Ukraine’s basketball players will take on Bulgaria on home turf in their next Group A match. This autumn will see the country’s finest also face regional rivals Poland and a bustling Sweden, with Ukraine tipped by many to finally fulfil their potential and actually start to achieve things in a sport which is rapidly gaining popularity.

A handsome victory against the Romanian champions will be the ideal start to Dynamo’s Champions League campaign, and with a highly-fancied Lyon and the mighty Real Madrid having been drawn in the same group, three points will be need if Ukraine’s biggest side is to have a chance of progressing through to the group stages.

Having travelled the world in service of his country, experienced diplomat Mr. Mutsi Mabuchi was appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine 25 years after he first visited Kyiv. His Excellency was as taken with the city then as he is now and says he finds himself central to the life of the Ukrainian capital. Special What’s On envoy Milan Patel catches up with Tokyo’s representative in Ukraine.

Five years ago this week the world was stunned by the Islamic terror attacks on New York's World Trade Centre. Nothing has been quite the same ever since, and while conspiracy theories about US government or Mossad involvement in the attacks continue to circulate and gain currency on the internet, few would question the historical significance of catastrophe. Hollywood blockbuster ‘World Trade Centre’ by conspiracy specialist Oliver Stone opens later this month in Kyiv, and surprisingly it steers well clear of any murky inuendo, instead focusing on the stret-level heroism of that tragic day.

Sweet sixteen beauty queen Oksana Skvortsova was recently crowned national winner of the prestigious 'Elite Model Look' global beauty search. It’s the first title the leggy Lugansk lovely has ever won, and indeed she only originally went to a modelling school to improve her confidence and social skills.

Bored miner Gennady Ostanin has literally been whittling away his precious time, creating the world’s largest wooden spoon. The impressive piece of tableware is 2m 74cm in length and has a capacity of 5 litres which as Gennady pointed out, is plenty of borsch.

The spiritual head of the Kyiv City Administration, Leonid Chernevitsky, performed a miracle when he managed to attract 60,000 volunteers to collect rubbish around town 2 September. ‘Subotnik’, or voluntary labour days, were staples of Soviet life, with citizens giving up their free time in order to improve their immediate environment and avoid being carted off to Siberian gulags.

Russian authorities are setting-up a women-only police unit after a study found that female officers are harder to corrupt. The new ladies-only police unit will primarily tackle traffic offences, crimes which, so the study says, male offices have taken a historically corrupt line on providing the motorist is willing to hand over the roubles.

The good people of Ukraine would never let a little thing like political correctness get in the way of what they find amusing, and the Kyivite ability to shock left-wingers increased dramatically recently with the appearance of a new window display which can be seen on the downtown Pushkinskaya Street. Starring three dolls, the display shows a father apparently angry at his shocked looking wife’s new child, a smiling black baby. Needless to say, both mother and father are white!

Diminutive diva Ani Lorak has denied that she is about to become the new member of ultra sexy Ukrainian girl group Via Gra. Rumours circulating in the tea cup that is Kyiv high society stating that the petite beauty was days away from joining the raunchy pop outfit have been quashed by Ani, one of Ukraine’s most successful and sought after recording artists. “Ani Lorak will not quit her solo career” read a statement from Lorak’s press attache.

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Read What’s On – Be Healthy!

With the arrival of the New Year, it stands to reason that the best way to start off is to reinvigorate one’s health and vitality. As ever, What’s On endeavours to promote healthy lifestyles (ahem) and the same goes for 2011. We poo-poo those who say they are too busy or the pace of life too fast to bother with eating right or doing some exercise. As Bill Clinton would say, “It’s your health, stupid!” Cut the lame excuses! Shake up your routine like the guy at the health bar shakes up energy drinks by taking advantage of one (or more) of the following yet simple health ideas found below.