Ukraine agrees to armed Dutch,Australian personnel atMH17 site

Ukraine's parliament today ratified deals with the Netherlands and Australia allowing them to send some 950 "armed personnel" to secure the crash site of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in war-torn east Ukraine.

The agreements allow the two countries to dispatch "military and non-military" personnel to the scene, although Dutch officials have previously said it would be "not realistic" to send troops in to bolster a team of police experts already on the ground.