TRUMP ADMIN REFUSES TO HAND OVER KEYS TO BIDEN TRANSITION TEAM

The Trump administration threw the presidential transition into tumult on

Monday, with President Donald Trump blocking government officials from

cooperating with President-elect Joe Biden's team and Attorney General

William Barr authorizing the Justice Department to probe unsubstantiated

allegations of voter fraud.

Some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rallied

behind Trump's efforts to fight the election results. Few in the GOP

acknowledged Biden's victory or condemned Trump's other concerning move on

Monday: his firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Signs of what could be an ugly stalemate emerged on Monday after the head of

the General Services Administration, a low-profile agency in charge of

federal buildings, refused to sign a letter that would assign budget (about

$10 million) and office space in every federal building to the Biden

transition team to prepare for governance.

The developments cast doubt on whether the nation would witness the same

kind of smooth transition of power that has long anchored its democracy. The

Electoral College is slated to formally confirm Biden's victory on Dec. 14

and the Democrat will be sworn into office in late January.

On Monday, Barr authorized U.S. attorneys to probe "substantial" allegations

of voter irregularities and election fraud, though no widespread instances

of that type of trouble in the 2020 election exist. In fact, election

officials from both political parties have publicly stated that voting went

well and international observers also confirmed that there were no serious

irregularities.

Biden pressed forward with plans to build out his administration, assembling

a team of experts to face the surging pandemic. But the federal agency that

needs to greenlight the beginnings of the transition of power held off on

taking that step. And the White House moved to crack down on those not

deemed sufficiently loyal as Trump continued to refuse to concede the race.

On a call Monday night with reporters, a transition official said the Biden

team believes it is time for the GSA administrator to ascertain that Biden

is president-elect. The official, who spoke only on anonymity as a ground

rule for the call, said legal action is "certainly a possibility" if that

doesn't happen, though there are also other options being considered.

Across government, there were signs of a slowdown.

White House officials and Trump political appointees informed career

government staffers they were not to begin acting on transition planning

until GSA approved it, according to officials familiar with the matter.

On Sunday, former President George W. Bush became the highest-profile

Republican to publicly declare the election over in defiance of Mr. Trump's

refusal to accept the results.

"I extended my warm congratulations" to Mr. Biden "and thanked him for the

patriotic message he delivered last night," Mr. Bush said in a statement

released after he spoke with Mr. Biden by telephone. "I also called Kamala

Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency.

Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who

has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country."

"The American people can have confidence that this election was

fundamentally fair," Mr. Bush said. "Its integrity will be upheld, and its

outcome is clear."

The Trump family itself is said to be split over conceding the election.

Trump's son in law Jared Kushner is reported to have counseled the President

to bow out, but his sons Don Jr and Eric are for fighting it out. First Lady

Melania Trump, who was reported to have urged her husband to concede,

appeared to back him, tweeting "The American people deserve fair elections.

Every legal - not illegal - vote should be counted. We must protect our

democracy with complete transparency."

TRUMP FIRES DEFENSE SECRETARY MARK ESPER

Donald Trump has fired his defence secretary, Mark Esper, in the latest sign

that the transition to a new Biden administration in January is going to be

turbulent on both domestic and foreign fronts.

Esper was fired by tweet on Monday afternoon, with the president declaring

he was "pleased to announce that Christopher C Miller, the highly respected

director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by

the Senate), will be acting secretary of defense, effective immediately.

"Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to

thank him for his service."

Esper had been at odds with Trump on a number of issues, most importantly

his insistence at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in the

summer that there were no legal grounds to deploy active-service troops on

the streets of US cities.

He was also working with Congress on legislation to rename US army bases

named after Confederate generals. In a final interview Esper predicted that

he would be followed by a "yes man", adding "And then God help us."

In a coolly worded final letter to the president, Esper wrote: "I serve the

country in deference to the Constitution, so I accept your decision to

replace me." He left the Pentagon quietly on Monday without the "clap-out"

from staff traditionally accorded to a departing secretary.

BEIJING, RUSSIA HOLD BACK ON CONGRATULATING PREZ-ELECT

China and Russia held off congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on

Monday, with Beijing saying it would follow usual custom in its response and

the Kremlin noting incumbent Donald Trump's vow to pursue legal challenges.

Democrat Biden clinched enough states to win the presidency on Saturday and

has begun making plans for when he takes office on Jan. 20. Trump has not

conceded defeat and plans rallies to build support for legal challenges.

Some of the United States' biggest and closest allies in Europe, the Middle

East and Asia quickly congratulated Biden over the weekend despite Trump's

refusal to concede, as did some Trump allies, including Israel and Saudi

Arabia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called for the

Beijing and Moscow were cautious. "We noticed that Mr. Biden has declared

election victory," China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a

daily media briefing. "We understand that the U.S. presidential election

result will be determined following U.S. law and procedures."

The Kremlin said it would wait for the official results of the election

before commenting, and that it had noted Trump's announcement of legal

challenges.

COVID-19, ECONOMIC RECOVERY, RACIAL EQUALITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE TOP

PRIORITIES FOR BIDEN, HARRIS

Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, systemic racism and climate

change are the top priorities for the Biden administration, according to his

transition team, as President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect

Kamala Harris gear up for building back everything "better than ever".

Following a tense week of vote tallying, Democratic presidential candidate

Biden, 77, on Saturday won the state of Pennsylvania and vaulted ahead in

the race to become the next president of the United States.

The Biden team updated its website to showcase four policy areas the

incoming administration will prioritise: COVID-19, economic recovery, racial

equity and climate change.

"We aren't just going to rebuild what has worked in the past. This is our

opportunity to build back better than ever," said the Biden-Harris

transition team on Sunday, giving details of the priorities for the next

administration which will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.

Once sworn into office, Biden and Harris will provide the much-needed

national leadership to tackle the pandemic and begin our nation's recovery,

it said.

CHINA, IRAN JOIN QUEUE TO SCRUTINISE U.S. AT UN RIGHTS BODY

The United States is facing its first review in five years at the UN's main

human rights body, with the detentions of migrant children and the killings

of unarmed Black people during the Trump administration's tenure among

issues high on minds.

Foes from countries like Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Russia and China were among

those seeking to question and scrutinise the United States as the Human

Rights Council gave the U.S. its turn on Monday in a regular examination of

every UN member state's record on human rights known as the Universal

Periodic Review.

Nearly 120 countries lined up for slots to raise questions in the 3 1/2-hour

session that follows up on an August report about the U.S. rights record

over the past several years - and what steps U.S. authorities are taking to

improve it.

U.S. Ambassador Andrew Bremberg said the strength of the U.S. democratic

system is that it allows for continued scrutiny, advocacy and debate, which

fuels progress and reform, and said we are willing to openly acknowledge our

shortcomings.

A sampling of some of the questions sent in advance suggested intensity

scrutiny of the U.S. record on human rights.

Envoys - most of them beaming into the Geneva session via videoconference

because of the COVID-19 pandemic - were to be granted less than a minute to

air their questions and comments, while an array of U.S. officials were on

hand in person and virtually to take part.

COVID VACCINE: FIRST 'MILESTONE' VACCINE OFFERS 90% PROTECTION

The first effective coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people

from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows.

The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for

science and humanity".

Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no

safety concerns have been raised.

The companies plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the

end of the month.

No vaccine has gone from the drawing board to being proven highly effective

in such a short period of time.

There are still huge challenges ahead, but the announcement has been warmly

welcomed with scientists describing themselves smiling "ear to ear" and some

suggesting life could be back to normal by spring.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA SIGN NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEACE DEAL

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia have signed an agreement to end military

conflict over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the deal "incredibly painful

both for me and both for our people".

It comes after six weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan and ethnic

Armenians.

A number of ceasefire agreements have been brokered since fighting broke out

again in September, but all of them have failed.

The peace deal takes effect on Tuesday from 01:00 local time (21:00 GMT

Monday).

Under the new deal, Azerbaijan will hold onto areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that

it has taken during the conflict. Armenia has also agreed to withdraw from

several other adjacent areas over the next few weeks.

During a televised online address, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said

that 1,960 Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to patrol frontlines.

Turkish will also take part in the peacekeeping process, according to Azeri

President Ilham Aliyev, who joined President Putin during the address.

President Putin said the agreement would include an exchange of war

prisoners, with "all economical and transport contacts to be un-blocked."