welcome to nhk world "newsline." gunmen in pakistan have killed the main prosecutor investigating the assassination of former prime minister buto. he had been looking into the role that musharraf played in her death. gunman opened fired on his car on his way to testify. musharraf is accused of failing to provide adequate protection.

he is also charged with illegally dismissing several judges while he was in office. he roughered to pakistan in march. he intended to make a political come back ahead of next week's parliamentary election. he is currently under house arrest. people think that supporters angry about his arrest could be behind it. north korean leaders are getting closer to their goal of being about to hit the united states with a nuclear weapon. authority rs are continuing to develop their nuclear and ballistic technologies. the report says the north koreans have deployed missiles capable of hitting targets throughout south korea, japan, and the pacific region. it says those advances are in line with pyongyang's objective

of being able to strike the u.s. mainland. it also refers to north korea's three nuclear tests and says they could conduct another test at any time. it also warns of possible chemocam weapons attacks. analysts say north korea likely has a longstanding and wide ranking chemical weapons program. they say authorities could possibly use chemical weapons agents by modifying ammunitions. security analysts say north korean forces remain poised to launch at least one of their ballistic missiles. chinese leaders, in the past, have encouraged them to stop their provocations. it may not happen this time around. lim sung-nam is a keep leader.

he meat with his chinese counterpart. >> translator: i think there is little possibility that china will send an envoy to china any time soon. >> lim talked a about a facility underscoring the change in the korean peninsula. one of the last remaining symbols of interkorean cooperation has been shut down. the final group of south korean workers have left the kaesong industrial complexion in north korea. they stayed behind to negotiate wages. the north demanded they go home. they left the complex as tensions between the two countries reached a high point. government officials in seoul decided to pull out the hundreds

of workers after the north refused to discuss a resumption of operations. authorities in pyongyang have restricted entry into kaesong several times in the past, but this is the first time all south koreans left since join operations began in 2004. diplomats are demanding that korea release an american citizen immediately. he has been convicted of what they call hostile acts against the country. she an american of korean decent. north kr in november he visited a special economic zone as a tourist. he was arrested saying because of hostility. they want him to be granted amnesty and let him go.

>> we have been worried about the justice system. >> the u.s. does not have an embassy in pyongyang. di diplomats are working with them. some fear that the north koreans handed down a heavy sentence. north korean agents abducted japanese nationals in the 1970s and 80s. japan has looked to the u.s. for help in the issue. the person in charge of the file spoke in washington. japan has been taking a tough position toward north korea. at the same time, we're ready to get to the table on talk with north korea if they don't change

their behaviors. >> they say it's a test if japan can protect it's people 9/11 extreme circumstances. he says as long as it is unresolved, it will be difficult to offer aide to north korea. the families have waited more than 30 years to see their loved ones, but no tangible progress has been made. his sister is one of the 17 nationals identified as abductees. their fate is unknown. japanese police say north korean agents could have abducted many more people. they're investigating 860 missing persons cases and they say they can't rule out involvement by the north.

south korean lawmakers are planning on visiting tokyo to protest against what they see as an joet rage. they're angry because three japanese ministers went to a shrine honoring their war dead, including those convicted of war crimes. the visit is planned for tuesday. members of the south korean national assembly adopted a resolution on monday. it says the bhairs of the members of the jab japanese -- >> the south delegation plans to deliver a letter of protest to the finance minister. he heads an organization of

japanese lawmakers interested in improving ties. members of the delegation hope their exchanges will lead to better relations. japanese prime minister shinzo abe spent his first few months in office focusing on the economy. now he is adding another item to the agenda. abe is eyes a redefinition of the country's defense forces. japanese are divided if the constitution should be changed at all. >> shinzo abe has waited for years to revise japan's constitution. and he ace democratic party kept the goal in sight since they took power last december. >> translator: it is prime minister abe's believe that we need to create a constitution

that is appropriate for a independent nation state. >> the constitute was written after world war ii. the u.s.-led alleyed forces controlled it's drafting. the most significant characteristic is pacifism. article nine says the japanese people forever renounce war. it lead japan to maintain armed forces exclusively for defense. the liberal democrats want to upgrade the status to a military force. >> in japan, the sdf is not called a military, but it's created as one in international laws. we need to resolve the contra decision in accord dance with reality. >> nhk polled about 1600 people to get their thoughts on the chance. 33% said they would want to

revise article 9. 30% said no. 32% were undecided. the poll suggest that attitudes among the japanese suggest attitudes are changing. among those in favor of modifying the the constitution, nearly half said it should be revised to clearly stipulate japan's ricket to have defense capabilities. about a third wants to make changes to allow japan to take part in u.n.-led military activities. among those against modifying the constitution, about two-thirds are identified article 9 as the most important article. 16% said it doesn't need to be revised and changing the interpretation is enough. >> i personally want to keep the

peace constitution as it is. >> it's been a long time since it was established. so i think it's all right to change it in accordance with reality. >> prime minister abe says he first wants to change the procedure to amend the constitution. it stipulates that two thirds support in both chambers of the diet is required. abe wants to make the seasons for the diet a simple majority. constitutional experts are split on the issue. >> people tend to think a procedure is not important. but on this issue, it has substantial meaning. a normal law can be passed with a simple majority. the hurdle was made deliberately high because of it's special importance. >> translator: the change will allow the people to express

their opinions rather than making the hurdle higher to propose a change, a proposal should be put to the people. >> political parties are already discussing the pros and cons. the debate may make japanese more familiar and more opinionated about a document that's guided them for more than six decades. nhk world, tokyo. people looking for work in the united states are seeing improvements, employers added more jobs than expected in april and the unemployment rate hit on more than a four-year low. u.s. labor department

spokesperson say the unemployment rate was 7.5%. that's down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. employers added 165,000 jobs in the nonfarm sector. employment opportunities increased in professional services. u.s. trade officials are urging the chinese government to crack down on hacker who is are stealing american intellectual property. they say cyber attacks are a grave and escalating problem. the u.s. office relaced their an yum report on how effective they are at protecting and enforcing personal property rights. individuals affiliated with the

why these government have infiltrated and stolen hundreds of terabytes of data. the president barack obama said the chinese government is involved in some of the attacks. the report puts china, i. ya, and eight other nations on a priority watch list. it designates the ukraine a priority country because of it's rampant software piracy. now those at japanese automaker honda motor will be a parts plant in the central state in mexico. they will invest roughly $460 million. worker there is will eventually

produce about 400,000 transmissions a years. honda is also making an assembly factory to make about 7,000 vehicles a year. >> we at honda mexico have been able to set up an efficient means of production. >> auto executives have been drawn to mexico in part because of it's free trade agreements with the u.s., canada, and other nations. it allows them to export vehicles without tariffs. japan will join the transpacific partnership free trade talks, but some are concerns that the tpp will force them to compete against cheaper inports. they are already struggling with produck tiffty. every year a person in agriculture generates less than

a chird of what others in the sector have. the in your opinion of farmers is half of what it was 20 years ago. some of those that remai are turning to technology to boost their competitiveness. a professor of agriculture. he may not look like he is raising livestock, but he is, with his smart phone. >> translator: he activates a speaker on a cattle farm 1306 kilometers away. the animals gather for lunch. with another tap on his phone, he releases their

he developed the system with the help of a communications company. his team is experimenting with ways to monitor the health of his livestock from a remote location. they measure body temperatures and heart rates. >> we're hoping to make the livestock industry more labor efficient. it could be great if we could vitalize the industry together with young people. >> there are no cows at this farm, but farmers are still taking advantage of technology to boost productivities. they're using a cloud computing system. >> an employee snaps pictures with the company's smart phone. >> i don't know much about insects or plant diseases yet,

so if i see anything, i upload pictures to the network. >> a senior farmer checks the photos and decides what needs to be done. >> veterans help us reduce the number of prop failures. >> it is managed in a cloud computing system. hideaki was having trouble managing his crops. >> we have spinach there, cabbage there, and that field over there with the black soil is ours too. we have land all over the place. >> many farms in japan have been abandoned. he started farming these vacant

fields to increase production. his farm is scattered around 90 plots in the area. now we can use the system to streamline operations. he keeps track of his workers with gps, he can see if they're working from field to field in a cost effective way. gps records also allow them to track the progress in each field at a glance. the areas shown in blue have been completed, red indicates work needs to be done. i think it will even let us compete with rivals overseas. >> unlike the majority of his fellow farmers, he considers the

tpp free trade agreement a good opportunity for his viz. he says the technology will boost competitiveness in the framework, and help an industry that needs to change in order to survive. japanese businesses are trying to get mouths watering in china for a dish that's popular back home. it's curry rice. demand in japan is dropping in part because of the declining population. companies set their sites on a much bigger market. >> reporter: this chain

restaurant is quite popular in shanghai. at lunchtime, young people and other customers pass the the restaurant. >> it's delicious. >> translator: it's kind of a new experience for me. i loved it. >> reporter: this supermarket sends all kinds of instant japanese curry cubes. >> translator: please try japanese curry, it's good. >> reporter: it's everyone's favorite in japan, but it's not so popular yet in china. foodmakers are opening schools and making other efforts. they're also busy creating products that better suit the

taste of chinese customer if. >> it should be spicier. >> i think it's spicy enough. >> this maker added a spice called st. it is used a lot in curry. the color is yellower than similar products in japan. that's the way chinese people apparently like it. the company staff in charge of the chinese market are also targeting corporate customers. they're hoping that cafeterias, are for instance, will suv their curry. >> translator: curry tastes good with all kinds of ingredients including vegetables and chicken. we think it will be a good

edition to your menu, and we're sure your people will be satisfied what it's taste. >> this cafeteria is now serving japanese curry once a week. it's becoming quite popular. >> i always look forward to having the curry on wednesdays. it's delicious. i would like to eat it a few times a week. >> it's our goal to make japanese curry everyone's favorite in china, just like in japan. >> chinese people take to one of the most popular dishes in japan? nhk world, shanghai. >> hong kong residents consider

the skyline one of the most spectacular in the world. now it's turning heads for a whole new reason. this inflatable duck is the work of a disturb artist. it has a message of peace and has been taken to a number of countries. strong winds knocked the duck about when it made it's debut, but shut tors wevisitors were s. >> it is huge, we have never seen a huge duck in a harbor. >> the duck will stay in the harbor until early june. investigators are trying to figure out why a cargo plane suddenly crashed after taking off from a u.s. base in afghanistan. the bowing 747 went down on

monday. the crew members on board passed away. the engine stalled and the plane plummeted to the ground. they say the ground crew may have loaded them improperly causing the plane to lose balance. the taliban claimed it, but there were no reports of insurgent activity in or around the base at the time. now here is the weather forecast.

people in japan are enjoying a long weekend, and millions are heading to the western city of fukuoka with a big festival with a long history. organizers started things off by opening a large paper ball. the festival is more than 800 years old. thousands of participants paraded through the streets, some made noise with wooden spatulas. >> i came here to see my daughter perform. >> translator: this lively parade cheers me up. >> about 2 million people are expected to visit the two-day event. >> that's "newsline" for this hour, i'm gene otani, have a

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