Kiev - Ukraine's new ruling majority in parliament hit a glitch on Wednesday with one member party declaring a formal coalition agreement on the deal is yet to be signed.

MP Ksenia Liapina speaking for the Our Ukraine People's Union party (OUPU) said parliament leaders had four days to hammer out a common platform and get it approved by party rank and file, or the country's long-running political crisis would continue as before.

Nairobi/Mogadishu  - The crew of a hijacked Ukrainian ship failed in a bid to escape their Somali captors Tuesday, according to media reports.

The BBC, quoting a pirate spokesman, reported that several crew members attacked two of their guards, but were quickly overpowered.

The MV Faina, which was captured in late September, is carrying a cargo of 33 tanks and other military equipment.

The ship was the pirates' highest-profile capture until the seizure of a Saudi supertanker carrying crude oil worth 100 million dollars in November.

Kiev  - Ukraine's long-running political crisis took a step towards resolution on Tuesday as the previously warring parliament factions elected a compromise candidate to lead the legislature.

A total of 244 members of the 450-seat parliament supported Volodymyr Litvin, head of the tiny Litvin Block Party, as parliament's new speaker, the Interfax news agency reported.

London, Dec. 9 : NATO countries are scrambling for alternative routes as far afield as Belarus and Ukraine to supply their forces in Afghanistan, reports the Guardian newspaper.

The step is being taken in the wake of four serious attacks on US and NATO supplies in Pakistan during the past month, including two in the past three days.

Kiev  - A spokesman for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday said a parliamentary election set for mid-December was "on hold," marking the govermnent's first official admission the vote would not be as scheduled.

"The order on the new elections has been placed on hold, but (the vote) has not been cancelled," said Iryna Bannikova, at a Kiev press conference.

Yushchenko dissolved a hung parliament in October, ordering new elections for December 15. Opponents within the administration and the legislature torpedoed the Ukrainian leader's initiative by refusing to authorize government financing for the polling, or prepare voter lists.

Kiev - Ukraine's top diplomat on Wednesday tried to put the best face possible on NATO's refusal to invite Kiev to join any time soon, instead saying his government "had achieved everything we wanted."

Volodymyr Ohryzko, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, called a Tuesday decision by NATO headquarters not to offer Ukraine and Georgia fast-track membership "The result that we were working for: We have de facto received an action plan for the preparation of Ukraine to join NATO."