♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we begin in the united states. president donald trump is further refusing his country's military presence in afghanistan and iraq. the move is drawing concerns from some republicans and democrats who fear it could destabilize the region and disrupt ongoing peace efforts. >> by january 15th, 2021, our

forces, their size in afghanistan, will be 2,500 troops. our force size in iraq will also be 2,500 by that same date. >> the announcement was made by acting u.s. defense secretary chris miller. he replaced mark esper, who was fired by president trump after joe biden won the electioner in this month. troops have been gradually reduced as part of a peace deal struck earlier this year. u.s. media reports say 4,500 soldiers are now believed to be deployed in afghanistan, and 3,000 in iraq. republican senate leader mitch mcconnell is raising concerns about the timing of the latest move, and warned against any earth shaking changes to defense or foreign policy in the coming months. the planned reduction comes amid a recent resurgence of violence

in afghanistan. the government and the taliban are engaged in ongoing peace talks, but they have yet to achieve a breakthrough. turning to the latest on the coronavirus here in japan. infections continue to spike across many parts of the country. it's compelling officials in hokkaido to ask sapporo residents to refrain from nonessential outings and avoid risky activities such as dining in large groups. >> translator: we want all residents to be on the highest alert and do all they can to prevent the spread of infection. >> residents in hokkaido are also being urged to avoid traveling to or from sapporo, where daily infections have surpassed 100234 recent days. the measures will last through november 27th. the surge in cases is hurting the local tourism industry. which has been struggling since the outbreak began.

>> translator: we are suffering cancellations, not gradually, but all at once. we don't know if or when this will end. it's like being in a maze without an exit. the central government has been trying to boost domestic tourism through a travel campaign that offers subsidies on dining, lodging and transportation. currently, there are no plans to alter the campaign, but officials say they're monitoring the situation closely. nearly 1700 new cases reported on tuesday. over 122,000 people have been infected since the outbreak began. the death toll exceeds 1,900. university students in japan are finding it tougher to line up graduate jobs as the pandemic casts its shadow over the economy. the government surveyed nearly 5,000 students graduating next march from about 60 universities.

just 60.9% have job offers from october 1. that marks the largest yearly decline in october data since a record drop in 2009 due to the global financial crisis. labor ministry officials say some students are being forced to spend more time job hunting after employers canceled offers. they say the government is working with universities to provide support. the leaders of russia, china, india, brazil, and south africa held an online summit on tuesday. amid the pandemic, russia and china have called for cooperation to develop, produce and distribute coronavirus vaccines. >> translator: russia has agreements with its indian and brazilian partners about trials develophe vaccines. with pharmaceutical companies in

china and indion opening vaccine production facilities. not only for our own needs, but also for third parties. >> russian president vladamir putin said his country has already approved two vaccines and a third iseing devoped. chinese president xi jinping referred to an international framework for the fair distribution of the vaccines. the u.s. is not included. he said his country will use the framework to give priority to developing nations in getting the vaccines. analysts say the two countries will try to use the vaccines to strengthen ties with other countries. their aim is to take the initiative in global efforts to fight the virus, eclipsing the influence of the united states. ♪

turning to thailand where protesters clashed with police in bangkok as lawmakers prepare to vote on proposals to revise the country's constitution. parliament began debating seven draft amendments tuesday. most fall short of a call for broad constitutional reform. their demands include curbing the military's strong influence over politics, reforming the monarchy and the resignation of the prime minister, a former military chief who came to power in a 2014 coup. police set up barricades and used water cannons to try to disperse protesters. a group of royalists wearing yellow shirts also joined in and pelted demonstrators with objects. local authorities say at least 41 people were injured in the clashes. >> translator: we will continue to fight until we win.

don't think we will get tired. we never will. we will only get angrier and angrier. >> the parliament is set to vote on each of the seven proposals on wednesday. protesters plan to hold another mass rally. a senior chinese government official has indicated criteria laid out in beijing that have disqualified several hong kong lawmakers will also apply to candidates in elections and civil servants. the deputy director of the hong kong office sent a video message on tuesday to a symposium in hong kong. he explained how several members of hong kong's legislative council were disqualified under the new criteria presented by the standing committee of china's national people of congress. >> translator: anyone involved in the administration of hong kong must uphold the basic law. >> he poind out, all within

the administration must pledge allegiance to china and the government of the territory. he explained the standing committee was aiming to clarify the rules for correcting similar activities. he suggested the new criteria would also apply to those running for office as well as public servants. he stressed china would not accept foreign interference in what he referred to as hong kong's domestic matters. the leaders of japan and australia have reached a broad defense agreement that would make it easier to conduct joint exercises. it comes as china makes bold moves in regional waters. the australia prime minister scott morrison met with japanese prime minister suga yoshihide on tuesday. he's the first foreign leader to visit tokyo since suga took office. they stressed the need for peace and stability in the indo-pacific region. they say it is becoming more portant to cooperate on defense.

>> translator: tonight, japan and australia have reached an agreement on a reciprocal access pact that both countries have been negotiating to bring security and defense cooperation to the next level. >> so today our special strategic partnership became even stronger. in particular, because today we have taken a significant step forward in japan and australia reaching in principle agreement. >> morrison said it's proof of their mutual trust. itomes on the heels of the signing of a massive trade deal, the regional comprehensive economic partnership. both say their countries will play key roles in making the influential economic alliance a success. former u.s. president barack obama released his memoir on tuesday, in which he gave a

harsh assessment of japan's political situation when he visited the country after assuming office in 2009. in his account, obama recalls meeting japan's then prime minister hatoyamo yukio. he writes, he was japan's fourth prime minister in less than the yearand says this was a symptom of the aimless politics that had plagued japan for much of the decade. obama writes about criticism he received in the united states for bowing to japan's then emperor and empress when they greeted him. he says, i wondered when such a sizable portion of the american right had become so frightened and insecure that they completely lost their minds. on choosing joe biden as his running mate in the presidential election, he said he did so because of biden's 35 years in the senate. he added, biden has a warm personality.

obama notes his predecessor, george w. bush, fully cooperated during his transition into office. u.s. media say obama is implicitly criticizing president donald trump for refusing to concede defeat in the recent election. now turning to world weather. with our meteorologist tsietsi monare. two major storms have made landfall in nicaragua within two weeks. how bad is the situation? >> the situation is very dire, especially to some of the caribbean islands along those parts. this second is the strongest to hit nicaragua since recordkeeping began in the early 1930s. it's quite a disastrous one, leading to flooding and destruction of property, cancellation of flights and people just doing their best to get by. look at the gusts, over 166 kilometers per hour. the storm at some point strengthened to a category 5,

major hurricane, and made landfall as a category 4 hurricane. look at this. speaking about making landfall in two weeks apart from each other. this is eta. the one in yellow is iota. look at the strength of the winds. very disastrous impact and just dealing with a lot of rainfall coming in places in guatemala as well as into el salvador. this might continue for the next couple of days as well. even though the storm has downgraded quite a bit. the rainfall is going to continue. speaking of the rainfall and the high winds, let's look at this video as far as what has happened due to the storm, which pounded the caribbean monday. at least one person died and another is still missing. some 98% of the infrastructure in providence island has been

damaged. the archipelago is without electricity, causing difficulty in communicating with inhabitants, trying to locate people and trying to get equipment running to start working on the cleanup, which has been very difficult and challenging along those parts. moving to asia, a bit of low pressure that just formed closer to hokkaido and into china bringing possibilities of showers by friday. there's still warmer temperatures to be felt, especially for shanghai and in major parts of japan. temperatures will be feeling almost like what you normally get in october, about 25 on friday for tokyo, well above average, which is normally around 15. that's all your weather. take care.

that's all for this hour. thank you for staying with us on

nhk "newsline." ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." to leave no one behind is the pledge of the sustainable goal the united nations member states adopted in 2015. the pandemic made reaching those goals ever more challenging. in many places around the world, people face starvation and displacement as refugees, even

in developed countries like japan, there are socially vulnerable people from the elderly to the disabled. today, we explore how, by changing outdated models we can work toward a more inclusive society. our first report is about one man's effort to eliminate barriers between people. the care home operator realized breaking down walls could also break down people's sociopsychological values towards understanding and compassion. that's what he quite literally did. >> reporter: this man runs a nursing home near tokyo. there's no walls separating the building and the street, allowing residents and people from the community to interact. >> translator: until 2016, there was a wall here that stretched about 80 meters.

>> reporter: he demolished the partition after a traumatic incident in a neighboring ci in 2016. a mass murder at a care home for intellectually disabled people by a forr employee. the perpetrator believed humans who were not productivhave no societal value. a few days after the attack, he visited the home to mourn the victims. he noticed that a wall separated it from the outside world. he couldn't help thinking that this was somehow connected to the prejudice that motivated the killer. >> translator: there's a thick wall all the way around. so no one really knows how the people inside are living. it creates a sense that those people are special, different. i think it may have led to what happened.

>> reporter: wanting to instigate a change for the better, he and his colleagues began by destroying the wall enclosing their nursing home. now, people in the community could see the elderly residents. and people in the area are feeling a change. >> translator: there was a concrete wall. so i felt shut out. now things have changed. it feels open and friendly. >> translator: we're not on the other side of a wall. we are in the community and part of it. i think it's very important to make ourselves visible and be visible in society. >> reporter: reflecting further on the mass murder motivated him to do more. he realized, to change the

situation in care homes, where there are challenges as well as joys, they are invisible to the outside, he would have to break down barriers between his staff and the residents' families. he began by introducing a smartphone platform for sharing images and texts. for families, it has opened up their worlds. they can see how their loved ones live and are cared for. >> translator: i look three or four times a day. i can see her at mealtimes or when she has taken part in a party. i have a lot of peace of mind. it's great. >> reporter: it created closer bonds between the care workers and families. that has been inspiring more frequent visits to the home. >> translator: we are human, too. we get impatient, shocked and alarmed. but now we are reminded that we

are not alone in our work. so i think the system has connected not only residents and their families but also care workers. >> reporter: to prevent new walls from shooting up, baba is turning to educating people, starting from children. last year, he opened a preschool in the city adjacent to the nursing home. it is completely inclusive, welcoming kids with disabilities and multi-cultural backgrounds. this is one of the children. due to an intellectual disability, he can't easily express himself in words. he is fascinated by water, playing with it all day. the staff just let him go ahead, while keeping a watchful eye.

>> translator: we know he loves water. if we take the fact that he loves water into account, we can think what that might lead to. that will be good for him. >> reporter: he seems calmer and happier since he started coming. >> translator: kids seamlessly transcend differences of ability, language, nationality, skin color, everything. they get over those divisions and walls. after the murder case, this is something we will always keep in

mind in our work in social welfare. >> reporter: people from all over the country, as well as abroad, are visiting baba's nursing home to discover his model. he is inspiring them to tear down the walls of discrimination that keep people apart. that movement is growing. >> baba is discovering that making life in the center more transparent raises community awareness, which translates to stronger security. as we saw, his model is catching on. the care home, the site of the 2016 mass murder, is being rebuilt with a communal space for locals to interact with center residents. next we bring you a story of a global coffee shop chain that is revolutionizing how people with disabilities work.

by turning to members of the deaf community to create an inspiring space together, the company has set the stage for them to shine. >> reporter: at this coffee shop that opened in tokyo, employees communicate using sign language as 80% of them are deaf or hard of hearing. for this woman who helped set up the branch, this signing store was a long-time dream. >> reporter: she lost her hearing as a baby. she enjoys working with people. five years ago, she joined this company which offers service industry careers to the deaf. the work was rewarding but communication could be difficult. she became frustrated that her condition was barring her from

taking on a role with more responsibility. so she pitched an idea to her company. a store staffed by the deaf. she landed the chance to do a popup where every would work in sign language. it was a runaway success. at that point, the company had no promotion protocol for employees with disabilities. from this experience, they became mindful of something very important. >> translator: until now, we have a tendency to place people with disabilities in safe positions. now we are aware this hindered their growth and chances to advance.

>> reporter: after months of preparation, the store opened. yet challenges surfaced. one of them was the milk for cappuccino. according to the company manual, they must listen to the sound of the nozzle as it foams the milk. otsuka teaches a method she developed based on sight and vibration. >> reporter: customers have various ordering options, including writing on a tablet or pointing to the menu.

>> reporter: kindling new connections, inspiring new ways of communication, celebrating diversity. they are creating a space of interaction with infinite possibilities. >> employees and customers may not always share a common language, but they communicate using eye contact, gestures and other tools. what's key is the desire to be understood and to understand others. the coffee house chain launched similar stores in five other locations globally, two in malaysia, two in china, and one in the united states. the company is planning to share information between these outlets to create an even more comfortable working environment for all employees. every person has innate talent, whether they are illuminated or not may depend on the ability of

people to lift emotional barriers and open up to mutual respect. societal change requires more than the good will of a handful of people. it requires a framework that will encourage that change. the two initiatives we saw today have inspired others and are growing. leaving no one behind means a long-term commitment to changing deeply-rooted systems. that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time.

>> studio b, unscripted. >> in the coming year, we will finish this generational war and bring our men and women home. >> the pentagon confirms thousands more u.s. troops will be withdrawn by january 15. it is days before joe biden takes office. within minutes, the announcement shows the secure green zone, killing a child.