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tv   Newsline  LINKTV  November 19, 2020 5:00am-5:31am PST

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ship. he carefully removes bad bristles one by one. even now, for takamoto, bristles are everything. ♪ ♪ hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the latest from tokyo. we begin here in japan where coronavirus cases are on the rise. officials confirmed more than 2,300 cases across the nation on thursday, a new daily record, and a continuation of a worrying trend. the daily count first crossed the 2,000 threshold on wednesday. but numbers have now climbed higher even before all the prefectural tallies are recognized. it's first time the figure has
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topped 500. experts monitoring the situation in the capital say the latest seven-day average is about 326 daily cases, up from 244 the week before. the metropolitan government raised the alert. it is not asking businesses to reduce operating hours but the governor is asking residents to take thorough prevention measures when they dine in a group as they plan year-end get-togethers. >> translator: we advise people with pre-existing conditions not to dine in a group. anyone to lives with family members with a higher risk of falling seriously ill are advised to refrain from such outings. >> osaka, aichi, hokkaido, and other prefectures also reported a record number of daily cases on thursday. the recent spike comes as residents take advantage of
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government subsidies on dining, lodging, transportation. officials say the go-to travel and go-to eat campaigns are necessary to get the economy back on track, but as nhk world's shirakawa marina reports, the japan medical association is speaking out. >> translator: it's not clear that go to travel led to a surge in the number of infections. but there is no doubt that it was the trigger. considering the growth in infections and the timing of the increase, i think the go to campaigns can be linked here. >> reporter: the president of the jma says it's time to be flexible and review the policies. the government, though, has no immediate plans to halt its campaigns. >> translator: both tourism operators and travelers are implementing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. we believe the risk of infection from travel can be reduced if such measures are taken properly. >> reporter: a top official from
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governing ldp says tourists and restaurant industries are finally on the verge of being able to cope with economic fallout from the pandemic and that canceling or limiting go to will be another blow in the very tough year. there are signs of some recovery from earlier in 2020. personal consumption, which accounts for more than half of japan's gdp, grew by 4.7% quarter on quarter. the government tourism subsidies boosted spending on travel and dining out. but at this trel agency, wod-be tourists have recently been canceling trips. >> translator: the spread of the coronavirus appears to have discouraged customers from traveling. >> reporter: murayama says clients ask if it's really okay
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to travel with so many cases being reported. but since the government hasn't ruled it out, he feels he has to say it's all right. he adds, it may be better to suspend the campaign. people in tokyo also voiced confliction over the program. >> translator: i don't use this kind of campaign. after all, i think i should refrain from going out. i try not to go to crowded places. >> translator: even if there are contradictions, i think japan' economy is holding on thanks to the campaign. in that sense, i can't say no to it. >> reporter: the upcoming three-day weekend could be a dangerous situation, said the jma president. he's calling it a weekend of patience, urging people to stay cautious and refrain from traveling to and from areas where cases are surging. but after nearly a full year of
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adjusting to the uncertainty of the coronavirus, many wonder if patience is running out. shirakawa marina, nhk world, tokyo. now the united nations children's fund or unicef says those under 20 years of age account for 11% of all global coronavirus infections. it's calling on government leaders to ensure that all children have necessary resources amid the pandemic. unicef expressed concern over covid-19's long-term impact on children's health and education in a report released thursday. it says disruptions to critical health care for children, such as routine vaccinations, posed the most serious threat. the report notes that 360 million children are missing out on meals because of school closures. the organization suggested that if basic safety measures are in place, the benefits of keeping schools open outweigh the costs of closing them.
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johns hopkins university in the u.s. reports there are over 56 million people infected globally. a total of 1.4 million have died. the australian military says it's found credible evidence its troops in afghanistan unlawfully killed farmers and other civilians. >> such behavior profoundly betrayed the trust placed in us by the afghan people, who had asked us to their country to help them. >> the general apologized to the people of afghanistan. a four-year inquiry looked into the conduct of special forces personnel stationed there between 2005 and 2016. australian soldiers reportedly killed dozens of people outside the heat of battle. in some cases junior soldiers were coerced into shooting a
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prisoner in order to gain the first kill. there have been growing calls to investigate since australian public broadster abc reported the pottial war cme in 2017. last week, prime minister scott morrison announced the governme will set upn inpendent investitive tas force to look into the allegations. > turning now to the asia-pacific economic cooperation forum, the leaders of 21 countries and territories have begun a virtual summit. >> translator: we will not reverse course or run against historical trend by decoupling or forming a small circle to keep others out. we welcome coopetion with every other region, country, or company that wants to do so. >> that statement was seen as veiled criticism of the united states. president xi said china will continue to open its markets
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wider and contribute to global economic recovery. he said market openness is one of china's basic policies and will not change, whatever happens. the summit is expected to adopt a joint statement on friday. it remains to be seen whether members can find ways to cooperate on rebuilding economies hit by the pandemic. top diplomats from five western countries are criticize is china after a handful of pro-democracy lawmakers in hong kong were disqualified from holding office. foreign ministers from the u.s., the uk, canada, australia, and new zealand said in a joint statement released wednesday the move further undermines hong kong's autonomy. they say it appears to be part of a campaign to silence critical voices in the semiautonomous territory. and they're urging beijing to immediately re-instate the disqualified legislative councilmembers. last week, four opposition politicians were removed from hong kong's legislature after
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beijing gave officials there authority to disqualify legislators deemed a threat to national security. that led the entire pro-democracy camp in the chamber to resign in protest. the statement also urges china to live up to its international commitments, a likely reference to the 1997 handover agreement with the uk. it's supposed to guarantee hong kong's autonomy for 50 years. china's foreign ministry has criticized similar statements in the past, saying they interfere in the country's internal affairs. officials in taiwan have decided not to renew the broadcast license of a popular pro-china cable news channel. the national communications commission on wednesday rejected the application from cti-tv. its current license is due to expire next month. the commission cited the channel for repeated instances of inaccurate reporting. it also said a major shareholder had interfered in cti-tv's
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operation. the channel's operated by a media company controlled by a pro-beijing businessman. >> translator: the biggest problem is external interference in the tv station's news production and broadcasts. >> cti-tv is criticizing the ruling, alleging it's politically motivated. taiwan's pro-china nationalist party says the move will undermine freedom of the press. but the taiwanese government, which is led by the democratic progressive party, is standing by the decision. it says the commission is an independent body whose members are approved by parliament. now taiwan is widely seen as having one of the most open media environment in asia. it was ranked second highest in the region in the latest press freedom index from reporters without borders. now to the united states where president-elect joe biden says that the trump administration's failure to recognize his victory is
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delaying his transition team's efforts to draw up coronavirus response plans. >> there's a whole lot of things that are just -- we just don't have available to us, which unless it's available soon, we're going to be behind by weeks and months. >> biden was talking with frontline workers, including nurses and firefighters. he said his team has been unable to get vital information about government stockpiles and potential vaccines. biden also said that he will call on all state governors to implement stricter measures, including mandatory mask-wearing and testing. representatives of a group of frontline workers told biden they're still short of personal protective gear. he promised to make sure that they get all the equipment they need. state governors across the united states are imposing or re-imposing measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. the lockdowns have prompted some residents to rush into grocery stores in a state of panic buying. many have arrived to find their neighbors got there first. nhk world's catherine kobayashi
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has more >> government shutdown, lockdown again. >> reporter: shoppers in new mexico can't find the things they came for. no toilet paper, no paper towels or cleaning supplies. those who got here before them cleaned out the shelves. >> i see lots of people coming out here with ten -- their whole cart filled with bottled water and things. so i hope people are mindful of that. >> reporter: yet again. same scene in washington, colorado, across the country. governors in nearly every state have seen infections climb. many have imposed new restrictions, mask mandates, travel bans, lockdowns. some residents responded in a panic. now autumn is starting to remind many of spring. >> it's scary because the last time they said two weeks and it ended up being three months. >> reporter: store managers have learned from their experiences earlr this yr. me are liting puhases of me produs.
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and those who study supply chains say the links are strong. >> people who go to the grocery store, they're buying larger amounts. so they're not shopping as frequently. >> reporter: consumers just ask others to be reasonable. >> and i think if everyone just purchases what they need at the moment, there will be enough for everyone to go around. >> reporter: many americans are sure to ignore her advice. they're getting what they need now to hunker down for the long winter ahead. catherine kobayashi, nhk world, new york. a novel by japanese-based korean writer yu miri has been awarded one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the united states.
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yu's "tokyo ueno station" won the prize for best translated work at the national book awards. "tokyo ueno station" was published in japanese in 2014. it tells the story of an elderly homeless man from fukushima prefecture who had moved to tokyo in order to find work to support his family. instead, he spends his days in tokyo's ueno park. the novel depicts in detail the life of the homeless, highlighting inequalities widely overlooked by japanese society during years of economic growth. >> translator: the global pandemic is growing, and there's the problem of people being marginalized by society. so my story seems to have been read with sympathy around the world. >> yu moved to fukushima four years after the region was hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. an anti-fraud campaign out
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of hong kong is attracting attention for the wrong reason. police in hong kong unveiled the mascot "little grape." its name features the same name as the character in "demon slayer." some people on social media say the similarities go further. they say a near-complete copy of the character in grape form. hong kong pro-democracy activist agnes chow said she's saddened it's becoming a tool for the territory's police. the police counter the grape is their own original creation. ♪ ♪
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it's time now for a check on the weather with meteorologist jonathan oh. it was breezy in tokyo on thursday but a warm day, just like the beginning of autumn. what's ahead for friday and the weekend? >> hello. we're going to still be dealing with the warmth at least for one more day in tokyo, as we are seeing high pressure starting to move toward the east. but cold weather is on the way, so it's going to feel more like where we're supposed to be for november as opposed to september. we did see clouds rolling in from the west. areas to the north like sapporo starting to get rain. western areas of japan picking up rain as well. through thursday, a couple of pictures from tokyo.
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beautiful colors now starting to set in as we see the fall coming in. again, it felt more like september, because of the temperatures being warm. so there's that cold front that's going to be moving through. we're going to see scattered showers across japan as we go through friday. and then once the rain pushes out, we'll see temperatures really sinking. so don't get too comfortable with these warm temperatures, because by the time we go into next week, reality will be setting in. sapporo going from 17 on friday to 4 on monday with some snow in the forecast. we're going to see the descending of temperatures in tokyo down to 15 for the high on monday. osaka will be seeing mid-teens as well as we go through the weekend. much cooler pattern coming up soon. meanwhile, we are talking about some strong winds and maybe a little bit of a pattern to the north on the western side of the united states. that's causing some problems in nevada. take a look at this video coming out from near reno where
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firefighters are tackling the blazes of the southwestern part of the city that's threatening some houses due to wild winds. the fire department asking people to voluntarily evacuate their homes. an elementary school had to be placed on a precautionary code yellow lockdown cue to the threat. crews north of reno are battling a vegetation fire that forced the closure of a highway. high pressure is going to be moving in, the winds are going to be relaxing a bit, so we should be seeing a little calmer pattern moving through. lower moving through, one moving across canada, as it does so bringing snow from winnipeg to points eastward. to the south and east we are talking about temperatures a bit on the chilly side. we're looking at temperatures to stay on the cool side a couple of days as cold air has moved into the area. 13 in d.c. new york a high of 8. snow expected wednesday with a high of 2 as we go through thursday.
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hope you have a good day wherever you are. of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard, so stay right there.
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♪ ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. indonesia's central bank has cut its key interest rate in a bid to boost the economy hit hard by the pandemic. southeast asia's largest economy is experiencing its first downturn since the asian financial crisis of the late 1990s policymakers trimmed the benchmark seven-day reverse repurchase rate by a quarter of a point to 3.75%. the rate is the lowest on record. thursday's cut follows one in july and is the fifth this year.
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market watchers were not expecting the central bank to lower the rate at its latest meeting. even so, indonesia's fallen into a technical recession for the first time in over two decades as the impact of covid-19 continues to take a toll on the economy. a group of japanese companies is planning to use a digital currency in an experiment. the trial involving digital yen gets under way next fiscal year. a diverse group of nearly 40 companies, including mega banks, telecom carriers, and power utilities, have agreed to take part. the experiment was proposed by the current, a cryptocurrency exchange operator. in the trial crypto banks will disburse the yen. >> translator: deposits at banks are widely used for settling payments, including among companies. so we plan to use the digital
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currency based on banks' debt. >> the digital currency will be transferred and used for making payments. the experiments will be conducted separately for each industry group, including retail, manufacturing, and power. people across japan are increasingly concerned about the resurgence in coronavirus cases, and their growing anxiety is putting a damper on plans for the festive season. many bosses say they won't throw parties for their employees this year. a research firm surveyed more than 10,000 companies about their plans to celebrate the end of 2020 and the start of 2021. almost 90% said they won't have any parties. among big companies, it was nearly 93%. by prefecture, hokkaido was at the top of the list. 93% of firms there said they'll scrap the festivities this year. tokyo and osaka were next, both above 90%. the research firm also found
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that between january and october, restaurants and bars across the country went bankrupt at a record pace, with 730 shutting for good. the firm says the decision by most companies not to hold parties will cause even more pain for restaurants. new numbers reveal a spending by domestic travelers in japan plummeted during the july-to-september quarter. this comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the tourism industry. the japan tourism agency estimates domestic travelers spend about $29 billion at shops, hotels and restaurants in the period, down 56% in yen terms from last year. but it does mark improvement from the 83% drop in the previous quarter when spending was hampered by the government-declared state of emergency. domestic tourists spent an average 13% less compared to
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last year. agency officials partly attribute this decline to discounts offered by the government as part of its campaign to boost travel. there have been some signs of recovery in the industry such as increase in the number of travelers in recent months but they say it's too early for optimism with cases shooting up across the country. a major japanese consumer goods maker has decided to focus some of its production capacity on an item that is in desperately short supply, n95 face masks. this comes as medical workers in the country have been grappling with a shortage of the item for months. iris ohyama plans to start production next fall, building a plant in miyagi prefecture for the purpose.
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>> translator: domestic production is important to avoid competition with other countries, to buy masks on the international market. >> the government says 70% of n95 masks sold in japan before the pandemic were produced overseas. the item has been in short supply since april when cases began to increase around the country. the government has been trying to ramp up domestic production by offering subsidies to companies that make masks and other health care items. japanese automakers are joining the industry-wide push to slash carbon emissions. they're planning to ramp up production of evs, hybrids, and other vehicles that rely on electricity to run. executives a the mitsubishi motors say by fiscal 2030, half the cars they make will be evs. they also have big plans to boost output of their plug-in hybrid vehicles. the people at nissan motor will switch nine of the main models they sell in china, the world's
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biggest car market, to electric or hybrid or officials at toyota motor say by 2025, they'll sell more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles a year, about half their current global sales. japanese government has set a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. in britain, britain is planning to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2030. and cna and the u.s. state of california say that by 2035, all new cars in their markets will be ev. apple says it's going to cut its app store commission by half for small and independent software developers. the u.s. i.t. giant says the move is to help out companies struggling amid a tough business environment. in a statement, apple says the fee will go from 30% to 15% from january 1st. eligible developers will be those that earn $1 million or less in revenue from apps for
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th calendar year. it expects they will spend the extra money they save from the lower fee. the app store's commission has been controversial. epic games, the developer of popular online game "fortnite," has filed a lawsuit against apple arguing the 30% commission is excessive. the litigation is continuing. 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 watching. ÷é÷é÷élédddddo
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al jazeera, mexico city. c1 >> this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. a long-awaited inquiry into the conduct of australian special forces in afghanistan has found credible evidence of multiple war crimes. the report details 39 unlawful killings of civilians or prisoners and cruel treatment. allegations including weapons being planted on buddies to -- on body -- on bodies to conceal wrongdoing. >>

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