EU NATIONS CLINCH $2.1 TRILLION BUDGET, CORONAVIRUS VIRUS AID DEAL AFTER 4

DAYS

Weary but relieved, European Union leaders finally clinched an unprecedented

1.82 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund

early Tuesday, somehow finding unity after four days and as many nights of

fighting and wrangling over money and power in one of their longest summits

ever.

To confront the biggest recession in its history, the EU reached a consensus

on a 750 billion euro coronavirus fund to be sent as loans and grants to the

countries hit hardest by the virus. That comes on top of the seven-year 1

trillion euro EU budget. At first the grants were to total 500 billion

euros, but the figure was lowered to 390 billion euros.

"Never before did the EU invest in the future like this," Belgian Prime

Minister Sophie Wilmes said.

"It is a historic day for Europe," said French President Emmanuel Macron.

Just shy of being the longest EU summit in history, the 27 leaders all

huddled back in the main room of the Europa center and bumped elbows and

made jokes before giving the package the final approval.

"We did it!," wrote summit host Charles Michel on Twitter. "Europe is

united.""

"We showed our belief in our common future," Michel, the EU Council

president, added with obvious relief.

"There were extremely tense moments," said Macron.

"An extraordinary situation demands extraordinary efforts," German

Chancellor Angela Merkel said as the leaders pushed on with one of the

bloc's longest summits ever. What was planned as a two-day summit scheduled

to end Saturday was forced into two extra days by deep ideological

differences among the 27 leaders.

TRUMP CONCEDES PANDEMIC TO 'GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER', URGES WEARING

OF MASKS

President Donald Trump has warned the US pandemic may "get worse before it

gets better", as he revived his virus briefings with a more scripted tone.

Mr Trump also asked all Americans to wear face coverings, saying "they'll

have an effect" and show "patriotism".

The president, who was not wearing a mask at the briefing, has previously

disparaged them as unsanitary.

His aides have reportedly pressed him to adopt a more measured approach as

virus caseloads spike across the US.

In his first White House coronavirus briefing for months on Tuesday, a less

off-the-cuff president echoed what public health officials on his pandemic

task force have been saying as he warned: "It will probably unfortunately

get worse before it gets better.

"Something I don't like saying about things, but that's the way it is."

He added: "We're asking everybody that when you are not able to socially

distance, wear a mask, get a mask.

"Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact, they'll have an

effect and we need everything we can get."

US SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO HOLDS 'CONSTRUCTIVE' TALKS WITH BORIS

JOHNSON

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

discussed the "importance of working together with 5 Eye countries on the

technologies of the future" - referring to the alliance of Australia,

Canada, and New Zealand with the UK and US - a government statement said

Tuesday.

Meeting at the government offices on Downing Street, Johnson and Pompeo

spoke about "shared global security and foreign policy issues, including

China's actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, the situation in Iran, and the

Middle East Peace Process," it said.

"The Prime Minister and Secretary of State also underlined their commitment

to negotiate a strong UK-US Free Trade Agreement that benefits the economies

of both countries," it added.

Britain has been holding talks with US for a post-Brexit trade deal with the

country to maximize its trade, set to face new challenges on Dec. 31 - the

deadline for the transition period with the EU.

Pompeo also met Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and other local politicians

during his visit to London.

"Valuable discussion with @SecPompeo about shared priority issues, including

the Middle East and the diversification of telecoms & the full range of

bilateral issues. [Britain] & [America] do a tremendous amount together -

we'll always work together to uphold security & prosperity of our people,"

Raab said on Twitter.

Pompeo, for his part, said on Twitter: "We know that U.S.-UK cooperation is

absolutely integral to global security and stability. Glad to meet with

Dominic Raab once again - our dynamic discussion covering our shared

security concerns and our continued coordination within the G7 reinforced

how deep U.S.-UK ties are."

At a joint news conference, Pompeo said he had a "very productive

conversation" with Raab, and praised the UK's decisions to strip Huawei out

of its 5G infrastructure and grant a path to citizenship for Hong Kongers.

The US, he said, supported "those sovereign choices." Pompeo added that he

hoped the UK-US trade deal will be completed "before too long."

Raab said the UK had not been pressured by the US, and Pompeo said that

Johnson made the decision on the basis of what was best for the UK.

ARMED MAN HOLDS 10 BUS PASSENGERS HOSTAGE IN UKRAINE

An armed man seized a bus and took 10 persons in it hostage in northwestern

Ukraine on Tuesday, launching an hours-long standoff with the police, the

Ukrainian authorities said.

The police earlier had put the number at 20. It was unclear how many people

had been on board. The police sealed off the centre of Lutsk. The assailant

is armed and carrying explosives, they said. He threw a hand grenade that

failed to explode at officers and shot at them twice.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said negotiations with the man are underway.

The man called the police and demanded that top Ukrainian officials release

statements on their social media pages calling themselves terrorists. The

police have identified him as Maksim Krivosh (44).

US ACCUSES CHINESE HACKERS IN TARGETING OF COVID-19 RESEARCH

The US Justice Department on Tuesday accused two Chinese hackers of stealing

hundreds of millions of dollars of trade secrets from companies across the

world and more recently targeting firms developing a vaccine for the

coronavirus.

The indictment, which officials expected to discuss at a news conference,

says the hackers in recent months had researched vulnerabilities in the

computer networks of companies publicly known for their work in developing

vaccines and treatments.

The indictment includes charges of trade secret theft and wire fraud

conspiracy against the hackers, who federal prosecutors say stole

information that they knew would be of interest to the Chinese government.

There was no immediate indication from the indictment that the hackers had

successfully obtained any COVID-19 research, despite efforts to snoop on the

companies.

The case was filed earlier this month in federal court in Washington state

and was unsealed on Tuesday.

ISRAELIS URGE NETANYAHU TO QUIT OVER CORONAVIRUS, CORRUPTION CHARGES

About 2,000 Israelis rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's

residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday as protests mounted against him over his

handling of a worsening coronavirus crisis and alleged corruption.

Wearing protective masks, the demonstrators marched from Mr. Netanyahu's

official residence to Israel's parliament, holding up signs that read "Crime

Minister" and calling on the five-term premier to step down.

Reimposed coronavirus curbs after a rise in new COVID-19 cases have prompted

Israelis demanding better state aid to take to the streets in almost daily

demonstrations.

Public anger has also been fuelled by corruption alleged against Mr.

Netanyahu, who went on trial in May for bribery, fraud and breach of trust -

charges he denies.

Mr. Netanyahu has announced numerous economic aid packages. But frustrated

by red tape and a slow pace, many Israelis say the aid is coming too little,

too late.

A Reuters cameraman estimated that about 2,000 people rallied. Israeli media

said the protest drew thousands from across the country. At least six people

were arrested, police said.

JAPAN APPROVES DEXAMETHASONE AS CORONAVIRUS TREATMENT

Japan's Health Ministry has approved dexamethasone, a cheap and widely used

steroid, as a second treatment of COVID-19 after a trial in Britain showed

the drug reduced death rates in hospitalised patients.

The Ministry included dexamethasone as an option for treatment along with

Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir in a recent revision to its

handbook. The revision was widely reported by Japanese media on Wednesday

and was viewed by Reuters.

Shares of Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co, among those that produce the drug,

gained as much as 6.5% in early trade.

In results announced last month, a trial by researchers in the United

Kingdom showed dexamethasone as the first drug to save lives of COVID-19

patients in what scientists said was a major breakthrough in the coronavirus

pandemic.

The full results of the large randomised clinical trial released last Friday

in the New England Journal of Medicine confirmed the benefits for people

with advanced or moderate disease.

ETHIOPIA, EGYPT AND SUDAN TO HOLD MORE TALKS ON RENAISSANCE DAM

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have agreed to resume talks to break a deadlock on

the Grand Renaissance Dam reservoir on the Blue Nile, the leaders of the

three countries said on Tuesday.

The announcements made separately by Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed, Sudan's

Abdalla Hamdok and Egypt's presidency, followed a virtual mini-African Union

summit that was called after they failed to reach an agreement earlier this

month.

"The extraordinary meeting... concluded with all parties reaching a major

common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement," Mr.

Abiy's office said in a statement which was posted on Twitter.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired Tuesday's online

meeting of the AU, confirmed there would be further negotiations.

"The trilateral negotiations remain on track," Mr. Ramaphosa wrote on

Twitter.

BELARUS ELECTION: SNATCHED FROM THE STREETS IN EUROPE'S 'LAST DICTATORSHIP'

Activists and journalists are being rounded up and jailed in Belarus ahead

of next month's elections.

People say it's the most brutal crackdown the country has ever known.

President Alexander Lukashenko has been in power for more than a quarter of

a century, but opposition to the authoritarian leader is growing.

Our Europe correspondent Jean Mackenzie has been given rare access to the

country often described as Europe's "last dictatorship".