live from our studios here in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we start off with a look at the headlines for this hour. practicing for attack. north korea has called its latest misissile launch a succe and revealed the motivation behind it. and building up defenses. u.s. pacific command says it has

started deproiing an advanced anti-missile system in south korea. north korea has declared its latest missile test a success. it says its army units were trained to strike american military bases in japan by firing multiple missiles. the front page of the newspaper shows kim jong un all smiles as he supervises what is reportedly the test. he talked about pushing ahead with nuclear and missile developments. four ballistic missiles fell into the sea of japan, three of them apparently in its exclusive economic zone. the launch came days after south korea and the u.s. began joint drills. pyongyang state media says it was in retaliation to what it calls warmongers conducting war exercises. u.s. and south korean officials say one or more of the missiles

may have been an extended-range scud. japanese officials are working to recover them. prime minister abe spoke with u.s. president trump over the phone. they condemned the launch and agreed pyongyang's threat has reached a new level. >> translator: president trump told me that he wants us to have 100% trust in him and the united states. going forward, japan and the u.s. or japan, the u.s. and south korea intend to work closely together in our response. >> japan's defense minister also spoke by phone with her american and south korean counterparts. they agreed on close cooperation. the three sides have requested the u.n. security council hold an emergency meeting to contempt the launch and urge members to enforce sanctions. in response to the launch and the north's ongoing threats, the u.s. pacific command says it's begun deploying parts of a

defense system to south korea. plans to deploy thaad have been in the works senince last year. american admiral harry harris says it is confirmed by what is north korea's c continued provocative actions. it has missiles that could be launched to destroy missiles at high altitude. two components arrived on monday night. beijing is concerned the advanced radar may be used to monitor its military. >> translator: we're resolutely opposed to this deployment and determined to take any steps necessary to protect our own security interests. the united states and south korea will be responsible for any consequences. >> the spokesperson calls the situation around the korean

peninsula complicated and sensitive. he said all parties involved should practice row strants and prevent the tension from escalating. and the disagreement is going further than the diplomatic level. people have protested against a major south korean conglomerate. the group provided the land where the missile defense system will be installed. chinese have been boycotting stores affiliated to lotte group since last month. an online video looks like people crush being products with a bulldozer, the deployment could further affect economic ties. we asked an expert on why north korea's missile test poses a new level of threats in the region.

he is a retired vice admiral from japan as maritime self-defense force. he says the north is incorporating a strategy called saturated attacks. >> it shows their ability for improving the operational capability to fire and launch a missile, fire and launch a missile to the target. then the target site becomes very difficult to defend. because if that is called so-called saturated attack, some single point, this has caused the defense side very difficult to intercept. >> he says the fact that the north uses mobile launchers also adds to the difficulty of intercepting a missile in time. he says japan should introduce

new and improved defense systems that can cover both long and short-range missile threats. >> for defending, defending system, they need to have some for high altitude and very fast dropping and also the cruise missile. they need such very low altitude. so that's why we need to make more joint efforts to using every sense of weapon to d defe our soil. >> he says the defense ministry is already in talks to incorporate new defense systems.

the diplomatic row between north korea and malaysia is escalating. pyongyang says for now, malaysians are banned from leaving the country. that has prompted malaysia to do the same. the countries have been add at odds over the killing of kim jong nam. they say it will stay in place until the killing of the north korean man is resolved in a just manner. an embassy official says there are 11 malaysians in the north. either diplomats or family members. the ban has turned his citizens into hostages, he sayays and disregards international law. he instructed police to keep north korean citizens from leaving malaysia. they sealed off the embassy to determine the number inside.

mohammad nissan mohammad had already been recalled. eorth's king cho left o on monday. kim jgg nam was attackedd at kuala lulumpur airport with an objection to e toxic nerve agent. so far, pyongyang has not allowed the questioning of an embassy official or airline employe employee top officials in the u.s. and japan are getting ready to discuss economic issues head to head. je gene otani tells us more about that. >> seiko plans to meet with wilbur loss before taro aso and u.s. vice president mike pence next month. seiko spoke with ross over the

phone for about 20 minutes. it was their first conversation since ross's confirmation, separately, seko spoke. >> translator: i will be in talks on space, cyber security, trade and investment rules. >> seko says he plans to exchange talks with ross. china has hinted they'll toughen measures to deal with government debt. it comes as it reached a total of about it $2.2 trillion last year. some say the actual figure could be higher. >> translator: some local governments a are becoming less able to repay debt. that's because they are borrowing and providing debt guarantees illegally. >> he says the risk posed by thosee debts is basicalally

mananageable, but he also says task force will bebe set up i i each prorovince to keep a close eye on how much local gornments owe. the idea i is to make sure acti is taken before it becomes difficult for them to repay their debt. checking the markets, tokyo stocks edged down as investors edged back from making major moves. phoebe amoroso has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> investors are cautious. they're concerned about geopolitical risks in north korea and europe and are worried that u.s. president trump is not too focussed on economic issues due to a new travel ban. the nikkei finished at 19,344. the broader topix ended flat. t

traders will likely wait for the u.s. jobss report out on friday before making any moves. looking at individual stocks, metal stocks were sold off after copper and iron ore prices fell. but sales of sharp were in demand, rising for the sixth straight day. the company may apply to reenter the tokyo stock exchange. there was another quiet trading day in tokyo. and analysts say we may continue to see sideways movements in the nikkei as traders wait for the widely-expected rate hike by the federal reserve next week. i'm phoebe amoroso, reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> other markets moved within a narrow range. seoul's kospi rose. the shanghai composite rose for a second straight day as the national people's congress supported market sentiment.

they will seek more innovation-driven development. the s&p in australia added .26%. the country's central bank kept its key interest rate. the head of one of japan's largest department stores is to resign following poor sales report. onishi will step down at the end of this month. he had been trying to diversify the firm's business over the last five years. in one new venture, they teamed up with a tour agency. but overall, earnings have been dented by poor sales and a slow in the shopping spree by foreign tourists. the net is expected to fall by 50% from the previous year. they also plan to close some stores and reduce floor space.

japan's yamato transport has been suffering from a shortage of drivers due to the surge in online shopping. they are planning to raise rates across the board. they have not increased prices since 1990. the executives have yet to decide on the size of the rate hike but plan to introduce the new fee this autumn. a lackk of drivers had forced yamato to outsource some deliveries, which have increased costs. other delivery firms may follow their lead given the widespread shortage of drivers in the industry. more japanese are spending more on food. the standard of living goes up, the figure tends to go down. in japan, it has been declining since world war ii, but the

trend has reversed in recent years as people's lifestyles have changed. nhk reports on what's happening to consumer spending in japan. >> translator: living costs are tough. and food prices have gone up. >> translator: i try to cut back on my spending to save money. >> translator: my washer isn't working well, but i'll keep using it till it breaks down. >> reporter: many japanese are not spending much these days. but some are splurging on food, and that's reflected in the rise in the engle co-efficient. this woman is enjoying a four-course meal at the french restaurant with her family. she says she dines out as often as four times a week. >> translator: we like trying new restaurants because it's fun. we take pictures of what we ate

so we can talk about it later, and we like to return to some of the best places. >> reporter: the woman lives in a rental apartment with her husband. they got married two years ago. since they moved in together, they haven't renewed their home appliances. they don't own a car either. they'd rather spend money on dining out than buying things. ththey believe that leads to a better quality of life. they have been spending more than 30% of their household budget on food in recent months. >> translator: we don't want to own many things because we tend to move around for work. aside from eating, we don't have a strong desire to spend money on anything else these days. >> reporter: the growing number of double-income couples boost the co-efficient. >> translator: deli food is

convenient when i work late. i frequently buy food here. >> reporter: over the past decade, the number of double-income households has risen by about 10%. and household spending on ready-made food has grown at the same rate. the peak hours to buy prepared food at the super market is now 6:00 p.m., two hours later than before. sales here have boomed as people heading home from work flock to the deli counter. >> translator: our customers want a lot from us.. and we strive to provide the servicee they want. >> reporter: the rise in the co-efficient reflects this change in consumer sentimenent. >> translator: many japanese people are not optimistic that their salaries will increase, so they're getting more selective with their spending.

people are also drying a lean between low and high priority items and shelling out money on items that mean a lot to them. >> reporter: the co-efficient may offer businesses an important clue as they struggle to spur consumer spending. >> you can catch the story online, look for business wrap on nhk. i'm going to leave you with the markets.

march 11 this year marks six years since a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern japan. this week our series "confronting challenges" will look at the region and its people. in one small coastal town, the reopening of a shopping arcade serves as a symbol of recovery. in our next story, you'll meet the person behind the project. >> reporter: for the sansan shopping arcade, it's a grand

reopening. these businesses have spent the last few years in temporary structures. for shop owners and customers, this day is a big deal. >> translator: i like it, because it's more spacious than before. >> translator: it feels like we've finally reached recovery. >> reporter: miura was instrumental in getting the arcade built. his business manufactures and sells processed food made from locally-caught seafood. >> translator: i'm really happy, because i didn't expect to have this many customers today. >> reporter: this is what it looked like before the disaster. homes and public facilities all crowded into a small area. close to 100 businesses were in the town center, including

muira's. >> translator: my store was located right here. >> reporter: the tsunami destroyed his home, his processing plant and his store. this is what it looked like. it was started by his grand father over 80 years ago. ♪ three months after the kidisast, miura used what little money he had to buy a car. he used it as a mobile store, making the rounds of evacuation centers. for his factory, he met a man from his acquaintance and built a temporary processing factory. for the equipment, he got a bank loan. somehow he managed to keep himself in business. at the same time,e, muira got together with other business owners and started to plan to

rebuild the shopping arcade. >> translator: by focussing, we can build a place where everyone can gather freely. >> reporter: the government's redevelopment plan didn't have enough room. housing was being built on higher ground with limited land. so the business owners opted to build closer to the original location, but it meant there would be a 2 kilometer distance between the residential area and the shops, not something everyone was happy about. >> translator: it's best if shops are close to home, within walking distance. >> translator: i think it's inconvenient for those who don't own a car. >> translator: we don't have any options. our only choice is to close our businesses or keep them going. >> reporter: with that in mind, muira started developing new products in hopes of attracting out-of-town customers in addition to locals.

including a new burger. it's made with octopus, a regional delicacy. >> translator: we won't earn the support off our customers if we always sell t the same thing. our bususinesses have no futuref we don't cater to the needs of our customers. >> reporter: and after all their team, th -- this time, that is finally what muira and the businesses can focus on, running their businesses again in their new shopping arcade. march 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake and massive tsunami devastate northeastern japan. six years later, workers at the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant are still struggling to maintain the radiation, but in the wake of this unprecedented tragedy, new ideas pan initiatives for disaster prevention and recovery are shedding light and hope. don't miss "confronting challenges." >> be sure to watch our special

coverage on air or on our website. jonathan oh, joins us with world weather starting with madagascar. >> the biggest concern right now is the powerful w winds and rainfall t that this systetem i going to bring.. we are already seeing the outer edge of the system making its impact felt along the eastern coastline. and that will be the story not only for the day on tuesday but also wednesday and thursday. and i do want to point out, that's not the only system we're watching. we have a tropical d disturbanc ouout over the indian ocean, th will continue to move, not expected to be nearly as powerful as the one we're watching right now, but we'll have to cope keep an eye on tha system. look at the pressure. this thing has exploded, with wind speeds getting close to 200 kilometers p per h hour. this is not a very fast-moving system, and that's not a good thing, because as it slowly moves through the island, we're talking ouout tons o of rain

fallingg thrhroughout that enti time period. someme areas couould be seeingg to 350 millimetersrs of rainfal as we go to wednesday a and thursday. so this is going to be an excessive amount of rainfall all along the eastern side of the ooend as we go throughout the rest of this week. so residents, you're not going to have much time at this point for preparation, it just looks like you're going to have to bear through it as we go through this week. meanwhile, we have an opposite problem in somali. this is a tragedy taking place when it comes to the draught situation, just the last 48 hours we're seeing reports of 110 people dying because of the lack of water. a natural disaster has been declared in the area. there are, there is aid sent to the area, but it's such a difficult situation, and we are looking at just dry weather continuing, i mean, down through the south and west we've had the rainfall, but somali and ethiopia we're looking at dry

conditions as we continue on through the next few days. now up through the north a different story. we're talking about stormy conditions, very windy in places like switzerland, gusts exceeding 100 kilometers per hour. and this low is pushing to the east. and the balkans are dealing with very windy conditions as well. as we go throughout tuesday, we are looking at winds picking up in the southeastern portions of the balkans as well as turkey. up to the north w we have a hig pressure systetem that b brough very chilly conditions. we're still going to see windy conditions in stockholm with a low bringing in moisture, that's going to bring a chance of snowfall as we go through tuesday, with a high of 1 below zero. moscow seeing a mix of snow and rain, and athens looking at a high of 16 as we go through this work day. tokyo, we've clouded up and we're seeing unstable weather. aomori reporting 24 centimeters

of snowfall. and then look at the gusts. some areas hitting close to 90 kilometers per hour. we are still in this winter pressure pattern. so we w will keep seeing the sea-effect snow. and some places could see significant snowfall. we're talking close to 60 centimeters in the hokuriku region. anden ev and even into hokkaido, and by thursday and friday, snow remains. tokyo remains chilly for wednesday. here's your extended outlook.

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♪ host: this is "france 24." time now for 60 minutes live around the world. these are the headlines. the u.s. military begins moving in equipment for a controversial missile defense system to its ally, south korea. that comes one day after north korea's latest test launch of ballistic missiles. iraqi forces move into western mosul, taking back a government building from the islamic state group, as thousands of civilians there are caught in the