BRUSSELS — Leaders of the European Union (EU) reached a landmark deal on Tuesday after four days of intensive negotiations over a budget for the next seven years and a massive recovery fund amid the COVID-19 pandemic. An unprecedented 1.82 trillion euro (about 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) deal was finally announced to confront the worst recession in the EU’s history. (EU-Summit-COVID-19) – – – – WASHINGTON — Mayors of several U.S. cities including Portland and Chicago signed a letter on Monday, urging the federal government to immediately withdraw its forces and halt their “unilateral deployment” to cities. In the letter published on Twitter, Ted Wheeler, mayor of Portland, northwestern state of Oregon, along with his five counterparts in Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Kansas City, said unilateral federal intervention is unacceptable and “violates fundamental constitutional protections and tenets of federalism.” (US-Mayor-Federal Forces) – – – – RIO DE JANEIRO — The New Development Bank (NDB) will lend Brazil 1 billion U.S. dollars to neutralize the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing total loans to Brazil to 4 billion dollars, the institution said on Monday. The funds will be given to the Brazilian government’s emergency aid payment program, designed to help millions of low-income people. (Brazil-BRICS-Loan) – – – – LONDON — China voiced on Monday strong condemnation and firm opposition after the United Kingdom (UK) decided to suspend the extradition treaty with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) immediately and indefinitely and extend the arms embargo to the HKSAR. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London said that recently the kingdom has repeatedly made wrong remarks on the national security law for the HKSAR to interfere in China’s internal affairs. (UK-China-Hong Kong)

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