Some 16,400 people fled their homes in crisis-riven eastern Ukraine during the past week, bringing the number of displaced within the country to 54,000, according the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has hailed a peace plan put forward by Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, and said he hopes it will reduce violence and tensions in the eastern part of the country.

With United Nations monitors reporting today that armed separatists have used killings, abductions and torture to instil a “climate of intimidation and fear” in eastern Ukraine, the world body’s human rights chief urged all armed groups to put down their weapons, end the violence and begin the process of long-term reconciliation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the successful conduct of assembly elections in Kosovo and called on authorities to remain committed to strengthening democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights of all living there.