The United States has termed the referendum being planned in eastern Ukraine as "illegal", warning Russia of imposing greater costs on Moscow if it continues to destabilise its neighbouring country.
Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, "We owe it to the dead to bring the guilty to justice".
RB Leipzig marked their first appearance in the Champions League knockout round with a deserved 1-0 victory at last season's runners-up Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League leaders Manchester City won their derby with United 3-1, while Liverpool kept pace with a home win over Fulham.
A round-up of Tuesday night's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by Reuters photographers.
Malaysia on Friday defended the flight path taken by the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, confirming that the plane's systems were functioning normally before it was shot down by a missile over Ukraine killing all 298 people on board.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 14 images
Wreckage washed up on a remote Indian Ocean island is "very likely from a Boeing 777", Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday as speculation mounted it could be from MH370 that vanished mysteriously over a year ago with 239 people, including five Indians, on board.
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The black boxes from the downed Malaysia Airlines in eastern Ukraine arrived in the UK on Wednesday for expert analysis by air accident investigators.
Formula One teams say they will race in Russia, despite the crisis in Ukraine and downing of a Malaysian airliner, unless the country's debut Grand Prix in October is called off or they are ordered not to go.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. In this five-part series,rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Balazs Jarabik, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research focuses on Ukraine and Eastern Europe, says preliminary and not direct evidence points suggests that the Ukrainian rebels shot down the plane. In this interview with Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Jarabik says that it would not be right to call this an act of terror or a war crime as it appears to be a horrible mistake.
The jury of the 58th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected an image by Danish photographer Mads Nissen as the World Press Photo of the Year 2014.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
