in tokyo. looking at dry west ather to th west, but naha with showers and a high of 26 as we go through the day. going down toward the philippines, we still have two tropical systems -- named tropical systems, that is -- with koni located to the west and one located to the north and east. for those of you located in vietnam, you have been dealing with a tremendous amount of rainfall over the past several weeks. koni is going to add on top of that the possibility of additional rain into the central portions of the country, so that can lead to some more flooding

problems as we go through the next couple of days. we are also looking at some rain being dragged from the system out of the philippines. and so, you should start to get into a drier pattern as we go into thursday and friday, but still looking at some instability into places like manila for thursday. asani is going to try to weave in between the island of taiwan and also into the philippines, right in between there, and so that's going to still bring up the possibility for some showers into places like taipei as we go through thursday with a high of 26. drier up to the north but chilly up to ulan bator. you're not going to make it out of that freezing mark as we go through the day thursday with some snow in the forecast. let's go over to north america. the united states, big ridge of high pressure keeping things relatively dry across most of the nation, except for right here in the pacific northwest. you do have a system moving onshore, and that's going to bring some rain and some unstable weather for the day wednesday. and as high pressure continues to control the pattern, it's going to stay pretty dry.

we're not talking about much in terms of rain for places like denver, into d.c., chicago, wichita, all the way to atlanta looking at some dry weather and sunny skies. highs in the low 20s in places like oklahoma city with partly cloudy skies for wednesday. that's a look at your forecast. hope you have a good day, wherever you are. ♪

now an update on the latest developments in the u.s. presidential election. republican incumbent donald trump says he plans to mount a legal challenge to the election. he said he wants all voting to stop. the campaign manager for democratic challenger joe biden called trump's statement outrageous and unprecedented. she said the campaign's legal team is ready to fight trump in court and win. now, most of the electoral map has been filled in, but key battleground states have yet to be called, and there's no clear winner yet. and that wraps up this special edition of nhk "newsline." 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. with vote counting in the u.s. presidential election still under way in many parts of the country, we take a look at how investors in asia reacted today to the emerging results. here's our business reporter yanaka mari at the tokyo stock exchange. >> reporter: as polls in most states were too close to call during trading hours here, investors had a hard time taking a view. let's see how tokyo's major indices closed out this wednesday, november 4th.

the nikkei average gained 1.7%, finishing at 23,695. the broader topix added 1.2%. investor sentiment was bullish in the morning as early projections showed biden in the lead. that's because a clear winner would free the market of uncertainty over a drawn-out election count. some investors even went as far as to price in what's being called a blue wave, meaning democrats winning the white house as well as both houses of congress. market players expect greater fiscal stimulus from a democratic administration. but as the vote count progressed, trump put up a stronger showing than expected, and so, the uncertainty over who would win returned. that's why other markets in asia didn't see as big of a move as tokyo. japan was something of an exception because investors bought up shares to catch up to the rest of the region after a holiday on tuesday. that helped the nikkei touch a nine-month high.

now, if biden wins, experts say the u.s. dollar may weaken as the democratic candidate is expected to boost stimulus spending and be less combative on trade. other currencies would benefit at the dollar's expense. but before we get those election results, there may be other market movers out of the united states this week. the federal reserve will hold a monetary policy meeting. the latest jobs figures will be released, and another wave of corporate earnings will come out, all against the backdrop of rising covid-19 cases. our eyes may be glued on the u.s. for a while. now, elsewhere the bank of england is widely expected to announce further measures to prop up its economy as the country enters a second lockdown. i'm yanaka marie reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. the chairman of the japan association of corporate executives says companies need to keep a close watch on the policies the next u.s. administration adopts toward china.

>> translator: japan's opinions should not be unconditional support for the u.s. or criticism of china. we may have to make our position clear more frequently. >> sakurada kengo said japanese firms may need to re-examine their corporate strategy, depending on washington's policy toward beijing. a closely watched survey shows the recovery of china's service sector activity has been picking up pace. the purchasing managers index rose to 56.8% in october, up two points from september and the second strongest rate of growth since august 2010. for six consecutive months, the index stayed above the key level of 50, a mark that indicates expansion. analysts say domestic supply and

demand continue to recover at a faster pace, helping unemployment to expand for a third straight month. but they say overseas demand was subdued, due to a resurgence of covid-19 infections in europe and the united states. the survey shows managers are optimistic about prospects. a sob index for business confidence rose to the strongest level since 2012. japan's cabinet has finalized a bill for an economic partnership agreement with the united kingdom. government officials aim to seek swift diet approval so that the deal will take effect on january 1st. the pact was signed in october, following britain's departure from the european union. it's similar to an economic partnership agreement between japan and the eu that took effect last year. the deal calls for abolishing tariffs in 2026 on japan's automobile exports and for no new tariffs on the country's

foreign product imports. it sets rules in the field of e-commerce. they include restricting government intervention in data exchanges for business purposes. japan's economic revitalization minister referred to britain's willingness to join the transpacific partnership. >> translator: we expect the agreement will help britain prepare to apply to join the tpp 11. >> 11 countries are members of the tpp free trade pact. japan will serve as chair next year. now, japan's home delivery industry is moving to improve efficiency with the help of artificial intelligence. it's part of measures to cope with the shortage of workers at a time when there is a growing number of deliveries as more people shop online. map provider zenin has developed an ai-powered system that draws

up delivery plans for transportation companies. the system instantaneously shows the most efficient delivery route for each truck. the route is based on each recipient's address, specified delivery time, and typical traffic congestion for that area. >> translator: we aim to help the logistics industry become more efficient so as to level the workload. meanwhile, a major delivery firm, sagawa express, is developing a program that will enable drivers to anticipate whether a recipient will be at home at the expected delivery time. the ai system analyzes data from smart meters installed in households. this will reduce the numbers of instances of visiting absent homes by remotely checking their electricity use. okay, let's get a check on the markets.

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and that's it for "newsline biz" from our tokyo studios. i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for joining us. awc

them so much. war that has already cost them so much. ♪ >> this is al jazeera, these are the top stories. voting is underway in the u.s. as people decide if donald trump will get a second term or if joe biden will become president. trump and biden made their cases to voters in battleground states in the last night of campaigning. the election will be decided by about a dozen states that could swing to either candidate. alan has more from washington. >> there are a number of key states come important state that say they would have all the votes counted within hours of the polls