Here is an MH 17 update from our news desk:
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders says some of the remains of victims from the downed Malaysia Airlines plane may never be found.
Koenders made his comments in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv where a ceremony was held for victims whose remains were recently recovered.
The remains of nine people from the 298 onboard the airliner have yet to be recovered.
Nearly two-thirds of those killed were Dutch citizens.
Koenders said investigators still hoped to recover more wreckage of the downed jet but a volatile security situation made it difficult to complete.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky on July 17 over territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatists.
Ukraine and the West say it was shot down by separatists using a Buk missile supplied by Russia, a charge that Moscow denies.
(AFP, dailymail.co.uk)
In case you missed it, Reuters' Richard Balmforth has written an interesting profile of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, which is well worth reading:
Ukraine's prime minister once said he and the emergency government which took power after pro-European protests in February were on a "suicide" mission, fated to take unpopular decisions that would cut short their political careers.
If that is so, it would seem Arseny Yatseniuk now has a permanent death wish.
Far from dodging the 'kamikaze' hot seat, the 40-year-old technocrat has used his party's surprise first place in last month's elections to outmanoeuvre rivals and get an assurance he will stay on as prime minister once horse-trading is completed.
And he seems to be relishing a growing reputation as a hawk in the bruising stand-off with Russia and separatists as he continues in a post he has occupied since the heady days of the "Euromaidan" winter revolution that ousted a pro-Russian leader.
On fighting form again on Wednesday, he announced a halt to payment of state funding to rebel-controlled areas in the east. "The money doesn't reach the people. It's stolen by Russian gangsters and essentially supports Russian terrorism," he said.
The strong showing of his People's Front in the Oct. 26 election means he and President Petro Poroshenko's party will easily muster a majority in parliament to steer policies they say should help settle the separatist conflict and align the war-wracked economy with European standards.
But there are many who warn already that the "odd couple" might self-destruct.
Yatseniuk's aggressive language, particularly when talking of Russia, has led people to see him as representing the 'party of war'.
That could prove a burden for the more diplomatic Poroshenko as he tries - against all the odds - to pursue a peace plan for the east. He is the one who has to shake hands with Russia's Vladimir Putin at international gatherings.
Then there is Ukraine's post-Soviet history - a tale of infighting, back-biting and intrigue that does not immediately suggest much prospect of joined-up government in the face of crisis.
Read the entire article here
Here is a map of today's military situation in eastern Ukraine according to Kyiv's National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
