A hoax documentary that falsely claimed a failed 1981 military coup attempt was staged to boost King Juan Carlos's image has stirred controversy in Spain.

Viewers took to social media sites to complain about the 50-minute documentary that aired on Sunday night, with many saying the seminal moment in Spain's recent history was too serious to be treated lightly.

The second most senior U.S. diplomat, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, will visit Kiev Tuesday to support the new Ukrainian leadership and call for swift political and economic reform.

Monday's announcement makes Burns the highest-ranking Washington envoy to travel to the crisis-hit country since U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with anti-government protesters in December.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe plans to set up an international group to support the transition of crisis-hit Ukraine, its current head said Monday.

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, whose country assumed the rotating chairmanship of the 57-member body last month, said the group would include Kiev and "key" global actors.

The United States said Monday that the signing of an "abhorrent" anti-gay law by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni marked a "sad day" for his country and the world.

Museveni signed the bill despite warnings from Washington that he was putting U.S. relations with Kampala at risk and amid fears that aid donors could also react badly.

The United Nations on Monday denounced armed groups in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo for carrying out murders of civilians, looting and burning down entire villages.

For several weeks the Masisi territory in mineral-rich Nord-Kivu province "has been the scene of a number of assaults on civilians", said the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator in DR Congo, Moustapha Soumare, in a statement.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday he would visit Ukraine "shortly" and said the revolt-hit country needed urgent financial aid to prop up its economy.

Hague said his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov made no mention of military intervention when they spoke by phone Monday, and urged cooperation between the EU and Moscow.

The United States on Monday declined to comment on claims that its spies are conducting sweeping surveillance of hundreds of prominent Germans, though it did not deny the reports.

The claims by a newspaper, following a transatlantic row over revelations that Washington's National Security Agency intercepted Chancellor Angela Merkel's communications, marked another test for wobbling U.S.-German relations.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Monday for the preservation of Ukraine's "unity and territorial integrity" and sent an envoy to Kiev, his spokesman said Monday.

Ban reiterated an appeal to all sides to refrain from violence and to "uphold the principles of democracy and human rights" as they go forward to create an atmosphere conducive to free and fair elections, spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

A deadly attack on an Afghan army outpost that left 21 soldiers dead was planned "outside Afghanistan", a term used by Afghan officials to refer neighboring Pakistan, an official said Monday.

Hundreds of militants stormed an Afghan army outpost in the eastern province of Kunar on Sunday, triggering a four-hour battle.

Leftist Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa acknowledged a "painful" setback in mayoral elections as early results Monday showed the opposition decisively winning races in the capital Quito and other major cities.

Seen as an important test of popularity for Correa, a populist in the mold of the late Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Sunday's polls delivered big victories to center-right candidates, according to early results and exit polls.