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US President-elect Joe Biden has warned that “people may die” if his incoming administration continues to be impeded by incumbent Donald Trump. Mr Biden said co-ordination was needed to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. He called President Trump’s refusal to acknowledge he lost the election, despite calls to do so from both sides, “totally irresponsible”. Yet Mr Trump, a Republican, tweeted on Monday: “I won the Election!”
Iota has rapidly strengthened into a “dangerous” category 4 hurricane as it heads towards Central America. Forecasters say it could reach category 5 status later today before making landfall in northeastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras on Monday night with a 12-18ft storm surge. It comes just days after the countries were ransacked by category 4 Hurricane Eta which killed at least 200 people.
Peru’s Congress on Monday chose legislator Francisco Sagasti as the Andean country’s caretaker president, in an attempt to defuse a sharp political crisis after angry protests and the departure of two presidents in the past week. Sagasti, 76, from the centrist Morado Party, won enough votes to head Congress, which means he will constitutionally assume the presidency of Peru ahead of national elections called for April.
Iran has warned of a strong response if Donald Trump goes ahead with plans to use the twilight of his presidency to mount a strike on Iran or its allies in the region. It was reported that Trump last week looked at options for striking Iran’s main nuclear site, but was dissuaded from taking action after his advisers warned it might lead to a larger conflict in the Middle East.
The World Health Organization has recorded 65 cases of the coronavirus among staff based at its headquarters, including at least one cluster of infections, an internal email obtained by The Associated Press shows, despite the agency’s public assertions that there has been no transmission at the Geneva site. The revelation comes amid a surge of cases in Europe, host country Switzerland, and the city of Geneva, in particular.