Ukraine rebels to get self-rule
Rebel-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine have been granted self-rule and fighters have been given an amnesty, under a new law adopted by parliament.
The measures are in line with the 5 September ceasefire agreement signed by President Petro Poroshenko.
The amnesty affects rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but does not cover the shooting down of the MH17 plane.
The European and Ukrainian parliaments have also voted to ratify a major EU-Ukraine association agreement.
Negotiations with Russia last week led to the free-trade part of the agreement being postponed until 2016.
RUSSIA ACCUSED
The amnesty means pro-Russian separatists taken prisoner in the fighting should now be released.
Rebels holding government buildings in the east are now supposed to leave them, hand over prisoners and surrender their weapons.
However, many of the rebels are demanding full independence, and speak of creating a new state called "Novorossiya" - something Russian President Vladimir Putin has also mentioned in speeches.
Meanwhile, there has been heavy shelling around the government-held airport of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, despite the fragile ceasefire.
Pro-Russian rebels have been engaged in heavy fighting with government forces in Donetsk and Luhansk since April - a month after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.
At least 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict and more than 310,000 internally displaced in Ukraine, the UN says.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of providing the rebels with regular soldiers and heavy weapons. Russia denies direct involvement.
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