Ukrainians begin voting in presidential election

Ukrainians began to cast ballots on Sunday in a presidential run-off between President Leonid Kuchma'schosen successor and a liberal opposition leader.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) in the former Soviet republic and are due to close in 12 hours at 08:00 p.m. (1800 GMT).

About 37 million of the 47 million population are eligible to vote and to select a new president to succeed Kuchma, who has beenin power for a decade.

The two candidates, Kuchma's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and his West-leaning rival Viktor Yushchenko, each won about 40 percent of the vote in the first round on Oct. 31.

Source: Xinhua