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Victor Yushchenko has met with leaders of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies and military units, according to the President`s press-office. Prosecutor General Oleksandr Medvedko, Defense Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko, Interior Minister Mykhailo Korniyenko (acting), Security Service Chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko (acting), Border Service Chief Mykola Lytvyn, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Kyrychenko, Interior Forces Commander Oleksandr Kikhtenko, Intelligence Service Chief Oleksandr Halaka, External Intelligence Service Chief Mykola Malomuzh, and State Guard Chief Petro Plyuta were present at the meeting, as well as Secretariat Chief of Staff Viktor Baloha, Security Council Secretary Vitaly Haiduk, Head of the Secretariat Law...

MOSCOW — The scenes from Kiev and Bishkek are unsettlingly familiar: thousands of demonstrators crowding the central squares of the capitals of Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, waving banners and shouting demands. Less than three years ago, similar protests helped propel reformist politicians into both countries' presidencies, raising hopes that democratic movements across the former Soviet Union would triumph over regimes marked by corruption, stagnation and manipulated elections. The future, briefly, seemed as bright as the cheery names the demonstrators adopted — Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution. But within a few months both countries were mired in political crises that seemed...

What has gone wrong with Ukraine’s Orange Revolution? The best answer is that it never went right. The latest crisis merely brings to a head the tension between two halves of a country so deeply divided it barely looks like one nation. President Yushchenko was too convenient a hero for Europe and the US after the 2004 revolution, when he wrested power from his rival Viktor Yanukovich, as hundreds of thousands rallied in freezing temperatures in Independence Square to protest against rigged elections. Pockmarked, from dioxin poisoning before the election, a crime that has never been solved, Yushchenko seemed the...

KIEV, April 3 (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine is getting immersed in a deep political crisis with unpredictable consequences. The parliamentary majority has given a hostile reception to the presidential decree on the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and does not intend to obey it. The confrontation between political forces will inevitably spill out into to the streets. The opposition leaders have already called for a new Maidan (permanent rally) in downtown Kiev. Yuri Lutsenko, leader of the People's Self-Defence movement, has stated that a platform for speakers will be set up in Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosty) on Tuesday and rallies...

Ukraine is facing its second general election in less than two years after President Viktor Yushchenko last night dissolved parliament, citing "unconstitutional" behaviour by the Moscow-friendly government of Viktor Yanukovich, prime minister. In a move aimed at ending months of political gridlock caused by a stand-off with his long-standing rival Mr Yanukovich, the president said in a television address that it was his "duty" to call fresh elections, accusing the government of the "the politics of intrigue and fraud". The poll will take place on May 27, he said. Mr Yushchenko urged Ukrainians to remain calm saying "the situation is...

Two structures in Anaheim Hills are ablaze as about 500 firefighters are battling a 300-acre brush fire, and scores of homes in that area and Orange Park Acres are being evacuated...

Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (YRC)—the seventh-largest tire manufacturer in the world—has developed a process that combines citrus oil with natural rubber to form a new compound it calls Super Nanopower Rubber (SNR). The major component of citrus oil is d-limonene. The process reduces the use of petroleum products in tires by 80% and is part of YRC’s global EcoMotion environmental program. The first SNR product is the Decibel Super E-Spec, an all-new consumer passenger tire. The fuel-saving E-Spec tire features an air permeation suppression film, a polymer lining designed to reduce air leakage from the tire, therby helping to maintain...

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk resigned on Tuesday, in another political defeat for the country's pro-Europe President Viktor Yushchenko. The announcement ended a two-month-old court battle between Yushchenko and the pro-Russia wing of the country's political elite, who wanted the pro-Europe Tarasiuk out of the job. A constitutional dispute between Yushchenko and the Ukrainian parliament the Verhovna Rada had left Tarasiuk in political limbo, with other senior members of the government making foreign agreements own their own, and guards locking Tarasiuk out of cabinet meetings. When Tarasiuk refused to give in, parliament severed funding for the Foreign Ministry - a...

Ukraine's foreign minister has accused the Cabinet of cutting off funds to his ministry, leaving it unable to pay its employees or contribute dues to international organizations. The cutoff is the latest attempt by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to oust Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, a presidential appointee. The battle is part of the ongoing political struggle between pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and the more Russian-leaning Yanukovych. The constitution leaves the precise division of powers unclear, prompting a fight for authority that is largely being won by Yanukovych. Parliament last month dismissed Tarasyuk after Yanukovych said he could not work with...

You can also see the above video here: Included: Teen from the band gives Homily at Catholic Mass This video of several Masses on different occasions includes Bishop Tod Brown altering the words of the Mass, a lay youth minister giving a reflection as part of the homily, a strange reflection on beauty by a visiting priest, parishioners entering the sanctuary around the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist (and remaining in a standing position throughout the consecration), the routine alteration of the words of the Agnus Dei through song, Bishop Brown in the sanctuary with a costumed...

KIEV, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin assured his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko here on Friday that Russia would be Ukraine's reliable energy supplier, presenting a welcome break from the strained relationship between the two countries in the recent past Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front) and Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko toast with champagne after signing documents in Kiev Dec. 22, 2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)After talks with Yushchenko, Putin told a joint news conference that Russia and Ukraine will build their relations on the basis of pragmatism, equal rights, good neighborly ties and friendship. Putin's Friday visit to Kiev is his...

KIEV -- No orange banners hang from the street lamps; no stage is being erected on Kiev's Independence Square; no festivities are planned. Quietly is how Ukraine plans to commemorate what has become for many a bittersweet occasion: the second anniversary Wednesday of the Orange Revolution. Ukraine's topsy-turvy politics have made any official celebration of the mass protests awkward. Viktor Yanukovych, whose fraud-tarnished presidential victory sparked the uprising, is back in his old job as prime minister. And the Orange Revolution team is again in the opposition. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's popularity is so low that a recent opinion poll...

KIEV, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian Communist Party leader Pyotr Simonenko said his party would block a draft law giving former members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) the status of 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War if President Viktor Yushchenko signed it. “The presidential decree will have no force if the Supreme Rada has not passed relevant laws,” Simonenko said on Saturday at a rally of protest against a nationalist march in the centre of Kiev on the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. “We will find supporters in the parliament, sons and grandsons of the generation...

Tensions [...] are soaring again with last week's sensational allegations of a Moscow-backed coup d'état planned to overthrow President Mikhael Saakashvili. Georgian security forces last week rounded up about 30 opposition leaders and charged 14 of them with treason in a purported plan to stage disturbances in Tbilisi, leading to an opposition seizure of power. Most of those arrested were officials of the pro-Moscow Justice Party, [...] Others were activists of the opposition Conservative Monarchists and of the Anti-Soros Movement, a coalition of groups that accuses billionaire George Soros of "interfering" in Georgian politics by funding pro-Western nongovernmental organizations and...

MOSCOW. (Vyacheslav Igrunov for RIA Novosti) - The political crisis in Ukraine has been resolved, but uncertainty persists. The new government is still suffering from the painful compromise that brought about its establishment. On the one hand, most key posts in the government have been given to people free of ideological intoxication and capable of constructive, pragmatic actions. They know why gas should be stored in underground depots in summer, why international commitments should be honored, and why their country should not clash with those on whom its development depends. They are First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Naftogaz...

JOIN THE BILBRAY BRIGADE! Join one of the most high profile congressional races in the country today! U.S. Congressman Brian Bilbray’s Campaign is looking for individuals interested in working on one of the most talked about races in the nation. Full-time, part-time and internship positions available in all facets of a comprehensive grassroots campaign are currently available. • Unbelievable opportunity to break into politics. • Great way to develop vital job skills • Excellent opportunity to network • Ideal for individuals who are willing to work hard to start or advance their career in politics. Duties would include daily direct...

European Union called Victor Yanukovych to continue the reforms, started by his predecessors. Click to see TV clip: http://www-download.1tv.ru/video/2006_08/0608062103.asf

MOSCOW – President Viktor Yushchenko reached across the Orange Revolution's barricades Thursday and nominated his arch rival to lead Ukraine's government out of nearly five months of political paralysis. The deal, reached as a constitutional deadline that expired Wednesday night, creates a "grand coalition" between the pro-Western Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine movement and Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which favors closer ties with Russia. Ukraine's parliament, the Supreme Rada, is expected to elect Mr. Yanukovych as prime minister on Friday. Critics suggest the accord has betrayed the Orange Revolution and played into Moscow's hands. Some, including Yushchenko's former ally Yulia...

One of the most surprising aspects of the Viktor Yushchenko administration has been its unwillingness, or disinterest, in public relations and public opinion, whether in Ukraine or abroad. The Yushchenko administration and Our Ukraine ignored public opinion in Ukraine among Orange Revolution supporters, and that of the USA and the West in general, which called for a revived Orange coalition following the March elections. A coalition was only put together on the eve of the June deadline but it immediately collapsed and led to the current political crisis. In ignoring domestic and foreign public opinion and advice, the Yushchenko administration...