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Main news of December 19

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours 19.12.2010, Sputnik International

2010-12-19T20:59+0000

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Main news of December 19

20:59 GMT 19.12.2010

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

BELARUS

* Results of three exit polls show that Incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has secured victory in Sunday's presidential election with over 70% of the vote

* Belarusians went to polls to cast their vote on the final day of elections likely to hand President Alexander Lukashenko a resounding victory while the splintered opposition has vowed to protest in the snowy streets of Minsk

* A total of 23% of eligible Belarusian electors cast their votes in early voting in presidential elections in Belarus, the Central Election Commission said

* Incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko leads in the election with 76.42% of the vote while four of his nine rivals gain slightly over 3%, the results of an exit-poll showed

* Belarusian opposition is gathering for an unsanctioned rally at October Square in downtown Minsk to protest the presidential election

* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he is “absolutely confident” of claiming a fourth term after casting his vote in elections almost certain to hand him a landslide victory while the opposition are gearing up to protest in Minsk’s snowy squares in ten-below temperatures

* Two candidates in the Belarus presidential elections said they were beaten by the special forces officers as they were heading for an unsanctioned rally in downtown Minsk

* The Belarusian Interior Ministry refused to give comments on Sunday on the alleged detention of opposition supporters in Belarus on election day

* Belarus presidential elections could receive a higher assessment of the OSCE observers than the 2006 election, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission said

WORLD

* The United Nations Security Council started holding an emergency meeting at Russia's request to address mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula

* Russia's draft statement to the United Nations Security Council proposes sending a special envoy to Seoul and Pyongyang to resolve the conflict peacefully, a UN source said

* Indian companies are ready to take part in the Russian privatization program for 2011-2013, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said

* Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office again summoned Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister and current opposition leader, for interrogation, the Tymoshenko Bloc-Batkivshchyna alliance said

*An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale occurred on Sunday off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website

*The U.S. Congress passed a bill that allows gay men and women to serve openly in the military

* The Cuban economy will see drastic changes in 2011, but all reforms will be aimed at preserving and strengthening socialism in the country, Cuban President Raul Castro said

* A NATO-led coalition soldier was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, bringing the foreign troop death toll to 700 and making 2010 the deadliest year for international troops fighting Taliban militants in the country

RUSSIA

* A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashed on the Russian Arctic island of Yamal, killing the crew commander and injuring 15 passengers, a spokesman for Russian Aviation Committee said

*The Russian cargo ship Sunrise is in distress after colliding with an unidentified fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan, Russia's maritime journal Sovfrakht reported

* More than 460 people were detained in the Moscow Region as police held an operation to prevent new race-hate riots, a police spokesman said

* Fires claimed the lives of 84 people in Russia on Saturday, setting a new tragic record of this year's autumn and winter season, the crisis situations center of the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi synchronized their position on the Korean crisis and urged the parties to show restraint and solve all controversial issues by peaceful means, China's Foreign Ministry reported

* Latvian President Valdis Zatlers started a four-day official visit to Russia as a sign of improving relations between former Soviet republics