Main News of December 4

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* NATO will aid the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in its ongoing effort to remove Syria's stockpile of poisonous gases, if a request for assistance is made, the head of the Atlantic alliance said

* The government of Ukraine said that it has agreed on a roadmap for a future association agreement with the EU, which the former Soviet nation decided to delay last month

RUSSIA

* President Vladimir Putin expressed his support for granting amnesty to perhaps tens of thousands of Russian prisoners in honor of the 20th anniversary of the country’s constitution

* Russian prosecutors said that a probe revealed environmental, labor and building violations in the construction of what is slated to become the country's main space launch site

* Russia’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny to cancel the results of Moscow’s mayoral election

* Lawmakers who came to blows this week in a fight in Russia’s parliament that culminated with an ambulance being summoned have come under fire for their unruly conduct

SPORTS

* World motorsport's governing body announced the date of the first-ever Russian Formula One Grand Prix: October 12, 2014

* One of the stadiums to be used in the 2018 football World Cup in Russia became embroiled in a political row after the mayor of Yekaterinburg demanded a dramatic rethink of the arena