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Protests in Belarus after Lukashenko challengers barred
By EUobserver
Protests have erupted in Belarus, with hundreds rallying against the barring of two leading opposition candidates in next month's presidential election, the BBC reports. Belarus's electoral commission rejected the applications of president Alexander Lukashenko's main rivals, Valery Tsepkalo and Viktor Babaryko. In power since 1994, Lukashenko is now virtually assured to win the poll. "We are categorically for honest and fair elections," one protester in the capital told Reuters.