Hall t hallton, and rise, for the discovery of hepatitis b virus. Hepatitis is a major Global Health problem causing cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world. It was the discovery of the remaining hepatitis, making blood tests and new medicines that saved millions of lives. The assembly added the nobel winners research is an achievement in the ongoing battle against viral diseases. Now to the united states, where the president is being treated for covid19 with just weeks to go until the november election. Donald trump prisurprised his supporters sunday with a brief appearance outside the hospital where he spent the weekend. Nhk camera crew captured video of the 74yearold waving from a motorcade before returning to the medical center. Some u. S. Media are criticizing trump for staging a photoop before hes recovered from the disease that killed over 200,000 people in the country. Commentators are also focusing on the secret Service Agents who were in the vehicle, saying trump put them at risk of infection. A white house spokesperson defended the decision, saying the motorcade had been cleared by the medical team, and appropriate precautions were taken. Hours before stutrumps appeara, he posted a video about his ordeal. It has been an interesting journey. I learned a lot about covid. I learned it by reallyoing to school. This is the real schoolol. This isnthehe les r rea the book school. I get it, and u underandd it. Itss a very i interestiti thing. Im going tbe letting you know about it. Some u. S. Media also say the presesident is angry a at his c of staff, mark meadows, for making comments to the media that contradicted the white house physicians assessment. On saturday, trumps doctors stressed his condition was improving. Some u. S. Media outlets quoted an unidentified source, saying the president s vital signs had been very concerning. It emerged later meadows was the source of those comments. In response, trump reportedly ordered his staff to shoot a video,o, showing he was well. A white house physician l later admitted to deliveringg a rosy picture of trumps condition but denied hiding anything. It triggered speculation about trumps health, raising questions about the race to the white house. Mike pompeo is on his way to tokyo to attend a meeting with the Foreign Ministers of japan, india, and australia. Pompeo expects to come away from the socalled quad talks with significant announcements and achievements. He told reporters he spoke with President Trump in an online briefing just before the trip. We made sure the president was fully up to speed on all the things happening around the world. Got a little Additional Guidance for this trip. Nono im looking forward to executing it. How were his spiritits . Great. He was in a great mood. Reportersrs also asked if th white house has any concerns about adversaries taking advantage of the president being in the hospital. Pompeo repliied there are rogue and malign actors around the world, but the white house is fully preparedd to deal with an situation. The state Department Says pompeo will arrive monday evening. Hell meet with the Prime Minister, suga, for the first time sinince suga tooook office. People in parts of new york are bracing for a possible lockdown as Coronavirus Infections surge again. What has become clear is that there are a number of neighborhoods now that have continued to have a high level of coronavirus positivity, and that requires stronger action than weve had to take for many montnths. The citys mayor says nine neighborhoods in brooklyn and queens will start two weeks of lockdown on wednesday if state thorauities give the goahead. Positivity rates in the areas have risen 3 in the past seven days. Most businesses will be restricted, and facetoface lessons will be banned in schools. That comes as new york relaxed measures for schools and restaurants in september after nearly six months of lockdown. Moving to the latest on allegations. The japanese government may be hindering academic independence. Opposition lawmakers say political motivations may have been at play when Prime Minister suga declined to appoint six scholars who are nominated by peers to sit on the science counswauncil of japan. The e diet Affairs Chiefs of t parties want the science and Technology Policy minister to apappear in lower and upperouse Committee Meetings this week. Translator members should not be appointed with political intentions in mindnd. Those w who made the decision should be made accountable. The Science Council advises the government on potential policies. New members are chosen every three years and are based on council recommendations. The Prime Minister makes the final decision but rarely rejects any of the nominations. This time, suga rejected 6 of the 105 nominees. The unsuccessful candidates are known to be critical of government policies. Each have spoken out about controversial legislation that prompted public protest, including National Security legislation and an antiterrorism law. A Senior Member of the main Ruling Liberal Democratic Party says it is considering the oppositions request. Translator its a matter of great interest, so i think it is necessary that those who made the decision answer questions. The Science Council and some of the rejected scholars have also expressed concern. One professor says it would be a bad sign if the council only ek pre expressed opinions that aligned with the government. The japanese government launched a protest over chinas new jonline mouseum, underscori japans claim to the Senkaku Islands in the south china sea. The Digital Museum was launched saturday by the marine data and information service, an agency of the state oceanic administration. The museum virtually presents maps and Historical Documents that beijing says show the islands are its inherent territory. Japans chief cabinet secretary told reporters monday that japan followed the protest through diplomatic channels, calling for the website to be taken down. He stressed japans effective control of the islands. Translator china is in no position to create such a website about the japanese territory o of the senkaku isislands. Bebeiji beijings claims are unacceptable. Japan controls the islands. China and taiwan claim them. The japanese government maintain its an inherent partf o japans territory, in terms of history and international law. There is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over it. In other news, the mother of a japanese woman abducted by north korea decades ago is celebrating her daughters birthday by pleading for her return. I can yagumi was abducted on her way to high school when she was 13 years old. Her mother told reporters she wants her daughter to know she is still determined to her rescued. Ththe parenents continue t to m their daughters birthday. Translator we celebrated her with a small piece of cake and coffee. This year, it feels quiet and lonely. Sakie says she feels shes walking in the dark every day, but shes a little more optimisticic after japan got a w leader last month. Translator now that the Prime Minister has changed, i have a little hope. I always tell magumi ill make sure shes rescued, no matter what. I place her photo next to her fathers. I want to let both of them know, my resolve is still strong. The japanese government says north korean agents kidnapped ae least 17 japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s. Pyongyang repatriated five of them in 2002, but the rest remain unaccounted for. Police in northern thailand have arrested a Japanese National and four thais on suspicion of illegally growing cannabis. It is believed they were selling the drug to people in japan. The police say 41yearold graduate student was arrested saturday, along with four thai men allegedly hired by him. The police raided a building they suspect was used to grow cannab cannabis. They seized 128 plants as well as dry cannabis. They say photos were tweeted in japanese about producing and using the drug. According to police, the suspect denies allegations and maintains he cultivated it for research purposes. Saudi arabias government eased coronavirus restrictions. Its now allowing a limited number of citizens and residents visit the holy site in mecca. Masks and socially distancing pilgrims on sunday were seen praying and circling the kaaba from early morning. Mecca is a vital source of currency for saudi arabia, drawing huge numbers of muslims from across the globe. The government suspended the annual pilgrimage in march to suspend the spread of the virus. It sharply limited the number of pilgrims in this years hajj, allowing only citizens in the country to take part. The government didnt say what led to the relaxation, but analysts think the government may be trying to revitalize the tourism industry. Starting next month, riyadh plans to per fmit pilgrims from outside the country. Over 35veillion cases of covid19 have been confirmed worldwide with the death toll standing at over 1 million people, icoaccording to Johns Hopkins university. A Fashion Designer died at 81, takada kenzo. That takada was born in 1939. After studying fashion in tokyo, he moved to paris when he was 25. Takada gained prominence after releasing designs based on ethnic clothing, and organized shows in pubs and movie theaters instead of boutiques. In 1984, takada was named knight of the order of arts and letters in france. He also received a medal of honor in japan in 1999. Takadas office in japan said he was admitted to hospital near paris in midseptember, and his condition deteriorated earlier this month. Next, a typical karate match involves more than just punches anand kicks. The competitors also do a lot of shouting. The technique caused concerns that the coronavirusus can be spread through droplets from the mouth. The Japan Karate Federation at one point asked players to consider staying quiet during tournaments, but it revised its substantiation last month, allowing it as long as players wore protective face and mask shields. The first tournament under the new guidelines was held. Athletes in and around tokyo took part. Translator it was good that i was able to put my heart into the match with shouts. Translator the shields were used at this competition for the first time. We want to listen to the athletes opinions. It is better to have shouts. Many athletes and coaches say t is essential, as it focuses the energy of fighters. The federation found the face and mask shields cut the amount of droplets by 98 . Time now for a check of the World Weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. It seems like we have been talking about the waters in the gulf of mexico, which are brewing some storms. Whats the situation like for the region . Hello. We are seeing a Tropical Storm that is brewing in the gulf of mexico near the yucatan peninsula gamed gamma, as it is spinning around the area. We also have something south and east of there, a tropical depression that is also trying to gather some energy at this point. I want to show you some video coming out of mexico, to show you this storm as gamma made a direct hit on the peninsula saturday as a Tropical Storm, bringing high winds and waves. It ended up destroying a pier by the beach. Guess what . This storm is still likely going to be causing some more problems as we look at the possibility of flash flooding as we go throughout the next several days. On top of that, this storm could be producing a lot of rain with this. The system will move south and west. Now, it is interesting, because you probably noticed the clouds are way up to the north and east, getting as far north as florida. The center of the storm is way down toward the south, and itll continue to spin itself and move around this area as we go throughout the next few days. Rainfall amounts can hit close to 200 millimeters over the next few days. Thats going to be of some concern. This is a separate storm. I mentioned the tropical depression. It is going to be moving to the north and west and expected to become a hurricane in a day or so. So this is something we have to catch closely. It is setting the sights for the southeastern united states. Weve had quite a few landfalls this year, and were going to see if this is going to be the next landfalling storm. In the meantime, toward the north, High Pressure is controlling the weather. It will remain dry and sunny. Upper 20s from denver to oklahoma city. 26 in atlanta. 23 in washington, d. C. As we go through monday. We do have another tropical system to talk about on the western pacific. As we have this Tropical Storm that is trying to gather itself together and impact some of these smaller islands to the north and east. Now, looking at the track, youre thinking, wow, japan might be seeing or might be the site of the storm. It ises it is it is in the circle of the storm, but it is a few days out. First focus is oak nkinawokinaw well see how it moves to the north and east. Itll stay in the open waters meantime. Okinawa, the storm will be moving in your general direction. Through the overnight hours into tuesday, Northern Areas of japan may be dealing with some rain and thunderstorms. Hope you have a good day wherever you are. That brwraps up this editio of nhk newsline. Im raja pradhan in tokyo. Next up is newsline biz with ramin mellegard, so stay right there. This is newsline biz. Im ramin mellegard. Low cost carrier Airasia Japan says itll discontinue all of its flight routes and close down operations in the country. It says it can expectnot expect recovery in passenger demand because of covid19. All four routes will be abolished december 5th. It operates between central japan and sapporo, sendai, fukuoka, and taipei. The airline suspended all international and domestic flights from april. Operations in japan resumed in august, but it stopped all domeststic flights again t this month. The airliline is a joint ventur between malaysia paced Airasia Group and japanese partners and began operations in 2017. The Tokyo Stock Exchange officials have apologized again for Technical Glitch that halted trading the entire session last thursday. A failure in a memory module in a cash equity trading system was the direct cause. The officials explained when the failure occurred, the automatic switchover to a backup device did not function. That made it impossible for Market Information to be relayed. Officials also said theyre setting up a committee to investigate the problem further. Translator we will take a range of measures to prevent any recurrence, such as reinspection when s setting up the system. Japanese tech giant developed the system, it was updated in 2010 and has been updated many times. It accounts for 70 of annual turnover in tokyo. The disruption raised concern over the reliability of asias largest exchange. Japanese Electronics Firm nec says itll purchase Swiss Software developer avaloq for 2. 2 billion. Itit will give nec a global foothold in Financial Software. The Japanese Firm plans to acquire all shares of avaloqs share in a deal expected to be completed by next april. They plan to get the Customer Base and enhance offerings with expertise. Avaloq develops Wealth Management and other Financial Software for more than 150 Financial Institutions in 30 countries around the world. The nec president and ceo takashi s says his company will help promote the digitalization of Financial Institutions to improve security while expanding thee firms business. Japans leading furnishing company nitori bucked the trend of not doing well during the pandemic. Net profit for the six months through august surged more than 35 to 470 million. That was on the back of sales that grew almost 13 , to about 3. 4 billion. Nitori enjoyed brisk sales of kitchen equipment, as people hunkered down amid the spread of the coronavirus. The switch to Remote Working also fueled demand for desks, chairs, and other furniture. Translalator the coronaviru pandemic has drawn a clear line between industries doing well and those performing poorly. Nitori expects net profit through the full year in february to rise to 800 million. Thailand is famous for mangos and papayas, and also the juice made from them. However, these days, some people are trying to avoid 100 fruit juice because of its high sugar content. Now, theyre getting some hightech help. Nhk world has more. Reporter these are new fruit juices that have been developed by a recent startup in thailand. This is 100 orange juice, but the sugar content has been cut in half. This is the head of the startup. He says cutting the sugar content in 100 fruit juice usually results in a loss of nutrients. [ inaudible ]. Reporter the research has focused on more than 100 varieties of microorganisms found in fruits and other foods, each of which break down sugars. By combining some of them, they found it was possible to reduce the sugar level of the juice without affecting the nutritiol content. It took six years for them to find the best combination for each type of juice, along with the optimal temperature for these microbes. We need to find the right microbes and the right molecules to break down the molecules inside the juicece too a sugar level. But you can maintain all the other goodness inside the juice. Reporter these dais, therda theres a growing trend of Health Consciousness in thailand. Even green tea has plenty of sugar added. But theres an increase in concern about diabetes. Translator i can get it with reduced sugar . Translator i love sweet things, but for my health i try to avoid overdoing it. Reporter in august, the startup began trial sales of its juice with half the sugar content. The cost is around 8 for two bottles. Recently, the ceo visited a wellknown influencer in the Business World in the hope that he would publicize the juice on his social media accounts. Translator oh, this tastes good. Reporter boosted by his social media posts, the startup soon sold all of the 800 bottles it produced. Massive opportunity. If we can bring this technology into the markets, at least be able to add it to onethird of the markets, we will be turning to the kind of markets. Reporter this new technology is a already a attracting majord and beverage companys interest. Around the world, tiny microbes are set to make a big change on ththe market for fruit j juice. Nhnhk world, bangkok. Okay, lets get t a check the markets. S. Anand thatss it for news biz. From our tokyo studios, im ramin mellegard. Thank you very much for joining us. Qaiog