hello and welcome back to "newsline," i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. more than 170 people have been injured in a subway accident in seoul. and pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine say the government has launched a military operation to retake a city. more than 170 people have been injured in a subway crash in the south korean capital of

seoul. the accident happened around 3:30 p.m. on friday on the number two line. it's the second oldest route in seoul, and one of the most crowded. one train rammed into the rear of another that was stopped at a station. rescue teams say 172 people were injured. some of them suffered sprained ankles, passengers were seen leaving the scene calmly. >> translator: i heard an announcement in the train asking us to move forward to avoid danger. >> the operator of the subway says there's a system to maintain a safe distance between trains. police are looking into the cause of the crash. the accident comes just over two weeks after a ferry sank off the southern coast of south korea. more than 300 people are dead or missing. the crew of the ship is being blamed for not evacuating passengers promptly. the train crash could lead to increased concern about the safety of public transport in south korea.

pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine say government military forces have launched an operation to push them out of one of their strongholds. they say ukrainian soldiers are moving in on the city of slavyansk. the separatists have been occupying government buildings there in a bid for greater regional autonomy. one of them told nhk that many helicopters appeared in the sky and one went down, then caught fire. russian state tv showed video of an injured soldier being taken away from a helicopter that crashed. reuters news agency says its staff saw a military helicopter open fire on the outskirts of the city and heard gunfire. the separatists have been burning tires outside the city to keep military forces from moving in. one of their commanders told russian media that the city is surrounded and residents have

been told to stay indoors. reuters quoted an aide to ukraine's interior minister as saying the government won't comment until the operation is over. the separatists have been in control of slavyansk and a number of other eastern cities for more than three weeks now, and day after day they've been expanding their reach. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: the wall of riot police was no match for the crowd of pro-russian activists. stun grenades didn't deter them. they pelted the police with rocks. then they charged. it's become a familiar pattern in eastern ukraine. armed pro-russian groups have taken over government buildings. separatist leaders want to hold referendums later this month on the region's future within the country. members of the interim government in kiev say the votes

would have no legal basis. they're preparing for a presidential election on may 25th at would be paired with a national poll on greater regional autonomy. >> this should be something that ukrainian people get to decide for themselves. it should not be something that an outside nation dictates to ukraine and that is certainly what russia has demonstrated that it's trying to do. >> reporter: leaders in ukraine and the west are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened in crimea after the fall of pro-moscow president viktor yanukovych. voters there held a referendum in march, and decided to join russia. then, president vladimir putin annexed the republic. he's accused of sending in arms and agents to fuel the unrest so he could eventually send in troops under the pretense of protecting ethnic russians. putin and members of his administration have denied that again and again. he said in a statement that

ukraine must withdraw all military units from the southeast, stop the violence, and immediately start a national dialogue that would involve all regions and all political forces. ukrainian soldiers have been manning checkpoints on the outskirts of the occupied area. but in the capital, they held an exercise to test the response to a threat on a government building. the head of the state guard said they performed a task well. farther west, police and volunteers set up checkpoints on roads leading to leveu. they're trying to prevent pro-russian separatists from entering the city. residents know it's unlikely this will reach their doorstep. but it's another sign many in ukraine are worried about the future of their nation, and about how this crisis will end. craig dale, nhk world.

to the latest on business new. investors are getting their latest look into the state of the japanese economy. they're poring over employment data for march. officials at the internal affairs ministry announced the unemployment rate was unchanged for february at 3.6%. the number of people with jobs rose 520,000 from a year earlier to nearly 363 million. that figure has climbed for 15 straight months. the number without jobs fell by 340,000 to about 2.5 million. that figure has been on the decline for almost four years. labor ministry officials say job availability was up for the 16th month in a row. the ratio of job offers to job seekers edged up to 1.07. that means for every 100 people looking, 107 positions were available. new job offers rose 5.4% compared with the same month last year. the number of positions available in the manufacturing industry increased more than

18%. jobs in the service industry were up nearly 14%. japanese government officials have confirmed what many already knew, consumers went on a spending spree in march before the sales tax went up. they spent a lot more on some of the things that they use every day. officials at the internal affairs ministry say spending by families up two or more was up by more than 7% when averaged up about $3400. it was the biggest yearly increase since march 1975, when household spending rose after the first oil crisis. people forked over almost 83% more buying things like refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, toilet paper and other household goods. they spent nearly 13% more on cars and public transport. let's get a check of the markets now. see how things are wrapping up in asia this friday. investors really across the region staying on the sidelines. they're apparently waiting for u.s. jobs data, which is due out later on in the day. they're looking for more clues

on how the world's biggest economy is faring. let's see how markets across the region fared today. the nikkei was down. hong kong's hang seng index finished higher a day after the release of china's official manufacturing data. shanghai was closed for a second day today. looking closer at the nikkei, it was down 0.2%, finished at 14,457. one of the big losers on the day was sony. the electronics giant said its net loss for the year that just ended in march would be even bigger than previous estimates. tokyo market also be closed on holiday until wednesday. the hang seng index in hong kong finishes up nearly nearly 0.6%, 22,260. investors bought stocks in railway companies on reports that beijing would increase spending on the seconder. and in the philippines the composite index there with a gain as well up by half a percent, 6,742. mining stocks were among the big gainers there. that was on upbeat earnings from one of the country's leading

miners. u.s. car buyers are warming up after a long winter. they fuelled a rebound in april in auto sales. many of them opted for larger vehicles. researchers at auto data say carmakers sold about 1.4 million vehicles. that was up about 8% from a year earlier. car buyers were a little bit chillier earlier in the year. analysts say cold and snowy weather dampened their enthusiasm. people at general motors saw their sales go up nearly 7%. those at chrysler enjoyed a 14% rise. things not quite as good, though, over at ford where sales dropped just a bit there. now the fortune of japanese carmakers change with the weather as well. sales at toyota increased about 13%. managers at nissan saw sales jump by more than 18%. sales at honda were up about a percent. analysts are expecting strong growth in the u.s. auto industry as the economy continues to recover. some say recalls at gm and other carmakers could affect that growth, though.

the operator of the international airport in kuala lumpur, malaysia, has opened a new terminal and aims to cash in on growing demand for travelers using low cost carriers. the company built the terminal exclusively for budget airlines. came in at a cost of about $1.2 billion. an old terminal for low-cost carrier was opened eight years ago. it was becoming a bit too small, though, as more travelers started opting for cheaper airlines. company executives say the new term cal can handle 45 million passengers a year. that's about three times the capacity of the old one. air asia, based in malaysia, and other budget airlines from thailand and singapore plan to use that terminal. american start-up that streams tv programs over the internet is shaking up the industry now. the company is applying 21st century technology to a 20th century medium. and conventional broadcasters are feeling threatened. we have more. >> reporter: a new platform for bringing live broadcast tv to the internet, wherever and

whenever we want. >> aereo began operations in february 2012. after launching in new york, it's been expanding rapidly ever since. >> if you're a successful, you're able to create something really valuable for consumers for a long time. >> reporter: the company captures free tv broadcast signals, and distributes them to subscribers over the internet. viewers can watch programs aired on major networks live, or record them for on-demand viewg later. each subscriber is assigned a dedicated remote antenna. the antennas are about two centimeters in diameter. the system uses cloud computing technology. aero is now available in about 11 major metropolitan areas. the company most recently began distributing programs broadcast by tv stations in austin, texas, in march. aereo's appearance on the scene

has created an uproar in the mainstream broadcast industry. a group of broadcasters, including the four major networks, are suing the company, demanding it be shut down. two lower courts have since ruled in favor of aereo. the case is now before the supreme court. the justices began hearing arguments on april 22nd. the broadcasters say aereo is infringing on their copy rights by distributing programs to viewers without permission. a aereo officials argue they're offering their services to individual subscribers so they're not engaged in the public performance and breaking the law. they also say banning the service could adversely affect the future of cloud computing. but some tv networks are threatening to quit putting their signals on the air if the court decides to side with aereo. >> if aereo wins, it ask possible, in america, that the

broadcasters will say, we're finished. no more broadcasting. we're not going to broadcast anymore. we're just going to sell our tv shows to cable companies. if they lose, they're finished. they put all their chips on one big bet. >> the outcome of the aereo case will impact the future of tv broadcasting, as well as delivery of media on the internet overall. the supreme court decision is expected as early as june. nhk world, washington, d.c. >> all right that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's see how things are looking on the markets.

officials at the crippled fukushima daiichi power plant have investigated an inty dent in which highly contaminated water was allowed to flow into the wrong building. they say human error could be to blame. the water, used to cool the plant's molten and nuclear fuels, becomes highly contaminated. storage in nearby facilities for processing. tokyo electric power company officials announced last month that about 200 tons of tainted water had been misdirected through pumps which should have been shut off. tepco officials told nhk that the water had also flowed into another structure. they say that the pumping appears to have start on march

20th while workers were switching on the air conditioning system. the switches for the pumps are on the same control panel. officials suspect the crew turned on the pumps, instead of the air conditioner. they say the switches were numbered, but were not clearly identified. and tepco officials have agreed to work with a british firm in decommissioning the fukushima nuclear plant. the agreement was signed between tepco's fukushima daiichi decontamination and decommissioning engineering company, and british company in london. the uk firm has been engaged in mothballing a nuclear reactor in britain. tepco officials plan to exchange information with the experts in managing contaminated water, as well as in handling the decommissioning process. they are interested in the radioactive water treatment and technologies being used at the fukushima plant.

japanese travelers have kissed a last good-bye to one of the most recognizable faces of the aviation industry. the last boeing 747 owned by a japanese airline has left the country to be demissioned in the united states. the departure of the jumbo jet marks a radical strange of strategy for japanese airlines. >> reporter: the boeing 747 made its debut in 1970. at one point, japan operated more jumbo jets than any other country in the world. plane spotters flocked to tokyo's haneda airport in late march to witness the arrival of the last domestic flight. >> translator: i feel a bit sad. >> translator: thank you for all these years. >> reporter: the boeing 747 and its double-deck design revolutionized the commercial aircraft industry. it's 70 meter fuselage could accommodate more than 500

passengers. that was more than twice the capacity of other planes at the time. the 747 was a perfect match for the needs of a rising economic power. this man spent decades maintaining jumbo jets. he says their design marks the beginning of a new era. >> translator: the boeing 747 is the basis of today's aircraft. it's where everything began from the instruments in the cockpit, to the navigation equipment. >> reporter: the 747's latest has just come into service. it's said to keep flying for many more years but not for a japanese airline. company officials here say they've decided to do away with jumbo jets because of a change of strategy. >> translator: we are now focusing on high end customers. the so-called premium class travelers.

the number of international flights from tokyo's haneda airport has just increased dramatically. a pillar of our strategy is to take advantage of the airport's convenient location to attract business customers, and to develop a solid network. >> reporter: on the 747, ana used to allocate 250 seats for economy class passengers. this number has been slashed by 50% on the brand-new boeing 787. ana's main competitor japan airlines has adopted a similar strategy. both companies believe an increasing number of budget travelers will opt to fly with low-cost carriers. but there's another reason behind the disappearance of the 747 in japan. the country's airports. to use such a large aircraft it is essential for airlines to have a hub airport, as they have

to sell a high number of seats for it to be viable. currently, there is no such airport in japan. in germany, lufthansa is betting heavily on two of the world's largest commercial aircraft. the latest model of the boeing 747, and the massive airbus a380. one of the company's executives explains why. >> we have to see the position of frankfurt and also our hub in munich, and maybe in zurich, vienna also in the lufthansa group system so we have a possibility to connect a lot of european cities from these huge hubs, which means if you compare this with tokyo, tokyo is not a hub like frankfurt when it comes to servicing so many neighborhood countries. >> reporter: the situation in japan means airlines there are

counting on smaller and more maneuverable planes. >> translator: japanese airlines are doing well financially. for example, japan airlines has just posted a profit of $1.5 billion. as far as our earnings are concerned, japanese companies have adopted a sounder strategy than their overseas competitors. it does seem wiser to be shifting towards midsize aircraft. >> reporter: for the time being, jumbo jets and airbus a380s operated by non-japanese carriers will continue servicing tokyo. it will take a few years before ana and japan airlines can determine if flying smaller was the way to go. >> right. and people in the balkans getting drenched with persistent rain. our meteorologist jonathan oh joins us with more on the weather there, and around the world. >> hello, shery.

yes, this area has been dealing with a lot of rain since the beginning of this week. and it looks like that some relief is on the way as we head into the latter part of the weekend. can you see the clouds located right over serbia, romania and the rest of the balkan peninsula. we also have another low pressure system located around france, and that is bringing some more rain over there. our focal point is down toward the balkan peninsula, and also to parts of turkey, because we do have a chance for some severe thunderstorms going through this day. and around the area, outside of that, also looking at a chance for some thunderstorms, as well. so, it looks like that for friday and into saturday, we are going to be dealing with some heavy rains at times. you can see here that the precipitation is going to move slowly toward the south and east. i think, again, as we head into the latter part of the weekend, an improvement will be on the way when it comes to drier conditions. here's a look at the forecast for europe. paris, you'll see a chance for rain and thunderstorms, a high of 16. 14 in london.

and the rain continues in rome with a high of 19 degrees. we switch over to the americas. and we are seeing most of the united states with a high pressure system that is controlling the weather. that's causing a little bit of a dry spell for the southern rockies. but it looks like the weather is going to stay pleasant over there. meanwhile, the low pressure system, and the cold front responsible for causing a lot of problems earlier this week. that low is headed toward canada, and bringing some heavy rains for ontario, quebec, and also into the new england states. and the cold front also bringing some heavy rains down toward northern florida. i think what's going to happen is the front will continue to push further off to the east, but not without leaving rain for toronto with a high of 14. 21 in new york with a chance for rain. but the deep south seeing a warm-up with drier conditions. 22 in atlanta, 21 in d.c., and again, for the west coast, seeing a very warm weather pattern with a high of 34. here's a look at asia. we are seeing high pressure in

japan, beautiful weather conditions bringing temperatures into the mid 20s. again, one of the warmest times we've seen thus far in 2014. we do have a cutoff low that is moving over the korean peninsula and that's creating gusty winds. meanwhile over into china the southern portions seeing disturbance of unstable weather pattern that's bringing more rain for hong kong and chongqing and it looks like that is going to be the case. now, back here in japan, as that rain system eventually moves into the area by next week, that's golden week. and so this weekend looking okay. but by monday and tuesday, we're dealing with some rain. now for some of you, you may be headed over to the northern island of hokkaido because of the golden week, and this is one of the last places to see the cherry blossoms in japan. those hills and mountains there, where the blossoms typically do not start until the month of may, which is over a month after it begins in tokyo, and two months after they start in okinawa. now, the full bloom of the cherry trees arrived 11 days

earlier compared to this time last year following the warmest temperatures across japan thus far in 2014. even hokkaido has been seeing above average temperatures all this week resulting in the spring scene for residents on japan's northern island. with that, hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's a look at your extended forecast. and once again, here is our top story.

more than 170 people have been injured in a subway crash in the south korean capital of seoul. the accident happened at around 3:30 p.m. on friday, on the number 2 line. it's the second oldest route in seoul, and one of the most crowded. one train rammed into the rear of another that was stopped at a station. rescue teams say 172 people were injured. some of them suffered sprained ankles. passengers were seen leaving the scene calmly. >> translator: i heard an announcement in the train, asking us to move forward to avoid danger. >> the operator of the subway says there is a system to maintain a safe distance between trains. police are looking into the cause of the crash. the accident comes just over two weeks after ferry sank off the southern coast of south korea. more than 300 people are dead or missing. the crew of the ship is being blamed for not evacuating

passengers promptly. the train crash could lead to increased concerns about the safety of public transport in south korea. now, our reporter anna jung is at the station where the trains collided. anna, please tell us what you're seeing right now. >> the station is surrounded by ambulance and fire engines. rescue teams have put up tents for the passengers. they've sent them to eight hospitals in the area. we spoke to an emergency official who tells us most of the injuries are not serious. many were hurt when they tried to ex -- as they collapsed from the train collision. authorities say there were about 1,000 passengers on the two trains. the southern route runs around central seoul and it is used by nearly 2 million people every day. the station where the accident happened is located to the east of the city center.

it's in the middle of the commercial area, and there's a university nearby. >> anna, and do investigators at this point know what caused the accident? >> what we know at this hour is that one train rammed into another that was stopped at the station. initial reports say two cars have derailed from the impact of the crash. authorities say they will examine the safety systems that measure distances of the twin trains on the track. they believe they may not have been functioning correctly. they will look at what role that played in the accident. >> anna thank you very much for that report. that was anna jung reporting from the station in seoul where the trains have collided. that's all from me today. gene otani will be here at the top of the hour with more updates. thank you for watching. gg99ññww

>> hello and welcome to "france 24." here are your headlines. operation on pro-moscow in rebels resulted downing two ukrainian helicopters. holdss. president sessions with the german chancellor in washington around putting up a united front against rush over ukraine. beingls suspected of behind the latest targeting of a suburb of the nigerian capital.