KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- The mayor of Ukraine's second-largest city was shot in the back Monday and pro-Russia insurgents seized yet another government building as tensions rose in eastern Ukraine ahead of a new round of U.S. sanctions.Armed insurgents tacitly backed by Moscow are seeking more autonomy in the region. Ukraine's acting government and the West have accused Russia of orchestrating the unrest, which they fear Moscow could use as a pretext for an invasion. Last month, Russia annexed Crim

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AFP) - At least 22 people including three staff members of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres were killed during a weekend attack by gunmen on a Central African hospital, in the latest atrocity to hit the violence-plagued country.   The brutal attack in the northwest was blamed on the mostly Muslim rebels known as the Seleka, whose coup in March last year unleashed a vicious cycle of sectarian violence.   "Armed men from the ex-Seleka and of Fula ethnicity

MAYFLOWER, Arkansas (AP) _ A tornado system ripped through the central U.S. and left at least 17 dead in a violent start to this year's storm season, officials said.   The tornado touched down Sunday about 10 miles west of Little Rock, Arkansas, then carved an 80-mile path of destruction as it passed through or near several suburbs north of the state capital, including Vilonia. It grew to be a half-mile wide and remained on the ground for much of that route, killing 16 people in that state.    T

The latest round of negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China and Japan ended without a major breakthrough, officials said Friday, with the talks mostly limited to setting the boundary of their discussions.   "At this round of talks, the countries held discussions on the modality (negotiation guidelines) for products and the scope of their negotiations," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.   The fourth round of the trilateral FTA negotiat

South Korea's nuclear safety body on Friday authorized the restart of a reactor that went offline due to a technical glitch late last month.The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) said close inspection of the 950,000-kW Hanbit No. 2 reactor revealed there was a problem with circuitry while technicians were testing an emergency system. It said the problem was with the Automatic Seismic Trip System on the reactor that was set up as an additional layer of safety following the Fukushima Da

   BEIJING (AP) _ An explosion Friday at a chemicals plant in northern China killed one person and left 12 others missing, authorities said.   Thirteen people were on a floor that produced emulsion explosives at the plant run by Kailuan Group in the city of Tangshan when the morning blast occurred, the government of Hebei province said in a statement. One person was confirmed to be dead, and authorities were searching for the 12 others.   The brief statement gave no cause for the explosion.   Wo

   ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ German President Joachim Gauck is to visit a village in northwestern Greece Friday where German troops massacred dozens of villagers during World War II, as part of a three-day visit to the country combining talks with politicians with efforts to bring closure to the wounds from the German wartime occupation of Greece.    Anti-German sentiment has increased in Greece in recent years, as Germany has been one of the most ardent proponents of austerity measures imposed in r

   South Korea's two most popular opposition groups reached an agreement Friday on the next steps for their planned merger, paving the way for its launch ahead of upcoming local elections.   The agreement came five days after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the opposition group led by popular independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo announced the merger in a surprise move that changed the political landscape ahead of the June 4 local elections.   Public interest in the planned merger is

Red Cross and government officials from North Korea and Japan ended their first day of talks on Monday during which they agreed to continue negotiations on the possible repatriation of the remains of Japanese nationals buried in the North, Pyongyang's chief delegate said.    Ri Ho-rim, secretary general of the North's Red Cross Society who heads the Pyongyang delegation, described Monday's talks in Shenyang, a major city in northeastern China, as "productive." He added that the talks were underw