The Ukraine’s potentially powerhouse economy is being sucked dry by a crooked government in bed with big business cronies. Europe Correspondent Anne Cahill reports from Kiev.

UKRAINE’S president Leonid Kuchma called round table talks in Kiev last night and said he would go along with a presidential run-off on December 26 as set out by the Supreme Court.

President George Bush prodded Congress today to “act now” and give him the go-ahead to confront the threat from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

It's now believed at least 78 people died when a fighter jet clipped the ground and sheared through hundreds of spectators before exploding in a ball of fire as the pilot was performing aerobatic manoeuvres at an air show in Ukraine.