RUSSIA

Moscow, Kiev finalize deal for gas transit

Moscow and Kiev on Monday signed a final five-year agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine, after months of difficult talks but just ahead of a looming New Year deadline. Nearly 18 percent of the European Union's annual natural gas consumption comes from Russia via Ukraine, putting additional pressure on EU officials who helped to broker the deal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on his Facebook page that Ukraine will get at least $7 billion in transit payments from Russia over the next five years. He added that the deal could be prolonged by 10 more years. In a statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the agreement a "good and important signal to guarantee the security of our European gas supply".

SOUTH KOREA

Ex-minister indicted for corruption

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a senior aide of President Moon Jae-in on a dozen charges including bribery as they concluded a monthslong probe into a political scandal that rocked the liberal government and sparked huge protests. In a rare public response to an ongoing criminal case, Moon's office released a statement accusing prosecutors of pushing an excessive probe into former justice minister Cho Kuk and questioned whether it was politically motivated. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Cho was charged for receiving $5,190 in bribes, in the form of scholarships his daughter received from a medical school in Busan from 2017 to 2018, when he served as Moon's senior secretary of civil affairs.

AUSTRALIA

Raging blazes trap 4,000 in seaside town

Wildfires burning across Australia's two most-populous states on Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions, destroyed many properties and caused at least two fatalities. In the southeastern town of Mallacoota, around 4,000 residents fled toward the waterside as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes. The town was shrouded in darkness from the smoke before turning an unnerving shade of bright red. Fire conditions worsened in Victoria and New South Wales states after oppressive heat on Monday mixed with strong winds and lightning strikes.

UNITED STATES

Attacker charged with hate crime

Federal prosecutors filed hate-crime charges on Monday against the man accused of a stabbing rampage at the New York-area home of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration, saying the suspect kept journals with references to Adolf Hitler and "Nazi culture". Grafton Thomas, 37, entered no plea during his brief initial federal court hearing in White Plains, New York, and was ordered to remain in custody. Saturday's assault, which left five people wounded, prompted law enforcement to further bolster their presence in Jewish neighborhoods across the region.

GERMANY

Flights canceled as strike hits airline

Operations of low-cost airline Germanwings, subsidiary of Lufthansa, were severely restricted after flight attendants started a three-day strike action on Monday. Around 180 flights were expected to be canceled. The flight attendants' union UFO had asked its members not to show up for work between Monday and Wednesday. Eurowings, the new umbrella brand for which Germanwings is operating, expects that around 15 percent of its 1,200 flights would be affected by the strikes. The airports in Cologne-Bonn, Munich, Hamburg as well as Berlin-Tegel would be hit the worst.