Ukraine violence

MINSK, Belarus (AP) -- The Ukrainian president declared a cease-fire Friday to end nearly five months of fighting in the nation's east after his representatives reached a deal with the Russian-backed rebels at peace talks.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Pro-Russian rebels softened their demand for full independence Monday, saying they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy - a shift that reflects Moscow's desire to strike a deal at a new round of peace talks.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday that the United States remains deeply concerned that Russia is ramping up support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. He later conceded that pressure from recently imposed U.S. and European sanctions "hasn't resolved the problem yet."

HRABOVE, Ukraine (AP) -- Wearing gloves and carrying blue plastic buckets, international investigators finally began gathering up body parts and victims' belongings Friday in the fields where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 came down.

HRABOVE, Ukraine (AP) -- With the sound of artillery blasts at a distance, dozens of international investigators arrived Friday at the eastern Ukraine site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed and began a painstaking search for the remains of as many as 80 victims.

ROZSYPNE, Ukraine (AP) -- As fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine, an international team of investigators on Thursday managed to reach the crash site of the Malaysia Airline Flight 17 for the first time since it was brought down by a missile two weeks ago.

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Almost two weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down, clashes on Wednesday between Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels again prevented international experts from reaching the crash site to recover remains still baking in midsummer heat in farm fields — deepening frustration for victims' relatives and the governments whose citizens died.

SHAKHTARSK, Ukraine (AP) -- Heavy fighting raged Monday around the Malaysia Airlines debris field, once again preventing an international police team charged with securing the site from even getting there.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Unarmed Australian police will be sent to the site in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine where the Malaysian airliner came down as part of a Dutch-led police force to secure the area and help recover victims' remains, Australia's prime minister said Sunday.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The family of two brothers killed in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 called the carrier rigid and bureaucratic Saturday, saying it has offered them no professional grief counselling in more than a week and refused to organize a flight home to Houston for the boys' grandmother.