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US President-elect Joe Biden has delivered a passionate appeal to Americans to wear a mask as the best way to "turn this pandemic around". (File photo) Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Florida on 13 October. Photo: AFP Biden said the US faced a "very dark winter" and the "worst wave yet", and Americans had to put aside political differences to tackle Covid-19. He has named a new task force and vowed to "follow the science" as he puts together his transition team. Donald Trump still refuses to concede defeat and is challenging key results. He is taking legal action in several states. Biden's victory was declared on Saturday but it remains a projection, with a number of states still counting ballot papers. He leads Trump in the nationwide vote by about 4.5 million. Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris have launched a website for the transition, saying the team will also focus on climate change, the economy and tackling racism. But the president-elect will need the help of an agency called the General Services Administration to begin the transition process and its Trump-appointed head has given no indication when that will happen. What are the Covid plans? In a TV address, he said "I implore you, wear a mask", calling it the "single most effective thing we can do to stop the spread of Covid". He added: "A mask is not a political statement but it is a good way to start pulling the country together." During the election campaign, his mask-wearing was markedly different to Trump, whose attitude to it has varied considerably. They have differed too on how to follow scientific advice. Biden said on Monday there would be a "bedrock of science" to his policy. President Trump's comments on Covid-19 have often conflicted with scientists, including leading infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci. Biden said that, as president, he would improve contact-tracing and supplies of protective equipment, and address the racial disparity of coronavirus infections. "This is a crisis that affects everyone and I will be a president for everyone," he said. "We can get this virus under control, I promise you." He earlier named three co-chairs and 10 members of his task force. Among the co-chairs named is Vivek Murthy, who was appointed US surgeon-general by President Barack Obama in 2014 and removed by President Trump in 2017. One member is immunologist Rick Bright, who says he was ignored and then removed by the Trump administration over his early warnings on Covid. Biden also welcomed the news from Pfizer and BioNTech that preliminary analysis showed their vaccine in development could prevent more than 90 percent of people from getting Covid-19. But he also warned it was "important to understand that the end of the battle against Covid-19 is still months away". BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher says that Biden's choice to address the pandemic as the first public event for his new transition team afforded him an opportunity to look and act like a man who will soon be president, despite Donald Trump's decision to not concede defeat. Covid cases in the US since the epidemic began are nearing 10 million, and there have been more than 237,000 deaths recorded so far, Johns Hopkins research shows. Donald Trump also welcomed the vaccine statement, tweeting it was "such great news". US President-elect Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, on 9 November. Photo: AFP What are the other transition plans? They reportedly include a slew of executive orders - written orders issued by the president to the federal government that do not require congressional approval - aimed at reversing controversial Trump policies. They are in draft form and cannot be issued until he takes office. According to US media: Biden will rejoin the Paris climate agreement, which the US officially left on Wednesday He will reverse the decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization He will end the travel ban on citizens from seven mostly Muslim countries He will reinstate an Obama-era policy of granting immigration status to undocumented migrants who entered the US as children Biden also aims to make addressing racism a key policy, including better access to affordable housing for black and minority communities. Biden wants to transform US policing, including banning the use of chokeholds, and to reduce the US prison population, which at more than two million people is the biggest in the world. However, for the transition process to begin, the support of the General Services Administration is needed to access government funds and communicate with the federal agencies it will be staffing. Its administrator, Emily Murphy, has not started the process nor indicated when she will do so, sparking concern among some Democrats that Trump will try to impede the transition process. What have Trump and Republicans said? The vast majority of the president's tweets have continued to call the electoral process into question. Trump, the first president to lose a re-election bid since 1992, has launched an array of lawsuits backing claims of fraud for which no evidence has yet been presented. One of his lawyers, Rudy Giuliani, on Monday said there were "unlawful votes" in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada. "We will prove it all," he said. media caption"My message to Republican friends" Trump still plans rallies to back his challenge, campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. Most Republicans have remained silent on Biden's projected election victory, favouring the unveiling of full results. The New York Times said advisers had told Trump the chances of legal success were not high but that he was not yet ready to accept the loss. Trump has vowed to take legal action as far as the Supreme Court. If the election result is challenged, it would require legal teams to argue this in state courts. State judges would then need to uphold the challenge and order a recount, and Supreme Court justices could then be asked to overturn a ruling. Former President George W Bush was one Republican who did congratulate Biden, calling him a "good man". What happens next? Votes in some states continue to be counted and results are never official until final certification in the weeks following the election. This must be done before 538 chosen officials (electors) from the Electoral College - which officially decides who wins the election - meet in state capitals to vote on 14 December. The electors' votes usually mirror the popular vote in each state. However, in some states this is not a formal requirement. The new president is officially sworn into office on 20 January after a transition period to give them time to appoint cabinet ministers and make plans. The handover of power takes place at a ceremony known as the inauguration, which is held on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC. - BBC

US President Donald Trump says defence secretary Mark Esper has been dismissed and Christopher Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will take up the role in an acting capacity, effective immediately. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper with US President Donald Trump on 15 May, 2020. Photo: AFP "I am 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," Trump said on Twitter. "Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service," Trump said. The Pentagon had no immediate comment. Esper had long been preparing for the prospect of his resignation or dismissal following the 3 November election, particularly if Trump were to win a second term in office, sources said. Trump has steadfastly refused to acknowledge his election loss. Esper angered Trump particularly by opposing Trump's threat to use active duty troops to suppress street protests over racial injustice in the United States during the summer. Esper also disagreed with Trump's dismissive attitude toward the NATO alliance, sources said. - Reuters

Pfizer says its experimental Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than a million people. A healthcare worker holds a syringe of the phase 3 coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech company, at the Ankara University Ibni Sina Hospital in Ankara, Turkey, on 27 October. Photo: AFP / Anadolu Agency Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drug makers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US authorisation this month for emergency use of the vaccine. Health experts said Pfizer's results were positive for all Covid-19 vaccines currently in development since they show the shots are going after the right target and are a proof of concept that the disease can be halted with vaccination. "Today is a great day for science and humanity," Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive, said. "We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen." If Pfizer's vaccine is authorised, the number of doses will initially be limited and many questions remain, including how long the vaccine will provide protection. BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters he was optimistic the immunisation effect of the vaccine would last for a year although that was not certain yet. "This news made me smile from ear to ear. It is a relief to see such positive results on this vaccine and bodes well for COVID-19 vaccines in general," said Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford. The prospect of a vaccine electrified world markets with S&P 500 futures hitting a record high and tourism and travel shares surging. "The efficacy data are really impressive. This is better than most of us anticipated," said William Schaffner, infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. "The study isn't completed yet but nonetheless the data look very solid." US President Donald Trump welcomed the test results, and the market boost. US President-elect Joe Biden said the news was excellent but did not change the fact that face masks, social distancing and other health measures would be needed well into next year. Pfizer expects to seek broad US authorisation for emergency use of the vaccine for people aged 16 to 85. To do so, it will need two months of safety data from about half the study's 44,000 participants, which is expected late this month. "I'm near ecstatic," Bill Gruber, one of Pfizer's top vaccine scientists, said in an interview. "This is a great day for public health and for the potential to get us all out of the circumstances we're now in." Pfizer and BioNTech have a $US1.95 billion contract with the US government to deliver 100 million vaccine doses beginning this year. They have also reached supply agreements with Australia, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. To save time, the companies began manufacturing the vaccine before they knew whether it would be effective. They now expect to produce up to 50 million doses or enough to protect 25 million people this year. Pfizer said it expects to produce up to 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021. The US pharmaceutical giant said the interim analysis was conducted after 94 participants in the trial developed Covid-19, examining how many of them had received the vaccine versus a placebo. The company did not break down exactly how many of those who fell ill received the vaccine. Still, over 90 per cent effectiveness implies that no more than 8 of the 94 people who caught Covid-19 had been given the vaccine, which was administered in two shots about three weeks apart. The efficacy rate is well above the 50 per cent effectiveness required by the US Food and Drug Administration for a coronavirus vaccine. To confirm the efficacy rate, Pfizer said it would continue the trial until there are 164 Covid-19 cases among participants. Bourla told CNBC on Monday that based on rising infection rates, the trial could be completed before the end of November. The data have yet to be peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. "These are interesting first signals, but again they are only communicated in press releases," said Marylyn Addo, head of tropical medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany. "Primary data are not yet available and a peer-reviewed publication is still pending. We still have to wait for the exact data before we can make a final assessment." - Reuters

A trial today alleges dozens of journalists, editors and media companies breached an Australia-wide court suppression order in reporting on ex-Vatican treasurer George Pell's child sex abuse conviction in 2018. Cardinal George Pell. Photo: AFP Breaches of suppression orders can be punished with up to five years in jail and fines of nearly $AU100,000 for individuals and nearly $AU500,000 for companies. Pell was convicted in December 2018 of abusing two choirboys but reporting on the trial and the conviction was gagged by the County Court of Victoria to ensure the cardinal received a fair trial on further charges he was due to face. Overseas publications including the Washington Post and Daily Beast reported the news shortly after the verdict. Some of them geoblocked access to Australia, but others did not. Some Australian media then published articles saying they were unable to report major news regarding an unnamed high profile figure, flagging that the news was accessible online. The suppression order was only lifted in February 2019, after the second trial was dropped. Pell's conviction was overturned this year after he served over a year in jail. Prosecutors in the state of Victoria have charged 10 journalists, five newspaper editors, four online publications and 12 media companies, mainly owned by News Corp and Nine Entertainment and its Fairfax arm, with breaching the suppression order. The companies denied the charges and some of the defendants refused to admit they knew about the order, prosecutor Lisa De Ferrari told the court on Monday. She said, however, emails between reporters and editors showed they were aware of the order. One editor at The Age said in an email read out in court: "Regarding the suppressed case, I am totally against publishing this story today, as I have said earlier." In reply, one of the defendants in the case, The Age's then editor Alex Lavelle, said in an email he was sympathetic to her view but that the stories were everywhere and easily accessible. "We are not breaching the suppression order, just explaining why we can't report on the story," he said in an email. The trial, being run online due to Covid-19 restrictions, is scheduled to last up to 15 days. None of the defendants were in court on Monday. - Reuters

"You've always had my back, and I'll have yours," President-elect Joe Biden said, as he thanked African American voters who helped deliver him the White House.   The year 2020 has been blighted by violence against Black Americans, in some cases by police. George Floyd struggled to breathe because an officer was kneeling on his neck. Breonna Taylor, a medical worker, was killed in a botched police raid at her apartment, and Walter Wallace was fatally shot by police after his family called for mental health assistance. That prompted widespread protests and civil unrest. [embedded content] Incumbent US President Donald Trump also drew criticism for failing to denounce white supremacist groups during the election campaign. Hawk Newsome from Black Lives Matter Greater New York told Checkpoint for now he is happy with Joe Biden's win, but is looking forward to the fight ahead. "We have removed an outright racist misogynistic xenophobe, we've removed the worst president in modern history from power," he said. "We've removed a white supremacist, who refused to disavow other white supremacists, from power. A man who has issued tweets from white supremacist groups, whose issued tweets that said 'white power', a man who has just made America the laughing stock of the world. "And we've removed him, but what we really have to understand is Joe Biden is not as progressive as a lot of other candidates were who were running in the Democratic primaries. So we're still going to have a lot to do. There's still a lot of fight left for Black liberation. This doesn't change much," Newsome told Checkpoint. "Strategically, in regards to the liberation of black people, voting for Joe Biden made more sense. Joe Biden would have more of a sympathetic ear to our cause. "He has done some pretty egregious things to Black people in the past. But right now, especially with his Cabinet and Kamala Harris, and with the atmosphere we've created with this Black Lives Matter movement, we'd be able to make more progress with Joe Biden." Newsome said African American voters had a significant impact for Biden in the election. "Georgia is what put him over the top. Specifically, Atlanta, Georgia. My team was down in Atlanta, Georgia, guiding voters to the ballot booths, because Donald Trump had said that his people would be out with guns and intimidating people at the polling sites. "He called them poll watchers, but what it was, was voter suppression and voter intimidation. So we went down and some of us were armed and we escorted voters to the polls in Atlanta, Georgia, to make sure that they can vote safely. "Most of the mail-in ballots from what I understood was from Black people. There are a lot of Black folks who sent in their mail-in ballots. And what's really important [to understand] is that Black people carry the Democratic Party. And the sad part of that is Black people always are left wanting. That's why I said we have a serious fight ahead of us." Supporters of US president elect Joe Biden rally at black lives matter plaza near the White House on November 8, 2020 in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP or licensors He said people armed at voting booths were armed with "really huge guns they probably don't have in New Zealand ... big machine guns or submachine guns". "You have to remember that even when we were fighting for the right to vote in this country, Martin Luther King and those folks were marching, for the right to vote. We weren't the ones with guns. We were the ones who were singing songs and being peaceful. "But there comes a point where you're not even going out to incite violence, but you just want to feel safe. "It's hard to feel safe when the people who are opposed to you are training with weapons. "Trump supporters were about to kidnap the governor of Michigan. The FBI captured them and had evidence that these people were going to kidnap the governor of Michigan. These people are scary." Michigan's Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been a frequent target of Trump's criticism, including over her moves to enforce coronavirus social distancing rules in her state. Photo: AFP "These people are scary, and you just feel the need to defend yourself. I don't want to be cannon fodder ... but Donald Trump called me treasonous, Donald Trump called me a traitor. I get death threats every day from his supporters. Are we supposed to just a be intimidated or run away in fear? That's not an option for us." Mission to hold Biden, Harris accountable Newsome said he is expecting Biden will do the bare minimum for African Americans as president. "He'll do the absolute least that he can do without being seen in a bad light. He'll do what he can do to save face. There'll be big things, there'll be big symbolic gestures. But will it be thorough? Will it be hard hitting? Will his solutions go to the root of the problem? "Without us forcing him to do that, I don't think it will we are calling it 'mission accountability'. So our new mission is to hold Joe Biden and Kamala Harris accountable." Today in the Bronx, where Newsome grew up, he was part of an event giving groceries to neighbours in need, had music, balloons and children painting. He said it felt like community, and that is what is needed for African Americans in the US. "We have to build stronger communities. That's not necessarily sexy, or news garnering ... people would much rather see me leading a march in Manhattan with 3000 angry people behind me. "That's not going to do it alone. Where we really win is by building a stronger community. That's where we win by organising our people." Photo: AFP Newsome said for now it is a good feeling to have Harris taking up the vice presidency, a Black woman who went to Howard University. "I went there for law school... but in January, we will look at her as a former prosecutor, as a former top cop, as someone who's sympathetic to police officers, and we will treat her as such. "We will protest and organise and put pressure on her to do right by the Black Lives Matter movement. To do right by the people, to hold police accountable."

US President Donald Trump is remaining defiant, refusing to concede defeat while continuing to use Twitter to target what he calls the "lamestream" media for calling the US election against him.  [embedded content] That is despite high profile Republicans including former President George W. Bush congratulating President-elect Joe Biden, while saying the race was fundamentally fair and its outcome is clear. In a statement, Bush also offered congratulations to Trump "on a hard-fought campaign". But the 45th President of the US keeps claiming widespread election fraud, without producing any evidence.   Republican Strategist and commentator Dee Dee Bass Wilbon told Checkpoint the race was not over yet for Donald Trump.   "There hasn't been a decision, news outlets don't actually make decisions on elections, so until it's been announced and all the votes are completely tallied and everything, right now we don't know, as far as I know he's still the President of the United States, and that's where we stand," she said.  President Donald Trump returns to the White House from playing golf in Washington, DC, following the election result. Photo: AFP Wilbon doubted there was much chance of a Trump victory, but she said she did not think he should concede the presidency right now.  "I think he and Vice President Pence have done an outstanding job. But right now, the way that it stands, no I don't think that he does [need to concede]. "No news outlet can say, 'this individual won' or 'this individual lost' until the decision has been made that all the states have reported all of their totals, and we get those numbers completely done.  "Right now I think [Trump's] strategy and the Republican Party strategy is to wait for all the legitimate votes to be counted. And once that's done, then a decision will be made."  Wilbon said she had not looked at Trump's Twitter feed, where he has been alleging voter fraud, with absolutely no evidence. She had just been looking at the positive elements from the election. "We celebrated the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote in the United States, and that's been an amazing thing, we've had so many people to vote this year.   "And in this election alone President Trump received more votes from minority voters than any president since 1960.   "My 18-year-old son had an opportunity to vote, so there are a lot of positive things that have come out of this election. And I like to focus on those things rather than focusing on the negativity."  She said black male votes for Trump rose from 13 to 20 percent in the election, but black women were largely voting for the Democrats.   Wilbon doubted Trump's behaviour would undermine confidence in the US democratic system.   "The American people - they've seen the lines, they've seen the number of people, they've seen people in their own families, like I was saying with my 18-year-old son, they've seen so many people participating in the process of voting this time, so I don't think that will undermine any of that.  "We have this thing at our firm Bass Public Affairs - we attack policy not people. We don't condone bad behaviour or anything like that, so I'm not going to say that President Trump has misbehaved, I'm going to say that I would like for him to continue to focus on the numbers and to focus on those legitimate votes.  "And once those legitimate votes are confirmed, if it is in fact true that Biden and Kamala Harris have won the election, then I'm sure that he will do exactly what he should do as a president of the United States and as a decent human being."  She said she was not paying attention to what other Republicans were saying, but was supporting Trump for the results he had produced in the past four years. "I support all that they've done for minority communities, and for America as a whole. So if George Bush wants to congratulate Vice President Biden on a hard fought election, that is totally his decision to do so. "I'm an HBCU graduate, he has given a tremendous amount of money and support to HBCUs, and HBCUs historically black colleges and universities here in America, more than any president has," she said.  "I am pro-life, I support those choices, I also support opportunity zones for underserved communities that he has been a huge champion of.   "There are so many things that he and Vice President Pence have done over the last four years that we should focus on and be excited about in the term that they've shared with us.  "And if in fact that term is over, then we will move forward to the next president of the United States."  She was expecting Trump in his final two months to continue the "great work" his administration had done so far, she said.   "He's not a loser by any stretch of the imagination. Neither he nor Vice President Pence, they're extreme winners and very good at what they do.  "It's not over till it's over, and again once all of those votes have been counted, completely counted and tallied and totals done, once that's done then yes, I will move forward to the next president. Until then, no." 

Pacific leaders have joined a chorus of congratulatory messages to US-President Elect Joe Biden. The Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, said as he watched the polls unfold, he admired Biden's patience and calming comments encouraging the votes of the people to be counted. Photo: AFP Brown said once the election result was in Biden's favour, he watched with admiration the unifying addresses given, decribing them as inspirational to the American people and many admirers internationally. The Northern Marianas Governor, Ralph Torres, a Republican and a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, said it was his administration's hope that they could work together with the incoming Biden-Harris administration for the betterment of the people of the US and the CNMI. Torres also recognised the historic milestone of leadership for women in the US, with the election of Kamala Harris, adding that he joined the nation in creating an environment for diversity and inclusion throughout all parts of government from federal to local. "We look forward to working with them and their Democratic administration, just as we did with President Obama and his administration to great success," he said. Vice-President elect, Kamala Harris Photo: AFP Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan, an independent, said he was s looking forward to working in the US House of Representatives over the next two years to advance Biden and Harris' agenda of controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, reviving the economy, continuing the fight against poverty, moving forward on racial justice, advancing equality for all, and addressing the threat of climate change. NMI Democratic Party Chair, Nola Hix, for her part, said they were confident that Biden-Harris was a presidency for all Americans and that they look forward to the excellent partnership with Sablan for the next four years and beyond. Earlier American Samoa's Congresswoman, Aumua Amata Radewagen, a Republican, expressed the need for bipartisan work across the political spectrum. On Sunday Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape also congratulated Biden, and made mention of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman and first Black and Asian-American person to serve in the role. PNG PM, James Marape Photo: PNG PM Media Unit He also thanked President Trump for his support and acknowledgement of PNG during his term, especially sending his Vice-President Mike Pence to APEC 2018 in Port Moresby, and signing a $US2.3 billion agreement with Australia, New Zealand and Japan to improve access to electricity and the Internet there. "The US Elections was an event that captivated the world World, including PNG, with our people glue to their TV screens and Internet to get latest updates," Marape said. The prime minister said US-PNG relations were forged during the Second World War and continued to this day. "I look forward to PNG strengthening relations with the USA under President-Elect Biden and Vice-President Elect Harris." On Saturday Fiji's Prime Minister seemed to prematurely congratulate Joe Biden before any call was made on the result. Frank Bainimarama congratulated Joe Biden via a Twitter post. He also appealed to Biden and the US saying "together, we have a planet to save from a #ClimateEmergency and a global economy to build back better from #COVID19." Congratulations, @JoeBiden.Together, we have a planet to save from a #ClimateEmergency and a global economy to build back better from #COVID19.Now, more than ever, we need the USA at the helm of these multilateral efforts (and back in the #ParisAgreement — ASAP!) pic.twitter.com/mhX9HWR5HI — Frank Bainimarama (@FijiPM) November 7, 2020 He also said the US was needed in the nations signed up to the Paris Agreement, something Trump had vowed to remove his country from, while Biden had indicated a willingness to return to the fold.