KIEV, July 25 – President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law imposing harsher punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medicines lowering attention and reaction rate.

KIEV, July 23 - A meeting of the International Monetary Fund Executive Board may be held on July 31, after which Ukraine could be issued the second tranche of funding under the EFF program, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice confirmed.

KIEV, July 24 - The Communist Party of Ukraine and other Communist parties no longer have the status of political parties in Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov announced on July 24.

KIEV, July 24 – The foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine sent an open letter to the United Nations Security Council demanding the immediate establishment of an international criminal tribunal to bring to account those responsible for Malaysian Boeing flight MH17 disaster a year ago.

KIEV, July 26 - Ukrainian state security agents on Sunday questioned a soldier suspected of being a Russian army officer who was picked up while riding in a military truck packed with ammunition in the country's east, Reuters reported.

KIEV, July 23 – The Ukrainian Finance Ministry expects that the next tranche of the EU macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR600 million will be received at the end of the year.

KIEV, July 23 – Ukraine will hold new local elections after amendments to the constitution aimed at decentralizing the governance system take effect, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

KIEV, July 23 - It is unacceptable for parliamentary coalition members to use populist slogans and ideas, including of an economic character, leading to serious consequences for the state, President Petro Poroshenko said.

KIEV, July 25 – The Ukrainian government has increased stipends for students, Social Policy Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said.

While commenting on the adoption at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday of a resolution setting the size of stipends for the students of vocational schools, universities and institutes, he said that from now the basic level of stipends for such students has been raised on average by 37.5%.

CHYRSKE, Kiev region, July 26 – The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers intends to provide funds in the 2013 state budget for the restoration of boat traffic on the River Dnipro, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.