Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — At least four people are confirmed dead and 55 injured in a ferry sinking off South Korea but officials say the number of missing suggests the death toll could be much higher. The ferry was carrying 459 people, mostly high school students on an overnight trip to a tourist island. Nearly 300 people are missing.
PERTH, Australia (AP) — There's still no sign of a missing Malaysian airliner after two aborted dives by a robotic submarine operating at the edge of its depth limit. Officials say data downloaded from the Bluefin 21 sub has shown nothing of consequence. Today's aborted dive was due to a technical issue and the sub was sent back down.
MOSCOW (AP) — First quarter economic growth in Russia slowed and Moscow's economy minister is attributing it to uncertainty over the Ukraine crisis. There's also been what the minister describes as "serious capital flight." More capital left the country in the first three months of 2014 than in all of 2013. The 0.8 percent growth is far short of the ministry's prediction of 2.5 percent growth.
TOKYO (AP) — The Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange in Tokyo is headed for dissolution after a court rejected its bankruptcy protection application. The exchange's CEO Mark Karpeles said in February that 850,000 bitcoins, worth several hundred million dollars, were unaccounted for, blaming a weakness in the exchange's systems. Later, some 200,000 bitcoins were found. Bitcoins were created in 2009 as a way to make transactions across borders without third parties such as banks.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope mobile picked up a couple extra passengers today. A particularly jovial Pope Francis hopped off his white, open-air car to greet a group of fifth graders who gave him a T-shirt. Seemingly joking, Francis asked if any of them wanted to take a spin through the square. Francis then picked two 11-year-olds who hopped aboard.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
