SCOTT MORRISON SENDS WECHAT MESSAGE TO CHINESE COMMUNITY AMID SPAT WITH

BEIJING

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used Chinese social media

platform WeChat to criticise a "false image" of an Australian soldier posted

on Twitter by the Chinese government.

China has rebuffed Morrison's calls for an apology after its foreign

ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian posted the digitally manipulated image of an

Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child

on Monday.

China's embassy said the "rage and roar" from Australian politicians and

media over the image was an overreaction.

In a WeChat message on Tuesday night, Morrison wrote that the diplomatic

dispute over the image of the soldier "does not diminish respect and

appreciation for the Chinese community in Australia".

He defended Australia's handling of a war crimes investigation into the

actions of special forces in Afghanistan, and said Australia is able to deal

with "thorny issues" like this in a transparent manner. Australia has

previously said 19 soldiers will be referred for potential criminal

prosecution for the killings of unarmed Afghan prisoners and civilians.

China on Friday imposed dumping tariffs of up to 200% on Australian wine

imports, effectively shutting off the largest export market for the

Australian wine industry, amid a worsening diplomatic dispute that has seen

a serious of trade reprisals imposed by China.

NO EVIDENCE OF WIDESPREAD VOTER FRAUD, SAYS US ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Tuesday the Justice Department

had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in last month's election,

even as President Donald Trump kept up his flailing legal efforts to reverse

his defeat.

"To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a

different outcome in the election," Barr, a Trump appointee widely seen as

loyal to the Republican president, told the Associated Press.

Barr told federal prosecutors last month to pursue investigations into

credible allegations of election fraud, but warned them to avoid probes into

"fanciful or far-fetched claims."

Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump in the Nov. 3 election by 306 to 232 in

the state-by-state Electoral College that chooses the president - the same

margin that Trump declared a "landslide" when he won four years ago - as

well as by more than 6.2 million ballots in the popular vote.

Despite that, Trump has continued to claim loudly and without evidence that

the election was marred by widespread fraud. Those claims that have been

repeatedly rejected by state and federal officials.

The Trump campaign's legal team responded to Barr's comments by saying the

Justice Department did not do enough to investigate allegations of voter

fraud.

WISCONSIN, ARIZONA CERTIFY JOE BIDEN WINS IN PRESIDENTIAL POLL

Two battleground States, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified their presidential

election results in favor of Joe Biden, even as President Donald Trump's

legal team continued to dispute the results.

Mr. Biden's victory in Wisconsin was certified on Monday following a partial

recount that only added to his 20,600-vote margin over Mr. Trump. Governor

Tony Evers, a Democrat, signed a certificate that completed the process

after the canvass report showing Mr. Biden as the winner following the

recount was approved by the Chairwoman of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections

Commission.

Earlier on Monday, Arizona officials certified Mr. Biden's narrow victory in

that State. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Republican

Governor Doug Ducey both vouched for the integrity of the election before

signing off on the results. "We do elections well here in Arizona. The

system is strong," Mr. Ducey said.

Mr. Biden is only the second Democrat in 70 years to win Arizona. In the

final tally, he beat Mr. Trump by 10,457 votes.

Mr. Trump berated Mr. Ducey on Twitter, asking, "Why is he rushing to put a

Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter

fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now."

"WOW, total election corruption in Arizona. Hearing on now!," Mr. Trump

tweeted as lawyers for the President and some lawmakers met in Arizona.

CHINA AND PAKISTAN SIGN MILITARY DEAL AMID TENSIONS WITH INDIA

China and Pakistan have signed a new military memorandum of understanding to

boost their already close defence relationship, as China's Defence Minister

and People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Wei Fenghe met Pakistan's

leadership in Islamabad and visited the headquarters of the army at

Rawalpindi.

Gen. Wei on Tuesday met Pakistan's President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister

Imran Khan. He called on both countries to "push the military-to-military

relationship to a higher level, so as to jointly cope with various risks and

challenges, firmly safeguard the sovereignty and security interests of the

two countries and safeguard the regional peace and stability," Chinese State

media reported.

On Monday, the two militaries signed an MoU following Gen. Wei's meeting

with Pakistan's Chief of the Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, at the

General Headquarters, according to reports in the Pakistani media. Both

"exchanged in-depth views on the international and regional situations, the

relations between the two countries and militaries, the equipment and

technology cooperation and other issues", a report in China's official media

said.

While details of the new MoU were not immediately available, it follows

another agreement signed last year, when China's Vice Chairman of the

Central Military Commission (CMC) General Xu Qiliang visited Rawalpindi for

defence cooperation and "capacity building of the Pakistan Army".

Gen. Wei also discussed on-going projects under the China Pakistan Economic

Corridor (CPEC), in which the Pakistani military is playing an increasingly

prominent role.

President Arif Alvi on Tuesday conveyed Pakistan "firmly supports China's

stand on issues related to the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and

so on", Chinese State media reported. "We hope that the two countries will

further strengthen cooperation in the construction of the CPEC as well as

the defence and security fields," he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan called for "closer strategic cooperation to raise

the iron-clad Pakistan-China brotherhood to a new height".

NETANYAHU RIVAL GANTZ THREATENS TO END COALITION, FORCE ELECTION

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief governing partner on

Tuesday said he would vote in favour of a proposal to dissolve their

troubled coalition, accusing the Israeli leader of repeatedly breaking his

promises and pushing Israel closer to its fourth election in two years.

The announcement by Defense Minister Benny Gantz that he would vote in

favour of a preliminary no-confidence measure on Wednesday did not

immediately cause the government to collapse. Rather, it served as a warning

by Gantz, who also holds the title of alternate prime minister, that he has

run out of patience with Netanyahu and is ready to break up their alliance

if a long-overdue budget isn't passed immediately.

A formal vote to dissolve the government could come as soon as next week,

leaving the door open to last-minute negotiations.

"The only one who can prevent these elections is the one who decided to have

them - Netanyahu," Gantz said in a nationally televised speech. "The burden

of proof is on you."

Netanyahu's Likud party and Gantz's Blue and White battled to a stalemate in

three consecutive elections before agreeing in May to form their coalition.

Under the deal, Netanyahu is to serve as prime minister for the first 18

months before they trade places next November and make Gantz prime minister

for another 18 months.

Hovering over the disagreements is Netanyahu's ongoing trial on corruption

charges. Gantz accused Netanyahu out of acting out concerns for his

"personal survival" and working to thwart the legal process as the

coronavirus rages and hundreds of thousands of Israelis remain out of work

and families struggle to get by.

IRAN'S PARL ADVANCES BILL TO STOP NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS

Iran's Parliament on Tuesday advanced a Bill that would end UN inspections

of its nuclear facilities and require the government to boost its uranium

enrichment if European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal do not provide

relief from oil and banking sanctions.

The vote to debate the Bill, which would need to pass through several other

stages before becoming a law, was a show of defiance after the killing of a

prominent Iranian nuclear scientist last month.

The official IRNA news agency said 251 lawmakers in the 290-seat chamber

voted in favour, after which many began chanting "Death to America!" and

"Death to Israel!".

The Bill will commission new centrifuges at nuclear facilities at Natanz and

the underground Fordo site. It will require another parliamentary vote to

pass as well as approval by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog.

CHINA GAVE KIM VACCINE TRIAL SHOTS: US ANALYST

China has provided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family with an

experimental Covid vaccine, a US analyst said on Tuesday, citing two

unidentified Japanese intelligence sources.

Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Centre for the National Interest

think tank in Washington, said the Kims and several senior officials had

been vaccinated. It was unclear which company had supplied its drug

candidate to the Kims and whether it was safe, he added.

'PANDEMIC' CHOSEN AS WORD OF THE YEAR

The 2020 prize for Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year went to an obvious

choice: pandemic.

The term had the most online dictionary lookups of any word, Merriam-Webster

said on its website, after a year in which at least 1.4 million people

globally have died from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Sometimes a single word defines an era, and it's fitting that in this

exceptional - and exceptionally difficult - year, a single word came

immediately to the fore," the dictionary publisher said.

Pandemic is defined as "an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide

geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically

affects a significant proportion of the population," according to

Merriam-Webster.com.

The word's Greek roots are "pan," meaning all or every and "demos," meaning

people, Merriam-Webster said.

PUERTO RICO: ICONIC ARECIBO OBSERVATORY TELESCOPE COLLAPSES

A huge radio telescope in Puerto Rico has collapsed after decades of

astronomical discoveries.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) said the telescope's 900-ton

instrument platform fell onto a reflector dish some 450ft (137m) below.

It came just weeks after officials announced that the telescope would be

dismantled amid safety fears, following damage to its support system.

The Arecibo Observatory telescope was one of the largest in the world.

It was a key scientific resource for radio astronomers for 57 years, and was

also made famous as the backdrop for a scene in the James Bond film

GoldenEye and other Hollywood movies.

The NSF said there had been no reports of injuries following the collapse.