welcome back to nhk "newsline." we begin with breaking news this hour. the remaining on pro-democracy members of hong after four members were disqualified by the hong kong government. the disqualification that happened on wednesday followed a decision made by the standing committee of the national peoples congress. the hong kong government says

they were expelled for endangering national security. >> anyone who has takean oath and served as legislative counsel but thereaer they have engaged in activities which are bridging those requirements that they should immediately lose their qualification to become legislative counsel. >> the four pro-democracy lawmakers spoke to media after they were unseated. one of the members called their disqualification a breach of basic law and their rights. >> today is the hardest or saddest day of hong kong, but i would certainly promise that i would go along if all the people iphong kong continue to fight for the core values of hong kong, freedom, democracy.

and we should never give up. >> the disqualifications come after china's state run news agency reported beijing as optative legislation allowing hong kong to disqualify anyone. earlier this week 19 pro-democracy lawmakers said they strongly oppose the move and threaten to resign en masse if any were excelled. they awe appear to be following through with their threat. a nuclear reactor in the northeast that's been offline since the 2011 earthquake and sue tsunami is set to restart a approval from local municipal s sitties. the reactor is expected to be the first affected plant to go back online in the hard hit region.

>> it was a hard decision to make in light of the accident nine years ago. he add that restarting the reactor would bring ask revitalize the economy. the three reactors at the electric power company's plant automatically shut down after detecting the tremers when the earthquake hit. the tsunami that came next was 13 meters high. the electric power company has since built a sea wall 29 meters above sea level to protect the facility from tsunami waves. >> i think the community prospers to come extent if the power plant restarts. without it the town might die out. >> it would be good if the decision was made by a ref are

rent dumb, but lawmakers made such an important choice on their own. >> the electric power company said that it will continue its utmost efforts to improve the safety of power plants. 16 reactors in japan have met tougher requirements drod after the 2011 disaster. officials in tokyo confirmed 317 new cases of coronavirus on wednesday. it's the ninth day in a row they topped 100. 33 have tested positive in the me top lis. government officials renewed a call for antivirus measures. they warn the number of none new infections have exceeded 1,000 several times in recent days. more than 100,000 people have been infected in the country

with over 1,800 deaths. u.s. president-elect joe biden is moving ahead with his transition to power despite pushback from president trump. the democrat says he has a message for the world. america is back. biden says he has so far spoken with leaders of other countries including the british prime minister as well as the leaders canada, ireland, germany and france. he expressed hope that nations will work together to stop the spread of the coronavirus. biden's emphasis on diplomacy signals an end to trump's america first approach. >> the reception and welcome we've got around the world from our allies and our friends has been real. i have a number of other calls to return, and so i feel

confident we're going to put america back in a place of respect that it had before. >> but the reception of his win on home soil has been more complicated. trump is resisting transition efforts. biden calls it theatrics. >> i just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. the only thing that -- how can i say this tactfully? i think it will not help the president's legacy. >> trump continued to avoid the public eye on tuesday, but he tweeted that he will win repeated unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud. when asked if the administration will engage with biden's transition team the secretary of state had this to say. >> there will be a smooth transition to a second trump

administration. we're ready. the world is watching what's taking place. we're going to count all the votes. when the process is complete there'll be electors selected. >> biden is pushing ahead regardless. he announced a diverse team of 540 people who will lead the work in each ministry. still there's growing speculation biden will be blocked from receiving briefings. to learn more about trump's claims, our new york studio spoke with a legal expert. >> it should come as little surprise that president trump is questioning the legitimacy of the election. he claimed fraud in the run up to the election four years ago. he claimed fraud when he lost the popular vote to hillary clinton. he claimed fraud this time around even before votes were cast. the president has produced little evidence. still republicans are rallying around him. for more on these challenges,

we're joined by steven huffner of the college of law. thank you for joining us. what evidence does the president have to make these claims? >>here's been occasional stories of something upon investigation have prooump to be baseless fpz the worker had thrown away a piece of construction paper. that kind of thing that when you do there's no merit to the claim of fraud. >> so how liky is it that these challenges could change the results? >> at this point, it seems incredibly unlikely. in order to change the result in a given state, you'd haveo prove that the number of votes that were tainted by fraud were tainted by some kind of complete breakdown in process.

we're more than the margin of victory. and i have seen no evidence to support any such finding by a court that the results themselves are no longer reliable. >> so professor, why do you think, why is it that the president is pursuing these lawsuits? >> as you observed he claimed even bore the election the only way he could lose would be if the election was a fraudulent election. so in a sense, it's just carrying through ohis insistence that he can't lose. so he continues to claim fraud. even without evidence. and the question really is how lo will he persist in doing that as president-elect biden said today there's a way in which the longer he does that, the more damage it may do to him in the long run. the courts eventually reject all

his claims that this w a fraudulent election, he will be worse a off in some sense than if he soon decides to cease going after a all these fake claims. >> how do these delays affect the traditional transfer of power? >> well, the biden administration is a little bit compromised by the fact that the trump administration has not cooperate d yet. the biden team continues to go forward in a number of ways and insist they will be able to do so effectively regardless of what the trump administration does. it certainly complicates that effort if they are not being brought into a number of briefings that might otherwise be sharing information with them. if they d't have access to resources and personnel that would typically be made available, it surely complicates

their transition planning. but in a event, the trump menstruation wil end on january 20th whether he has in some public way acknowledged that or not. >> thank you very much. the trauma continues. professor, thank you very much for being with us. >> my pleasure. the cease-fire is expected to hold following a truce deal but there are issues that need to be resolved for long-term peace. the two countries reached the agreement on tuesday after about six weeks of fighting over the disputed region. the deal also calls for some areas effectively controlled by armenia to be returned to azerbaijan. russian president vladimir putin says he's satisfied that the two

nations agreed to the moscow brokered deal. russia has deployed its peacekeeping troops, but there are still concerns whether the peace will continue. the fighting has killed many people including civilians in both azerbaijan and armenia fueling hatred between the countries. the truce pact also does not mention some fundamental issues such as the sovereign status. in the aftermath of the u.s. presidential election, the country is moving forward with international business. that includes formal talks with japan on a cost sharing agreement for stationing u.s. force there is. the financial contribution to military bases is negotiated every five years. the trump administration has called for its allies to boost defense spending. and its negotiators had been

widely expected to ask japan to pay more in base costs. but it's unclear if this month's election results could prompt a policy shift. foreign and defense officials from the two countries met in washington on monday and tuesday following prior consultations in october. japan's chief cabinet secretary said the two countries hope to come up with a mutually beneficial conclusion. >> translator: both nations reaffirm that japanese financial support for u.s. troops has played an important role in ensuring smooth and effective operations which are central to the japan-u.s. alliance. >> japan aims to maiain its financial burden at the current level for at least the next fiscal year considering the u.s. presidential transition period. it hopes to conclude the negotiations by the end of december with the agreement set to expire in march. the trump administration has officially announced a plan to sell more than $23 billion in advance defense systems to the united arab emirates.

the u.s. state department notified congress on tuesday that the sale includes 50 s-35 fighter jets, 18 reaper drone systems and munitions. secretary of state mike pompeo said in a statement it will make it more capable of working with the militaries of u.s. partners. the middle eastern country has reportedly long wanted to by an aircraft while israel opposed the plan. any deal to sell arms in the region must fulfill an agreement with israel that u.s. weapons must not threaten the country. but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu no longer opposes the sale saying the u.s. has guaranteed israeli military superiority. the uae and israel reached an agreement in august. however, democrats in washington opposed the plan which must be approved by congress.

the u.s. secretary of state says the country will hold fresh economic talks with taiwan in a move that's likely to anger. >> a vibrant democracy and reliable partner is strong and growing. >> mike pompeo says the talks are set is for later this month in washington. the two parties are set to discuss ways to ensure safe and secure supply chains and 5g security. it's a shift not seen since the relations. after the most recent visit manifested in a military d display. its aircraft crossed the midline of the taiwan straight on two

consecutive days. u.s. president trump's administration has also inkre increased its security involvement in taiwan. it sold the island top of the line equipment including jets and military drones. people in the northern philippines are once again dealing with a typhoon. the country is still dealing with the aftermath of last week's storm. our meteorologist joins us now with the latest. >> ten days ago, a typhoon made landfall. it was the strongest cyclone on earth so far this year. it's expected to move over into thursday morning local time as a typhoon. and then hit the pet innocence

la. it could become the 7th named storm to hit vietnam this year. this system will cause copehouse amounts of heavy rainfall. once again, as we go into the weekend, it will hit vietnam. so lots of rain and strong winds are in the forecast across southeast asia. the chilliest air of the season is gripping parts of japan bringing the coldest morning of the season and also heavy snowfall we saw minus 14 degrees in parts the area. it was colder than the top of mount foou gee. fugi. those in the northern prefecture saw heavy snow during the past couple days. one of those locations was where people were outside bracing the

cold weather. temperatures later this week are expected to warm up across japan. so very cold temperatures across the north and it will stay the same way into the next couple days. especially in the morning hours. zero degrees for the morning low on thursday. watch out for slippery roads. tokyo will see 7 degrees in the morning. that's the coldest temperature of the year so far and it's going to be warmer later this week. it will be in the 20s every day during the weekend. meanwhile, we have a newly formed storm. it will likely become a low pressure system soon heading towards the portuguese island and this is the 29th named storm. this has been the busiest hurricane season record for the basin. it's expected to hit northern florida by thursday. be careful of strong winds and storm surge. that's it for me. stay safe.

♪ that's all for this hour on nhk "newsline." thank you very much for watching. to stay with us for more.

this is news line biz. i'm gene otani. honda motor plans to launch a self-driving vehicle with hands-free capabilities by the end of march. japan's transport ministry says that would make the auto maker the first in the world to commercialize a so-called level three self-driving vehicle. honda says it has obtained a government designation for the firm's autonomous driving system. the company plans to sell a legend model equipped with the technology. autonomous driving technology is categorized into five levels.

levels one and two are fitted with automatic breaking and lane keep technology. many cars already have these functions. level three allows drivers to let the vehicle do all operations including steering and breaking. but that's only when certain conditions are met such as when a vehicle is in congested slow traffic on an expressway. that followed an overnight rally in new york on hopes for a coronavirus vaccine. the nikkei average ended at 25,349 at 1.8% from tuesday. opened more than 200 points higher to surpass the 25,000 mark. the nikkei 225 has extended its winning streak to seven days. the index has added more than 2,300 points or over 10% so far this month, but analysts say

investors worry that the rally in the wake of the u.s. presidential election is overdone. covid-19 is taking a bite out of japan's service industry. a survey shows pubs and restaurants going bankrupt at a record pace. between january b and october, 730 establishments went down with debts of over $95,000. the failure rate outpaces the record 800 bankruptcies that struck the sector in 2011 when a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami and a nuclear b accident. osaka recorded the most bankruptcies at 132 followed by tokyo with 116. researchers say sales have not recovered as expected.

the bank of japan unveiled a program to hp institutions as the nation has been hit hard by the coronavirus. the special deposit facilities are aim ed at lenders developed in are ons outside of the main cities. the banks are also trying to strengthen their business foundations. the boj will provide an additional 0.1% annual interest on current account balances the lenders hold. the bank of japan will launch this scheme after deciding the details and it will run until march 2023. the plan will help regional lenders continue to provide loans to local companies and households. it will also allow some banks that decide to carry out mergers or acquisitions to boost their financial base. members of a japanese government panel met on ways to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas

targets. the experts discussed how to take the country to net zero emissions by 2050. the panel aims to set targets for technological development and ways to support companies that get involved. cabinet ministers who took part in the meeting said innovation will be crucial to reaching the gas reduction target. >> translator: we're looking at bold investments to meet ambitious als and also long-term support to companies that accept the challenges. >> translator: we will promote to the world what we're doing toward our goals. japan should be seen as an environmentally advanced country which contributes to carbon neutrality. >> the panel will focus on uses of hydrogen, storage batteries, the recycling of carbon dioxide as fuel and offshore wind power generation. the members aim to complete their plan by year end.

backpackers who visit bangkok usually end up on cosun road. the impact on local businesses has been devastating. today in thailand some are shifting their strategy in a bid to survive. >> the road is historic part of the thai capital filled with budget hotels, restaurants and shops. foreigners account for more than 70% of its visitors. but after the pandemic emerged businesses started to close one after another. a rough estimate shows that only 10% remain open. >> translator: i'm sad that stores around here have shutdown and are moving away. >> reporter: this shop caters to foreign travelers. daily sales are close to zero and its future is uncertain.

he runs a restaurant. it used to serve certain thai dishes popular among foreigners but he recently modified his menu. now it's designed to suit the local palate. thai tourists have been rare on the road until now. the new offerings include grilled pork with plenty of peppers and dipped in chili sauce. the cuisine is from north eastern thailand and especially popular with thai. >> translator: i'd never experienced anything this bad. i need to shift my business from westerners to thai people. >> reporter: the government is supporting the shift towards domestic tourism. more than 200 street vendors participated in a promotional event at the end of october

sponsored by the municipality. more activities may be planned in the future. >> there are no foreigners visiting here, but promotions could help to make thai people visit. >> reporter: no one here is expecting to see big crowds of people from abroad in the near future, so for now the business community of one of the worlds most famous backpacking centers is finding a new focus. >> all right, let's have a look at the markets.

from the newsline biz team in tokyo i'm gene otani. thank you very much for joining us. xxxxxxdñoooooooooooooo♪

->> you are watching al jazeera. u.s. president-elect joe biden has caused donald trump fusion -- refusal as an embarrassment. he says nothing will stop the transfer of power in january. president-elect biden: i just think it's an embarrassment. the only thing -- how can i say this tactfully?