welcome to "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada in tokyo. here are some of the stories we are following this hour. rescuers are searching for survivors of a ferry sinking off the coast of south korea as families of the missing grow more frustrated with each passing hour. the ukrainian media say at least three pro-russian activists were killed in a clash between government troops and separatists in the eastern part of the country. and china's growing military

presence in asia is creating concern among its neighbors. we speak to an expert about what's behind the expansion. families of the nearly 300 people missing in a ferry sinking off south korea are growing more anxious and more frustrated as time ticks on. the vessel capsized and sank more than a day ago leaving at least nine people dead. rescue divers have been hampered by rough weather and rapid tide in the search area. they have found no survivors since this morning. 179 people were rescued on wednesday. the sewol sank after it began listing heavily and taking on water. it was on its way to jeju island from incheon. 475 people were onboard including 300 high school students on a field trip. the captain told local media he apologized to passengers and

their families. he said he was deeply ashamed and could not find any words. but he did not explain what happened to the ship. the operator of the ferry also apologized. >> translator: we deeply apologize to the families. we are very sorry. our company promises that we will do our best to prevent any further loss of life. we're sorry. >> coast guard officials plan to pump air into the wreckage in an effort to keep it afloat while rescuers look for more survivors. relatives of the missing have gathered at the port of jindo on the southern coast near the accident site. nhk world's anna john is there. anna? >> reporter: some of the family members of the missing have gathered at this gym about 30

minutes from the port that's close toast the accident site. they stayed up all night waiting for word on the fate of their loved ones. at about 4:30 this afternoon, government officials paid a visit here to offer emotional support. some parents shouted out angrily when park appeared. they demanded to know why the rescue effort is not making progress. president park conveyed her condolences and promise that the operation will save more lives. more than 550 rescuers are involved in the search. they've been scouring the dark, muddy matters, but they have found no survivors since last night. they saved 179 people on wednesday. >> is there any new information as to the cause of the accident?

>> reporter: they still haven't confirmed the official cause. they say it's possible that the ferry struck a rock as it traveled through thick fog. a number of survivors have reported hearing a bang. then the boat began to list and quickly sank. investigators are expected to question the captain to try to determine what happened and what evacuation instructions they issued. rescuers know that finding the missing will be difficult just using divers. so they're bringing in three huge cranes to try and lift the ferry. one will arrive tomorrow morning and the others will get here on saturday. >> thank you, anna. nhk world's anna jung in jindo, south korea. major accidents involving passenger ships have claimed

thousands of lives a rnd the world over the past three decades. the worst one in south korean history happened in 1993. although the crowded ship capsized and sank killing nearly 300 people. the accident prompted a debate of strengthening maritime safety measures. more recently in 2012 a luxury cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground off italy and capsized. 30 people died. the captain deserted the vessel shortly after the accident. he's currently on trial for manslaughter and other charges. in 2008 a typhoon caused a ferry to sink off the philippines. about 800 people died. an egyptian ferry caught fire in 2006 and sank in the red sea, killing more than 1,000 people. and the worst ever maritime accident during peacetime happened in 1987. again in the philippines. a ferry sank after colliding

with a fuel tanker. more than 4,000 people died. at least three people have reportedly been killed in eastern ukraine in a clash between pro-russian demonstrators and government troops. local media are reporting that activists in camouflage gear surrounded an interior minister facility in mariupol in the donetsk region. they demanded the building be suhr runderred. when officials rejected their demand explosives were reportedly thrown into the promises. this prompted government troops to fire into the air, setting off a violent clash between the two sides. the media say that at least three other pro-russian demonstrators were shot and killed and 13 others were injured. such groups have been occupying a number of local government buildings and police stations in eastern ukraine.

the country's interim government on tuesday have a group taking control of the military airport. the foreign ministers of the united states, russia, the european union and ukraine are meeting in geneva to discuss the crisis. some are concerned that the latest clash may adversely affect the talks. a move by separatists in neighboring moldova may also overshadow the meeting. lawmakers in the eastern region of transdniestria have passed a resolution. they are calling on russian leaders to recognize their independence. analysts say the resolution may be aimed at pressuring ukraine's interim leaders ahead of the talks in geneva. residents of transdniestria unilaterally declared independence from moldova in 1990. the move sparked an armed conflict that lasted until 1992, when opposing sides reached a

cease-fire agreement. russia's government then sent in peace keepers and still has a strong influence on the region. authorities in transdniestria held a referendum in 2006. they say more than 90% of residents voted to make the region independent and then joined russia. all right. to the latest in business now. data out of china shows that overseas businesses continue to see a lot of promise. foreign investment in the first quarter of 2014 rose more than 5% from a year ago. but investment from japan plunged nearly 50% due to souring bilateral ties. officials with china's commerce ministry say direct investment by foreign firms from january through march totalled more than $31 billion. that's up 5.5% from last year. investment in the service industry increased more than 20%. but the manufacturing sector saw

a decline of just under 12% there. investment from asean countries rose nearly 8% compared to last year. bilateral tensions caused investment from japan to drop by more than 47%. prime minister shinzo abe says he has, as he put it, strong intention to conclude the transpacific partnership free-frfree free-trade agreement. his comments come as japanese and u.s. negotiators work to narrow their differences ahead of president barack obama's visit to japan next week. >> translator: it would mean a lot for japan and the u.s. to take the lead in creating the tpp framework. >> abe made his comments at a speech in tokyo. he called the tpp an ambitious project to create a vast regional economic zone. he said negotiators should keep that goal in mind and not only haggle over numerical figures. abe also commented on his proposal to cut japan's corporate tax rate. the rate is much higher than in

neighboring countries. abe says tax rates are a big factor when international companies consider investing in japan. a check of the markets now. investors across asia taking heart from the federal reserve chair's comments. she said that the central bank will maintain a near zero interest rate for an extended period of time. here's the major benchmarks finished out this thursday. many investors reluctant to trade actively today ahead of the long easter weekend in several markets. here in tokyo the nikkei did end flat today. 14,417 at the close. the previous day's 3% gain prompted some traders to take profits. meanwhile cannon was among the top performers. this was on reports the firm will release strong earnings. the hang seng index a gain of .3%. 22,760. some traders anticipating beijing may support the domestic economy. that's after the state council reportedly said it will e are

deuce the amount of cash that rural banks have to keep at the central bank. many think this move is unlikely to spread to major banks. china's shanghai composite could not maintain i wants earlier vast index. closed lower, .3%. 2,098. jap neesz consumer sentiment dropped in march for a fourth straight month. the country's cabinet office says that's due to concerns about the impact of a higher consumption tax. the cabinet office released the results of its monthly survey. the consumer confidence index was 37.5. that's down one point from the previous month. the researchers asked 8,400 households about their spending outlook for the next six months. all indices including overall livelihood and income growth went down. officials downgraded their overall assessment to showing signs of weakness. google has posted record profit for the january to march quarter. this is due to strong online advertising revenue. executives a t the u.s. internet

giant say net profit in the three months rose 3% from a year earlier to nearly $3.5 billion. sales rose 19% to more than $15 billion. the main factor here was higher income from online ads. these do account for 90% of total revenue. google's sales came in less than what many analysts had forecast. this sent the firm's share price down by about 6% in afterhours trading. more and more people around the world are enjoying a glass of wine that's made right here in japan. wine makers across the country are competing with long established international brands and having some success. now they're refining their production strategies to meet global demand. nhk world's kago aso has more. >> reporter: domestic made wine is gaining popularity in japan and abroad, too, as its quality improves. there's a larger variety of such wine in the market. >> translator: i hear japanese

wines are getting better. i want to learn more. >> translator: i thought japanese wines were too sweet. but they go well with japanese food. >> reporter: yamaneshi prefecture east of tokyo is a major wine producing reej. it's known for a variety of grape called koshu. a lot of the wine here is made from the grape. last year this kosher wine became the very first asian wine to( win a gold prize in the international contest. t the care taken in the process is behind the writing profile of japanese wines. chief wine maker ana misoa pays a lot of attention to avoiding

oxdization. but it's not not to keep chap neez wine competitor in the world. makers also refine their cultivation results. cultivation of the grape quality was rare in japan. some wineries are now making adjustments to match the japanese climate. this winemaker keeps the soil well drained by planting the vines on higher ground. this makes for juicier, firmer grapes. otherwise the grapevines absorb too much moisture from japan's high humidity, producing watery grapes. >> translator: if we can't provide high quality wines, global markets easily forget us. >> reporter: japan is beginning to catch up with the rest of the world in scientific approaches to grape production. university of tokyo researcher

nishioka is member of a group studying ways to enhance the quality of koshu grapes. he's made a device to measure water in grapevines. it indicates the vine's health and changes caused by the weather. grape farmers are juicing a smartphone application. it was developed by nishioka to support the cultivation of grapes. the location of a snapshot taken by farmers is highlighted on the map. this allows farmers to share information. this system is especially helpful when a disease breaks out as it can help farmers keep track of contagion. they can then spray chemicals in advance to protect their crops from damage.

>> translator: we can understand the situation visually. it lets us easily keep an eye on the disease and manage our grapes. >> translator: currently, each farmer using their own method of cultivation. if we use scientific data, everyone can improve quality to the same level. >> reporter: increasing global popularity means closer scrutiny of the koshu grapes' overall quality. as a latecomer, japan needs to learn from science to create world level wines. keiki asa, nhk world. that's going to doit for business hour. here's a check of the markets.

zblmpkts leaders in different asian nations are working out strategies to deal with the regional power shift. chinese authorities are building up their military and expanding their reach. we are taking a closer look at the situation over the next couple of days here on "newsline." and we're starting with the

impact of a rising china at sea. >> reporter: china has expanded its maritime presence in recent years. it's been modernizing equipment and its military capabilities. china places particular focus on the south china sea. the red dotted lines show areas over which the country claims sovereignty. in places, these zones overlap territory claimed by others, including the philippines and vietnam. china's behavior is ratcheting up tensions with its neighbors. in march, the chinese coast guard tried to block philippine vessels from conducting a supply mission in the south china sea near a disputed shole that is controlled by manila. >> military analysts have been watching things play out as they try to better understand china's game plan. yoji koda is a former commander in chief of the japan maritime

self-defense force fleet. he's tracked chinese maritime strategy for years and gave us his insight. >> for china, the south china sea has various significance. this is not well known subject, but chinese future posture of the strategy nuclear. so china really wants to increase its strategic nuclear capability. one, on the ground. its development on icbms. and secondly, the chinese development on the maritime strategic nuclear. china is building a new submarine base in the hainan islands. and if this -- the new base is completed and eight or ten nuclear submarines will be operational, chinese flexibility to deploy those submarines would

spread from the south china sea to the indian ocean and pacific ocean. >> reporter: china is implementing a two-stage defensive strategy called a2/ad or anti-access/area denial. the point of anti-access is to block the u.s. military from entering distant waters off china. to achieve this, chinese forces would deploy missiles and fighter jets. if this line is broken, china's defensive implement area denial. this tactic is aimed at denying intruders room to maneuver. koda says it will take china from 10 to 20 years to consolidate the strategy. >> of course, the physical distraction or annihilation is one of the ultimate objectives. but the real objective is more

on washington, d.c. by showing chinese capability. or chinese intent to build those really functioning military capability against u.s. military. perhaps the worst scenario could be the scenario when beijing judges that washington would not intervene. or would not come. and if beijing would be convinced by that theory, that's the most probable case when beijing or china goes for a sort of military action. so for the united states, it's time to show the real visible actions. not necessarily the military. various other ways. >> we'll hear more from retired vice admiral yoji koda

neighbors. find out the challenges china faces. on "newsline." as we have been reporting, it is raining, windy and cold in jindo, south korea, where rescue operation continues. let's turn now to meteorologist jonathan ohn for the details there. jonathan? >> hello, yes. we are continuing to monitor the weather in south korea because of those factors with the clouds, the rain and the windy conditions. what's happening is we have low pressure located south of the korean peninsula. that is feeding into a high pressure system that's picking up the winds right off the coast. and on top of that, a stationary front is bringing in precipitation. and, unfortunately, it looks like there's more rain in the forecast going throughout the rest of thursday and into friday.

this system is going to be pushing toward the east and arriving in western japan as we go into friday. but this rain will continue to hamper rescue efforts on top of the windy conditions, creating a chop on the waters. as we broaden out the view and take a look at the forecast for asia, there's that low pressure system along with the stationary front. so this stationary front will continue to bring rain for shanghai and the ya in,zi river basin. the head of the low pressure system will continue to push toward the east into japan so japan will be dealing with some rain. coming up friday. and then it should depart by the weekend. continuing to watch the low pressure system down toward the philippines, this used to be -- it's continuing to spin over the area bringing in lots of rain, lots of moisture, even some thunderstorms down there. as we look forward into the future, rain expected for the eastern coast of china. also into the philippines. and now eventually toward the western japan.

in fact, the rest of the japan for the rest of the day coming up on friday. temperatures up to 28 degrees in hong kong. 30 degrees in chongqing. beijing at 21. 23 degrees with a mix of sun and clouds in seoul. we take a look at the forecast for japan. lots of rain expected. 20 for fukuoka. 17 for a high in nagano. most of the cherry blossoms for the western half of the country have now moved on. the front continues to move toward the north. even though tomorrow will be raining, by the weekend we short start seeing more of the sakora blossoming for the northern portions of japan going into the weekend. here's a look at new zealand. we are watching this low pressure system. the rem nannants of ita continu to bring rain into this area. already lots of rain and flooding in place. we have more rain on top of that as we go through the next few days. hopefully this system will be departing as we go into next

week. taking a look at the americas, we have high pressure on the west coast except for a little bit of rain located for the pacific northwest. we also have some snow in the upper great lakes. that should be moving toward the northern parts of ontario as we go into the weekend. and then we have a stationary front that's going to bring some moisture into the deep south as we go into the weekend. temperatures are going to be up to around 23 in houston, 16 degrees in atlanta under mostly sunny conditions. let's take a look at europe. high pressure controlling the western half of the continent continually, but we are going to see rain down toward the balkan peninsula. athens, you will still see the stubborn system bringing rain and thunderstorms with a high of 17 degrees. rome topping off at 16. warmer conditions back to the west, madrid topping off at 26 degrees. looks like paris is going to top off at a high of 20 for thursday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's a look at your extended forecast.

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us. >> you are watching "france 24."

thanks for joining us. these are the headlines. crisis talks between russia, ukraine, and the west are underway. this as russian president vladimir putin defends his policies in a well oiled q and a q&aion -- well-oiled session. over 300 missing as rescuers search for survivors in the ferry disaster in south korea. it capsized and sank on wednesday. algerians are going to the polls in the presidential election there. that is widely expected to hand a fourth term to