KIEV, UKRAINE -- One night at the height of the panic over what people here call the California flu, as 24-hour news stations tracked a rising death toll and politicians speculated about a mystery lung plague, Ukraine's prime minister rushed to the airport to greet a shipment of Tamiflu as if it were a foreign dignitary. Not to be outdone, the president, a bitter political foe, dispatched a top

KIEV, Ukraine -- Those who are tired of the same old political faces staring from TV screens are introduced to a trio of newcomers, Oleg Riabokon, Vasyl Protyvsikh and Oleksandr Pabat. This sign sums up the attitude of many Ukrainians towards current politicians. “Against All: For Life Without Ya (President Victor Yushchenko and ex-Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych) and Yu (Prime Minister Yulia

YALTA, Ukraine -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced late Thursday a compromise deal with Ukraine on the thorny issue of gas supply, lessening the threat of multibillion-dollar fines that might cripple Ukraine's economy. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Yalta, November 19, 2009. Tymoshenko and Putin readied on

LVIV, Ukraine — It is not immediately clear why Vasily V. Humenyuk should be a candidate for president of Ukraine. A former customs official from the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, he subscribes to no particular ideology, has the flimsiest of platforms and does not plan to tour the country before the vote, reasoning that “these trips cost a great deal and the people are sick of them.” Posters

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Ukrainian version of H1N1, described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "similar" to the Novel A H1N1 virus commonly known as swine flu, claims more lives every day in the Ukraine. Ukranian Prime Minister wears mask to avoid flu infection.According to the Ukrainian health ministry, 344 people have now died due to this virus, eighteen of these fatalities occurred in the

ATHENS, Greece -- Not many Greeks dared to hope for Wednesday’s 1–0 victory on the road over Ukraine in Donetsk to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa next summer. Greece's Dimitrios Salpigidis runs to score against Ukraine during their FIFA World Cup 2010 playoff qualification match in Donetsk on Wednesday.Happiness and surprise overwhelmed every Greek that was supporting the team by going

SAN FRANCISCO, USA -- A federal judge on Wednesday reduced the prison sentence for a former Ukrainian prime minister convicted in the United States of corruption in his homeland. Pavlo LazarenkoU.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer cut Pavlo Lazarenko's nine-year sentence by 11 months. The resentencing came after an appeals court last year tossed out six of the 14 extortion, corruption and

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s presidential election seems destined to be decided in a run-off, according to a poll by the Ukrainian Project System. 21.4 per cent of respondents would vote for former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych of the Party of Regions (PR), while 18.1 per cent would back current prime minister Yulia Timoshenko. Viktor Yanukovich and Yulia TymoshenkoFormer foreign affairs

KIEV, Ukraine -- Shakhtar Donetsk owner Rinat Akhmetov has clashed with Ukraine’s National Football Federation over ticket prices for the World Cup playoff against Greece on Wednesday. Shakhtar Donetsk owner Rinat Akhmetov.Ukraine’s federation and its commercial partner UFI have set prices for the match in Donetsk at $25-$1,000 per ticket, according to media.This is far too expensive for many

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s cooperation with the International Monetary Fund is “absolutely necessary” and the country hopes to obtain the next round of funds as early as next month, Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko.The former Soviet state is dependent on a $16.4 billion IMF loan to avoid bankruptcy amid a recession and to maintain payments for

LONDON, England -- In Ukraine, a strain of the flu has infected 1.4 million people. The death toll, according to the Ukraine Health Ministry, is at 315 people as of November 16, 2009. Hospital staff, wearing face masks, seen during a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.The World Bank Database gives the estimated population for the Ukraine as a little over 46 million. While the

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Poland and Lithuania want to forge military cooperation with Ukraine to try to bring the former Soviet republic closer to NATO, Polish officials said. Poland's Deputy Defence Minister Stanislaw Komorowski.Under the plan, the three countries would form a brigade that could participate in international peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations, the

KIEV, Ukraine -- The defeated candidate from Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution says this time it's the former Soviet republic's pro-Western president who will be swept from power in the upcoming election. Pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovich.Viktor Yanukovych, the front-runner in opinion polls for the Jan. 17 ballot, called for improved relations with Russia, a jab at President Viktor Yushchenko, who has

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Ukrainian politics is like Mexican telenovelas. The characters are the same for years and years: charming but cunning Tymoshenko, dull but pragmatic Yanukovych, idealistic but weak Yushchenko, plus the whole plethora of old faces from Litvin to Tihipko. Yatsenyuk is the only new face, campaigning with smart khaki billboards, but with surprisingly old-fashioned views.However,

KIEV, Ukraine -- A deadly plague could sweep across Europe, doctors fear, after an outbreak of a virus in Ukraine plunged the country and its neighbours into a state of panic. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, left, wears a face mask as she visits a regional hospital in Lutsk, about 400 km (247 miles) west of Kiev, Ukraine.A cocktail of three flu viruses are reported to have mutated into

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- The deadline to register candidates for Ukraine's presidential election was November 9, after which the seven candidates who were refused registration were given two additional days to resubmit their applications. On November 13, the Central Election Commission will confirm the final list of candidates for the January 17, 2010, presidential vote. Party of Regions chief

LVIV, Ukraine -- When patients began arriving in Vyacheslav Bonder’s intensive care unit two weeks ago, their lungs so saturated with blood that they could barely gasp, the only thing he could compare it to was a field hospital in wartime. As soon as he hooked one patient up to a ventilator, a second and third would appear in the doorway. Doctors and nurses at the Regional Pulmonary Center in

LONDON, England -- The diaries of a British reporter who risked his reputation to expose the horrors of Stalin's murderous famine in Ukraine are to go on display on Friday. In this B/W photo released by Cambridge University Gareth Jones is seen at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a student in the late 1920s and where the diaries are now going on display for the first time. The diaries of

KIEV, Ukraine -- Fitch cut Ukraine's credit rating on Thursday and said a delay in IMF funding coupled with a huge budget gap would lead to more instability, a warning underscored by another state firm seeking to restructure its debts. Fitch Ratings' headquarters in New York.Ukraine is in the grip of a deep economic recession which has been made worse by political rivalry, intensified in the run

KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia warned it may halt gas exports through Ukraine if the bailout-dependent former Soviet state can’t keep up payments in what is becoming an annual dispute between the two countries. Russian PM Vladimir Putin with Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko.“If transit countries fulfill their obligations, there won’t be any problems from our side,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told