The Council of Europe's anti-corruption group on Wednesday called on crisis-hit Ukraine to push for more transparency in the funding of political parties, warning its steps so far against fraud have been insufficient.

Ukraine to date has only implemented three of 16 recommendations made since 2011 by the Council's Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), according to its published report.

Armenian forces on Wednesday killed an Azerbaijani soldier at the volatile border between the two foes locked in a protracted conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region, officials in Baku said.

"Junior Sergeant Kerem Nokhbalayev has been killed on February 26 (Wednesday) as a result of ceasefire violation by Armenia," Azerbaijan's defense ministry said in a statement.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Wednesday rejected calls to respond to a disarmament pledge by the Basque separatist group ETA.

Rajoy insisted the group disband unconditionally despite its pledge last week, in response to questions from Basque politicians in parliament.

A sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine is essential to security in Europe and beyond, NATO said Wednesday as tensions between pro- and anti-Russian factions stoked fears the country could break apart.

Such a Ukraine, "firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security," NATO said in a statement agreed by member state defense ministers.

A Kenyan court Wednesday dropped charges against 41 men and released on bail 29 others arrested earlier this month during a raid on a mosque accused of supporting Islamist extremists.

Police raided Mombasa's Musa mosque on February 2, detaining 70 men whom they accused of attending a radicalization meeting, sparking deadly riots in the port city.

Romanian Prime minister Victor Ponta said Wednesday he expects to submit his new cabinet to parliament next week following the breakup of his center-left coalition

"I intend to seek parliament's green light next Tuesday," Ponta told private TV channel B1.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets Wednesday in Turkey as the president signed a controversial bill tightening controls on the judiciary, deepening opposition resentment toward a government already grappling with a corruption scandal.

Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital Ankara, while in Istanbul demonstrators gathered on central Taksim Square, the scene of protests that have dogged the Islamic-rooted government on and off for months.

Ukraine's ousted president Viktor Yanukovych drew up a large-scale "anti-terrorist" operation involving 22,000 security forces to "cleanse" protesters from Kiev, leaked documents show -- a plan opponents say would have caused even greater bloodshed.

Parts of the operation -- detailed in official memos handed to a lawmaker by security officials -- appear to have been set in motion when deadly clashes erupted last week between protesters and police. But for unknown reasons, others failed to materialize, allowing protesters to resist and eventually fight back.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a snap check of the battle-readiness of the armed forces in the west and center of the country, including the area bordering Ukraine, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that any Russian military moves in Ukraine would be a "grave mistake."

"The commander-in-chief has set the task of checking the capability of the armed forces to deal with crisis situations posing a threat to the military security of the country," said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

A court in Uzbekistan has sentenced two men to life in prison for raping and murdering 11 women in the Central Asian republic and neighboring Kazakhstan, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Uzbek citizens Abduseit Ormanov and Polat Pardaliyev robbed, raped and then killed seven women in Uzbekistan and four women in neighboring Kazakhstan between 2011 and 2012, prosecutor Azizbek Nazarov said.