Coverage to his life and achievements. Lee had been receiving treatment at a taipei hospital. Staff said the cause of death was septic shock and multiple organ failure. President tsai ingwen called his passing a great loss. She also instructed Government Agencies to offer his family whatever assistance they need for his funeral and other matters. Mainland Chinese Media also reported lees death but in a very different way. The global times cited an expert on relations who said lee was traitor to the chinese nation. The statebacked newspaper also criticized his goal of building a statetostate relationship with the mainland. Beijing maintains that taiwan is a p part of china. The u. S. Secretary of state offered his condolences in a statement. Mike pompeo praised lee for playing a crucial role in transforming taiwan into a beacon of democracy, and he sd the u. S. Will continue to strengthen ties with the island. Lets take a lookack at his life. Reporter lee was born in taiwan in 1923. Janese rule,nd he stued atder kyot uversrsit i i jap. Heeturned to twan after the end oforldld w. He eered polits in the 1970s when most high ranking officials were from mainland c cna. Despite that, he rose to become an influential figure within the nationalist party. Lee became the first taiwanborn president in 1988. L lee pursued a program o of dedemocratic reform. In 1995, h he became the first leader of taiwan to visit the united states, although the trip was not official. The following year, hee won a lalandslide vicictory in taiwan first direct president ial election. His final years in power were marked by clashes witheijing. In 1999 he propoposed the twostate theory, defining taiwans ties with china as statetostate. Beijing accused l lee of p promg independence. Lee stepped dowown in 2000 afte the Opposition Democratic Party member was elected president. The Hong Kong Government is disqualilifying 12 prodemocrac candidates from running in Legislative Council elections scheduled for september. Critics say its a way to quell opposition. The government made the announcement on thursday, one day before candidate registration closes. It claims the 12 were excluded from running because they advocate for hong kongs independence, solicit foreign interference, and object to the National Security law. The list includes prodemocracy leader joshua wong. He says he was disqualified for describing the new as draconian, and the move tramples the citys last pillar of vanishing autonomy. He added huaongkongers will not surrender and is calling on the world to stand with them. The disqualifications come about a week after authorities asked candidates to clarify their positions. Voting is scheduled for september 6, but earlier this week, local media said the government may postpone the election due to the coronavirus. Prodemocracy activists suggest the real reason may be because antibeijing momentum is growing after the enactment of the National Security law. Turning to the latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The head of the World Health Organization has stressed the role of young people in the resurgence underway in many countries. He says theyre not taking the risks seriously enough. Young people are not invincible. Young people can be infected. Youngg people can die. And young people can transmit the virus to others. Cluster infections arere occurring among young adults who gather at beaches or night clubs in spain, france and other parts of europe during the summer break. W. H. O. s technical chief says some of those who recovered suffer from longer term effects. Those include extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and difficulty in resuming normal activities. She said the w. H. O. Has reached out to some patients to look into the causes and explore effective methods of rehabilitation and care. On to japan. The number of new cases reported across the country on thursday topped 1,300, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic. Tokyo also hit a new high with 367 infections. Governor koike yuriko is calling on residents to refrain from gogoing out and drinking in groups. Translator we are facing a critical situation, and were on the verge of an explosive increase of infections. We need to take measures to curb it. The tokyo governmenent is asking restaurants and k karaok bars to shorten hours for most of next month. Establishments that only operate between 5 00 a. M. And 10 00 p. M. Will be eligible for subsidies. But some bar operators say the amount, about 2,000, isnt enough. Translator rent is extremely high in tokyo. I dont think the subsidy is enough to cover losses any establishment incurs. Tokyo continues to be the biggest hot spot in japan. The daily figure in the capital has been above 209 of the past ten days. The Tokyo Medical Association says the number of people asking to be tested has exceeded capacity at some testing sites and is causing delays. The association is planning to ask more clinics in tokyo to conduct pcr tests. Cases are also rising in other prefectures. Oka osaka rej sistered 109 infections after reporting 220 cases on wednesday. Translator osaka is smaller than tokyo and we have almost the same number of cases. Its worrying. Translator we recently had a fourday holiday, so we may see more cases. The prefectures of okinawa and fukuoka registered new daily records on thursday. Its the second day in a row more than 1,200 cases have been reported across japan. In total, more than 35,000 cases have been confirmed in the country. Ovover1,000 people hahave died. In the Second Quarter this year, the u. S. Economy suffered its biggest contraction since data keeping began in 1947. The Commerce Department says between april and june, gdp shrank at an annual rate of 32. 9 . Personal consumption, which accounts for about 70 of gdp contracted 34. 6 . . Business investment was down 27 while exports fell 64. 1 . The contraction occurred as the coronavirus pandemic was running rampant across the country. It was largely due to temporary business closures and shelterinplace orders. The u. S. Unemployment rate remains high, at more than 10 . The market is paying attention to whether the Trump Administration will come up with additional economic measures. Americas top tech giants have reported healthy profitsts evenen while t the u. S. Economy shrank by nearly a third due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Earnings Results for amazon, apple, formula weigacebook and covered the april to june quarter. Amazon. Com posted highest profits in its history. Al sales shot up 46 compare odd the same quarterback last year. Apple and facebook saw sales rise by 11 . Yet revenue fell at googles Parent Company alphabet. Officials say the companys business thrived as the pandemic forced many peoeople to work fr home while they spent more of their leisure time playing video games and streaming tv and movies. Amazon is predicts its strong resultss to conontinue intnto t Current Quarter with a jump in sales of oveve 30 . The tech giants leaders f face lawmakers the day before their earnings came out. During the hearing, they were accused of dominating the market to detroy rivals. U. S. President donald trump has raised the possibility of postponing the november president ial election as he casts doubt over the mail in voting system. Trump tweeted on thursday the vote would be the most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history and a great embarrassment to the united states. But he gave no evidence of fraud and mailin voting to support his claim. His suggestion comes as an increasing number of states have decided to adopt mailin voting due to the coronavirus pandemic. U. S. Media say this is the first time for trump to mention a possible delay in the election. The date, the first tuesday in november, is fixed by law and the constitution grants the power to change it to congress. Its time to check the weather with yoko komagata. Hello yoko. Its been a long rainy season and its finally finished in western china and central japan but the heat is the main concern. Whats going on . We usually have the hottest day of the seasons right after the rainy season which is from the end of july and august. Heat has been building up in kyushu and inland china. The mercury hit 36 degrees in kochi prefecture and 36. 6 degrees in chongqing on thursday. Things will be hot and dry in the southern half of japan into Central China throughout the weekend. We may even see higher temperatures over the coming days. The high could reach 35 degrees in osaka, shanghai, and chongqing as we go into the weekend. Meanwhile, tokyo had cooler temperatures in the last few days, but temperatures will climb to the 30s as the sun comes back. Watch out for heat stroke. Now we are talking about the end of the rainien is, bit also means the start of the typhoon season n. Fact, we had a tropical system over the south china sea. That will become a tropical depression as it moves forth had. The center of the storm may bring heavy rain. The outer band of the storm will also produce downpours across Southern Coast of china and in northern vieietnam as we go int the weekend. Expect up to 150 millimeters in the next 24 hours. The rainfall will continue to increase throughout the weekend. Coastal flooding may be possible. Winds will pick up in heiko, hongng kong, and hanoi as we g into friday. Weve beeeen t talking abobout scorching temperatures in south western europe. Madrid saw over 40 degrees on thursday. Warm air will continue to spread across france all the way up to uk on friday. The mercury could see could reach 34 degrees alone and 38 degrees in paris. Hot temperatures will persist in madrid and rome as we go into the weekend. Thats all for now. Thats all for this edition of nhk newsline. Thank you very much for watching. Welcome to newsline in depth. Im yanaka marie. Today ive stepped outside the nhk building in tokyo to talk about the weather. As you can see, its somewhat cloudy now, but earlier we saw a ray of sunshine which made a refreshing change from the gloomy weather weve had for more than a month. Japan always has a rainy season in june and july followed by a scorching summer and then a string of typhoons. But in recent years, weather conditions have become increasingly volatile. So far, this year is no exception, with unusually heavy rains across the country. The kyushu region in southern japan has been hit especially hard. In early july, torrential downpours dumped a months worth of rain in a 24hour period. This triggered floods along a major river leaving more than 60 people dead. There was also record rainfall in other parts of japan. Many people have been affected by floods and landslides. Today we look at efforts to deal with Natural Disasters in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak and ways to improve those responses. Our first report looks at the challenges faced by rescue teams in kumamoto. While the relief work there was underway in unrelenting torrential rain, nhk spoke to the doctor who is coordinating operations. Translator it is still raining heavily today. Things have yet to settle down. Reporter its a race against time for this man and his team. Their goal is to get medical support and supplies to the hardest hit areas. But as extreme weather continues to pound the region, they are being forced to exercise patience. Translator even if we receive information that there are people in need, its difficult to get to them. So, its been very stressful. Inaba is using to challenging circumstances, but this time is different. The doctor says its the first Natural Disaster since the coronavirus outbreak, which has made it difficult to recruit enough volunteers. Translator people who want to help would be coming from areas where the number of cases is high. Theyre worried about infecting those theyre trying to support. Locals may be hesitant to accept help for the same rereons. R reporter ass a result, in says people are trying to come up with their own solutions, including evacuating by car. He says during such a chaotic time, its essential that people look after their physical and mental health. Translator by trying to prevent infections, people are making sacrifices in other areas. I am very worried about h how residents arare dealing with separation and isolation. Its very important that they try to strike a balance. Reporter some have found refuge at emergency shelters, while others have no other choioice but to waitit to be rescscued. Its an unprecedented situation with no clear path forward. Nhk world. Inaba and his team spent 11 days in kumamoto. They began by rescuing people who were cut off along with their pet animals. The team also helped add Evacuation Centers, delivering relief supplies and setting up partitions to prevent the spread of infection. Since leaving kumamoto, theyve stayed in touch with local volunteers and are supporting the recovery effort by keeping people connected. But the coronavirus remains a major concern for the evacuees. So far no one on inabas team has been confirmed to have it. However, another relief work from outside the prefecture later tested positive. Operations of this kind depend on the help of many people from medical workers to volunteers, just like Everything Else in the coronavirus era, a a new normal will bee needed for relief work too. The coronavirus is also requiring Evacuation Centers to change. In the past, they were often extremely crowded. Now officials are implementing social distancing, but more still needs to be done as we see in our next report. Reporter nhk conducted an experiment with the help of researchers. When a person sneezes in a room with no air movement, droplets travel over a concentrated area for about 1. 5 meters. The risk of inhaling the virus will be greater for anyone lying or sitting on the floor. Profess professor kanbara has made an manual. Her chief interest is to prevent evacuees from inhaling droplets related to the virus. One practical way to do this is for people to surround themselves with partitions made from cardboard boxes while keeping a twometer distance from others. Evacuees can also sleep on elevated cardboard beds. This reduces the risk of touching the floor, which may be contaminated. Translator you should stay away from the floor as much as possible to avoid exposing yourself to any virus that may be there. Reporter antivirus measures can also mean good planning. Officials in tokyo evacuated 30,000 residents from the monster typhoon hagibis last year. The city is now creating guidelines to evacuate residents to cars, hotels and tents. This multimodal evacuation will help spread out crowds and maintain social distancing. City officials have also south agreement from local businesses to use their empty office space for emergency shelters. Translator our normal evacuation procedures are useless in this era of coronavirus. We hope our new system will keep residents safe. Reporter Natural Disasters can strike at any time. By creating safe evacuation conditions, we can avoid facing multiple emergencies at once. Its reassuring to hear that officials are planning ahead as the typhoon season will soon start in japan and earthquakes are always a concern. Some municipalities are holding didisaster drills showing peopl howw to build partitions or how to use their car as an emergency shelter. Others are offering online consultation on which areas are at risk and where people can find emergency shelters. But local authorities arent the only ones making preparations. The private sector is also starting to play its part by offering alternatives to Evacuation Centers. A hotel that recently opened in kanagawa prefecture has made sure it will be ready in the event of widespread blackouts often caused by earthquakes or typhoons. Reporter this hotel which opened in march has the capacity to use power from electric vehicles in the event of a blackout. The hotel is now able to harness 3evs that store about 185 kilowatts of electricity. Translator lets test the system as if theres a power outage. Ill flip off the Circuit Breaker now. Reporter the vehicles automatically supply electricity to the buildlding. Accordrding to the management, thats enough power to keep the front desk running as usual. Each ev stores enough electricity to charge over 6,000 smartphones. They can also power small appliances. During a disaster, the hotel plans to open its doors to residents so they can tap into its temporary grid along with hotel guests. The prefectural government says this is the first hotel in japan that has created a system that t feeds the energy stored in ev batteries directly into its building during power outages. The hotel is also offering an incentive of about 930 to employees who buy evs to further boost capacity. So far three have already taken advantage of the subsidy. Translator we plan to keep introducing electric vehicles to give our customers and also local residents peace of mind in the event of a disaster andnd power outage. We hope our efforts will make our Community Safer and more secure. Reporter in recent years, japan has experienced a spate of major Natural Disasters leading to power outages. By turning to evs as energy story devices, the hotel is hoping to position itself as a Community Emergency hub. A hotel with electricity would be very reassuring, and there would be less concern about contracting covid19. It could also be a life safer for people with medical needs. The power offersvs is starting to be widely recognized. The economy released information. Auto makers are also looking at ways they can provide support for local municipalities by supplying evs during an emergency. And a major Japanese TelecommunicationsCompany Plans to replace its whole fleet of 8,000 cars with evs by 2030. So far it has 150 and intends to speed up this program in light of recent Natural Disasters. Now, while its good to know there are programs in place by both the public and private sectors, its also essential for people to make their own preparation. Weve put together a short video on what we all should keep ready in case of a disaster during the current coronavirus epidemic. Japan has a long history of dealing with Natural Disasters, so people tend to be wellprepared. But the coronavirus pandemic makes it even more important that were the coronavirus pandemic shatters the Global Economy with record plunges in the u. S. , europe, and latin america. This is al jazeera live from londndon. Proposes delaying the u. S. President ial election to avoid fraud. Critics say is another distraction. Crackdown in hong kong. Activists arrested and democratic voices barred from election. And goioing where no man n or