Kiev - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday ordered parliament dissolved and called for new elections.

The Orange Revolution leader did not in the short nationally- televised speech make clear when the vote would take place.

Before ceasing work, Ukraine's current parliament should amend the national budget to pay for the national vote, which according to Yushchenko would allow Ukrainians to select a brand new legislature.

Kiev- The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on Wednesday moved to bail out one of the country's banks, extending a low cost credit and banning claims by creditors.

Persons or businesses owed money by Prominvestbank, Ukraine's sixth largest bank, will not be able to press any claims against the company for the next six months, an NBU statement read in part.

Kiev - Ukraine's government on Wednesday ordered the country's leading PFTS stock exchange to stay closed throughout the day, the Interfax news agency reported.

The decision came after the market hit a record low on Tuesday, and was widely predicted to continue a plunge of as much as 12 per cent a day, observers said.

The PFTS lost 11 per cent overall value on Tuesday, with banks plummeting between 22 to 26 per cent, and metals producers slumping 13 to 16 per cent, the Dragon Capitol trading house reported.

Ukraine's government has been locked in a constitutional crisis for more than two months and has struggled to take steps to control economic damage from recent drops in foreign shares exchanges.

Kiev- Ukraine's leading PFTS stock exchange plummeted on Tuesday, with some shares losing 9 per cent in minutes after opening and the government considering another halt to trading of some firms.

Stock in the massive Azovstal steel company dropped 9.15 per cent in value shortly after trading began, and "practically all" of Ukraine's other major metals manufacturers were early big losers, the Interfax news agency reported.

Kiev - Six Ukrainians died in a Saturday coal-mine blast, the Interfax news agency reported.

The explosion resulting from a methane gas build-up took place in the Duvana shaft near the city of Sukhodolsk, in the eastern Luhansk province.

An evacuation of the surviving 113 miners from 550 metres below ground was completed without incident.

An investigation into possible violations of safety procedures was in progress, Vice Prime Minister Oleksander Turchinov said.

The government would provide financial assistance to the victims' families, he said.

Kiev- A Boeing 747 passenger airliner bound for Netherlands lost the use of one of its engines while flying over Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

The plane had flown from Kuala Lumpur to the airspace of the former Soviet republic without incident, when one of the Boeing's four engines stopped working at 0345 GMT.

The report did not identify the carrier operating the aircraft.

Ukrainian airport personnel in the eastern city cleared a strip for an emergency landing, and airport staff in the cities Kiev and Simferopol were ordered to stand by.