Ukraine arrests former interior minister

Ukrainian prosecutors said Thursday they had opened a new criminal probe against former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on suspicion of abusing power while in office.She is accused of exceeding her authority in a purchase of 1,000 new Opel Combo vans for the health service that lost the state some $8.3 million dollars, the prosecutors said in a statement.Officials said they had no immediate plans of placing the former Orange Revolution leader under arrest."To date, there is no reason to arrest her," said prosecutor Olexander Kalifistky.

Ukraine will take a first major step away from dependency on Russian gas supplies on Thursday when it seals a $10 billion shale gas deal with Royal Dutch Shell. Due to be signed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the production sharing agreement will mark the biggest contract yet to tap shale gas in Europe and the largest single foreign investment in the former Soviet republic.

Ukraine on Monday accused former premier and Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko of costing her government almost $200 million by signing excessively expensive natural gas deals with Russia.The accusation poses another challenge to the ousted pro-Western leader, who has become the focus of several probes since losing a bitter 2010 presidential election to her more Russia-friendly rival Vitkor Yanukovych.

Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was charged Monday with abuse of power, a crime that could put the charismatic Orange Revolution leader in jail for a decade and keep her out of politics.Tymoshenko told reporters on leaving the prosecutor's office that she has been ordered to stay in the capital Kiev during the investigation, which is linked to the alleged misuse of state funds.