Independence in the east are on the russian president s payroll. Senior officials from japan, the United States, and south korea, have met to discuss a topic of mutual concern. They gathered in washington for talks on north korea. South koreas envoy says pyongyangs leaders will face more sanctions if they perform another nuclear test. Hwang joonkook met with his u. S. Counterpart glyn davies and his counterpart for north korean issues, junichi ihara. Last month they conducted a series of rocket and missile tests. They included the launch of two Ballistic Missiles believed to be capable of reaching most parts of japan. Leaders in pyongyang have threatened to carry out what they call a new form of nuclear test. Translator if north korea goes ahead with another nuclear test, that will be a direct challenge to the international community. Hwang said officials will keep exploring ways to restore talks aimed at ending the norths nuclear program. The lead researcher of a high profile study on a new type of stem cell has filed an appeal against japans riken institute. A lawyer representing Haruko Obokata said her rest was filed on tuesday. Obokata is calling on riken officials to reexamine the work. Her research was published in january in the british journal nature. Obokatas Team Announced a method to reprogram mature animal cells into embryoniclike stem cells. They said the stap still cells can be turned into any type of tissue. Researchers began to find problems and investigators at riken began looking into her work. Last week officials announced the results of an inhouse investigation. They said obokata fabricated and falsified data in papers she coauthored. Investigators say photos used in her study were nearly identical to those used in her 2011 doctorate thesis and pointed out that conditions of the two experiments were different. Obokata says her mistakes are without malicious intent and should not be considered misconduct. Rikens Investigative Panel will now consider accepting her request. They will present her with a new conclusion in the next 50 days if the appeal goes forward. Or will punish those involved if they choose not to reinvestigate. Ukrainian leaders are trying to keep their country from breaking apart. They say russian president Vladimir Putin wants to take more of their territory, and they say his administration is laying the groundwork for an invasion by sowing the seeds of a separatist movement in the east. More from nhk worlds craig dale. Reporter prorussian demonstrators are tossing more fuel on the political fires in ukraine. Theyve occupied government buildings in the east, and in the city of donetsk they declared they would establish an independent state. Theyre promising to hold a referendum on the matter. Some ukrainians feel recent history is repeating itself. Voters in crimea decided in a referendum last month to join the russian federation. President Vladimir Putin sent in troops and moved quickly to annex the ukrainian republic. Leaders in kiev say hes trying to carve out more territory. Translator the interim Prime Minister says an antiukrainian plan is under way to allow foreign troops to cross the border and the foreign minister says the unrest in the east is not home grown. Also this was done by the most likely by the socalled russian political tourists. Reporter u. S. Secretary of state john kerry expressed similar concerns in a phone call with Russian Foreign minister sergey lavrov. The secretary noted the ukrainian governments assertion that this appeared to be a carefully orchestrated campaign with russian support. Reporter the white house is warning president putin to keep his troops at bay. If russia moves into eastern ukraine, either overtly or covertly, this would be a very serious escalation. Reporter putin has said he would take military action in ukraine to protect russian speakers. Tens of thousands of his soldiers are massed on the border, awaiting orders. The acting president of ukraine says enemies of his country are trying to repeat the crimean scenario but he said they would not succeed. However, these demonstrators, wherever theyre from, continue to keep at it, and they continue to show that ukraine is a nation divided, facing an uncertain future. Craig dale, nhk world. Lets now get the latest business from ron madison. Policymakers at japans central bank are staying the course. Theyll keep pumping billions of dollars into the market to drive an economic rebound and hit that inflation target of 2 . Bank of japan policymakers had their first meeting since the consumption tax went up a week ago. They say the hike which went from 5 to 8 has caused some fluctuations, but personal spending has been resilient. They say spending by companies on buildings, equipment, and other assets is clearly picking up. Exports have leveled off. But bank of japan governor Haruko Kuroda spoke about the impact of the tax hike. He said the economy is likely to return to the recovery trend beginning around the summer. Translator we think the tax increase is expected to hurt personal spending and other areas of the economy in the april to june quarter. But the impact should gradually decline after the summer due to improvements in employment, and income growth. Kuroda added that the central bank is not considering additional easing measures at this stage. He noted that steady progress has been made in achieving the inflation target. He said the boj will continue to monitor any risks to the economy, and will be ready to consider various options if necessary. Working people in japan are worried about the future of the economy due to the impact of the tax increase. The Business Sentiment declined if march for the fourth straight month. Officials at the Cabinet Office have released the results of their monthly survey. They asked more than 2,000 workers across the country how they felt about the economy. The Sentiment Index stood at around 34. 7 in march. Down more than five points from the previous month. The figure was the lowest since march 2011, when the earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern japan. A reading above 50 suggests that the economy will expand. Many respondents are concerned that retail sales of home appliances, cars and other products will fall after the tax hike. Officials say that despite the lingering concerns, many people do show optimism that personal spending will recover in a few months. Japanese officials are seeing some encouraging signs about the state of their economy. The current account is the broadest measure of trade and investment with the rest of the world. And hit a surplus for the first time in five months. Finance Ministry Officials say the surplus in february came to about 5. 9 billion. Thats a pretty stharp rebound from january when the current account sank to a record deficit of more than 15 billion. The trade deficit was more than 5 billion shrinking from 22 billion posted in january. The Officials Say japanese businesses imported less from chinese manufacturers due to the Lunar New Year holiday. Exports rose nearly 16 in february compared to the same month last year while imports were up by about 14 . Now the Officials Say japans income account had a surplus of 14. 2 billion dollars. They say Japanese Companies reported bigger dividends from their overseas subsidiaries, and that helped to compensate for the trade deficit. Lets get a check of the markets now. Chinese investors bought back equities as theyre hoping that the government will take further measures to stimulate the economy. The shanghai composite jumped nearly 2 finishing at 2,098. Thats the highest close in six weeks. Investors bought cheap stocks such as banking shares, following a Public Holiday on monday. Gains in mainland Chinese Markets helped to boost hong kong. The hang seng index gained nearly 1 , 22,596. That was the highest closing level in just about a month. Also supporting sentiment was a rebound in chinas tech giant tenset holdings whose shares have plunged over the past several trading days. Meanwhile trading in many other regional markets remain lackluster. Market players took a bit of a breather after u. S. Markets extended a recent losing streak. Tokyos nikkei fell for a Third Straight session. The nikkei average, in fact, was down nearly 1. 4 , 14,606. The lowest close that weve seen here in about two weeks. A stronger yen pulled export linked issues lower. Investors largely striking off the news from the bank of japan on its policy decision. Japanese and u. S. Negotiators are trying to speed up talks on a new trade deal but theyre still struggling to narrow their differences over talks on the Transpacific Partnership pact. For more on the prospects for the talks i spoke earlier with matthew goodman, Senior Adviser for asian economics at center for strategic and international studies. And he also served as white house economic adviser under the obama administration. These talks have hit some snags. We do have u. S. Trade representative Michael Froman scheduled to meet the economic revitalization minister akira amari on wednesday. How much progress do you think we can expect from these ministerial level talks . Well, i think the talks are going to be very difficult and challenging. It may be difficult to reach a final agreement in this week, in this set of talks. But, i think with the impending visit of president obama to japan, i think theres a real opportunity to try to drive forward the process, and perhaps reach an agreement between the u. S. And japan. Okay. Talking about things that could give a boost to that, japan and australia, they agreed in principle on an epa. They had mostly beef and auto trade on the table there. Do you think this will kind of smooth out the way for japan and the u. S. In their talks . Well, on some level it makes it a little more complicated to have a Bilateral Agreement among two members of this 12country agreement and tpp right in the middle of the final negotiations on tpp. It could make those broad Group Negotiations more challenging. On the other hand, it does it does move forward progress on an important part of the agenda, agriculture, and beef in particular is a central issue between the u. S. And japan, as well. And perhaps this will give a little momentum, and help push forward agreement at the u. S. japan level, as well. Okay, now the last time we spoke to you, you were holding out hope that we might find, see some kind of a deal in the First Quarter this year in terms of the tpp as you mention, president obama is visiting for his first state visit this month. How much of a boost do you think that will give to the talks, and when do you think well see any kind of an agreement . Well, as i say i think these talks these visits and highlevel, seniorlevel meetings, particularly among the leaders of the two countries, do have the effect of forcing resolution of important and difficult issues in the relationship. And i think this is very much one of those opportunities, when an important issue for both countries, like tpp, which has tremendous implications, positive implications for both the United States, and japan, not just economically, but in terms of setting the rules for International Trade in the Asia Pacific Region frankly at a time when china is trying to write the rules and i think its important for the u. S. And japan, because we agree on most of the rules, to try to reach agreement. And this is a great opportunity for president obama and Prime Minister abe to try to drive to a conclusion, and move this thing forward. Okay. Say that japan and the u. S. Do agree on most of the rules. Where do you think well see the most resistance, though . I think the hardest issues are the Market Access issues. Access to the japanese market in particular. And agriculture. And automobiles, which are two longstanding issues for 30, 40 years weve been discussing these issues. I think were closer than weve ever been to reaching an agreement in those areas. I think its very difficult, obviously, Prime Minister abe is going to have to spend a serious amount of Political Capital to make the kind of market opening that the u. S. Expects and needs to be able to convince its own domestic Political Forces in congress that this is a good agreement. But i do think theres a chance here. And the visit of president obama really does give some political impetus to the process. Okay. Now, while the tpp is pretty critical to his strategy of rebalancing toward the u. S. , lots obviously is going to be on his plate here, what do you think we can expect on the economic front . I think tpp is the central organizing principle of the asian rebalance. That is the strategy of putting more emphasis on this part of the world. If we can reach a good tpp agreement, i think it really embeds the United States in the region. As i say it makes us, with japan, champions of the rulesbased order in this part of the world and i think it really strantens the u. S. japan alliance. So theres a lot at stake here. And i think you should be watching the tpp part of the talks in particular. All right. That was matthew goodman, Senior Adviser for asian economics at csis. Well, nigerians now find themselves living in africas largest economy. Government Officials Say figures for Gross Domestic Product have surpassed those of south africa. Officials at the National Bureau of statistics say gdp for 2013 added up to 510 billion. United nations officials recommend governments overhaul their calculations every few years to reflect changes in output and consumption. So if the nigerians recalculated their data with the help of experts from the International Monetary fund. About 170 Million People make up the largest population in africa. They enjoyed annual nick growth of about 7 over the past several years. And that is going to do it for biz this hour. Ill leave you with the markets. Engineers are trying to cope with rising volumes of radioactive water at the Fukushima DaiichiNuclear Power plant. They want to get the water out of the ground before it becomes contaminated. They could begin pumping up groundwater as early as wednesday. Clean water flows underground from the mountains to the soil beneath the plant. Workers will pump it up to the surface. The idea is to prevent it from mixing with highly contaminated water in the basements of the reactor buildings. Theyll then release the groundwater into the ocean. The government and Tokyo Electric Power company decided to go ahead with the operation after local fishery cooperative on friday approved it under certain conditions. The fishermen say the released groundwater should meet strict environmental safety standards. They also insist that a third party oversee the process. Tepco says it will take about a month to thoroughly analyze the quality of the ground water. If theres no problem, the utility will begin releasing the water into the sea in may. Fisheries cooperatives in fukushima say there should be strict measurement of radiation levels before workers release the water into the sea. Now tepco faces another problem at the plant, the utility says it will run out of Storage Space for debris as it decommissions the facility. Tepco engineers discussed the problem on monday with government officials. They estimate the work will produce 560,000 cubic meters of debris over the next 13 years. Workers burn wood and other combustibles. They will quash rubble with low levels of radiation and use it to pave roads within the plant compound. Engineers hope this will reduce the volume of debris by more than half. They will build more Storage Facilities at the plant but engineers say theyll need another 160,000 cubic meters of storage. Tourism officials in japan are seeing a big turnaround in the number of guests from china. Visitors have dwindled because of diplomatic tensions between the two countries. But many have been lured to make the trip by a good sales pitch, and a favorable chinese currency. Nhk world reports. Reporter about 100 chinese gather at this cafe in central shanghai to prepare for holiday in japan. Most are in their 20s and 30s. Translator at this readers meeting we are going to give you a detailed introduction to the multifastated city of osaka from a new angle. Reporter a chinese travel magazine about japan hosts the event. The theme today is osaka. Presenters feature local Food Specialties like octopus dumplings and popular Tourist Spots including the osaka castle. Translator i dont think japan china relations are as strained as theyre reported to be. I cant wait to visit osaka. Reporter also in shanghai, government officials from local areas around japan take part in an event to promote trips to their area. Whats prompting this campaign is the sharp rise in the number of Chinese Tourists since september figures reached new highs five months in a row. The number for january was 155,700. Thats more than double yearonyear. One reason for the increase is a rapid depreciation of japans currency to the yen. Alongside the chinese yuan. One chinese yuan which around 12 yen three years ago, but now one yuan buys over 16 yen. So nowadays the chinese find japan much more affordable. A Chinese Airline company sees an opportunity in this trend. We will Start Services between shanghai and osaka on march 15th. Reporter the lowcost carrier has launched a shanghaiosaka route. The company has also increased flights to other japanese cities. Today, chinese travelers want a different experience from their countrymen who traveled to japan before. The publisher of a magazine about travel in japan says they bring 200,000 copies each month. The general manager said the chinese view on travel is changing, as they now are better educated, and more affluent. Translator for example, articles featuring nambu iron ware are particularly prop lar, drawing many inquiries. Reporter the general manager says readers are drawn to japans traditional products. Ones that are available only in japan. And embodies local history and culture. Translator in china, artisans often have trouble passing their skills on to others, so many craft techniques vanish. Thats why we are doing our part by introducing japans exquisite traditional crafts. Reporter lately the number of repeat chinese visitors to japan is set to be increasing. People in both countries hope the trend helps improve relations between their governments. Nhk world, shanghai. Now Severe Weather is not letting up in southern parts of the United States. Our meteorologist robert speta joins us now. Robert, what are people there seeing . Yes, shery. We have been seeing is definitely these severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds, and not just that but on sunday night into monday morning a few people out here in mississippi definitely were awoken, and it could have been worse to some very severe tornadoes. Show you this video coming out of central mississippi. You can see a few homes here completely destroyed. Now, at least three people have been injured by this. And surprisingly, it wasnt more than that. And good news, warnings were already in place ahead of it but you see some of those homes were just almost leveled. Now, we are seeing that whole storm system continuing to track off there towards the east. And were still looking at the threat of some severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds, and potentially tornadoes. In northern parts of florida, and even extending out alone the eastern coast of the carolinas. But the main threat with this is still going to be the rainfall. And even after that tapers off, a lot of these areas are still soaked so the waters going to take time to recede through the coming days. So the flood threat is still there. At least extending out through tuesday into wednesday. And also off towards the northeast. We have that heavy rainfall at the center of that low pressure area. Thats still moving away. And even here into early april were looking at some snowfall into quebec, and extending off towards the canadian maritimes. A lot happening with this storm. It is going to be tapering off. Thats the good news. And behind it we are looking at a warming trend. I know that one thing that was feeling the storm system was the cooler air coming behind it in toronto and chicago. Youre just into the Single Digits on your tuesday. Look at that it warms back up to 17 by your thursday. Denver and los angeles especially, in the southwestern u. S. , you are well above average on your tuesday, up to 30 there for your high. Thats completely switch gears though and take a look at the Southern Hemisphere out here towards australia. We have severe cyclone, now eita and out here just lingering east of new guinea. This is following back earlier this week into the weekend where this brought some very heavy rainfall and even devastating floods to the solomon islands. Now this is tracking off towards the west. And its expected to continue to intensify, up to a category 4 on the cyclone scale bringing winds well over the equivalent of a typhoon to the immediate coastline. And its expected to make landfall later on this week by friday just south of cohen and north of cairns. It is going to be bringing these damaging winds, also a threat of storm surge near the immediate coast but also the risk of some severe flooding. Now the good news, this part of queensland compared to the south, at least, is relatively less populated. So thats the good news with it. But it still is definitely something we want to continue to watch if it does move farther south and brings the rainfall to those urban areas. Now as we look farther towards the north, Tropical Storm paepah, barely holding on to Tropical Storm intensity. 65 kilometer per hour winds. The big problem with this one is the rainfall. Eastern portions of northern mindanao, this is going to linger here for some time and push that moisture onshore. Even over towards cebu theres possibility of a tornado at some of these outer rain bands just recently causing some damage out here to a few homes. Its not just the center of circulation the storm system is extending out. Off to the north High Pressure is dominating much of northeastern asia making for warm temperatures in place out here. And over the coming days thats what were going to be seeing. Tokyo even up to 24. Beijing, youre pushing 30 degrees on your tuesday. And over towards seoul, just 20 there, or up to 20, excuse me, for your high. Quickly want to talk about whats going on in europe. We have a cold front pushing through here. If you are east of that cold front, enjoy the warm temperatures for the time being. Back towards the west, though, well its going to be cooling off. London and paris just 13 and 14 there for your high. Heres the extended forecast. And thats all for this hour on newsline. Im shery ahn. Thanks for watching. Gg99nnwccac france has seen a steep drop in manufacturing jobs, and some say it makes the country not only horror, but less secure not only more poor, but less secure. Business, france 24. Hello, everyone. Youre watching france 24. Hero the headlines. Nching an antiterrorist