here in japan it's a tuesday night. i am james tengan in tokyo. welcome to nhk "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. voted down. japan's lower house has rejected a no-confidence motion against the cabinet one day before the current diet session ends. failed attempt. south korea's military says

north korea has launched a missile but it appears to have been unsuccessful. and celestial display. people around the world get a chance to see mars during its closest approach to the earth in a decade. members of japan's lower house rejected a no-confidence motion against the cabinet. the opposition parties who filed the resolution say prime minister shinzo abe policy has failed. >> translator: their livelihoods are not improving. the wealth gap and poverty are spending and the government is wasting tax-payers' money. these are the reasons that the cabinet should resign. >> a senior member of abe's liberal democratic party rejected the allegation. >> translator: japan's economy is steadily recovering. the no-confidence motion is

based on the interests of the opposition parties. it's a kind of political performance and further enhances people's mistrust in politics. >> a majority of lawmakers from the ruling coalition voted down the motion. the ruling party has held meetings to discuss abe's plan. the consumption tax is supposed to rise from 8% to 10% in april 2017 but abe wants to push it back to october 2019. members of the ldpn approved the plan and called on abe to give a thorough explanation on why the delay is needed. the prime minister plans to hold a news conference to explain his decision on wednesday when the current session of the diet comes to a close. south korean military officials say north korea has again tried to fire a missile. countries including japan were on the alert. but officials say the launch appears to have failed. the south korean military's

joint chiefs of staff say the attempt took place around 5:00 a.m. tuesday on north korea's east coast. a military source in south korea tells nhk the missile was believed to be a medium range musudan. the japanese government had been preparing. on monday officials order the self-defense forces to shoot down any incoming projectiles. >> translator: generally speaking, we can't deny the possibility that north korea will launch a ballistic missile as part of its missile development efforts. >> south korean military officials say the north shows no sign of abandoning its missile programs. >> north korea has been trying to launch ballistic and other missiles since kim jong un issued an order to do so in march. >> three launches in april prompted countries in the region to take precautions but all of those missiles exploded shortly after takeoff.

they're also believed to have been musudans. south korea's military calls the launches provocative and the officials say they're preparing for more. tuesday's missile is believed to be the latest type of musudan, the land-based version of a russian submarine missile. north korea acquired the technology in the early '90s. north korea first displayed the musudan at a milt parade in 2010 held to commemorate the anniversary of the workers'party. the missile has been estimated range of 2500 to 4,000 kilometers and is considered capable of reaching all parts of japan as well as the u.s. territory of guam. experts think this type of missile is fired from a mobile launcher instead of a stationary facility. that makes it difficult for traditional observers to detect signs of an impending launch. in what may be related.

nhk learned a senior north korean official arrived at the airport. he is vice chairman of the ruling party's party and the former foreign minister. multiple diplomatic sources say he'll meet with communist party leaders for three days and is expected to brief them about the workers' party conference held earlier this month in pyongyang. a committee of officials and experts in south korea has begun laying groundwork for a foundation to support those referred to as comfort women. the members third their first meeting on tuesday in seoul. they'll discuss how the fund can address the women's psychological scars and restore their dignity. the governments of south korea and japan agreed to set up the foundation as part of a deal last december to bring a permanent end so the long-simmering issue. japan will contribute about $9 million to the project.

professor kim tae-hyun heads the committee and says the committee will work hard to provide what the women want. they talked about a statue that was erected in front of the japanese embassy. kim said the issue has nothing to do with the foundation's activities and that the civic group and the south korean government will continue discussing how to resolve the matter. a senior member of a japanese organized crime group was shot dead. police say it's the first murder they're investigating linked to the group's conflilict. police say tadashi takagi was a senior m member of a group affiliated with the kobe yamaguchi-gumi. he was 55 years old.

he was found tieuesday in a parking lot in yokohamayokohama. he had gunshot wounds in his chest. investigators say the shooting may be related to a rift between the country's largest yakuza group the yamaguchi-gumi and the splinter group the kobe yamaguchi-gumi. in march the national police agency said the two groups were in a state of conflict. agency officials say there have been 75 related incidents s sin the group's split last august. and that guns were used in eight of them. a tokyo judge ruled that a former japanese baseball star will not have to serve time for drug use but he says the player has to stay out of legal trouble for the next four years. the judge handed down a suspended sentence. he was arrested in february. he pleaded guilty to buying,

possessing and using stimulants earlier this month. the judge ruled that if he violates the terms of the sentence he'll go to prison for two and a a lf ars. he called t the crimeme malicio and s said t the defefendant be heavy criminal responsibility. he had testified that taking drugs helped him to cope with the stress and anxiety he felt after retirement. but the judge said that was no excuse. he added that kihara's family and friends are waiting for him to become rehabilitated. he apologized. prosecutors asked for him to be sent to prison right away. during his 23 seasons in professional baseball he was known as a power hitter. before retiring in 2008 he hit more than 500 homers. ranking fifth on the list of career home-run batters. the operator of the

fukushima dieaiichi is clearing reactor from the floor. the number onene reactor is bei cleaeaned. a devicice was lififted by cran into the building. it is fitted with a hose capabae ofof sucking up objects.s. tokyo electric powower companyn says it wantss to comomplete th work in july and move on to larger pieces of debris next year. it hopes to start remomoving th nunuclear fuel r rods f from a g pool in about four years. tepco came under fire in 2013 when work to remove rubble from the number three reaeactor reresulted in radioactitive substances entering surrounding areas. workers are spraying chemical agents and t taking other measus to prevent dust from spreading. during the work on monday no abnormalities were detected in

the radioactive particles's counts. the boss of japan's suzuki motors is trying to dispel distrust will the fuel economy of its cars. gene otani has the headlines. the head of suzuki motor admits staff did not follow government-manandated rules whw calculating mileage for 26 models. chairman says the mistake applies to more than 2 million vehicles. he says the company didn't perform the out-door test runs and gave inspectors indoor data only. >> translator: as the person at the top, i feel a sense of responsibility for tailing to provide the right environment for employee training and technological development. >> suzuki says everyone should be more conscious about the raying lati regulations. he says automaker never intended

to illegally manipulate data. suzuki says the firm won't change the published fuel economy figures. executives at panasonic are pulling a plug on another part of their business. they've decided to withdraw from the market for lcd television panels. the decision follows their move in 2013 to end production of plasma tvs. panasonic began making the panels in western japan i in 20. its planning to wind up production in september. the company will continue to make lcd panels for medical equipment and cars but the cut in output means several had been workers will be transferred to other facilities. production of lcd panels for tv et cete sets used to be big business but after panasonic withdraws. hon high will be the only producer left in japan. government officials in

japan have released a batch of economic data this morning, and the figures show a mixed picture. first a look at household spending. following a decline of more than 5% in march, consumers continue to be frugal. government officials say spending by all house holds with two or more members w were down 0.4% from a year ago. average household spending was 2980,000 yen, or $2700. officials say spending on cars and clothes declined. meanwhile, managers at japanese companies saw more activity on their factory floors. industrial output was up 0.3%. that's the second straight month of increase. production of chemicals and electrical machinery increased compared to a month earlier. production of summer cosmetics rose. government officials say the impact of the earthquakes and the southwestern part of the country helped to limit it.

there were more jobs than people to fill them. ratio of job offers to people lookinfofor work stood at 1.34 in april meaning there were 134 openings for every 100 job seekers, the highest level since march 1991. the unemployment rate stood at 3.2%, unchanged from the previous march. twoek stocks ended higher following the better than expected figures. it was the fifth session in the row the nikkei average gained ground. for the details we go to giang nguyen at the tokyo stock exchange. >> shares in tokyo got off to a bit of a wobbly start. as the dollar rebounded many investors picked up export-related stocks and the nikkei climbed almost 1% to close at 17234. the five days of gains made for the longest winning streak since last november. index reached a five-week high. for the month of may it posted a

3.4% increase. the dollar has gained more than 4% in one month. fed chair janet yellen suggested that u.s. interest r rates coul be increased in the coming months by helped boost the greenback. the relativelyy w weaker yenen boon for export-heavy shares. toyota and mazda both higher 1.8% and 2.7%. panasonic rose on the shift away from making lcd panels for tvs. shares down 3.6% to hit the highest level in a month. inpex g gained for another day oil prices climbed. many market players are watching for the latest manufacturing index for china due out wednesday and an opec meeting thursday. they will be looking to gauge the global economic outlook. i am giang nguyen at the tokyo stock exchange. moving on to other markets. in the asia-pacific region. shanghai jumping to 3.34%.

2,916 the closing number. sentiment supported by the speculation that u.s. index provider msci would add chinese shares to the chinese emerging markets index. trailer declined by .5%. it's four days of gains as investors were cautious before the country's gdp figures are out tomorrow. seoul's kospi index advanced by 0.8% as we see there to finish at the highest level in four weeks. hang seng gained. indonesia declining.8% on profit-taking. here is a look at some of the other stories we're following today. japan has ear-marked about $770 million to help smaller businesses and tourism in the southwestern region affected by april's earthquakes. $150 million will go toward infrastructure and farming. the money will come from a

supplementary budget of about $7 billion set aside for kumamoto and nearby areas. japan is aiming to prevent another butter shortage by bringing in more supplies were overseas. the agriculture ministry plans to boost import to 13,000 ton. decline in dairy farmers represents a continuing threat to butter supplies. artisans in southwestern japan made a type of porcelain for cities. people have long prized its refined white color and intricate designs but changing tastes wiare weighing on demand. producers are trying to change that by doing something new. >> reporter: the worldest largest international interior design exhibition took place last month in milan. at the same time artisans and

officials from the area held their own show in the city. it featured simple modern design, all strikingly different from the conventional arita ware. this piece is emplcompleta gray has a deliberately applied uneven glaze. >> it would d be very susuccess in the united states. >> it's beautiful. it's fantastic. you can really see the quality and craftsmanship. >> reporter: this line of dish-ware was created in partnership with interior designers were europe. these designers took part in the project. they say their goal was to produce modern tableware that

reflects countries' traditions. a flower design was an inspiration. for a modern touch they sprifrpged the center of the plate with white dots to represent the petals. >> all the contours and the outlines of the plate are all the same, actually. actually, it's -- it's just we shuffled the tradition a little bit. >> reporter: the design is gradually catching on in europe. the first porcelain from arita made its way into the netherlands in the 17th century. a national art museum in amsterdam traced the history. on display were pieces made four cities ago side by side with modern interpretations which european designers. >> we tried to combine the past, the present and the future

because we think it's very important that there is a next step. >> reporter: a tradition of craftsmanship from japan is keeping up with the times by combining the old with the new. that's it for business news. i am going to leave you with the markets. this week we're getting a

better view of our intergalactic neighbor. mars has been looking much brighter and bigger than usual, and people are gazing into the night sky. nhk world takes a look. >> reporter: over the weekend, astronomy fans near tokyo had an exexciting view, the brightest glimpse of mars in years. >> translator: it was like fire! >> translator: it's a surprise to see a star this close. >> reporter: it circled the sun in orbit around earth. the two planets are closest about every 26 months. this is the closest in ten years. still more than 75 million kilometers away. it makes a difference, though. the picture on the left was taken in january. the one on the right was captured in may and is about three times larger.

while this is attracting attention, interest in the red planet dates back a long time. this astronomy expert says its predecessors were also looking into the sky on a similar location 90 years ago. he recently obtained about 70 pages of sketches of mars. a staff member of the observatory drew them in the 1920s. at the time of a past mars approach. >> translator: i think he placed papers there, look into this telescope and sketched the planet by candlelight. >> reporter: the drawings were later published in an traditional journal. details such as black belts were ththought to be canals andd contributed to academic debates on whether there was life on mars. > translator: i it's a good opportunity y to gaze into the sky.

imagining what future generations will find when they reach there. >> reporter: nasa scientists plan to send people in mars in the 2030s, so people may be closer to understanding a little bit more a authe planan's mysty each te it ces close us. > les n s what ear's weher tlooksike with sayaka mori who o starts off wi the inundation in europepe. >> dangerousus weaeather iss persisting in eueurope. onon saturday 46 people were injured by lightningng strikes germany anand france,, and f fl affected many places across southern portions of germany over the weekend and also hail stones have damaged bears this france. for the next couple days we're looking more more severe weather to happen because a couple low

pressure systems are still lingering. the systems are out off from the jet stream. we're looking at conditions persisting the next couple of days. we're talking about heavy rainfall, strong gusts,s, large hail and morore tornadoes. one funnenel cloud was reportedn austria. towards the north there is a sunshine area over the scandinavian peninsula but across the south much of france you see more rainfall. that is affecting the french open. on monday all games or matches were canceled because of heavy rainfall. as you can see, for the next several days more rain is anticipated. tempereratures will stay on tht cool side on tuesday. going into friday things will warm up. 22 degrees expected on your friday. sesevere weather affected centr portions during the weekend. structural damage occurred. we have footage coming out of cuba. cleanup efforts are under way after a powerful storm moved through sunday.

homes and trees were damaged. winds reportedly topped 90 kilometers an hour and up to 58 millimeters of rain fell. no casualties were reported from the storm, but more rain is expected for the central portions of the country. meanwhile, a tropical depression named bonnie has become a low pressure system still bringing heavy rainfnfall acrosss the carolina cocoast. an additional 130 millimeters of rain is in t the forecast for t next 24 hours. in the mid portion of the united states there were three reports of tornadoes, in nebraska a and colorado o on monday, and hail e size of a baseball was reported in texas. more severe weather is expected from wisconsin towards texas on your tuesday. the temperatures are going to be follows. warm in the south. 31 in houston, 30 degrees in washington, d.c., with high humidity. and across the west generally dry. we have heat watches in place, excessive heat will build on friday as well as saturday

across the southwest. take a look. over 40 degrees are expected on friday. many places like fresno, las vegas, as well as palm springs. watch out for heat stroke. a stormy day across japan. you'll see very bad weatherer i places. taking about h heavy rainfallll thunderstorms, large hail and even tornadoes. across the southern half of japan it will stay dry. temperatures are follows. tokyo will have 27 degrees with party sunny skies on wednesday, and things will stay that way for the next couple of days. beijing staying quite hot. the high could rise to 31 degrees despite cloudy conditions on your thursday, the shanghai, rainy weather expected on thursday as well as friday. okay. here is your extended forecast.

if you plan to be here in tokyo for the month of june, something to check out. a kabuki theater will hold a show that includes a sight not seen in years. a mid-air sutunt to be performe since the first time the facility was rebuilt at a rehearsal on monday a young performer doubling for the famous actor was lifted ten meters above the stage and swung out towards seating on t the thd floor. ennsoue watched to see how it looked from the audience's point of view. he'll perform the stunt next

month. the show will run from thursday, june 2nd, through june 26th.

genie: you are watching "france 24." time for 60 minutes live around the world. i am genie godula. more travel chaos in france today. planes and trains across the country bracing for delays as new strikes get underway. continues its push to take back the city of fallujah from the islamic state group. tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped inside. former first lady of ivory coast is on trial