UKRAINE: The Ukrainian prime minister, Mr Victor Yanokovich, last night agreed to re-run last week's disputed presidential elections, in a dramatic about-face that triggered celebrations from tens of thousands of street protesters. Chris Stephen reports from Kiev
The announcement capped a day of high drama in the Ukrainian capital that saw the government voted out of office by parliament.
After Mr Yanukovich's announcement, fireworks exploded in the night sky of the capital, and quarter of a million demonstrators poured onto the streets, waving flags and cheering.
Opposition supporters are convinced they have won a major victory, and last night their deputy leader, Ms Yulia Tymoshenko, led celebrations, dancing on the top of a mini bus as it left the gates of parliament.
"Glory to you," she shouted. "Each of you can see that the people can achieve anything." But problems remain, with European Union Foreign Policy chief Mr Javier Solana meeting with government and opposition leaders last night over disagreements with the timing of fresh elections.
The day began with Mr Solana acting as mediator with the outgoing president, Mr Leonid Kuchma, ensuring his support for a re-run of last week's controversial elections.
With their talks going on in one part of the city, opposition MPs met in parliament to hold a no-confidence vote in the government.
All morning MPs voted, but the quorum remained too low to make such a vote illegal, with many MPs unable to get access to the building with roads blocked by opposition demonstrators.
Only when opposition leaders appealed to the crowds, using the live broadcast link that fed pictures from the chamber to giant TV screens on the streets, was a path cleared to allow more MPs access.
Finally the quorum for a vote to become legal was attained and MPs voted down the government, leaving opposition MPs - sporting the orange scarves that have become the trademark of the opposition - cheering and punching the air.
Grey-suited government MPs, most of whom did not turn up, complained that the vote was illegal because it had been called, and had failed, many times.
Hours later, Mr Yanukovich effectively threw in the towel, telling the Supreme Court it need not continue its slow deliberation over whether last week's elections were illegal, and confirming he wanted them annulled. His decision is a humiliating climbdown: this time last week he was publicly insisting that he had won the presidential vote fair and square, and had given a speech formally accepting the office.
But pressure from the streets, and from the international community, appears to have proved too much for the embattled leader. Later, MPs announced a meeting tomorrow to change the constitution, giving more power to the government and less to the president.
Independent MP Mr Anton Kisse told The Irish Times: "Most of the deputies think the president has too many powers. We want a future prime minister to have control over the economy." What is not clear is whether Mr Yanukovich will run again as a candidate in the new ballot.
Many loose ends remain to be tied, starting with the nature and timing of new elections.
The opposition wants a simple re-run of the rigged ballots of last week, involving a contest between the two Victors, Yushchenko and Yanukovich.
Perhaps anticipating the humiliation his chosen candidate, Mr Yanukovich, would likely suffer in such an early re-run, President Kuchma insists the ballot must be held in four months' time, with other candidates invited to run.
If arguments continue over this for days to come, it may strain the uneasy unanimity between America, the European Union and Russia.
Russia last week declared the elections fair, and only this week conceded a new vote might be held. Moscow may decide to back Mr Kuchma in wanting a poll far in the future, breaking the diplomatic consensus.
Opponents announced yesterday that street demonstrations would continue until early elections are agreed, and some leaders want the protest to carry through to polling day itself.
Mr Yanokovich deepened confusion last night by declaring the ousting of his government illegal because a no-confidence vote, defeated last April, should have made his government immune to further votes for a further 12 months. Meanwhile, the judges of the Supreme Court could yet throw a spanner in the works. They are not bound to accept Mr Yushchenko's request to annul last week's elections, though it is highly unlikely they would endorse a poll which even the winner has denounced as unfair.
And the economy is starting to feel the effects of streets protests. Foreign imports have almost halted and the Central Bank has imposed limits on the money supply to prevent panic withdrawls from city banks.