Main news of December 3

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed into law the country's new tax code, the presidential website said

* The OSCE is ill-equipped to address missile defense issues, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at his residence in Krasnaya Polyana outside the Black Sea resort city of Sochi

* The European Court of Human Rights has fined Russia a record 1.72 million euros (about $2.3 mln) for killing at least 24 Chechen villagers in a military operation against militants in 2000

RUSSIA

* Another young teacher has been beaten in Russia, just over a month after a police officer launched an attack at a St Petersburg school, a Siberian TV company reported

* A total of 23,000 Orthodox churches have been rebuilt in Russia in the past 20 years, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said

* World Wildlife Fund Russia and Greenpeace have written an open letter to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to protest against truckmaker KamAz's purchase of the territory of a national park in central Russia

* The recently released WikiLeaks files are not critical for Russian-U.S. relations, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi held a meeting

* The terrorist threat throughout Russia remains high, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said

DEFENSE

* Japan and the United States launched their biggest ever joint military exercises amid tensions on the Korean peninsula

SPORTS

* Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is ready to participate in the financing of sports facilities for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, his spokesman said

* Footballers and fans will not need visas to travel to Russia for the 2018 World Cup, President Dmitry Medvedev said