And here's a new item from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
EU Foreign Ministers Endorse Trade Measures For Ukraine
BRUSSELS -- European Union foreign ministers have unanimously backed a decision to grant Ukraine temporary trade preference for some agricultural and industrial products, following a similar decision by the European Parliament earlier this month.
Ministers from all 28 EU states adopted the decision on July 17.
Representatives of the European Parliament and the European Council are to sign the agreement during a plenary session of the parliament in Strasbourg in September, and the measures will apply for three years from the end of September.
“With today's decision, we are allowing more Ukrainian products to be exported to the EU. It is our duty to support Ukraine and strengthen our economic and political ties, also in the face of the ongoing conflict on its soil," said Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser, whose country currently holds the European Council presidency.
Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, and a war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014.
The trade proposal was made by the European Commission to improve access for Ukrainian exporters to EU markets following the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) that provisionally entered into force at the start of 2016.
Ukraine's preferential trade treatment includes annual quotas for tariff-free imports on agricultural products such as honey, wheat, corn, and barley as well as industrial goods like copper, aluminum, and fertilizers.
Another MH17-related tweet:
Here's a report from RFE/RL's news desk on MH17 commemorations that are being held today:
Relatives Remember MH17 Victims On Third Anniversary Of Jet's Downing
More than 2,000 relatives are expected to gather in the Netherlands to unveil a memorial to family members on the third anniversary of the day a passenger jet was shot down by a missile over conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima on July 17 will join other international officials at a ceremony to dedicate the memorial to the flight MH17's victims in Vijfhuizen park, near Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
Family members will read the names of the 298 passengers and crew killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down during what should have been a route flight from Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014.
Most of the passengers were Dutch but there were people of 17 nationalities on board, incluiding Australians, Britons, Malaysians, and Indonesians.
A total of 298 trees have been planted in the shape of a green ribbon -- one for each of the 283 passengers and 15 crew.
Calling it a "living memorial," organizers said the trees will be surrounded by sunflowers, which bloom in July and will "radiate a golden glow" over the site.
The plane was shot down months after the start of a war between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists who seized parts of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk amid unrest that was fomented by Moscow.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014 including the passengers and crew of MH17, which crashed in separatist-held territory in the Donetsk region.
An international investigative team concluded in September 2016 that the Russian-made Buk missile system that was used to down the airliner had been brought into Ukraine from Russia shortly before it was shot down and then quickly smuggled back to Russia afterward. It said the missile was fired from a field in separatist-held territory.
In a statement on July 17, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reiterated the European Union's "full support" for continuing investigations into the downing of the plane, saying "it is crucial that the investigators can complete their work, independently and thoroughly."
Despite voluminous evidence that it has sent troops, weapons, and other support to the separatists, Russia denies involvement in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. It has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on evidence of involvement in shooting down MH17.
"We bow our heads before the 298 innocent victims whose heartbeats were stopped by a Russian missile three years ago," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Twitter, above a photograph of a passenger jet and the words "MH17: Ukraine Remembers."
"We believe in the objectivity of Dutch justice and the inevitability that those who planned and carried out this crime will bear responsibility," Poroshenko wrote.
About 15 relatives of victims demonstrated on July 16 in front of the Russian Embassy in The Hague, protesting what they called attempts by Moscow to block investigations into the disaster.
The demonstrators set a sign in front of the embassy saying: "Waiting for responsibility and full disclosure."
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop urged Russia to cooperate with new initiatives to prosecute suspected perpetrators.
In an interview on July 16, Bishop urged Russia to comply with UN Security Council resolution 2166, authored by Australia.
"That calls on all states to cooperate to ensure that those responsible for the killing are brought to justice," Bishop said. She said suspects may be tried in absentia.
No suspects have been arrested. Dutch authorities have said any eventual trials would be held in the Netherlands.