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Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (YRC)—the seventh-largest tire manufacturer in the world—has developed a process that combines citrus oil with natural rubber to form a new compound it calls Super Nanopower Rubber (SNR). The major component of citrus oil is d-limonene. The process reduces the use of petroleum products in tires by 80% and is part of YRC’s global EcoMotion environmental program. The first SNR product is the Decibel Super E-Spec, an all-new consumer passenger tire. The fuel-saving E-Spec tire features an air permeation suppression film, a polymer lining designed to reduce air leakage from the tire, therby helping to maintain...

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk resigned on Tuesday, in another political defeat for the country's pro-Europe President Viktor Yushchenko. The announcement ended a two-month-old court battle between Yushchenko and the pro-Russia wing of the country's political elite, who wanted the pro-Europe Tarasiuk out of the job. A constitutional dispute between Yushchenko and the Ukrainian parliament the Verhovna Rada had left Tarasiuk in political limbo, with other senior members of the government making foreign agreements own their own, and guards locking Tarasiuk out of cabinet meetings. When Tarasiuk refused to give in, parliament severed funding for the Foreign Ministry - a...

Ukraine's foreign minister has accused the Cabinet of cutting off funds to his ministry, leaving it unable to pay its employees or contribute dues to international organizations. The cutoff is the latest attempt by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to oust Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, a presidential appointee. The battle is part of the ongoing political struggle between pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and the more Russian-leaning Yanukovych. The constitution leaves the precise division of powers unclear, prompting a fight for authority that is largely being won by Yanukovych. Parliament last month dismissed Tarasyuk after Yanukovych said he could not work with...

You can also see the above video here: Included: Teen from the band gives Homily at Catholic Mass This video of several Masses on different occasions includes Bishop Tod Brown altering the words of the Mass, a lay youth minister giving a reflection as part of the homily, a strange reflection on beauty by a visiting priest, parishioners entering the sanctuary around the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist (and remaining in a standing position throughout the consecration), the routine alteration of the words of the Agnus Dei through song, Bishop Brown in the sanctuary with a costumed...

KIEV, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin assured his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko here on Friday that Russia would be Ukraine's reliable energy supplier, presenting a welcome break from the strained relationship between the two countries in the recent past Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front) and Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko toast with champagne after signing documents in Kiev Dec. 22, 2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)After talks with Yushchenko, Putin told a joint news conference that Russia and Ukraine will build their relations on the basis of pragmatism, equal rights, good neighborly ties and friendship. Putin's Friday visit to Kiev is his...

KIEV -- No orange banners hang from the street lamps; no stage is being erected on Kiev's Independence Square; no festivities are planned. Quietly is how Ukraine plans to commemorate what has become for many a bittersweet occasion: the second anniversary Wednesday of the Orange Revolution. Ukraine's topsy-turvy politics have made any official celebration of the mass protests awkward. Viktor Yanukovych, whose fraud-tarnished presidential victory sparked the uprising, is back in his old job as prime minister. And the Orange Revolution team is again in the opposition. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's popularity is so low that a recent opinion poll...

KIEV, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian Communist Party leader Pyotr Simonenko said his party would block a draft law giving former members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) the status of 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War if President Viktor Yushchenko signed it. “The presidential decree will have no force if the Supreme Rada has not passed relevant laws,” Simonenko said on Saturday at a rally of protest against a nationalist march in the centre of Kiev on the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. “We will find supporters in the parliament, sons and grandsons of the generation...

Tensions [...] are soaring again with last week's sensational allegations of a Moscow-backed coup d'état planned to overthrow President Mikhael Saakashvili. Georgian security forces last week rounded up about 30 opposition leaders and charged 14 of them with treason in a purported plan to stage disturbances in Tbilisi, leading to an opposition seizure of power. Most of those arrested were officials of the pro-Moscow Justice Party, [...] Others were activists of the opposition Conservative Monarchists and of the Anti-Soros Movement, a coalition of groups that accuses billionaire George Soros of "interfering" in Georgian politics by funding pro-Western nongovernmental organizations and...

MOSCOW. (Vyacheslav Igrunov for RIA Novosti) - The political crisis in Ukraine has been resolved, but uncertainty persists. The new government is still suffering from the painful compromise that brought about its establishment. On the one hand, most key posts in the government have been given to people free of ideological intoxication and capable of constructive, pragmatic actions. They know why gas should be stored in underground depots in summer, why international commitments should be honored, and why their country should not clash with those on whom its development depends. They are First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Naftogaz...

JOIN THE BILBRAY BRIGADE! Join one of the most high profile congressional races in the country today! U.S. Congressman Brian Bilbray’s Campaign is looking for individuals interested in working on one of the most talked about races in the nation. Full-time, part-time and internship positions available in all facets of a comprehensive grassroots campaign are currently available. • Unbelievable opportunity to break into politics. • Great way to develop vital job skills • Excellent opportunity to network • Ideal for individuals who are willing to work hard to start or advance their career in politics. Duties would include daily direct...

European Union called Victor Yanukovych to continue the reforms, started by his predecessors. Click to see TV clip: http://www-download.1tv.ru/video/2006_08/0608062103.asf

MOSCOW – President Viktor Yushchenko reached across the Orange Revolution's barricades Thursday and nominated his arch rival to lead Ukraine's government out of nearly five months of political paralysis. The deal, reached as a constitutional deadline that expired Wednesday night, creates a "grand coalition" between the pro-Western Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine movement and Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which favors closer ties with Russia. Ukraine's parliament, the Supreme Rada, is expected to elect Mr. Yanukovych as prime minister on Friday. Critics suggest the accord has betrayed the Orange Revolution and played into Moscow's hands. Some, including Yushchenko's former ally Yulia...

One of the most surprising aspects of the Viktor Yushchenko administration has been its unwillingness, or disinterest, in public relations and public opinion, whether in Ukraine or abroad. The Yushchenko administration and Our Ukraine ignored public opinion in Ukraine among Orange Revolution supporters, and that of the USA and the West in general, which called for a revived Orange coalition following the March elections. A coalition was only put together on the eve of the June deadline but it immediately collapsed and led to the current political crisis. In ignoring domestic and foreign public opinion and advice, the Yushchenko administration...

KIEV, Ukraine — After four months of wrangling, Ukraine's pro-Western president faced a midnight deadline Wednesday to decide whether to accept his chief political rival as the country's next prime minister. President Viktor Yushchenko can also dissolve parliament and call new elections, but doing so would prolong the political turmoil that has seized this ex-Soviet republic since March's indecisive parliamentary election. A return to power for Viktor Yanukovych, a former prime minister, would complete a startling comeback. His attempt to win the presidency in the 2004 election was marred by fraud and triggered the mass protests known as the Orange...

KIEV, Ukraine - Marathon talks to end Ukraine's political paralysis broke off early Saturday without an agreement between President Viktor Yushchenko and the pro-Russian parliamentary majority that has nominated his former Orange Revolution rival as prime minister. Yushchenko spent more than 10 hours negotiating with Victor Yanukovych, whose fraud-marred run for the presidency in 2004 sparked the Orange Revolution protests that swept Yushchenko to power, and the country's new parliament speaker, Oleksandr Moroz. Yanukovych's nomination as premier earlier this month was an embarrassing setback for Yushchenko, whose popular support has suffered amid infighting and allegations of corruption and incompetence against...

KIEV, Ukraine, July 14 — Ukraine’s political landscape shifted radically on Friday when President Viktor A. Yushchenko’s pro-Western party, Our Ukraine, said that under certain conditions it would join a coalition with its archrival, the pro-Russian Party of the Regions led by Viktor F. Yanukovich. Our Ukraine is insisting that a new government exclude the Communists, who were part of an earlier coalition proposal. Another contentious issue is control over who would become the next prime minister. [...] The Socialist Party, which opposes economic reforms and Ukraine’s joining NATO, would also join the proposed coalition. The Socialists’ participation in a...

MOSCOW – Orange is out, at least for the moment, as Ukraine's political roller coaster seems set to reject at least some results of 2004's pro-democracy revolt and vault Moscow-leaning politician Viktor Yanukovich back into the country's driver's seat. After a week of wild surprises in the 450-seat Supreme Rada, Mr. Yanukovich's Party of Regions announced Tuesday that it had formed a new "anticrisis coalition," holding a slender 12-seat majority, with the Communists and the formerly Orange-allied Socialists. Oleksandr Moroz, the Socialist leader, announced that he had forwarded Yanukovich's name to President Viktor Yushchenko as the new coalition's choice for...

AL ASAD, Iraq (July 10, 2006) -- Hollowell, a band from Orange County, Calif., entertained a crowd of service members at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation building here June 29. According to Jared Daniels, bassist for Hollowell, the band decided to come out to Iraq to show their support for the men and women fighting for our country. "The is the best way we can think of to say thank you to all of the troops," said Daniels, a native of Orange County, Calif. "We need to show our support for everything the men and women over here are doing....

KIEV, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's Socialist Party blames President Viktor Yushchenko for a virtual collapse of a coalition majority formed in the country's parliament in June, a party member said Friday. Ivan Boky said, "The president ruined the coalition by nominating Petro Poroshenko for the post of [Supreme Rada] speaker." The coalition of Western-leaning forces broke up when the Party of Regions, holding 186 seats in the Rada, and the Socialist and Communist parties with 33 and 21 seats respectively joined forces late Thursday to elect Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as speaker. The three parties are currently holding...