hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. tsunami waves from a powerful quake off the coast of chile have reached pacific countries including japan. a deadly shooting rampage at a u.s. military base has left three people and the gunman dead. 16 others were injured. japanese developers of state-of-the-art surveillance systems are facing concerns from

the public about how data collected is being utilized. people living on pacific coast around the world spent more than a day worrying about the impact of a powerful earthquake in chile. the magnitude 8.2 tremor killed six people. it triggered tsunamis as far away as japan. the warning was lifted on thursday. nhk world's sack fume many ted way reports. >> reporter: people living along the northern coast of chile have returned home to sort through the rubble. >> translator: we are well. we are alive. we have our health. >> reporter: a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck on tuesday 100 kilometers out to sea. it triggered tsunami. authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents up and down the pacific coast to move

to safety. the quake killed six people. some were crushed under falling buildings. more than 2600 homes were damaged. and tsunami higher than two meters battered more than 70 boats. tsunami also rolled ashore thousands of kilometers away. waves of 58 centimeters were observed in hawaii, there were 52 centimeters in french poll nesia and 31 in american samoa. in japan sirens rang out and communities along the pacific coast. officials in some places closed storm surge barriers and they told people to move inland.

>> translator: people working in the ocean should come ashore and stay away from the coast. >> reporter: residents who went through the 2011 tsunami rushed to shelters. >> translator: i evacuated because i don't want to experience another disaster. >> reporter: officials with japan's meteorological agency say a tsunami of 60 centimeters was observed in the northeastern port of kuji. workers at the damaged fukushima daiichi plant and other nuclear facilities were on alert. some saw changes in nearby sea levels, but they reported no damage. chile an government officials have been discussing the level of destruction along the coast. president michelle bachelet took to the air to do a survey.

she praised people for responding calmly to the disaster. people in chile have been feeling aftershocks for more than a day. they know this earthquake won't be their last, and so as they rebuild, they're also thinking about how they can be even better prepared for the next time. tack home my teji nhk world. >> we repeat the tsunami warning for japan's pacific coast has now been lifted. japan's bullet train technology will take a step forward overseas amid global competition in the railway industry. east japan railway is to give technical advice for a new high speed railway planned in

britain. executives of japan's top rail operators say they signed a contract to give technical and operational advice to the british railway company high speed 2, planning to link cities like birmingham andaman chester. >> translator: this is the first step for us to gain a foothold in the british high speed rail project. >> the japanese railway firm aims to gain a contract for the $8.3 billion project by promoting its know-how in safe operations. on to the markets. japan's benchmark stock index rose to a level we haven't seen in more than three weeks. nikkei average climbed .8%, finishing out 15,071, putting it above the 15,000 level since march 15th. other major forces in the asia pacific region did run into a

bit of profit taking after a recent winning streak. beijing's announcement on stimulus measures wasn't enough to maintain the positive momentum across the region. the shanghai deposit god an additional boost, cutting taxes for smaller businesses, but the index did finish the day down .75%, 2,043 following two straight days of advances. traders on the tokyo stock exchange have pushed trading volumes to a record high. they were spurred along by the bank of japan's stimulus efforts. they say traders exchanged more than 780 billion domestic shares on the first section of the market. they drove the volume up 32% over a year earlier to its highest point since the exchange opened in 1949. trading value added up to more than $6 trillion. that was up 80% in yen terms.

analysts say the tse's merger in july with the osaka securities exchange increased the number of issues that changed hands. drivers in japan are facing their highest gas prices in more than five years due to a rise in the consumes tax hike and a new green tax that took effect this month. the oil information center says the average retail price for a liter of regular gasoline on april 1st was 164 yen. that's just about $1.60 and an increase of about five currents from the previous week. it's the fourth straight week prices have risen and the highest they've been since october 2008. the japanese government raised the consumption tax rate from 5% to 8% on tuesday. officials introduced an anti global warming tax on fossil fuels. it's .25% per liter. weak demand in the short term as drivers rushed to fill their tanks before they

increase. they say the weaker yen is likely to push up the cost of imported fuel. executives at microsoft released voits recognition software to compete with products from apple and google. officials revealed the update for the windows phone 8.1 in san francisco. the virtual assistant feature is called core tan nah, it recognizes the user's voice and tries to come up with the most appropriate response. >> wake me up at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. >> okay. your alarm is set for 7:00 a.m. >> officials say the phone gets smarter as the software learns about the user's lifestyle and habits. the software giant plans to fine tune the app and launch it in the united states. it will be available to the u.k. and china in the second half of the year. >> amazon has introduced a video streaming device in an effort to

catch up with apple and google. amazon executives say the fire tv will sell for $99 in the u.s. market. it has a remote control with a voice activated search function. the device can also recommend programs based on the user's viewing history. amazon executives are beefing up video content business. analysts say they're hoping to be more competitive in the software and hardware sides of the industry. developers of surveillance systems in japan are coming up with new ways all the time to try to keep people safe. some of the technology they're working on hasn't even hit the market, though some people are concerned it will threaten their privacy. >> reporter: an unmanned surveillance helicopter that tracks suspicious people. equipped with camera and led spotlight it can take pictures of what it's tracking. a major securities firm hopes to

make it available by march of next year. >> translator: you have no blind spots. you can watch what you want from the best possible angle. >> reporter: another electronics company has developed new surveillance technology. the system uses fragmentary information to track a suspicious person data is taken from eyewitness information such as location and easy to remember items such as clothing and belong innings and entered into the system. multiple surveillance cameras and the nel network quickly find the suspect and transmit video data. >> translator: there is a huge amount of images from security cameras. we want to use that data to

develop technologies for locating people. >> reporter: however, there is growing concern about such technological innovations. a communications institute planned to taste facial recognition cameras at a major train station in osaka but the project was post pointed due to strong objection from commuters. a major electronics manufacturer is developing a system that blurs people's faces and video images in realtime. the technology is an effort to protect privacy and prevent complaints. >> translator: no one is sure what is permissible under current laws. i hope the government will introduce legislation enabling further utilization of data. >> reporter: the government is set to revise the personal information protection law. the abe administration wants to boost the economy by utilizing

information from surveillance cameras and other devices while protecting privacy. >> translator: you may feel uneasy if you are identified, but if individual identifications are decreased and there's no harm to the identified person, i think it's good for corporations to fully utilize personal information in order to grow. >> reporter: but an expert says japan's legislation is vague compared with the directives of the eu. they prohibit the collection of personal information obtained from surveillance cameras without the person's content and provide the right to request disclosure. >> translator: it seems the government wants to sell systems overseas, but if they ease regulations to make that easier, it would increase public resistance that would have a negative impact.

>> reporter: political and industry leaders have various opinions on how to balance the use of personal data and protecting privacy. it is just one example of the challenges advanced technology poses for our society. >> that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's see what's going on in the markets.

a u.s. soldier opened fire at an army base in texas killing three people and injuring 16 others. he then turned the gun on himself. this is the second deadly shooting at ft. hood in fight years. the base commander said the combat veteran was suffering from mental health issues after being deployed to iraq in 2011. the soldier was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. the commander says there's no indication the incident is related to terrorism. in 2009 the base was the scene of another mass shooting. an army psychiatrist killed 13 people and left more than 30 others injured. ft. hood is 100 kilometers north of the state's capital of boston and is home to 4,000 troops. president barack obama told reporters he was heartbroken. >> any shooting is troubling.

obviously this reopens the pain of what at ft. hood five years ago. >> obama said investigators will find out exactly what happened. a number of bombs have exploded near cairo university. a police officer was killed, five other officers were wounded. three bombs exploded in succession at around noon. video from local media shows people fleeing the area when they heard the second explosion. authorities say someone planted the bombs under trees in i don't want of the university's main gate. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. islamic extremists have targeted police and military facilities repeatedly since leaders overthrow president mohamed morsi last july. some egyptians worry they'll see more attacks in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for next month. viktor yanukovych is

expressing regret over how he handled things around the time he was forced out as president of ukraine. he gave an interview calling the annexation of crimea a tragedy and saying he wants to negotiate to get the republic back from russia. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: this is the first interview viktor yanukovych has given since fleeing ukraine more than a month ago. the ousted president talked to the associated press and russia's ntv and spoke over his regret of the annexation of crimea. >> translator: crimea is a tragedy. it is a great tragedy. my viewpoint is that the objective should be as follows. seek ways to return crimea under any conditions.

>> reporter: yanukovych lost his grip on power after month of demonstrations against his move to strengthen ties with russia instead of europe. he says it was a mistake to ask russian president vladimir putin to send in troops to protect the people of crimea, mainly ethnic russians. putin moved to annex the republic after crimeans voted in a referendum to join his country. western leaders are worried he'll go further. tens of thousands of russian soldiers have massed on the border with ukraine. nato's top commander says they're very capable and very red difficult and would only need three to five days to, quote, accomplish their objectives. the secretary general of the 28 nation alliance says that would be a historic mitts take. >> it would be a miscalculation with huge strategic implications. >> reporter: nato foreign ministers have been meeting in

brussels to try to come up with a diplomatic solution. nato forces have held exercises in former soviet republics to show they're ready should talks fail. the ukrainian military is also carrying out drills. the tension remains high. viktor yanukovych has been watching it all play out. he still calls himself president even as ukrainians prepare to pick his successor in an election next month. he says he'll try to negotiate with putin to get crimea back, but that seems increasingly unlikely with each passing day. craig dale. a thai court accepted a suit against yingluck shinawatra. 28 senators a complain she removed a nark security chief three years ago for her own benefit. the case could oust her from office. thailand's accepted the suit.

if the court rules the personnel transfer was unconstitutional. yingluck will have to immediately leave her post. last month the lower house elections were annulled. the prime minister is also facing a challenge from the anti-corruption commission. the panel is investigating charges of a dereliction of duty. if the case is forwarded to the senate, the prime minister could be impeached and removed from office. a u.n. report says the 2011 nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi is not likely to cause a significant rise in new cancer cases in the immediate area. >> for the vast majority of those exposed in japan, there is no discernible increase in future cancer rates expected which means, in other words, cancer rates will remain stable. >> the u.n. scientific committee on the effects of atomic

radiation released the report on wednesday. it includes analysis by over 80 leading scientists from around the world on radiation and its effects following the accident. regarding children who are deemed especially vulnerable, the report says there is theoretically an increased risk of thyroid cancer. it advices continued regular health checks. the report also notes that the monitoring of radiation exposure for plant workers was greatly delayed after the accident and urges japan to take appropriate measures saying the exposure data during the early stages of the crisis is unclear. four crippled reactors, a constant buildup of contaminated water, radioactive leaks threatening the environment. the people in charge of fukushima daiichi are struggling to control the plant. how will they stop the leaks and demission the facilities?

get the latest on the aftereffects of the accident with in depth reports and special features. nuclear watch, only on "newsline". a junior high school symphony orchestra from japan's fukushima prefecture has performed in one of london's most prestigious concert venues. ♪ >> the fukushima youth symphony played at the city's queen elizabeth hall on and. the 37 members of the orchestra are from four junior high schools. the orchestra was invited by a british charity group that encourages people through wars and disasters through music. they received lessons from professional musicians. ♪ >> the students played the

well-known japanese tune fusato which means hometown. >> translator: i am grateful for the opportunity the british people have created for us. >> these communities from japan really need this to feel that they come together and they send a positive message to the rest of us. ♪ let's now bring in our meteorologist sigh yack ka mori. i hear there's severe weather in the central united states. what are people there saying. >> severe weather is occurring in the u.s. from the central plains through the ohio river

valley. baseball-sized hail as well as one tornado were reported in kansas. this is the scene on wednesday. flooded severely and hail the size of a golf ball covered the road making for very treacherous road conditions. thursday will become more stormy compared to wednesday. this is the outlook. the most severe area we found in missouri, arkansas and parts of indiana and kentucky. there's a potential for large hail, damaging winds, more tornadoes as well as flash flooding. on friday the area will shift towards the east. so very, very dangerous conditions occurring across the eastern parts of the u.s. across the flip side of the continent, looking dry at this moment. if you remember a couple of weeks ago, a deadly landslide occurred in the town of oso killing several people, and this was the scene, satellite shot from nasa. this was the scene before the landslide, but after the landslide it has turned to this.

you can see how massive the disaster is. to show you details, take a look at the current situation in oso. crews in washington state are still looking for bodies after the mudslide back in march. the slide was triggered after heavy rains caused a hillside to cave in near the town of oso. the death toll is now at 29. the mudslide clocked the river allowing crews to search. but with the snow melting, officials are concerned the search area will flood again. conditions are still critical. as you can see, rain is likely to fall across the west coast on your thursday. that will continue for the next couple days, so the situation will get more critical i'm afraid. the temperatures are not too bad. seattle up 13 degrees, 20 degrees in l.a. heat is still existing over the south, heating up, 28 degrees in houston, 27 degrees for atlanta on your thursday. across asia we have a tropical depression at the bottom of the

screen. this one will become a tropical storm and head toward the philippines. meanwhile a high pressure system is dominating over much of northern parts of china, turning quite wet across most of the country and things will get stormier as we go i represented friday. winds will be picking up nationwide. temperatures are quite warm in tokyo at 20 degrees for the high, still on the lower side in seoul at 12 degrees. heating up to the mid 30s in bangkok with thunderstorms likely. in europe nasty weather is still continuing over the western parts of the continent. a new system will come in to the western parts of the iberian peninsula within the next 24 hours. meefrn while a high pressure system is in control bringing in nice conditions, but the southerly winds are bringing sand from the sahara desert, covering much of france, the low countries, parts of italy and germany on your thursday. the clear conditions are not

likely, but sunny weather will continue. temperatures are going to be quite warm, 22 in vienna and 20 degrees for berlin on your thursday. that's it for me now. here is the extended forecast.

before we wrap up, once again, officials with the japan meteorological agency have lifted a tsunami advisory for the country's pacific coast. the advisory had been in place for northeastern coastal areas as well as the izu and owing is a war rah chains. several points in the areas, officials canceled the advisory

at 6:00 p.m. on thursday. that's all from me today. gene otani will be here at the top of the hour with more updates. thank you for watching. >> hello, everyone. d

you are watching "france 24." thisare our top stories hour. the prosecutor general in ukraine says the death of someone hundred protesters during the protests in kiev were under the direct leadership of ousted president viktor yanukovych. our correspondent in kiev is standing by with more. a deadly shooting at the fort hood military base in texas. a soldier killed three and injured 16 more before committing suicide. that attack comes less than five years after a similar shooting at the same base left 13 dead. and a