Ukraine

Politics drove hiring at Justice, report says WASHINGTON: Ideological considerations permeated the hiring process at the Justice Department's civil rights division, where a politically appointed official sought to hire "real Americans" and Republicans for career posts and prominent case assignments, according to a long-awaited report released yesterday by the department's inspector general. The extensive study of hiring practices between 2001 and 2007 concluded that a former department official improperly weeded out candidates based on their perceived ties to liberal organizations.

MOSCOW - Shipments of Russian natural gas to Europe came to an abrupt halt yesterday in the middle of a winter cold spell. Russia accused neighboring Ukraine of shutting down pipelines that supply a fifth of the continent's gas, while Ukraine charged that Russia had halted all deliveries. The situation marked a sharp escalation of a politically charged fuel-price dispute that has renewed concern about Europe's dependence on Russian gas and Ukrainian pipelines. It followed a precipitous fall in shipments Tuesday, when more than a dozen countries reported a complete stop or major drops in supplies.

MOSCOW - Fuel delivery to four European countries fell below normal yesterday as Russia's state gas monopoly withheld natural gas from neighboring Ukraine for the third consecutive day. Ukraine warned that its gas pipeline system could experience "serious disruptions" if a worsening price dispute isn't settled in 10 to 15 days, threatening shortfalls across Europe in the heart of winter. Flows of gas to Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, all of which depend on pipelines that cross Ukraine, decreased yesterday, officials said.

BUCHAREST, Romania -- President Bush declared yesterday that he would not trade away his support for bringing Ukraine and Georgia into NATO in exchange for Russia dropping its opposition to a U.S. missile defense network in Central Europe. "There's no tradeoffs, period," Bush said, stating that it was a "misperception" that he was willing to make such a bargain. The president said after meeting with Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko in Kiev that he told Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in a recent telephone call that Moscow had "nothing to fear" if the alliance eventually extends a welcome to the two countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Arthur Kargman Painter, wallpaper hanger, business owner Kargmans Inc., Owings Mills Salary --$80,000 plus profits Age --38 Years on the job --24 How he got started --Kargman's father and uncle began hanging wallpaper in the late 1960s while living in Ukraine. When they moved to the United States in 1979, they continued to work on a part-time basis as a way to make extra money. In 1981, the two went full time and expanded their company to include interior and exterior painting and light carpentry work.

Next Sunday, with Ukraine's once-hopeful Orange Revolution in disarray, that wonderful but beleaguered country will hold a national parliament election that is shaping up to be another political storm - one where an ill wind blows through to steal the vote. The Bush administration, so focused on forcing change in Iraq, has turned its back on the survival of Ukraine's fragile new democracy. The United States must join Europe's leading democracies and closely watch the parliament, or Rada, election.

MOSCOW -- During a bitter political standoff, Ukraine's President Viktor A. Yushchenko issued a decree yesterday transferring control of Interior Ministry troops into his own hands and away from a minister loyal to his longtime rival, Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovich. The prime minister said the president's action was unconstitutional. Parliament, which is controlled by the prime minister's allies, passed a resolution declaring the decree legally void. It appeared, however, that Yushchenko had succeeded in firming up his authority over security forces, because the direct commander of the Interior Ministry troops, Gen. Oleksandr Kikhtenko, is considered his ally.