UKRAINE'S NEW CABINET COMBINES OLD FACES WITH NEW. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on 30 December nominated three deputy prime ministers and 11 ministers in Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko's cabinet, Interfax reported. The three deputy prime ministers -- Yuriy Yekhanurov, Yuliya Tymoshenko, and Mykola Zhulynskyy -- are new faces in the government. The other new cabinet members are Education and Science Minister Vasyl Kremin and Culture Minister Bohdan Stupka. Eight politicians have retained their portfolios. They are Fuel and Power Engineering Minister Serhiy Tulub, Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko, Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk, Labor and Social Policy Minister Ivan Sakhan, Finance Minister Ihor Mityukov, Transportation Minister Leonid Kostyuchenko, and Justice Minister Syuzanna Stanyk. Former Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko has been nominated to the post of economy minister. JM

DEATH PENALTY IN UKRAINE DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Ukraine's Constitutional Court on 30 December ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional and should be removed from the country's Criminal Code immediately. The ruling instructed parliament to amend the Criminal Code to remove any references to the death penalty as soon as possible. The court ruled that the constitution recognizes the right to life and "does not contain any provisions for using the death penalty as an exception." It also noted that Ukraine pledged to abolish capital punishment when it joined the Council of Europe in 1995. The court's decision is final and cannot be appealed. JM