Joe Biden picks veteran diplomat William Burns as CIA director

Former ambassador to Russia and Jordan led outreach to Iran over its nuclear efforts in 2013 and has been highly critical of Trump

The veteran diplomat William Burns is to become the new director of the CIA, Joe Biden announced on Monday, in an apolitical" appointment that marks a clear break with the partisan use of intelligence under Donald Trump.

The US president-elect hailed Burns as an exemplary diplomat" and said that the American people will be able to sleep soundly with him as our next CIA director". If confirmed, Burns would become the first leader in the agency's history whose career was spent at the US state department.