World | WPN World People News

The United States has warned Russia against stirring separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine, following unrest in several cities in recent days. U.S. officials said there are clear signs that pro-Russian demonstrations were orchestrated from outside. Meanwhile, recent events in Ukraine have emboldened Russian-speaking separatists in Moldova to renew their calls for independence, with a view of joining the Russian Federation.

Events in Ukraine have underlined the relevance of a common and coherent EU external policy. The European External Action Service (EAAS) was created as a diplomatic corps in 2011 to help the EU have a structured and coordinated external policy. But how well is it working? Arnaud Danjean, a French member of the EPP group, wrote a report with recommendations, which MEPs adopted on 3 April. We asked him about the challenges and benefits of the EU having a common foreign policy.

UN Commission on Population and Development begins session in New York.

Ukraine's interior ministry said pro-Russian gunmen have seized state security headquarters in the eastern city of Luhansk, the scene of anti-government protests Sunday.

Australian and U.S. navy officials said they have detected more acoustic signals that may belong to a black box from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet. However, they are stressing that the airliner's location cannot be confirmed until wreckage from flight MH370 is spotted on the surface or under the Indian Ocean.

UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Maria Sharapova is reaching out to the public in a series of posters to celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, April 6.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with President Paul Kagame in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on 6 April 2014.

At its spring session in Strasbourg on 7-11 April the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) will debate a request to reconsider the already ratified credentials of the delegation of the Russian Federation on substantive grounds (under Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure) and is likely to hold an urgent debate on threats to the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine.

A joint parliamentary hearing on the need to eradicate statelessness in Europe, with a particular focus on statelessness among children, is to take place on Wednesday 9 April in Strasbourg on the margins of PACE’s spring session, ahead of a plenary debate on this topic.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Central African Republic on 5 April to spotlight the ongoing crisis.