welcome to "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo with the latest at this hour. the united nations security council has condemned north korea's missile launch as a violation of council resolutions. north korean officials say they launched a rocket carrying a satellite. u.s. and european officials say the north koreans launched a long range ballistic missile in violation of u.n. security council resolutions. the council met behind closed doors. china is a traditional ally of north korea, still, chinese

delegates joined officials from other member states in denouncing the north korean launch. u.s. ambassador susan rice is chairing the security council this month. she announced the outcome. >> members of the security council deplored this launch which is in violation of security council resolutions. members of the security council agreed to continue consultations on an appropriate response in accordance with its responsibilities given the urgency of the matter. >> council members did not decide any specific action against north korea. they stopped short of adopting a legally binding resolution. north korean officials admitted their attempt to put a satellite into orbit was a failure.

>> officials at japan's defense ministry say the rocket flew for more than a minute and may have reached an altitude of 120 kilometers. south korean defense officials say it then appears to have broken into about 20 pieces. the debris fell into the yellow sea west of the korean peninsula. >> translator: even though the launch of the missile failed, north korea went ahead with it despite objections by japan and other countries. we cannot help but call this serious provocation to the security of japan. u.s. officials say north korea may have used ye e ed ira technology in building the missile. the officials told nhk it could have been an improved version of the rocket north korea launched in 2009. at that time it used a long

march one rocket in the third stage but it's believed to have failed to separate and dropped into the pacific ocean. this time the officials say north korea likely introduced technology from iran's rocket in the third stage. they are similar in shape and size. the officials say there has been increased cooperation between north korea and iran in developing a ballistic missile. in february iran successfully launched a satellite into orbit. north korea's missile test failed but the country's leader, kim jong-un still had something to celebrate. he got another top job. >> kim was already supreme commander of the military. he was also made first secretary of the ruling party this week. so he's now in charge of all three branches of power. governments are concerned

that north koreans may conduct a nuclear test if the u.n. security council condemns their missile launch. south korean intelligence officials say a satellite photo taken on april 1st suggests the north koreans are preparing to test a nuclear device. the north koreans conducted a nuclear test within three months of each of their previous long range missile tests. analysts say they may conduct another if the u.s. government canceled food aid or the u.n. security council stakes strong opposition to the missile launch. in other news, syrian government troops fired on anti-government protesters the day after a u.n. brokered cease-fire took effect. a syrian human rights group says they killed 11. tens of thousands of syrians took part in anti-government protests after friday prayers. government troops, and

protesters in the northern province and the southern province. opposition activists have denounced the government for violating the cease-fire. they've asked the united nations to send cease-fire monitors without delay. tensions remained high as syrian government officials insist they have the right to come to any attack by anti-government forces. japanese government ministers say reactors at a nuclear power plant in the west of the country need to be restarted. they say that's the only way to avert a power shortage in the region this summer. the reactors at the ohi nuclear plant are offline for regular safety checks. ministers said a safety act plan from the plant operator meets new government standards. they also considered the likely power shortfall if the plant stays offline. >> translator: the government is responsible for ensuring a stable power supply. we decided that the reactors at

the ohi plant need to be restarted. >> the minister said they will discuss the issue again after getting consent from communities near the plant. china's economy grew 8.1% in the january to march period compared to a year earlier. the rate of growth slowed for a fifth quarter in a row. the national bureau of statistics says the year on year growth rate is the lowest since the april to june quarter of 2009. that's when the economy was still reeling from the global financial crisis. the bureau says the european debt problems dampened demand for chinese goods. it also cites the rising labor costs in china and soaring prices as factors for slowdown. >> translator: china faces crucial issues, like a slowdown in exports and surging consumer

prices. >> observers say china will determine when to ease its monetary policy as it watches how the economy is performing. economists have different opinions on china's economic growth going forward. here's what senior fellow at the research institute has to say. >> i think the government is coming to enforce liquidity generation policy like qe 2 and qe3 in the united states to support the companies' investment and also to stimulate the private consumption. and second one we find that smes, small companies in china just facing quite difficulties to finance because in the financial market, the private companies, especially the small

companies, they cannot borrow money, especially from commercial banks, for example. so i think the government need to refirm the system and enforce some policy mix to help the small companies to finance in the thermal financial market. >> that was ke long, senior fellow at fujitsu research institute. now here's our three-day world weather forecast.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa on "newsline." thank you for staying with us on

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