here in japan it's a wednesday night. i'm james tengan in tokyo, welcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. south korean authorities say nearly 300 people are missing after a ferry carrying more than 450 passengers and crew sank off the country's southern coast. soldiers in ukraine launch an operation to take back control of eastern cities as pro-russian activists promise to stand their ground. and demonstrators in brazil

have staged a massive rally to protest spending on this year's world cup soccer tournaments. nearly 290 people are missing after a passenger ferry sank off the southern coast of south korea. at least three people have been confirmed dead. the ship was heading from incheon to the island of jeju. it sent out a distress signal about 20 kilometers off jindo island. it was carrying more than 450 people. more than 300 were high school students from near seoul. coast guard officials sent helicopters and ships for the rescue operation. they say they've recovered three bodies. a male student, and a female crew member are among them. one male has not yet been identified. the toll of the missing was revised upward dramatically after confusion in the wake of the accident. authorities say military personnel and special rescue teams including 160 divers are now in the area to search for the missing.

>> translator: an announcement said we should stay where we were. but the ship was already sinking. many students could not get out. >> staff at a meteorological observatory on jindo island say there was fog at the time of the accident. the ferry operator says due to the fog the vessel left port three hours behind schedule. we now have a live report from seoul. nhk world's anna jung is at the government's central disaster relief center. anna, can you tell us how the rescue operation is going and any updates on casualties? >> the minister of security and public administration held a briefing a few minutes ago. he confirmed that 164 people, including 78 students, have been rescued. there were 459 on board. they also announced that three people are confirmed dead.

one is a female crew member. another is a male student. and a third one is likely a male student, as well. so far, 55 people are reported to be hospitalized. in terms of rescue efforts, officials say 18 aircraft and 72 ships involved in the operation. as well, there are 178 divers in the water searching for survivors. >> anything about the cause of the accident? >> authorities say the ferry struck a rock before it sank. it happened at 8:50 this morning. the ferry was bound for jeju island from incheon port but got stranded in the yellow sea about 400 kilometers from seoul. 325 students and teachers were on board. school officials have set up an emergency crisis center for family members.

about 250 parents are headed for jindo island, which is about 20 kilometers from the accident site. officials will hold a briefing when they have more information on the accident. and the authorities will start lifting up the wrecked ship early tomorrow morning. >> okay. thank you very much, anna. we'll be staying with this story throughout the day. a japanese scientist says the existence of stap cells is a rational high poth this that should be verified. yoesh hickey sasai oversaw the. he is director of the research center for developmental biology. >> translator: these problems should not have occurred so i'm deeply ashamed of the fact that i could not catch the deficiencies that were in the thesis.

>> he held a press conference in tokyo wednesday. it marked his first public appearance since the papers were published in the journal "nature" in january. sasai said he only took part in the last stage of writing the papers with haruko obokata who led the study. obokata and her team members claimed to have found a new way to create cells that can grow into any type of tissue. they said their method allowed mature animal cells to be reprogrammed. they named the phenomenon stimulus triggered acquisition of pluripotency or stap. scientists elsewhere questioned the findings, and investigators at riken who probed her work determined the study contained falsifications. they criticized sasai for not very fieing the legitimacy and accuracy of the data used in the papers. sasai said the existence of stap cells should be considered a hypothesis and verified, but it's highly rational.

he said retracting the papers is the most appropriate decision because their reliability has been undermined. well, you can rest assured to know that reliability is not an issue when it comes to ron madison from our business desk. ron? >> all right. thanks a lot for that, james. we do start with an update on a story that we've been following on "newsline." ment gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange says a local court has rejected its plan for rebuilding the company. mt.gox said the tokyo district court has dismissed mt.gox's plan for rehabilitation proceedings. it said it will be difficult to find firms to support the rebuilding process. the company said it's expected instead that the tokyo district court will order the start of bankruptcy proceedings. the exchange for the virtual currency filed for bankruptcy protection in february of this year. the chinese economic engine seems to be gearing down. analysts with the national bureau of statistics have added up their latest numbers on gross domestic product and the figures

for the first quarter provide more evidence that their economy is losing momentum. gdp grew year on year by 7.4%. the figure is down 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter. the economy has hit its lowest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2012. consumption makes up about a third of gdp. but it slowed, as well as production. exports had been power an economic expansion but over the past few months they have fallen sharply. >> translator: the severe condition of the world economy inevitably affects exports from our country. >> government officials say the figure is within their target of around 7.5%. but a certain rate of growth has to be maintained to create more jobs, they say there are enough openings for those looking for work. and for analysis of the gdp numbers ai uchida spoke earlier with jin du a professor from

tokyo and also serves as a visiting professor at peking university. she asked him what lies behind the latest data. >> the 7.4 would be very impressive for many economists. but, in china it represents a notable slowdown from the 7.7% in the last quarters. but more importantly, in the chinese context, i think the -- this number is slightly slower than the official target of 7.5. so as we all know, china hasn't missed the target since 1998 and the government will probably have trouble reaching 7.5% growth per year. i think the chinese leaders now are facing increasingly, you

know, the difficult tradeoff between stimulating the economy, and the sticking to their reform agenda. >> so what kind of changes are you expecting the leaders to make if things continue this way? >> i don't think the fundamental changes in policy will taking place any time soon. premier li keqiang says repeatedly that the government wouldn't jump in with aggressive measures to boost the economy at the first sign of weakness. for him and his team, i think the proper priority is the restructuring. and they believe that china needs to move quickly to prevent the economy from runaway credit over investment, and excess capacity. but at the same time, i think he also shows the willingness to

hold up growth. as you know at the beginning of this month the government said they would bring forward some spending, including the plans for five -- the railway lines in the remote areas, as the revelation. >> professor what would you say is the number one threat to the chinese economy right now? >> i think the financial risks. and the problems of default is, you know, the most pressing problems. i think that the credit growth in china has been fuelled by the widespread assumption among the creditors that the government are willing to allow widespread deports, and thus the loans that bears virtually no risks. so this is what bankers would

call the moral hazard. so i think let some project to be the deport will help to solve this moral hazard problems. but sometimes, the government is paying close attention to avoid a financial systematic turbulence and this is very difficult. >> all right. that was jin du. let's get a check of the markets now. investors in asia have digested the chinese data somewhat positively. the figure did come in slightly ahead of what many economists had expected. here's how the major benchmarks have finished on this wednesday. tokyo posted the biggest gain that we've seen since mid-february. the rise in momentum did falter in some markets, though, like seoul later on in the session. but here in tokyo the nikkei averaged with a strong gain today was up more than 3%. finishing up there, as you see, 14,417.

recovering that 14,000 level for the first time in four days. a wide range of shares were pushed higher, the weakening of the yen boosted overall sentiment. in china the shanghai composite also with gains just slightly it up 0.2%, 2,105. higher financial shares helped the index to end in the posit e positive. some investors were a bit wary of slower signs of growth in the real estate market. in sydney, the s&p/asx index up 5,420. shares of mining giants finished higher of bhp billiton lifted its forecast for iron ore production. japanese and american trade officials have yet to reach a breakthrough in an asia pacific free trade pact. a japanese negotiator is sounding optimistic as pressure mounts to reach a deal before prime minister shinzo abe hosts u.s. president barack obama at a summit next week. deputy chief negotiator hiroshi

oe met in washington with wendy cutler to discuss details of a transpacific trade partnership. they hope to pave the way for talks later this week between top trade officials from the two countries. oe says he and cutler are starting to find some common ground. >> translator: we have not yet narrowed the gaps between us. but i'd say we are making progress in negotiations. >> japanese and u.s. trade officials have locked horns over japan's tariffs on imported beef. the two sides reportedly discussed measures that would allow japan to raise tariffs temporarily if these imports surged. they also exchanged opinions on tariffs on dairy products such as cheese. us is ueck ki motor has developed a hybrid system for exact vehicles. engineers at the automaker aim to make their cars run 40 kilometers on a liter of gasoline. suzuki's new system combines a power generator and a motor. it's smaller and lighter than

those of its competitors, and aimed to introduce exact hybrids as soon as possible. suzuki engineers also succeeded in making the vehicle framework lighter. that's to make the cars more fuel efficient. an executive at the automaker says the goal is to meet demand for low-cost hybrids in emerging economies. a man who used to work for a major japanese trading firm is in trouble after losing money on the currency markets. officials say he stole about $7 million from the company to make up for his losses. they say the man, in his 30s, and worked in a finance division of hit ochi's affiliate in new zealand. they say he transferred about $7 million from the firm's bank account to his own account over two years. an in-house probe found the man forged invoices to embezzle the money. hitochi plans to file a criminal complaint against him. executives at general motors say they're refocusing on safety. gm officials failed to fix a defect that caused the death of

at least 13 people. executives have been under fire for their slow response to a fault in the ignition switches of some cars. the company's new ceo says she and her colleagues have created what they call a global product integrity organization. >> this new way of developing vehicles will provide the highest levels of safety, quality, and customer service, and ensure that a situation like the ignition switch recall doesn't happen again. >> the defects caused engines to shut down during driving, and they disabled air bags. the company has recalled 2.6 million cars. legislators are looking into allegations that gm officials knew about the problems for more than a decade, but failed to take any action. u.s. justice department officials are getting personal in their fight against auto parts cartels. a grand jury has indicted one current and two former executives of a japanese tire company. they're charged with conspiring to fix prices of rubber parts.

bridgestone officials pleaded guilty in february to price fixing. the company agreed to pay fines of $425 million. now justice department officials have singled out individual executives, all of them are japanese citizens. executives at 26 auto parts firms have already pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty in the investigation. authorities have charged 32 people. all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. i'll leave you with the markets.

military forces in ukraine are moving in on pro-russian activists in the east for the first time. there are conflicting reports of casualties. the armed activists have been occupying government buildings and demanding greater regional autonomy. nhk world's craig dale has the details. >> reporter: ukrainian soldiers stood their ground at an airport in the east, as pro-russian activists gathered outside. the military moved in to take control of the facility. the activists aren't happy. they built barricades, even as air force jets flew overhead. troops in armored vehicles took up positions elsewhere and they set up checkpoints. the acting president briefed parliament on the operation. oleksandr turchinov said it will be conducted in different stages. >> translator: the aim of the operation is to protect the

citizens of ukraine, to stop terror, to stop criminals, and to stop attempts at tearing our country apart. >> reporter: pro-russian groups have occupied government buildings in several eastern cities for more than a week. they're well armed and well fortified. people will stand here till the end, says this man. there's no army that could make them leave. these activists have been calling for greater regional autonomy, and they want to hold referendums to decide their future within ukraine. president obama's spokesperson says leaders in kiev had no choice but to take action. >> the best way to de-escalate the situation is for the armed militants to leave the buildings they have seized. >> reporter: the u.s. and other nations blame the unrest on the russian government. they say president vladimir putin is trying to carve out more territory just as he did when he annexed the ukrainian republic of crimea last month.

foreign minister sergey lavrov says the allegation of russian involvement is a lie and nonsense. he said in beijing that the use of force will sabotage diplomatic discussions. lavrov is scheduled to meet with senior officials from the u.s., the eu and ukraine on thursday in geneva. leaders in moscow have said they reserve the right to protect ethnic russians in eastern ukraine. thousands of russian troops are stationed on the border. nato secretary-general says they must be pulled back. >> russia should stop being part of the problem, and start being part of the solution. >> reporter: western leaders have imposed various sanctions on russian officials. they say expect more. >> the longer it reaches the independence and sovereignty of ukraine, the heavier the price it will pay. >> reporter: but these pro-russian activists don't seem

to be swayed by threats. some say war has been declared against them, and that ukrainian forces had their way, all signs suggest they're preparing to defend themselves. craig dale, nhk world. thanks for that report, craig. more than 1,000 demonstrators in brazil have taken to the streets of sao paulo. they're angry about government spending on the world cup. organizers are using taxpayer money to build new soccer stadiums, and make other preparations. protesters say the money should be used, instead, for medical services. they held banners reading, the world cup is sick. and health care in brazil is over and done with. >> translator: we don't have enough medical facilities. the government is spending huge amounts of money on the world cup. but many brazilians can't even afford a ticket.

>> protesters also held demonstrations last year when brazil hosted the confederations cup. the world cup kicks off in june. but protesters are planning more rallies in host cities. a team of experts says syrian authorities are suspected to have tortured more than 10,000 people to death. the team includes experts on international law and forensics. they explained their findings at an informal meeting of the u.n. security council. they analyzed about 55,000 photos of people allegedly tortured and killed by syrian security authorities. the photos were smuggled out of the country by a former military photographer. a member of the group says the images are firm evidence that syrian president bashar al assad's government has committed crimes against humanity. >> translator: the security council remains divided over the conflict in syria. but members should be able to bridge their differences on this matter.

such an inhumane situation must not be left unchecked. >> he indicated the security council will prepare a resolution on referring the matter to the international criminal court. you're watching "newsline" coming to you from our studios here in tokyo, where it is warm, but not humid. but the dry weather is affecting parts of japan. as jonathan oh tells us in this hour's weather update. jonathan? >> hello, james. yes, dry air is causing a massive forest fire in the central portions of japan. i want to go in and show you this video, this forest fire has so far scorched 400 hectares of mountainside, and the problem is the dry air. relative humidity dropped to 12% in that area, and on top of that, the winds started to pick up during the late morning hours. and that caused the fire to spread. so far thankfully no residents have to be evacuated and no injuries have been reported.

but we have to continue to watch out for the situation because of the weather conditions, and this is actually not particularly unusual when it comes to the frequency of wildfires in japan. here's a look at the graphic for average wildfire numbers when it comes to month. and notice, april is a very busy month in terms of wildfires. and that's because of the dry air pattern. in fact, this dry air advisory for most of japan has been in place since april 7th. and it looks like there's no relief in sight for the next 24 hours, no rain is expected except for the far areas in to kyushu. it looks like the rain is going to spread in to friday. that's when most of japan will start seeing some of the precipitation. as we broaden out the view and look at the rest of asia, it looks like that -- there is low pressure developing in mainland china and in central portions of china pushing toward the east. eventually it will start to affect the korean peninsula, and then by friday, i think they will see a little bit more rain when it comes to japan and tokyo.

temperature highs for thursday, 27 in hong kong, 26 in shanghai, 19 in beijing, and the low 20s into tokyo. i want to take you down to new zealand where the remnants of ita is now starting to hammer this area, because of the rain that it's bringing with it. and it looks like that up to 100 millimeters of rain is expected for the next 120 hours. so flooding, landslides, continue to be a concern for new zealand. let's take a look now at europe, where pleasant weather continues to control the western half of the continent. but it looks like this trough is very persistent for the eastern portions of europe. so that's bringing in cold air, rain, and thunderstorms, and it looks like that that will continue to be the case for warsaw with a high of 10. vienna, you will top off at 12. but both of you will see rain. back over to the west, looks like nice weather continues for madrid with highs in the mid 20s. paris up to 18 degrees under mostly sunny conditions. let's take a look now at the americas. and speaking of fires, it looks

like we have to continue to monitor the weather pattern for the desert southwest of the united states. dry weather, and high winds continue to be a problem for that particular region. we are also looking out for this low pressure system located in the upper midwest. it is producing some snow as it continues to move toward the great lakes. meanwhile, the cold front that has contributed to a lot of active weather is now trying to clear the eastern seaboard of the united states. but high pressure coming in behind is dragging in very cold air. and so it looks like we're going to see unseasonably cold temperatures. let me show you the overnight lows expected, winnipeg for wednesday morning, down to 10 below. 16 below by thursday morning, and even down into atlanta, single digit temperatures for the morning hours going through the next few days. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended forecast.

here on "newsline" our top story once again. nearly 290 people are missing after a passenger ferry sank off the southern coast of south korea. at least three people have been confirmed dead. the ship was heading from incheon to the island of jeju. it sent out a distress signal about 20 kilometers off jindo island. it was carrying more than 450 people. more than 300 were high school students from the city of ansan

near seoul. coast guard sent helicopters and ships for the rescue operation. they say they've recovered three bodies. a male student and a female crew member are among them. one male has not yet been identified. the toll of the missing was revised upward dramatically after confusion in the wake of the accident. authorities say military personnel and special rescue teams, including 160 divers are now in the area to search for the missing. >> translator: an announcement said we should stay where we were. but the ship was already sinking. many students could not get out. >> staff at a meteorological observatory on jindo island say there was fog at the time of the accident. the ferry operator says due to the fog, the vessel left port three hours behind schedule. gene otani will have more updates for you at the top of the hour. in the meantime stay with us here on nhk world. a7gucc

>> these are the headlines for you this hour. 300 people still lost at sea after a fairy film with high school students went down off the coast of south korea. boats, helicopters, and divers are scrambling to rescue passengers and crew. armored vehicles carrying russian flags rolled through eastern ukraine one day after russia said he ukraine is on the brink of civil war. boston pays tribute to the victims and survivors of the marathon bombings one year after