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A view of thousands of internally displaced people at Bangui's airport, Central African Republic (CAR). Many of the new arrivals in eastern Cameroon say they fled from Bangui to escape clashes.

Taiwan and China hold official talks this week, a historic first for the two governments since a civil war ended more than six decades ago.

The Israeli military says it launched an airstrike Sunday on a Palestinian man in the Gaza Strip who had fired rockets into southern Israel.

Voters in Switzerland have narrowly passed a measure to curb immigration by European Union citizens.

Western nations, led by the European Union and the Obama Administration, are backing an outright neo-Nazi regime-change coup in Ukraine. If the effort succeeds, the consequences will extend far beyond the borders of Ukraine and neighboring states. For Russia, such a coup would constitute a casus belli, coming as it does in the context of NATO missile defense expansion into Central Europe and the evolution of a U.S.-NATO doctrine of "Prompt Global Strike," which presumes that the United States can launch a pre-emptive first strike against Russia and China and survive the retaliation.

Africa now has three female heads of state, after Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic took office in January. Though women leaders remain the exception in African politics, activists say things are looking up.

The head of the European Council says U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland's use of vulgar language about the European Union is "totally unacceptable."

Special Coordinator of the Joint Mission of the OPCW and the UN Sigrid Kaag speaks to journalists following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council.

An unsolved sniper attack last year on an electrical power substation in California that knocked out 17 giant transformers has mobilized industry leaders to beef up physical security at these vital installations. The incident also has some experts worried that parts of the U.S. power grid are similarly vulnerable.

The EU and its member states should prepare targeted sanctions, such as travel ban and freezing the EU assets of those personally responsible for killings of Ukrainian protesters, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. They also call for EU financial support for Ukraine. In a separate resolution, also voted on Thursday, MEPs urge Russia to respect the right of Ukrainian citizens to decide the future of their country.