glad to have you with us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start in the united states where voters are waiting for the results of a close presidential election. both candidates remain within reach the 270 electoral votes they need to clinch victory, and republican incumbent donald trump has laid the legal groundwork for a long, drawn-out process to contest results. much of the electoral map has been filled out with abc news projecting wins in michigan and wisconsin for democratic

challenger joe biden. but several states, including the key battlegrounds of north carolina and pennsylvania, are still up in the air. as the race drags on, biden's campaign is encouraging supporters to keep the faith. the candidate says he feels confident he will come out on top, urging patience as votes are counted. it could be days before the process is finished in pennsylvania. mail-in votes are still being tabulated there, and trump's lead is shrinking. the state's governor said there were still millions of ballots to count. amid the coronavirus pandemic, mail-in voting surged. trump has repeatedly criticized the system but provided no evidence to suggest it's prone to fraud. now his team is taking action. his camp says it will ask for a recount in wisconsin, citing irregularities. it's also launching lawsuits to stop vote counting in some key states. >> every vote counts! count every vote! every vote counts!

count every vote! >> public anxiety in many u.s. cities boiled over wednesday night. disgruntled voters took to the streets to demand that all votes be counted. although the rallies appeared peaceful, new york deployed police, afraid fighting may break out. the united states officially withdrew from the paris agreement, a landmark global deal on fighting climate change, on wednesday. president trump said the accord unfairly restricts the u.s. manufacturing industry, but joe biden has vowed to rejoin if he is elected. in a statement, the state department said the government remains committed to protecting the environment while promoting economic growth. the pullout by the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter comes one year after trump announced his plan to withdraw. a japanese expert says the move could have a domino effect on other countries. >> translator: if the u.s.

continues to distance itself from the international framework, that could undermine the credibility and effectiveness of the paris agreement. >> of the 197 signatories to the 2015 deal, the united states is the only country to have abandoned it. japan's top government spokesperson called the action extremely regrettable, a sentiment shared in a joint statement by the united nations, britain, as well as others. now to how the u.s. presidential election could impact asia. amid mounting uncertainty in the results some are feeling a growing sense of unease. that includes south korea, which is a key american ally. earlier, ai uchida spoke to james kim for his take on the situation. kim is a research fellow for the asean institute of policy studies and an expert on relations between the united states and south korea. >> i think eventually, we're going to get a result, one way

or another. so i, in the long run, i think, you know, we will have a new administration in place. whatever the result may be. but there are certain short-run complications and potential risks that we need to be mindful of, given how unpredictable donald trump can be. last four years have shown that. certain things that he could say or do could be, we could be in for a pretty rocky ride between now and next inauguration, january 20th is when it's scheduled for. i think we need to hedge against those risks and some potential instability within the united states as well. >> now south korea has a strong relationship with the u.s. and has worked closely with the country towards achieving denuclearization on the peninsula. if this political vacuum continues in washington, how should south korea deal with pressing security issues? >> so, if today's result is the

trend we're going towards, with a biden presidency, looks like the senate is to be a republican senate, and the house is democratic, we're going to have to wait to see what the cabinet looks like. the confirmation process is likely to be contentious. what that means that is president biden, if it is a biden administration, is not going to get what he wants. he's going to have to get a group of people that the republicans would be accepting of. and so there might be some wait time, there might be delays on the transition as well. these are all things that we need to be mindful of. and south korea doesn't need to be in any rush between now and the new administration in place. but they could reach out and try to have some rapport with the white house staff which is not going through the confirmation process. we could have some initial contact, but in terms of substantive issues and development, i think we're going to have to wait.

police in hong kong have launched a new hotline that they say will allow people to report threats to national security anonymously, but pro-democracy lawmakers are criticizing the move saying it will erode trust between residents in the territory. police announced the move on thursday. they say the hotline will be handled by a unit that deals with the national security law. that law purportedly restricts anti-government activities. but critics say it undermines hong kong's autonomy and infringes on freedom of expression. police are also calling on people toeport threats to national security by email and through social media. a tv producer in hong kong was recently arrested in connection with a program critical of the police. a number of pro-democracy activists have also been taken into custody. police say those arrests were

made following tips from the public. pro-democracy lawmakers say the hotline will have a chilling effect if it makes residents more fearful of voicing their political views. china is planning a law revision to allow its patrol ships to fire on foreign ships judged to be conducting unlawful activities in the country's waters. the national people's congress revealed the draft on wednesday. it details duties and rights of what the country calls its coast guard, saying it's authorized to forcibly drive away foreign vessels intruding into chinese territorial waters or interrogate their crews. the draft also allows the use of arms against vessels that do not obey orders in territorial seas and the exclusive economic zone. as well as around the continental shelf. the move comes as chinese patrol ships continue to enter japan's territorial waters off the coast of the senkaku islands, sometimes chasing japanese

fishing boats operating there. there is concern that when the leslation is enacted, those boats may face an increased threat. 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 is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. in tokyo, the top government spokesperson says japan will keep a close eye on developments regarding this issue. kato katsunobu says japan is committed to defending the lives and assets of the japanese people, including fishing boats and all territorial waters and airspace. turning to thailand, where an antigovernment youth group has rejected joining a reconciliation committee aimed at ending ongoing protests.

>> members of the group spoke at a news conference on wednesday. they said there can be no solution as long as the prime minister remains in power. late last month, the thai parliament proposed setting up the committee in a bid to appease the protesters. the committee would be comprised of lawmakers and demonstrators. local media report the selection of committee members is already under way. but the protesters appeared set to continue demonstrating. besides calling for the prime minister's resignation, they are demanding that the monarchy be reformed. turkey's government has ended its search for missing people nearly a week after an earthquake and tsunami hit its aegean sea coast. the magnitude 7.0 quake and ensuing tsunami have claimed at least 114 lives and left 1,035 people injured. search and rescue operations had

been ongoing at 17 locations in the hard-hit western province of izmir before the government called them off on wednesday. turkish officials say 180 structures in the province must be demolished, as they're at risk of collapse. more than 3,000 tents have been set up for residents who left their homes. the government plans to build new buildings for the weevacuee to move into in less than a year. the number of daily coronavirus cases here in japan has topped 1,000 for the first time in over two months. that brings the overall total to 105,000 infections. over 1,800 people have died. health ministry officials are confirming a growing number of cluster infections nationwide.

that figure hit 103, up over 65 from the previous seven days. the largest number of clusters centered on offices either in government or the private sector. others involved restaurants, welfare facilities, schools, or medical institutions. during the four weeks through monday, authorities reported cluster infections at nearly 350 sites. that's almost one-fifth of all clusters confirmed in japan so far. england began a second nationwide lockdown on thursday following a rapid rise in coronavirus infections. a total of 492 people died across the uk the previous day, the highest level since may. restrictions will be in place until december 2nd. during this period, people will have to stay at home, leaving only for daily necessities and other specified activities. only essential retailers such as supermarkets and pharmacies will stay open. ahead of the lockdown, many

people were seen dining in restaurants and shopping in central london. >> i think if it's a month, it's all right. but if it's going to be for, like, two months, i think it will be hard. >> prime minister boris johnson has repeatedly said he hopes the latest measures will only last a month to mitigate the impact on the economy. meanwhile, the italian government has announced more stringent restrictions to coain a resurgencef fections the country's daily tally of new cases topped 30,000 on wednesday. >> translator: there's no other choice but to impose restrictions to stop the rapid spread of infection. restrictions include a nighttime curfew from 10:00 p.m. with exemptions for work, health reasons, and emergencies. the measure will be imposed nationwide on friday and run until december 3rd. in addition, a two-week daytime curfew is being imposed in four regions where the spread of infection is most serious.

these include lombardy in the north and calabria in the south. residents in these areas will not be allowed to leave their homes except for reasons related to work, health, and emergencies. according to johns hopkins university in the united states, there have been more than 48 million cases worldwide. more than 1.2 million people have died.

november 5th is the united nations designated world tsunami awareness day. this year the u.n. development program and the u.n. office for disaster risk reduction have drawn up new guidelines for schools that take the coronavirus pandemic into account. the guide emphasizes that evacuating to safety takes priority over shelter-in-place orders relatedo the coronavirus. it includes taking multiple evacuation routes and adding shelters to maintain social distancing. as schools often serve as disaster evacuation centers, the guidelines say they should be equipped with adequate supplies of masks, sanitizers, and wipes. they also recommend regularly checking the temperature of acuees and immediately isolating anyone showing signs of illness. japan has been hit by a number of tsunami, including the one that devastated parts of the northeast in 2011. teachers made a training visit to the ruins of a school where the inundation left 84 students

and teachers dead. 90 newly appointed principals attended a talk at the remains of ozawa elementary school. last year japan's top court ruled the school's failure to designate an evacuation route resulted in the deaths. one of the teachers was a former teacher who lost his daughter in the tsunami. he asked the teachers to never forget the disaster and imagine how the children tried desperately to escape. >> translator: i want all of you to tell your pupils that you visited okawa elementary school. i think that alone will make a difference. >> the board of education plans to hold similar training events for all teachers. it's now time for a check on the weather with meteorologist jonathan oh.

it was a fair day here in tokyo. how are things looking for friday and the weekend? >> it looks like we're dealing with another nice day coming up for friday across tokyo and at least a decent part of japan. we do have a stationary front that is located down toward the south, and that's going to help continue to bring moisture down to places like okinawa and also some return flow from a high pressure system that will also increase the chance for rain into the western portions of japan. we do expect for the sunny skies to linger around for the central and eastern portions of the country. looking at the forecast as we go through friday, 20 for a high in tokyo. osaka with partly cloudy skies. showers from a separate system will be rolling through the north. sapporo, you'll be seeing some wet weather coming up for friday. for the western and southwestern areas of japan, you'll need your umbrellas nearby. we broadened the view to show

you some named storms. vietnam, you've been dealing with wave after wave of constant rain and storms. this is not going to aid in your situation any time soon. we also have atsani, expected to become a typhoon, but bringing a decent amount of rainfall even though it's going to pass between taiwan and luzon. it's going to bring a decent amount of rain, especially for taiwan. taipei looking at showers, a high of 31. 32 in manila with thunderstorms. meanwhile, i want to tell you what's happening in central america. iota, which was a category 4 hurricane when it made landfall a couple of days ago, has continued to batter the region with lots of rain to honduras and nicaragua. here's a look at the video to give you an idea of e situation as the storm made landfall tuesday. it broad winds of 233 kilometers per hour and caused severe flooding and wind damage,

knocking out power, battering many trees in the process. at least two people have reportedly been killed at this point, and more rain expected with this system as we see the storm is going to eventually move out over the waters and head toward cuba and florida. so this is the system you have to look out for as this storm is likely to gather itself and intensi intensify. to the north, high pressure the big story and the dominant force for the southern and central areas of the united states thursday. that's a look at your forecast. hope you have a good day wherever you are

. and thatoncludes this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard, so don't go away.♪

♪ this is "newsline biz," i'm ramin mellegard. stock prices rallied in tokyo thursday following a surge in new york, despite uncertainty over the u.s. election. the benchmark nikkei average rose above 24,000 points to mark its highest so far this year. it ended the day up 1.7% at 24,105. the broader topix climbed 1.4%. in currency markets, the japanese yen regained some ground against the dollar, but

sources warn of turbulence ahead if the presidential race isn't decided quickly. the dow jones industrial average jumped at the new york stock exchange on wednesday, rising over 800 points at one stage. market watchers said that came amid expectations a divided congress could struggle to pass a tax hike touted by the democrats. indonesia has fallen into a technical recession for the first time in over two decades as the impact of covid-19 continued to take a toll on the economy. officials say indonesia's gross domestic product shrank by about 3.5% year on year in the july-to-september quarter. they say some improvement was registered, but it wasn't enough to lift growth into positive territory. the contraction was bigger than market expectations of 3%. it also marked the second straight quarter of negative growth. the last time that happened was during the asian financial crisis in the late '90s. the pandemic has hammered business activity and private

demand in southeast asia's largest economy. tourism has been hit especially hard. the number of foreign visitors in the last quarter plunged nearly 90% from a year ago. household consumption fell 4%. private spending accounts for over half of indonesia's p. exports tumbled about 11%. officials say the economies of several trading partners, including the u.s. and singapore, also contracted in the third quarter, but not as much as in the previous quarter. a driverless taxi took to the streets of tokyo on thursday, giving a possible glimpse of the future on a short demonstration trip. telecom giant kddi and four other firms developing the self-driving cab which uses next generation 5g technology to boost safety. tokyo's vice ordinary governor and another passenger rode 200

meters on public roads in shinjuku. one of the firms involved said that helps keep the vehicle safe even in heavy traffic. >> translator: i didn't feel nervous or uncomfortable in the driverless vehicle. this technology will bring changes to the streets of tokyo. >> the companies are revving up for more demonstrations around the country before a full launch further down the road. japanese companies are set to test a suitcase with a high-tech twist. it's packed with artificial intelligence to help guide visually impaired people. five firms have developed the case, which is mounted with cameras and sensors to detect obstacles and nearby people. a.i. forecasts people's movements and guides the user with vibrations through the case's handle. twinned with a special backpack containing another camera, the

suitcase can even tell the user exactly how far away others are. that could be important at a time of social distancing amid the coronavirus. >> translator: visually impaired people can find it difficult to ask strangers for directions, especially when social distancing is key. it would be great to get people using the suitcase at stations or airports. >> testing kicks off this month in shopping malls and airport buildings. the case is expected to roll out more widely in a few years. if things had gone according to plan, thursday would have seen the largest ipo in history. instead, the massive share sale by china's ant group has been postponed in an extremely rare move. ant is the operator of mobile payments and other services and it's under the umbrella of china's largest online retailer, ali bah bah group. the company was hoping to raise over $34 billion in the dual

offering on the shanghai and hong kong stock exchanges. we asked nhk world's iga agihito in beijing why the ipo was postponed at the last minute. >> we're still waiting for the details, but one thing we do know is that on monday, shares of the people's bank of china, the china securities regulatory commission, and other financial regulators summoned jack ma, the founder of alibaba group, and singer and schultz. ma is xi's de facto leader. the content is not clear. the shanghai stock exchange notified ant that changes in regulatory environments might make the group fall short of the listing requirements. chinese media have pointed to

ongoing review among financial authorities on strengthening regulations on online micro lending. they say this might affect services provided by ant, which is an active player in the field. >> what do you think will happen now? >> ant says it will return the money it collected from investors who placed bids for the shares, but other than that there has been no word about what the company plans to do now. shortly before all of this, ma criticized china's financial authorities in public. he said in a speech that the country's problem is that it lacks the financial ecosystem. he also said tech innovation is not afraid of regulation, but outdated regulation. public criticism of authority is rare in china. some experts say ma's

outspokenness might have led to the postponement of ant's ipo. the transparency of china's financial markets could come under scrutiny in light of the fact that what would have been the largest ipo ever was suddenly delayed. likely due to the authorities' intervention. let's get a check on the markets.

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

♪ >> you're watching al jazeera. the race to the white house is hanging in the balance. so far, no clear victor. president trump has falsely declared himself the winner despite votes still being counted. >> we want all voting to stop. we do not want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add them to the list. ok? [applause] it is a very sad moment. to me, this is a very sad moment. we will win this. as far as i am concerned, we alreadve