Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- Less than a year and a half after President Viktor A. Yushchenko rose to power in a historic contest filled with clashes over corruption and fraud, voters head into parliamentary elections today in which the tone is much closer to the nuanced politics expected of a democracy. The pro-Western coalition that brought Yushchenko victory through the Orange Revolution has broken up into competing factions. That sets the stage for a three-way race featuring the Party of Regions, headed by Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Russian former prime minister who lost in the 2004 presidential race, Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

MINSK, Belarus -- Anatoly Lebedko keeps a bouquet of miniature flags next to his office desk, including one that commemorates the Orange Revolution in neighboring Ukraine. For him, an opposition politician in Belarus, a country seemingly trapped in Soviet-style politics, the flag is a reminder that the impossible sometimes is possible. In Ukraine, thousands of orange-clad demonstrators peacefully brought to power in 2004 a president who promised democratic rule. Lebedko was in the crowds there, and he couldn't help but imagine revolution also shaking Belarus.

Nominees sought for child-aid award Nominations are being sought for the seventh "Celebrating Successes for Children" ceremony, honoring people or programs that have a positive impact on the lives of young children. The ceremony, sponsored by County Executive James N. Robey and the Howard County Office of Children's Services, salutes mentors, child care providers, Scout leaders, coaches, human service workers, volunteers businesses, and school or camp programs. Nominations are due March 20. Forms are available online at www.co.

MOSCOW -- Ukraine's parliament fired the country's prime minister and Cabinet yesterday to protest the government's handling of the recent gas price war with Russia, a move political experts said was an attempt to weaken the beleaguered Orange Revolution bloc ahead of crucial legislative elections this spring. Parliament ordered Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov and his Cabinet to stay on until a new Cabinet can be formed. President Viktor A. Yushchenko denounced the move as unconstitutional and said he would challenge it in court.

MOSCOW -- Russia denied yesterday that its temporary cutoff of gas supplies to Ukraine this week in a pricing dispute raised doubts about its ability to act as a responsible energy supplier to Europe. But a Foreign Ministry official admitted that there are "certainly ... political factors" in Moscow's aim to maintain a strategic pathway for energy to Europe. "In areas where economic interests coincide with objective national interests, certainly the issue of politics come into play," Alexei Sazonov, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in an interview.

MOSCOW -- Russia settled its standoff with Ukraine over natural gas prices yesterday and planned to resume gas shipments to its western neighbor, ending a crisis that raised strong doubts in the West about Russia's reliability as an energy partner. The breakthrough, reached during overnight talks between the two countries' state-run gas companies, came three days after Russia shut down natural gas delivery to Ukraine. The move brought sharp reductions in Russian gas sent to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines.

MOSCOW -- When Russia officially became head of the leading group of industrialized nations Sunday, energy security was the issue that Russia said would be at the top of the group's agenda and the issue that was already on the minds of Europe and the United States - but not in the way Russia had intended. The decision by Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, to halt gas shipments to Ukraine also interrupted supplies bound for other parts of Europe and left Russia in an awkward spot at an awkward time, analysts say. What was a price dispute between two former allies became a kind of international spectacle that has simultaneously reopened questions about Russia's place among the Group of Eight and raised new questions about the country's reliability as an energy supplier.

KIEV, Ukraine -- Natural gas supplies to Europe dipped sharply yesterday in the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but Moscow said it would significantly restore exports as early as today to prevent other countries from being held hostage to the price dispute. With many European nations reporting decreases in their gas imports as Russia attempted to cut off fuel supplies to middleman Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe appealed to the two former Soviet nations to "explore, in a constructive manner, all options that could bring about a mutually satisfactory solution."

MOSCOW -- The tense relationship between Russia and Ukraine soured further yesterday when Russia's natural gas monopoly made good on its threat to cut shipments to its western neighbor after the two sides failed to agree on the terms of a price increase. The bold step by Gazprom, a monopoly that supplies Ukraine with about a third of its natural gas, came after Ukraine rejected an 11th-hour proposal by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin that would have delayed for three months a steep increase.

NATIONAL Aiding military language skills The U.S.-led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan exposed the inability of most military personnel to converse in Arabic or the languages of Afghanistan. The Pentagon plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years to bolster foreign language skills within the military. pg 1a Bush defends domestic spying President Bush defended his domestic spying program, saying it's a limited initiative that tracks only incoming calls to the U.S. and adding that the disclosure about the secret order to eavesdrop on Americans with suspected terrorist ties causes "great harm to the nation."