Duty Editor: Patrick Markey Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36 -- TOP STORIES -- + Biden picks cabinet after Trump yields + World ramps up vaccine preparations + Pressure grows for end to Ethiopia fighting + French probe after 'brutal' refugee camp breakup + NYC's first Black mayor Dinkins dies US-vote,WRAP WASHINGTON US President-elect Joe Biden formally presents his picks for top national security and foreign policy posts as Donald Trump effectively admits defeat, allowing the White House transition to finally gets underway. 650 words 1630 by Chris Lefkow. Picture. Video Health-virus,WRAP PARIS France prepares to ease virus restrictions after a drop in infections as Russian developers announce more positive vaccine results bringing cautious hope for an end to the pandemic. 750 words 1800 GMT by AFP Bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Ethiopia-unrest-Tigray,WRAP GONDAR, Ethiopia International pressure mounts on the warring parties in northern Ethiopia to cease fighting and protect civilians in Tigray, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gives the dissident region's leaders a deadline to surrender. 700 words by Robbie Corey-Boulet 1530 GMT. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: Sudan-Ethiopia-Tigray-refugees,FOCUS France-migrants-police-Paris-Afghanistan,WRAP PARIS French authorities order an investigation into the forceful removal by police of a camp of migrants in central Paris that prompted outrage over the "brutal" tactics used. 650 words 1530 GMT by Shahzad Abdul and Stuart Williams. Picture. Video. US-NewYork-politics WASHINGTON David Dinkins, New York City's first Black mayor, has died, US media reports. He was 93. 400 words moved. File picture -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-vaccines-Russia MOSCOW Russia says its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 95 percent effective, as the global race heats up to develop a vaccine to combat the pandemic. 600 words 1500 GMT. Picture. Video Health-virus-travel-aviation-Australia,3rdlead SYDNEY Australia will likely require international arrivals to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face a prolonged quarantine, as officials sketch out what "new normal" virus restrictions may look like. 500 words moved. Picture Health-virus-economy-aviation PARIS The aviation sector has taken a historic hit from the coronavirus and pending an effective vaccine, can only bounce back with systematic testing, the sector association IATA says. 600 words 1500 GMT by Sonia Wolf -- EUROPE -- Britain-Scotland-Libya-court-Lockerbie-appeal,WRAP GLASGOW The family of Abdelbaset Mohmet Al-Megrahi begin a posthumous appeal against his conviction, hoping to overturn his conviction for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight that killed 270 people. 600 words 1500 GMT by Stuart Graham. Picture. File picture. Video Britain-HongKong-China-politics-law,lead LONDON Britain's government says it is considering reviewing a deal allowing its judges to sit on Hong Kong's highest court over concerns China is trampling on the semi-autonomous city's freedoms, drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing. 450 words moved EU-tech-internet,FACTS BRUSSELS The European Union will next month unveil major proposals to regulate Big Tech, in what could force a revolution in the way Google or Facebook do business. 600 words 1500 GMT by Daniel Aronssohn and Alex Pigman -- MIDDLE EAST -- Saudi-Yemen-Aramco-energy-attack,WRAP JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia Energy giant Saudi Aramco says a Quds-2 missile strike by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels on its Jeddah plant tore a hole in an oil tank, triggering an explosion and fire. 700 words moved by Anuj Chopra. Picture. Video Iran-cinema-health-virus,OBIT TEHRAN Movie director Kambuzia Partovi, who scripted the only Iranian film to win a Golden Lion in Venice, has died of the novel coronavirus, the Islamic republic's film body says. 400 words 1500 GMT. File picture -- AFRICA -- Sudan-Ethiopia-Tigray-refugees,FOCUS HAMDAYIT, Sudan Ethiopian refugee Sejmara didn't know what to expect when she and her husband waded across a river to Sudan -- certainly not the welcome they received from local residents. 580 words moved by Menna Zaki. Picture. Video Zimbabwe-rights-internet-media-journalist,PROFILE HARARE The ruling party in his native Zimbabwe has declared him an enemy of the state, he has been arrested twice this year, but journalist Hopewell Chin'ono says he will not stop exposing state corruption. 650 words 1430 GMT by Fanuel Jongwe. Video. Picture -- AMERICAS -- US-vote-cabinet,POINTS WASHINGTON With his first cabinet appointments, President-elect Joe Biden is signaling that he favors experience, competence and centrism as he reaches back to Barack Obama's team while also trying to break more ground for women and minorities. 500 words 1600 GMT by Shaun Tandon US-IT-politics-unrest-Facebook,FOCUS NEW YORK A fatal shooting during a demonstration in Wisconsin in August has highlighted concerns that social networks such as Facebook are being used to foment real-world violence with little or no control by the platforms. 650 words moved by Daniel Hoffman with Rob Lever in Washington -- ASIA -- Afghanistan-aid-UN,WRAP GENEVA The international community pledges another four years of aid for Afghanistan despite the Covid-19 crisis, but ties its money to rights being upheld in peace talks with the Taliban. 650 words 1500 GMT by Robin Millard with Jay Deshmukh in Kabul. Picture. Video China-space,WRAP BEIJING A rocket heading for the Moon to bring back the first lunar samples in four decades blasts off from China, in the latest milestone for Beijing's spacefaring ambitions. 600 words moved by Ludovic Ehret. Picture. Video. Graphic HongKong-lifestyle-fashion-racism,FOCUS HONG KONG As a young black woman modelling in Hong Kong, Harmony Anne-Marie Ilunga rarely saw anyone who looked like her in the magazines. Now the 22-year-old is trying to change that, one model at a time. 750 words moved by Rose Troup Buchanan. Picture. Video Thailand-politics-protest-royals,FACTS BANGKOK Tensions are rising around Thailand's pro-democracy protests. As the Thai capital braces for the next major rally on Wednesday, AFP takes a look at the forces in play and what might come next in a country with a long history of political unrest. 700 words moved -- SPOTLIGHT -- Iran-transport-cycling-environment,FOCUS TEHRAN One sunny day, Tehran's mayor and foreign diplomats rode bicycles through the Iranian capital to promote cycling -- no mean feat in a city of steep roads, heavy traffic and toxic fumes. 690 words moved by Amir Havasi. Picture. Video Syria-conflict-displaced,VIDEOESSAY ATME, Syria Among the olive trees in northwestern Syria, displaced teenager Wissam Diab plucks the strings of an oud outside his new home, a tent surrounded by luscious plants. 500 words moved by Aaref Watad. Picture. Video afp