NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook wants to increase its advertising and get more clicks on all kinds of ads. It believes tapping into the lucrative small business market will help it achieve those goals.Sheryl Sandberg, the social media company's operating chief and "Lean In" author, says the key is showing business owners how to find new customers by creating Facebook pages and by buying ads that appear on individual Facebook users' pages. The company plans a campaign called Facebook Fit with workshops

SLAVYANSK, Ukraine (AFP) -- The death toll from a military offensive in a flashpoint town in east Ukraine rose to at least 34, officials said Tuesday, amid fresh warnings of civil war and the shutdown of a major airport in the region."Chaos and the risk of civil war" are now looming in Ukraine, said French President Francois Hollande, reflecting a frantic European push under way for a diplomatic solution before it is too late.There are fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could yet order

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thailand's Constitutional Court said it will rule on Wednesday whether to remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office on abuse of power charges, a verdict that could plunge the country deeper into crisis.The premier appeared at the court on Tuesday to deny the allegation, filed by a group of senators who said that then-national security chief Thawil Pliensri was replaced after her 2011 election for the benefit of her party.But the court's president Charoon Intachan sai

Bayer AG agreed to acquire Merck & Co.’s consumer unit for $14.2 billion, solidifying its position near the top of the market for over-the-counter health products. The two companies also will collaborate on the development and marketing of a class of drugs that includes Bayer’s Adempas, which is approved to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension, Merck and Bayer said in a statement today. Merck will pay Bayer $1 billion for the collaboration, with additional payments possible if sales goals are m

JUBA (AFP) -- Rebel gunmen in South Sudan massacred "hundreds" of civilians in ethnic killings when they captured the oil town of Bentiu last week, the UN said Monday, one of the worst reported atrocities in the war-torn nation.In the main mosque alone, "more than 200 civilians were reportedly killed and over 400 wounded," the UN mission in the country said, adding there were also massacres at a church, hospital and an abandoned UN World Food Programme compound.Fighters took to the radio urging

ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap) -- Two in 10 students who survived last week's deadly ferry sinking require psychiatric treatment as they still suffer from serious mental stress and depression, a local hospital treating the students said Monday.The Korea University Ansan Hospital in Ansan, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, is treating 81 survivors, including 74 students from Danwon High School in Ansan."We're considering sending about 20 percent of the patients to a psychiatric clinic with consent

KIEV (AFP) -- Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of flouting an international accord meant to diffuse the crisis over its separatist east, as US Vice President Joe Biden was to about to arrive in Kiev in a show of support for its pro-Western leaders."The Geneva accord is not only not being fulfilled, but steps are being taken, primarily by those who seized power in Kiev, that are grossly breaching the agreements reached," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a Moscow press conference.He

DAMASCUS (AFP) -- Syria will hold presidential elections that are expected to return President Bashar al-Assad to office on June 3, the country's parliamentary speaker said Monday.As lawmakers met to hear the election date announced, mortar fire hit near the parliament building, killing at least two people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The deaths underlined the fact that Syria's first presidential election -- after constitutional amendments did away with the old referendu

North Korea warned Monday that an upcoming Asian tour by US President Barack Obama could escalate military tensions, as South Korean media cited intelligence reports of increased activity at the North's main nuclear test site.Obama's April 23-29 tour includes visits to Japan and South Korea, the two main US military allies in Asia and key partners in the effort to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said the "reactionary and dangerous" trip would

KATHMANDU (AFP) -- Expedition leaders and guides threatened Monday to cancel all climbing on Mount Everest after the deadliest avalanche in its history as hundreds of Nepalese sherpas paid final respects to their fellow guides.With heads bowed and many in tears, a procession of mourners filed through the centre of Nepal's capital Kathmandu amid growing anger over compensation levels for those bereaved by Friday's tragedy.At least 13 people were killed in the avalanche above base camp but the tol

TOKYO (AFP) -- Tokyo warned Monday that the seizure of a Japanese ship in Shanghai over pre-war debts threatened ties with China and could undermine the very basis of their diplomatic relationship.Authorities in Shanghai seized the large freight vessel in a dispute over what the Chinese side says are unpaid bills relating to the 1930s, when Japan occupied large swathes of China.The move is the latest to illustrate the bitter enmity at the heart of Tokyo-Beijing ties, with the two sides embroiled

NANJING, China (AP) -- Strolling through China's sprawling memorial to a 1937 massacre by Japanese troops, a 64-year-old retired teacher said the incident remains an open wound."Japan is a country without credibility. They pretend to be friendly, but they can't be trusted," Qi Houjie said as a frigid wind swept the austere plaza of the Nanking Massacre Memorial Hall.Across the waters, Japanese visiting a Shinto shrine in Tokyo that enshrines 14 convicted war criminals among 2.5 million war dead

SHANGHAI (AP) -- A quarter of the police in Shanghai began carrying guns during routine patrols for the first time this week as part of a China-wide boost in police firepower following a deadly mass knifing blamed on Xinjiang separatists.Ordinary police in China generally don't carry firearms, and none of the officers patrolling the train station in the southwestern city of Kunming on March 1 was armed when at least five assailants began rapidly hacking at victims with long knives. Before armed

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of the United States and China held in-depth talks last week, bridging their differences on ways to resume long-stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, according to China's foreign ministry Monday. China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks three days after U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies held three rounds of talks with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in New York and Washington last week. Asked about Chi

윤병세 외교부장관은 10일 북한이 4차 핵실험을 강행할 시 “상상할 수 없는 대가를 치르게 될 것”이라고 경고, “공존과 고립의 갈림길에서 선택”을 하라고 촉구했다. 윤 장관은 이날 새누리당 싱크탱크인 여의도연구원이 개최한 심포지엄에서 기조연설을 통해 북한이 “’상상하기 힘든 다음 조치’와 ‘새로운 형태의 핵실험’ 등을 운운하고 있는데, 만약 북한이 다시 추가 핵실험에 나서게 된다면 북한이야말로 상상할 수 없는 대가를 치르게 될 것”이라고 말했다. 그는 “중국을 포함해 국제사회가 북핵불용에 관해 한 치의 빈틈도 없이 단합되어 있는 상황에서 북한의 추가 핵실험이 북한 정권에 무엇을 의미하는지 북한은 심각하게 판단해야 할 것”이라며 “북한 지도부는 핵과 경제발전 병진노선은 결코 성공할 수 없다는 점을 명심하고 공존과 고립의 갈림길에서 올바른 전략적 선택을 해야 한다”고 강조했다. 윤 장관의 발언은 북한이 탄도미사일 시험발사에 대한 유엔 안전보장이사회의 규탄에 반발, 추가 핵실험 가능성을