Main news of December 2

WORLD

* Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation and the Baltiisky Zavod shipyard signed a 2.5 billion ruble ($80 million) contract on Friday to build hulls for the third and fourth French Mistral-class warships for the Russian Navy

* Russian specialists have started construction works on the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant in Vietnam, a spokesman for Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said

RUSSIA

* Russia’s independent election monitoring group Golos will deploy 3,000 observers during Sunday’s parliamentary elections despite what it sees as a squeeze put on it by authorities, the organization said

* Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin unveiled three new subway stations in the southeast of Moscow

BUSINESS

* Production has resumed at Europe’s largest emerald deposit in the Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals following an idle period of several years, the regional governor’s press department reported

SPORTS

* Russia struck it lucky at the draw for the Euro 2012 finals, thrown into Group A with the lower-ranked teams Czech Republic, co-host Poland and surprise 2004 champions Greece

SCIENCE

* The European Space Agency (ESA) said it had ended attempts to establish contact with Phobos-Grunt, Russia's failed probe to one of Mars' moons