Main news of December 24

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said his government intends to ease arms export restrictions, Kyodo News reported

* Iran launched a large-scale 10-day naval exercise in an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden, Press TV reported

* President Dmitry Medvedev has said the conflict over the Nagorno Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be settled any day if the two conflicting Caucasus states agree to compromise

RUSSIA

* Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Moscow to press demands for new parliamentary elections and wholesale liberalizing reform in Russia, turning the temperature up on Vladimir Putin and his plans to return to the Kremlin

* Dozens of protesters demanding new parliamentary elections and genuine political reform were detained across Russia

* The Russian presidential council on human rights has called the head of the Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov to resign, after considering complaints about alleged violations during the December 4 parliamentary elections

* A Siberian resident miraculously escaped serious injury or even death when a fragment of a Russian communication satellite crashed through the roof of his house