Biden news - live: President-elect cancels inauguration travel plan amid threats but Gaga will still perform

The latest prospective addition to the Biden administration is Obama-era veteran Kurt Campbell, who has been nominated to be the president-elect’s senior official for Asia policy, which includes responsibility for the US relationship with China, in dire need of a reset with Trump gone.

Campbell, the top US diplomat for Asia under Barack Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, is considered an architect of their “pivot to Asia” strategy, a vaunted but so far still limited rebalancing of resources to the region.

“I can confirm Kurt will be coordinator for the Indo-Pacific at the NSC,” a transition spokeswoman said, referring to the White House National Security Council.

Since leaving government, Campbell, 63, has run the Asia Group consultancy and advised Biden’s Democratic campaign. He is co-founder of the Center for a New American Security think tank.

Campbell outlined his approach to Asia in a 2016 book The Pivot that advocated strengthening existing alliances and building closer relations with states like India and Indonesia in the face of a rising China.

He has since endorsed some of the tough approaches toward China adopted by the Trump administration and praised some of the 45th president’s unprecedented dealings with North Korea.

However, Campbell has also criticised Trump for failing to engage sufficiently with the region as a whole and for undermining relations with key allies like Japan and South Korea.

In a Foreign Affairs article this week Campbell wrote of the need for “serious US re-engagement” in Asia and “ad hoc” coalitions and partnerships to sustain the existing order threatened by China.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has said his team is already building "a close working relationship" with US president-elect Joe Biden's team.

During a visit to a mass vaccination centre in Stevenage, Sir Keir said the Democrat's presence in the White House will "make a huge difference" in America as well as in the UK.

"We hope to have a good working relationship," he said.

"We would've loved to have been there for the inauguration, that's not going to be possible with travel restrictions but we're already building a close working relationship between my team and president-elect Biden's team."

PA

Disturbing new details continue to emerge about last week’s Capitol riot, as Democratic lawmakers say they are investigating whether members of Congress gave tours to the would-be insurrectionists prior to the unrest, giving them valuable information on the layout of the building they duly stormed.

The probe follows speculation that Republican members of Congress and Capitol Police may have played a role in organising or enabling the deadly mob in support of Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he STILL insists was “stolen” from them.

Even more alarmingly, the chief of staff to congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has alleged that panic buttons in her office were disabled in advance of the attack.

Alex Woodward has more.

While Biden will be required to offer a consoling presence on the national stage post-inauguration, it’s up to the Senate leader to decide what that means for his divided party and its future, writes Griffin Connolly.

Biden actually has things to do today, whereas “President” Trump’s people are copying-and-pasting the same old waffle for the umpteenth day to cover his inactivity in the Oval Office.

The man is simply not governing in any real sense.

Here’s Louise Hall on an outgoing president “mired in self-pity”.

Here are two more names joining the incoming administration, tasked with undoing Trump aide Stephen Miller’s poisonous “zero tolerance” policies at the US-Mexico border.

Biden has also added new climate advisers to his team, notably Maggie Thomas, who worked on the presidential campaigns of former rivals Elizabeth Warren and Jay Inslee.

The president-elect’s speech tonight really could not be more timely.

Trevor Noah’s satirical late night show doing a real public service here in compiling the president’s Republican political and right-wing media allies who egged on the MAGA crowd by falsely claiming that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election and urged them to “fight for their freedom".

Only security personnel and the media will be allowed to access the traditional gathering place for crowds keen to see the ceremony, according to officials.

Oliver O’Connell has the latest.