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Main news of February 8

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* With nearly 99% of the vote counted, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych narrowly leads with 48.65% of vote, a mere 2.88% over archrival Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, in Sunday's Ukrainian presidential runoff

* Frontrunner Viktor Yanukovych's supporters plan to spend the night in front of the Central Election Commission building as the vote count after the crucial presidential runoff continues

* The leader of the radical Palestinian group Hamas said he sees no prospect whatsoever in peace talks in the Middle East as Israel is led by warmongers

* France has agreed to sell Russia a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and received an order to build another three, Radio France Internationale reported

* Sunday's presidential runoff in Ukraine was in line with democratic norms, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said

* Presidential polls split Ukraine into east and west

* Five people were killed and at least 12 injured after an explosion at an under-construction power plant in the U.S. state of Connecticut, CNN reported citing local officials

* Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych advised his presidential election opponent Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to be ready to resign from her post

RUSSIA

* Russia defeated Canada and Saudi Arabia in a tender for a plot of land in downtown Paris and will build a spiritual and cultural center on the banks of the Seine River near the Eiffel Tower

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev named four new regional leaders on Monday in a move that seems to be aimed at rejuvenating regional authorities, a Kremlin source said

* Iran has notified the UN nuclear watchdog of plans to produce higher enriched uranium, the country's envoy to the body said as world powers consider new sanctions against the Islamic Republic

* With copyright issues still a major problem in Russia, Moscow remains one of the biggest markets for unlicensed Microsoft software, a business daily said

* A total of 19 traffic police officers have been arrested on bribery charges in Russia's southern city of Astrakhan, investigators said

MILITARY NEWS

* Russia and Sri Lanka signed a $300 million loan to buy armaments and dual-purpose technology for Sri Lanka's military, a Russian deputy finance minister said

* Iran has developed its own air defense system comparable to and even more sophisticated than the Russian S-300 system, the IRNA news agency said, citing an Iranian military official

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