KIEV, July 1 - Spain took its place among soccer’s greats by defeating Italy 4-0 to retain their European title on Sunday, the biggest victory margin in a World Cup or Euro final.

KIEV, July 1 – Parliament voted Thursday to schedule local elections in Ukraine on October 31 in what appears to be an important political victory for President Viktor Yanukovych.

Yanukovych’s two coalition partners, the Communist Party and the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc, for weeks have been insisting the elections be postponed until next year.

KIEV, July 1 – Ukraine’s SBU security service may have been acting on a tip from Russian spies when it recently attempted to deport a Western analyst, a former senior SBU official said Thursday.

The Russian intelligence officials contacted their Ukrainian counterparts shortly before Niko Lange, the head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Kiev office, was detained at Boryspil airport.

KIEV, June 30 – The leaders of parliamentary committees representing the opposition have asked the international community to pay attention to the revival of authoritarianism in Ukraine.

BRUSSELS, June 30 – The participants in a technical meeting in Brussels on Monday, at which the situation with payments by Ukraine for Russian gas was discussed, have made good progress in identifying the key issues of concern and elements for possible solutions including possible financing arrangements, according to a joint statement by the European Commission and international financial institutions.

KIEV, July 1 – The hryvnia revaluations in 2005 and 2008, followed by the sharp devaluation at the end of last year are payment for first-rate macroeconomic policy blunders by several governments in a row, National Bank of Ukraine Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh said in an interview with the Mirror Weekly (Dzerkalo Tyzhnia) newspaper.

KIEV, July 1 – Prosecutor General Oleksandr Medvedko on Wednesday asked Parliament to lift immunity from Viktor Lozynskiy, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s group, to investigate his involvement into a recent murder in the Kirovohrad region.

KIEV, June 30 – The International Monetary Fund is likely to pass a decision concerning the further issuing of funds under its Stand-by Arrangement with Ukraine within next few days, the Ukrainian government said in a statement on a meeting between IMF Mission Chief in Ukraine Ceyla Pazarbasioglu and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Kiev on Tuesday.

KIEV, June 27 – The Ukrainian government will meet its commitments to prepare the country to host the finals of the Euro 2012 European Football Championship in time and in full, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiunyk has told UEFA.

KIEV, June 27 – The Ukrainian government should take measures to retain Boryspil International Airport state company as a complete property complex, with its land under state ownership, according to a presidential order.