$858b European Union Plan To Revive Virus-Hit Economies

UAE reports 305 new cases, 343 recoveries and a death; free COVID-19 tests for citizens and residents in Fujairah; Abu Dhabi schools get green light to resume in-classroom learning; Oman to impose curfew, travel bans for Eid holiday.

European leaders on Tuesday agreed a massive aid package for their pandemic-ravaged economies, as US President Donald Trump finally came out in favour of face masks as a tool against the coronavirus.

After a fractious, 90-hour summit, European leaders finally agreed on a rescue package of 750 billion euros ($858 billion) to try and pull their bloc out of a deep recession. The pandemic has devastated the global economy.

Britain, who let the EU in January and will not benefit from the aid plan, revealed on Tuesday that state borrowing had rocketed to a record £127.9 billion ($162.5 billion) in the three months to June.

“This is a historic change for Europe,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed relief that the EU had, in her eyes, shown itself equal to “the greatest crisis” in its history.

The package will send tens of billions of euros to countries hit hardest by the virus, most notably heavily indebted Spain and Italy who had lobbied hard for a major gesture from their EU partners.

The talks saw strong resistance from some nations against sending money to countries they considered too lax with public spending.