UKRAINE

Ukraine signed a deal today to allow the tracking of natural gas shipments from Russia, opening a way for Europe to receive again gas supplies from Russia.

The end to the dispute seems to be near with Russia is expected to resume its supplies to Ukraine this week following an EU agreement with monitors being deployed to monitor gas flow in Ukraine.

Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials continued late into Friday with both sides failing to agree on the resumed gas supply to Europe via Ukraine.

Russian state controlled oil firm OAO Gazprom could unblock its gas shipments to Europe Friday on the condition that a monitoring mission led by the EU tracks the gas flow through Ukrainian pipelines.

The solution to the current dispute between Russia and Ukraine that has resulted in the worst halt in gas supplies to Europe in years may rely on an intermediate company called RosUkrEnergo AG, according to analysts.

On Thursday the European Union said that gas supplies would resume after agreeing with Russia on supervising the gas flow through Ukraine.

Ukraine has set its conditions with natural gas chief saying if Russia will provide more extra Gas to Ukraine it will allow Russia to send the fuel back into the freezing European Union.

Russian and Ukrainian state gas companies failed to reach an agreement on gas prices during negotiations as of early Thursday to resume shipment in supplies into Europe after a two day standoff.

Crude oil futures plunged on Wednesday 12 percent - its most in seven years - after a report revealed U.S. supplies of crude, gasoline and distillate fuels rocketed as demand declined.

European Union officials on Monday played down the impact of the gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia despite supply disruptions that are making some countries in Europe dip into gas reserves.

President George Bush support for NATO membership expansion went unheard on Thursday at the final summit he will attend as a U.S. president. The alliance decided the time wasn't ripe for Georgia and Ukraine to join, while allies agreed to send out more troops to Afghanistan.

NATO concluded the first day of annual summit meeting on a factious note, after allies refused to open membership doors to Ukraine and Georgia, on fear of a potential conflict with Russia.

U.S. President George W. Bush expressed support for Ukraine and Georgia as they move towards NATO membership, ahead an alliance summit in Romania where opposition from fellow European countries will be likely.

U.S. President George Bush met with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Kiev on Tuesday ahead of the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania on 2-4 April to discuss NATO enlargement and operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

The software company co-founded by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates nearly two years ago is seeing the benefits of more stringent intellectual property policies in China, with a decline in piracy rates and improved results at its mainstay Windows division.

Weeping relatives gathered in cemeteries around Donetsk, heart of the Donbass coalfield, on Tuesday to bury the dead from Ukraine's worst mining accident.Flags in the ex-Soviet state were adorned with black ribbons and flew at half mast on a national day of mourning for at least 89 people killed in Sunday's methane blast.

Rescue teams battled smoke and high temperatures on Monday as they pressed on with the task of tracking down 20 missing miners in a Ukrainian coal mine after a methane explosion killed at least 80 others.

A methane explosion ripped through a mine in Ukraine's Donbass coalfield on Sunday, killing at least 63 miners and leaving 37 missing in underground shafts engulfed by fire and smoke.

Russia unveiled its first all-new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union on Wednesday, hoping to curb dependence on oil and gas exports and restore pride in its teetering aviation industry.

Monster.com waited five days to tell its users about a security breach that resulted in the theft of confidential information from some 1.3 million job seekers. Hackers broke into the site's resume library in one of the biggest Internet security breaches in recent memory.

Gazprom and Italian oil firm Eni unveiled a plan on Saturday for a big new pipeline to take Russian gas under the Black Sea to Europe, undermining an earlier plan to extend a Turkish route.