Despite Donald Trump's attempts to stonewall a transition, Joe Biden is planning his move to the White House. The President-elect wants to build the 'most diverse cabinet in history'.

Gravitas: Despite Trump's threat, Biden plans move to White House

Donald Trump is not ready to concede. What are his options? What powers does he have as a lame-duck President? Is Melania Trump divorcing him?

Gravitas: The Story of Donald Trump

Joe Biden won the US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and is planning to contest the election results.

Where does that leave Biden and the rest of America? Will they wait for the courts to decide? Or start preparing for the transition? Biden will be using the next couple of months to build his inner circle, and to announce his core team. It seems Biden will be dealing with Donald Trump in courts, as the president is set on not letting Biden inherit the White House peacefully.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/siri-refers-to-kamala-harris-as-the-us-president-setting-off-a-new-conspiracy-theory-341997" hreflang="en">Siri refers to Kamala Harris as the US President, setting off a new conspiracy theory</a>

Report say that team Trump has refused to sign a letter, which would allow team Biden to formally begin work this week. When a new president is about to take office, the outgoing government must enable the transition.

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The US also has a law to ensure this, called the Pre-election Presidential Transition Act, which says Biden's transition team is entitled to use government office spaces and equipment, with access to government officials.

Biden’s camp is also entitled to money, as part of which the government must pay the expenses of the transition team. According to reports, more than four thousand positions have to be filled when a new president takes charge. And the transition team has to identify and vet all these candidates.

They also have to arrange for the occupancy of executive residences. Biden has already begun planning his transition. And he's looking at assembling one of the most diverse cabinets in history.

The first appointments will be of the White House staff. The cabinet appointments won't be made public until around thanksgiving, and Biden has even raised money for the team. In May, at least seven million dollars were raised for the transition. Reports say Biden is planning a slew of executive actions, including the immediate reversals of some of Trump's decisions. This could include cancelling America's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Last week, the secret service has stepped up the protection of both Biden and Harris.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/meet-the-biden-familys-major-the-first-rescue-dog-to-grace-the-white-house-341949" hreflang="en">Meet the Biden family's 'Major': The first rescue dog to grace the White House</a>

As president-elect, Biden will now receive several briefings. This includes the president's daily briefing, and background briefings on covert actions.

The American security establishment is now supposed to brief Biden and his team on global dynamics. President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will meet soon. Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden will receive a tour of the White House.

During the tour, they're also asked about the White House decor, and if would they like to change it. The Biden camp has also created a Twitter page to keep everyone informed about the transition.

There is also a website called “Build back better”. Here, Biden and Harris list the&nbsp;coronavirus, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change as their first four priorities. In fact, Biden wants to focus on the virus from day one, and a task force is being created, which will be led by an Indian American - Dr Vivek Murthy - the former US Surgeon General.

Joe Biden won the US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and is planning to contest the election results. Where does that leave Biden and the rest of America?

Joe Biden won the US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and is planning to contest the election results. Where does that leave Biden and the rest of America? Will they wait for the courts to decide? Or start preparing for the transition? Biden will be using the next couple of months to build his inner circle, and to announce his core team. It seems Biden will be dealing with Donald Trump in courts, as the president is set on not letting Biden inherit the White House peacefully. Also read: Siri refers to Kamala Harris as the US President, setting off a new conspiracy theory Report say that team Trump has refused to sign a letter, which would allow team Biden to formally begin work this week. When a new president is about to take office, the outgoing government must enable the transition. The US also has a law to ensure this, called the Pre-election Presidential Transition Act, which says Biden's transition team is entitled to use government office spaces and equipment, with access to government officials. Biden’s camp is also entitled to money, as part of which the government must pay the expenses of the transition team. According to reports, more than four thousand positions have to be filled when a new president takes charge. And the transition team has to identify and vet all these candidates. They also have to arrange for the occupancy of executive residences. Biden has already begun planning his transition. And he's looking at assembling one of the most diverse cabinets in history. The first appointments will be of the White House staff. The cabinet appointments won't be made public until around thanksgiving, and Biden has even raised money for the team. In May, at least seven million dollars were raised for the transition. Reports say Biden is planning a slew of executive actions, including the immediate reversals of some of Trump's decisions. This could include cancelling America's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Last week, the secret service has stepped up the protection of both Biden and Harris. Also read: Meet the Biden family's 'Major': The first rescue dog to grace the White House As president-elect, Biden will now receive several briefings. This includes the president's daily briefing, and background briefings on covert actions. The American security establishment is now supposed to brief Biden and his team on global dynamics. President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will meet soon. Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden will receive a tour of the White House. During the tour, they're also asked about the White House decor, and if would they like to change it. The Biden camp has also created a Twitter page to keep everyone informed about the transition. There is also a website called “Build back better”. Here, Biden and Harris list the coronavirus, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change as their first four priorities. In fact, Biden wants to focus on the virus from day one, and a task force is being created, which will be led by an Indian American - Dr Vivek Murthy - the former US Surgeon General.

US election 2020: Trump refuses to concede. Where does that leave Biden?

Donald Trump may be on his way out, but Trumpism is here to stay. Trump has divided America along social and geographical lines. But, 70 Million Americans still support him. What does this mean for Biden?

Gravitas: Why America is more divided than ever

Donald Trump is still technically the President of the United States. But numerically, Trump has lost his next term in office.

With 214 votes, he's far away from winning the majority of votes in the electoral college. With an empty official calendar, and no plans to concede, over the last two days, Trump has been busy playing golf, and denying the results. His deputy, Mike Pence is chairing a coronavirus task force meeting. Instead, the president's campaign is trying to see if it's possible for Trump to hold rallies, to bolster his claims that the election has been stolen.

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Here’s the story of Donald Trump in five questions and answers.

1. What are Trump's options?&nbsp;

Conceding is Trump’s most practical option, gracefully beginning the procedure of transfer of power. He can start by making the traditional call to the president-elect.

But Donald Trump says he's won the election, and that his second term has been stolen.

So Trump is challenging the result. He will go to court, and will file lawsuits. Over the weekend, Trump released a statement which read:&nbsp; “The simple fact is this election is far from over. Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated”.

Option number 1:&nbsp;Trump can ask for a recount.

The rules are different for each state. In Wisconsin, for example, a candidate can ask for recount if the margin is less than 1 percentage point.

In Georgia, the margin must be in less than 0.5% of the votes cast. In Pennsylvania, there is an automatic statewide recount if the margin between the candidates is less than 0.5%.

Are recounts normal? Between 2000 and 2019, there were 5,778 statewide elections. The number of recounts - 31. Only 3 of those recounts resulted in a reversal of results.

Option number 2: Trump's campaign&nbsp;can convince the judges that some ballots have been cast illegally.

For that they would need evidence. Trump's team has already filed several lawsuits in battleground states, and some of them have been rejected.

2. What are the lawsuits facing Trump?

There is an ongoing criminal investigation into Trump and the Trump organisation. Additionally, there is the allegation of tax evasion, whereby Trump could face a criminal prosecution by the US Department of Justice.

New York's Attorney General, Letita James,&nbsp; has an ongoing tax fraud investigation into Trump and the Trump organisation. Trump is also facing a defamation case, whereby he was sued by former Elle magazine writer - E Jean Carroll, who has also accused Trump of rape.

Trump is also facing a lawsuit by reality show contestant Summer Zervos, who has also also accused Trump of kissing her against her will.

As President, Trump was immune from prosecution for criminal offences, but this cloak of immunity will disappear on January 20.

3. What are the powers of a lame duck president. In other words, a president who is on his way out. What can he do?

Trump can use the next two months to create serious trouble for the Biden administration. He can declassify sensitive information, and he could order missile strikes or withdraw troops. He can also issue pre-emptive pardons for himself and his family. Bill Clinton issued scores of pardons on his last day in office. The list included his brother, and the husband of one of his fundraisers.

4. What are Trump's aides saying?

Reports say there is a clear divide in Trump's inner circle. One side is asking him to concede defeat, and the other is asking Trump to fight on.

The First Lady Melania Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner have reportedly advised the president to accept defeat. But his sons Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump want him to fight on.

Then there are also prominent Republicans like senator Lindsay Graham and house representative Kevin Mccarthy who want Trump to not give up.

5. What about the rumours of First Lady - Melania Trump seeking a divorce?

According to Daily Mail, Melania is “counting the minutes until divorce” Reports also say that Melania burst into tears when Trump won the race to the White House in 2016.

A recent book claimed that she waited 5 months before relocating to the White House. She apparently was negotiating a post-nuptial agreement to give her son Barron an equal share of the Trump fortune. Donald Trump and Melania have been married for 15 years.

Donald Trump is still technically the President of the United States. But numerically, Trump has lost his next term in office. With 214 votes, he's far away from winning the majority of votes in the electoral college.

Donald Trump is still technically the President of the United States. But numerically, Trump has lost his next term in office. With 214 votes, he's far away from winning the majority of votes in the electoral college. With an empty official calendar, and no plans to concede, over the last two days, Trump has been busy playing golf, and denying the results. His deputy, Mike Pence is chairing a coronavirus task force meeting. Instead, the president's campaign is trying to see if it's possible for Trump to hold rallies, to bolster his claims that the election has been stolen. Here’s the story of Donald Trump in five questions and answers. 1. What are Trump's options? Conceding is Trump’s most practical option, gracefully beginning the procedure of transfer of power. He can start by making the traditional call to the president-elect. But Donald Trump says he's won the election, and that his second term has been stolen. So Trump is challenging the result. He will go to court, and will file lawsuits. Over the weekend, Trump released a statement which read: “The simple fact is this election is far from over. Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated”. Option number 1: Trump can ask for a recount. The rules are different for each state. In Wisconsin, for example, a candidate can ask for recount if the margin is less than 1 percentage point. In Georgia, the margin must be in less than 0.5% of the votes cast. In Pennsylvania, there is an automatic statewide recount if the margin between the candidates is less than 0.5%. Are recounts normal? Between 2000 and 2019, there were 5,778 statewide elections. The number of recounts - 31. Only 3 of those recounts resulted in a reversal of results. Option number 2: Trump's campaign can convince the judges that some ballots have been cast illegally. For that they would need evidence. Trump's team has already filed several lawsuits in battleground states, and some of them have been rejected. 2. What are the lawsuits facing Trump? There is an ongoing criminal investigation into Trump and the Trump organisation. Additionally, there is the allegation of tax evasion, whereby Trump could face a criminal prosecution by the US Department of Justice. New York's Attorney General, Letita James, has an ongoing tax fraud investigation into Trump and the Trump organisation. Trump is also facing a defamation case, whereby he was sued by former Elle magazine writer - E Jean Carroll, who has also accused Trump of rape. Trump is also facing a lawsuit by reality show contestant Summer Zervos, who has also also accused Trump of kissing her against her will. As President, Trump was immune from prosecution for criminal offences, but this cloak of immunity will disappear on January 20. 3. What are the powers of a lame duck president. In other words, a president who is on his way out. What can he do? Trump can use the next two months to create serious trouble for the Biden administration. He can declassify sensitive information, and he could order missile strikes or withdraw troops. He can also issue pre-emptive pardons for himself and his family. Bill Clinton issued scores of pardons on his last day in office. The list included his brother, and the husband of one of his fundraisers. 4. What are Trump's aides saying? Reports say there is a clear divide in Trump's inner circle. One side is asking him to concede defeat, and the other is asking Trump to fight on. The First Lady Melania Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner have reportedly advised the president to accept defeat. But his sons Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump want him to fight on. Then there are also prominent Republicans like senator Lindsay Graham and house representative Kevin Mccarthy who want Trump to not give up. 5. What about the rumours of First Lady - Melania Trump seeking a divorce? According to Daily Mail, Melania is “counting the minutes until divorce” Reports also say that Melania burst into tears when Trump won the race to the White House in 2016. A recent book claimed that she waited 5 months before relocating to the White House. She apparently was negotiating a post-nuptial agreement to give her son Barron an equal share of the Trump fortune. Donald Trump and Melania have been married for 15 years.

What's next for Donald Trump? Here's his story in five Q&As

US Attorney General Bill Barr has given federal prosecutors blanket authorisation to open a probe into voting irregularities, as President Donald Trump claimed that he lost the presidential election due to fraud.

The order came as Trump battles to reverse Democratic rival Joe Biden's narrow wins in several key states -- Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona &nbsp;-- that give the latter enough electoral votes to win the overall presidential election.

Barr has long been a close defender of Trump. He stressed his letter to US attorneys around the country was not an indication that the Justice Department had evidence yet of genuine cases.

"Given that voting in our current elections has now concluded, I authorise you to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases," Barr said in the letter to the attorneys.

He added, "Such inquiries and reviews may be conducted if there are clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state."

Voting fraud investigations are normally the purview of individual states, which establish and police their own election rules. Justice Department policy has been to hold back any federal involvement until vote tallies are certified, recounts completed and races concluded.

Barr, however, told the attorneys that "practice has never been a hard and fast rule," and stressed that, if they see anything that could reverse the results of last Tuesday's election, they should pursue it.

The Trump campaign and the Republican party have filed or threatened legal actions in several of the states hoping to change the outcome with ballot disqualifications and recounts. But so far their actions have gone nowhere, and state officials have challenged them to provide proof of allegations.&nbsp;

Trump had&nbsp;reportedly pressured Barr to get involved on his behalf even weeks before the election.

US Attorney General Bill Barr has given federal prosecutors blanket authorisation to open a probe into voting irregularities, as President Donald Trump claimed that he lost the presidential election due to fraud.

US Attorney General Bill Barr has given federal prosecutors blanket authorisation to open a probe into voting irregularities, as President Donald Trump claimed that he lost the presidential election due to fraud. The order came as Trump battles to reverse Democratic rival Joe Biden's narrow wins in several key states -- Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona -- that give the latter enough electoral votes to win the overall presidential election. Barr has long been a close defender of Trump. He stressed his letter to US attorneys around the country was not an indication that the Justice Department had evidence yet of genuine cases. "Given that voting in our current elections has now concluded, I authorise you to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases," Barr said in the letter to the attorneys. He added, "Such inquiries and reviews may be conducted if there are clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state." Voting fraud investigations are normally the purview of individual states, which establish and police their own election rules. Justice Department policy has been to hold back any federal involvement until vote tallies are certified, recounts completed and races concluded. Barr, however, told the attorneys that "practice has never been a hard and fast rule," and stressed that, if they see anything that could reverse the results of last Tuesday's election, they should pursue it. The Trump campaign and the Republican party have filed or threatened legal actions in several of the states hoping to change the outcome with ballot disqualifications and recounts. But so far their actions have gone nowhere, and state officials have challenged them to provide proof of allegations. Trump had reportedly pressured Barr to get involved on his behalf even weeks before the election.

US justice chief authorises investigation into voting irregularities

Two more people close to the incumbent president of the US, Donald Trump, have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has contracted the virus, his deputy chief of staff Coalter Baker told NPR.&nbsp;

"He is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery," Baker said in a statement.

According to ABC television, Carson was briefly treated at Walter Reid military hospital outside Washington DC, where Trump himself was treated for the virus.

Carson had spent Tuesday evening at the White House watching the election results come in.

Another top aide to the president, David Bossie, was also at the White House event and tested positive on Sunday and has been self-isolating at home, NBC news said.

Bossie was tapped a few days ago to lead the president's legal challenges to the election results.&nbsp;

On Friday, media reported that Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows had tested positive for the disease after the election.

Several leading members of the administration have contracted the virus in recent weeks, including Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.

The Washington Post said Meadows was in the crowd in the White House when Trump addressed around 150 of his staff and supporters on Wednesday.&nbsp;

The United States had recorded 238,000 deaths by Monday night and more than 10 million people have been infected.

The pandemic was one of the main issues in the battle for the White House between Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, whom media projected to have won on Saturday. 
&nbsp;

Two more people close to the incumbent president of the US, Donald Trump, have tested positive for the coronavirus. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has contracted the virus, his deputy chief of staff Coalter Baker told NPR.

Two more people close to the incumbent president of the US, Donald Trump, have tested positive for the coronavirus. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has contracted the virus, his deputy chief of staff Coalter Baker told NPR. "He is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery," Baker said in a statement. According to ABC television, Carson was briefly treated at Walter Reid military hospital outside Washington DC, where Trump himself was treated for the virus. Carson had spent Tuesday evening at the White House watching the election results come in. Another top aide to the president, David Bossie, was also at the White House event and tested positive on Sunday and has been self-isolating at home, NBC news said. Bossie was tapped a few days ago to lead the president's legal challenges to the election results. On Friday, media reported that Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows had tested positive for the disease after the election. Several leading members of the administration have contracted the virus in recent weeks, including Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump. The Washington Post said Meadows was in the crowd in the White House when Trump addressed around 150 of his staff and supporters on Wednesday. The United States had recorded 238,000 deaths by Monday night and more than 10 million people have been infected. The pandemic was one of the main issues in the battle for the White House between Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, whom media projected to have won on Saturday.

Two new cases of Covid-19 in the White House, reports say

US President Donald Trump on Monday accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Pfizer of withholding the announcement on the COVID-19 vaccine before elections to prevent him from getting a "vaccine win".

The US Food and Drug Administration "and the Democrats didn't want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead, it came out five days later? As I've said all along!" Trump said in a tweet.

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The <a href="https://twitter.com/US_FDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@US_FDA</a> and the Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later – As I’ve said all along!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325962203346972678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Earlier, pharma major Pfizer announced that its vaccine, as per preliminary estimates, has been found to be 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pfizer-biontech-claim-their-coronavirus-vaccine-is-90-effective-341931" hreflang="en">Pfizer, BioNTech claim their coronavirus vaccine is 90% effective</a>

Pfizer said that the vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis. Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants, it said.

Trump alleged, "If Joe Biden were President, you wouldn't have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the @US_FDA have ever approved it so quickly. The bureaucracy would have destroyed millions of lives!" 
Previously, Trump had said that he worked on removing a large number of bureaucratic obstacles to fast-track development and approval of a vaccine.

"As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn't have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!" he tweeted. 
Earlier in the day, President-elect Joe Biden said the announcement promises the chance to change that next year, but the tasks before them now remain the same.

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As I have long said, <a href="https://twitter.com/pfizer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Pfizer</a> and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn’t have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the <a href="https://twitter.com/US_FDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@US_FDA</a> should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325961445062938625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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"I congratulate the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and to give us such cause for hope," he said. "At the same time, it is also important to understand that the end of the battle against COVID-19 is still months away," Biden said.

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Statement by President-elect Biden on Pfizer's vaccine progress: <a href="https://t.co/eOiLZnqO8N">pic.twitter.com/eOiLZnqO8N</a>
— Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@Transition46) <a href="https://twitter.com/Transition46/status/1325816759690129412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the world welcomes good news about a vaccine that could be a giant leap forward in the fight against the coronavirus.

"We are all praying that this early evidence of extraordinary efficacy and safety holds true so that the vaccine can be approved and distributed soon but not one day sooner or one day later than it is ready," she said.

US President Donald Trump on Monday accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Pfizer of withholding the announcement on the COVID-19 vaccine before elections to prevent him from getting a "vaccine win".

US President Donald Trump on Monday accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Pfizer of withholding the announcement on the COVID-19 vaccine before elections to prevent him from getting a "vaccine win". The US Food and Drug Administration "and the Democrats didn't want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead, it came out five days later? As I've said all along!" Trump said in a tweet. The @US_FDA and the Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later – As I’ve said all along! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020 × Earlier, pharma major Pfizer announced that its vaccine, as per preliminary estimates, has been found to be 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19. Also read: Pfizer, BioNTech claim their coronavirus vaccine is 90% effective Pfizer said that the vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis. Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants, it said. Trump alleged, "If Joe Biden were President, you wouldn't have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the @US_FDA have ever approved it so quickly. The bureaucracy would have destroyed millions of lives!" Previously, Trump had said that he worked on removing a large number of bureaucratic obstacles to fast-track development and approval of a vaccine. "As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn't have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!" he tweeted. Earlier in the day, President-elect Joe Biden said the announcement promises the chance to change that next year, but the tasks before them now remain the same. As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn’t have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020 × "I congratulate the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and to give us such cause for hope," he said. "At the same time, it is also important to understand that the end of the battle against COVID-19 is still months away," Biden said. Statement by President-elect Biden on Pfizer's vaccine progress: pic.twitter.com/eOiLZnqO8N — Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@Transition46) November 9, 2020 × House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the world welcomes good news about a vaccine that could be a giant leap forward in the fight against the coronavirus. "We are all praying that this early evidence of extraordinary efficacy and safety holds true so that the vaccine can be approved and distributed soon but not one day sooner or one day later than it is ready," she said.

Trump accuses FDA and Pfizer of withholding COVID-19 vaccine announcement before elections

NASHVILLE — For at least a week before Election Day, I was too anxious to focus. Donald Trump was running a re-election campaign founded in lies, and I had no faith that my fellow Americans would throw him out. The polls were reassuring, but I wasn’t reassured. Polls were reassuring in 2016, too, and this country still ended up in an abusive relationship with the most corrupt and dangerous president of my lifetime.

I had no faith, but I held out hope. The ubiquity of the anti-Trump ads created by The Lincoln Project, a group of Republican operatives endorsing Joe Biden, gave me hope. A change of heart in so many of my conservative friends — disgusted by Mr. Trump’s greed and deception and boorish behavior, disgusted by his inexplicable subservience to foreign despots, his encouragement of outrageous conspiracy theories, his loyalty to his own interests and no one else’s — gave me hope. Above all, the massive registration and get-out-the-vote effort in Black communities across the country gave me hope. Change was in the air — I could feel it. An uprising was upon us. A great repudiation was at hand.

A plan for containing the pandemic was finally coming. A serious reckoning with climate change, a fair approach to immigration, criminal justice reform, a strong health care safety net, a renewed emphasis on voting rights — all suddenly possible.

On election night I was quadruple-screening the coverage — The Times on my laptop, PBS on our television, Twitter on my iPad, half a dozen text threads going with friends on my phone — and the news kept getting grimmer and grimmer. “This is exactly the way I felt four years ago,” my brother texted as early results came in.

But it wasn’t the way I felt four years ago. This time I felt far, far worse.

People have had four years now to find out just how truly terrible Mr. Trump is. How indifferent he is to the norms of civil discourse and to the responsibilities of democracy itself. How transparently racist he is, how divisive, how selfish. We know he’s a chronic liar who, when caught out, simply doubles down on the lie. We know that he is using the levers of government to enrich himself. We know he delights in and urges on the most violent impulses of his most dangerous followers. We know he has let 237,000 Americans die on his watch and still has no plan for saving the rest of us.

The numbers as of Sunday revealed that more than 71 million people voted for him anyway — eight million more than voted for him in 2016.

Yes, there’s immense relief in knowing that Mr. Biden has won the presidency and that reclaiming the Senate is still possible. And, yes, there are hopeful signs of change, even here in the American South. In Georgia the count continues, but voters there appear to have flipped their red state to blue. And last week, Alabama voters approved an amendment that would begin the process of removing racist language from the state Constitution. Mississippi voters approved a new state flag, one that no longer features the Confederate battle emblem. And for the first time ever, lawmakers from the L.G.B.T.Q. community — one Democrat and one Republican — will serve in the Tennessee General Assembly.

I don’t discount for one instant the progress such news represents, and I celebrated as joyfully as anyone when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won. I celebrated their win, and I celebrated the resilience of our democracy. I celebrated the chance to right so many of the wrongs that have been done during the last four years. Mr. Biden can do an enormous amount of good, even if he ends up having to do it without the Senate.

But the 71 million people who voted for Donald Trump despite his incompetence, despite his lying, his bullying, his cheating, his racism, despite all the moral failings he proudly flaunts as virtues? Those people aren’t going anywhere, the poison-spewing right-wing media that created them isn’t going anywhere, and Donald Trump himself isn’t going anywhere. And it’s not remotely clear what the rest of us can do about any of that.

In a speech on Saturday night, Mr. Biden did what Mr. Trump refused to do in 2016: He acknowledged the people who did not vote for him: “To those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight,” he told them. “I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.”

It was the right thing to say, the only possible thing to say at the end of a brutal fight won by the barest of margins. But it’s hard to imagine people wearing shirts that say, “Make Liberals Cry Again” giving the new president-elect even half a chance. Mr. Biden had a front-row seat to the obstructionist agenda of Republicans in Congress during Barack Obama’s presidency, and it’s hard to believe things will be any different for him. This is just what we are now: a country divided by a schism more stalwart and enduring than any border wall.

On Tuesday night, when I thought all was lost, the grief of the past four years was right there, spilling out in hot tears. I feel that same grief now, side by side with the joy I feel at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. It is a great gift to see a future full of possibility again. But the fact that 71 million people voted for Donald Trump should be, for everyone who voted for Mr. Biden, a cause for profound and pervasive grief. I don’t know if this country can ever be healed, but I do know that people whose hearts are full of grief have no room left for hatred. And that might be a place to start.

NASHVILLE — For at least a week before Election Day, I was too anxious to focus. Donald Trump was running a re-election campaign founded in lies, and I had no faith that my fellow Americans would throw him out.

NASHVILLE — For at least a week before Election Day, I was too anxious to focus. Donald Trump was running a re-election campaign founded in lies, and I had no faith that my fellow Americans would throw him out. The polls were reassuring, but I wasn’t reassured. Polls were reassuring in 2016, too, and this country still ended up in an abusive relationship with the most corrupt and dangerous president of my lifetime. I had no faith, but I held out hope. The ubiquity of the anti-Trump ads created by The Lincoln Project, a group of Republican operatives endorsing Joe Biden, gave me hope. A change of heart in so many of my conservative friends — disgusted by Mr. Trump’s greed and deception and boorish behavior, disgusted by his inexplicable subservience to foreign despots, his encouragement of outrageous conspiracy theories, his loyalty to his own interests and no one else’s — gave me hope. Above all, the massive registration and get-out-the-vote effort in Black communities across the country gave me hope. Change was in the air — I could feel it. An uprising was upon us. A great repudiation was at hand. A plan for containing the pandemic was finally coming. A serious reckoning with climate change, a fair approach to immigration, criminal justice reform, a strong health care safety net, a renewed emphasis on voting rights — all suddenly possible. On election night I was quadruple-screening the coverage — The Times on my laptop, PBS on our television, Twitter on my iPad, half a dozen text threads going with friends on my phone — and the news kept getting grimmer and grimmer. “This is exactly the way I felt four years ago,” my brother texted as early results came in. But it wasn’t the way I felt four years ago. This time I felt far, far worse. People have had four years now to find out just how truly terrible Mr. Trump is. How indifferent he is to the norms of civil discourse and to the responsibilities of democracy itself. How transparently racist he is, how divisive, how selfish. We know he’s a chronic liar who, when caught out, simply doubles down on the lie. We know that he is using the levers of government to enrich himself. We know he delights in and urges on the most violent impulses of his most dangerous followers. We know he has let 237,000 Americans die on his watch and still has no plan for saving the rest of us. The numbers as of Sunday revealed that more than 71 million people voted for him anyway — eight million more than voted for him in 2016. Yes, there’s immense relief in knowing that Mr. Biden has won the presidency and that reclaiming the Senate is still possible. And, yes, there are hopeful signs of change, even here in the American South. In Georgia the count continues, but voters there appear to have flipped their red state to blue. And last week, Alabama voters approved an amendment that would begin the process of removing racist language from the state Constitution. Mississippi voters approved a new state flag, one that no longer features the Confederate battle emblem. And for the first time ever, lawmakers from the L.G.B.T.Q. community — one Democrat and one Republican — will serve in the Tennessee General Assembly. I don’t discount for one instant the progress such news represents, and I celebrated as joyfully as anyone when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won. I celebrated their win, and I celebrated the resilience of our democracy. I celebrated the chance to right so many of the wrongs that have been done during the last four years. Mr. Biden can do an enormous amount of good, even if he ends up having to do it without the Senate. But the 71 million people who voted for Donald Trump despite his incompetence, despite his lying, his bullying, his cheating, his racism, despite all the moral failings he proudly flaunts as virtues? Those people aren’t going anywhere, the poison-spewing right-wing media that created them isn’t going anywhere, and Donald Trump himself isn’t going anywhere. And it’s not remotely clear what the rest of us can do about any of that. In a speech on Saturday night, Mr. Biden did what Mr. Trump refused to do in 2016: He acknowledged the people who did not vote for him: “To those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight,” he told them. “I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.” It was the right thing to say, the only possible thing to say at the end of a brutal fight won by the barest of margins. But it’s hard to imagine people wearing shirts that say, “Make Liberals Cry Again” giving the new president-elect even half a chance. Mr. Biden had a front-row seat to the obstructionist agenda of Republicans in Congress during Barack Obama’s presidency, and it’s hard to believe things will be any different for him. This is just what we are now: a country divided by a schism more stalwart and enduring than any border wall. On Tuesday night, when I thought all was lost, the grief of the past four years was right there, spilling out in hot tears. I feel that same grief now, side by side with the joy I feel at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. It is a great gift to see a future full of possibility again. But the fact that 71 million people voted for Donald Trump should be, for everyone who voted for Mr. Biden, a cause for profound and pervasive grief. I don’t know if this country can ever be healed, but I do know that people whose hearts are full of grief have no room left for hatred. And that might be a place to start.

71 million people voted for Trump. They’re not going anywhere

The Trump campaign, on Monday (November 9) pressed ahead to challenge the results of the election won by Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. During a news conference at Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Trump campaign counsel Matthew Morgan urged transparency and suggested that there outstanding legal votes that had yet to be counted.

Trump campaign files lawsuit in a Pennsylvania Federal Court

Stocks, oil and high-yielding currencies rallied Monday after Joe Biden was declared winner of the US election at the weekend, lifting a major source of uncertainty, while traders are hoping lawmakers will now focus on passing a new stimulus for the world's biggest economy.

While Donald Trump has yet to concede and has launched several legal challenges, it is widely accepted that the Democrat will become the 46th president, removing a crucial hurdle for equity traders this year.

Observers said the focus will now be on Biden's economic and foreign policy approach, with optimism for a less tumultuous leadership following four years of the bombastic real estate tycoon.

Markets were already surging last week as it became apparent the former vice president was on course for victory and that Republicans would likely hold the Senate, allowing them to rein in any big regulatory or tax policies.

On Monday Tokyo led the gains, surging two percent, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington and Taipei were all up more than one percent.

Wall Street futures also rallied, with the Dow, S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq all seen opening more than one percent up.

Traders are now looking to Capitol Hill hoping for a fresh rescue package for the economy after lawmakers failed to hammer out anything despite months of haggling, though any new plan will not likely be as big as what would be expected from a Democrat-led Congress.

"More fiscal support is likely forthcoming," said Invesco strategists including Brian Levitt. "While it may not be the outsize fiscal package that the Democrats had envisioned, it will likely be large enough to provide an additional boost to the economic recovery.

"Paradoxically, a more modest fiscal bill may serve to extend the market and business cycles, as it would be unlikely to bring forward the inflationary pressures that presage Fed tightening and the end of cycles."

- Focus on stimulus -

However, observers said better-than-expected US jobs data on Friday could complicate moves to push a bigger spending bill through Congress, with Republicans already suggesting they would rather pass a more targeted package.

The economy added 638,000 jobs last month, far more than analysts estimated, and the unemployment rate fell one percentage point.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of a new stimulus: "Something smaller, rather than throwing another $3 trillion at this issue, is more appropriate."

Of the jobs numbers he said: "That, I think, clearly ought to affect what size of any rescue package we additionally do."

And Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow added: "We’re not interested in, you know, two or three trillion.

"It would still be a targeted package to specific areas" that the White House wants, he said.

Oil prices rallied more than two percent on hopes that new economic help will give a boost to demand for the commodity, though the imposition of virus lockdowns in several countries in Europe is keeping a lid on gains.

And on currency markets, the dollar dropped against high-yielding units including the South Korean won, Australian dollar and Indonesian rupiah on expectations for a big spending bill and US rates being kept at record lows for the foreseeable future.

The Chinese yuan was sitting at its highest level since June 2018 on easing concerns about relations between Beijing and Washington.

Analysts said a new stimulus was crucial for helping the economy as coronavirus spreads rapidly through the United States, with almost 10 million people having contracted it.

"Covid has replaced election uncertainty as the major source of investor worries about equity markets," said Dennis DeBusschere at Evercore ISI. "Further positive vaccine development news would help offset some of the increase in hospitalisations and deaths."

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.0 percent to 24,799.22 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.4 percent, or to 26,060.66

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.2 percent to 3,351.56

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1892 from $1.1872 at 2215 GMT

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 103.30 yen from 103.33 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3185 from $1.3156

Euro/pound: DOWN at 90.19 pence from 90.22 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $38.09 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.5 percent at $40.44 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2&nbsp;percent at 28,323.40 (close)

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 5,910.02 (close)

&nbsp;

Stocks, oil and high-yielding currencies rallied Monday after Joe Biden was declared winner of the US election at the weekend, lifting a major source of uncertainty, while traders are hoping lawmakers will now focus on passing a new stimulus for the world's biggest economy.

Stocks, oil and high-yielding currencies rallied Monday after Joe Biden was declared winner of the US election at the weekend, lifting a major source of uncertainty, while traders are hoping lawmakers will now focus on passing a new stimulus for the world's biggest economy. While Donald Trump has yet to concede and has launched several legal challenges, it is widely accepted that the Democrat will become the 46th president, removing a crucial hurdle for equity traders this year. Observers said the focus will now be on Biden's economic and foreign policy approach, with optimism for a less tumultuous leadership following four years of the bombastic real estate tycoon. Markets were already surging last week as it became apparent the former vice president was on course for victory and that Republicans would likely hold the Senate, allowing them to rein in any big regulatory or tax policies. On Monday Tokyo led the gains, surging two percent, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington and Taipei were all up more than one percent. Wall Street futures also rallied, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all seen opening more than one percent up. Traders are now looking to Capitol Hill hoping for a fresh rescue package for the economy after lawmakers failed to hammer out anything despite months of haggling, though any new plan will not likely be as big as what would be expected from a Democrat-led Congress. "More fiscal support is likely forthcoming," said Invesco strategists including Brian Levitt. "While it may not be the outsize fiscal package that the Democrats had envisioned, it will likely be large enough to provide an additional boost to the economic recovery. "Paradoxically, a more modest fiscal bill may serve to extend the market and business cycles, as it would be unlikely to bring forward the inflationary pressures that presage Fed tightening and the end of cycles." - Focus on stimulus - However, observers said better-than-expected US jobs data on Friday could complicate moves to push a bigger spending bill through Congress, with Republicans already suggesting they would rather pass a more targeted package. The economy added 638,000 jobs last month, far more than analysts estimated, and the unemployment rate fell one percentage point. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of a new stimulus: "Something smaller, rather than throwing another $3 trillion at this issue, is more appropriate." Of the jobs numbers he said: "That, I think, clearly ought to affect what size of any rescue package we additionally do." And Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow added: "We’re not interested in, you know, two or three trillion. "It would still be a targeted package to specific areas" that the White House wants, he said. Oil prices rallied more than two percent on hopes that new economic help will give a boost to demand for the commodity, though the imposition of virus lockdowns in several countries in Europe is keeping a lid on gains. And on currency markets, the dollar dropped against high-yielding units including the South Korean won, Australian dollar and Indonesian rupiah on expectations for a big spending bill and US rates being kept at record lows for the foreseeable future. The Chinese yuan was sitting at its highest level since June 2018 on easing concerns about relations between Beijing and Washington. Analysts said a new stimulus was crucial for helping the economy as coronavirus spreads rapidly through the United States, with almost 10 million people having contracted it. "Covid has replaced election uncertainty as the major source of investor worries about equity markets," said Dennis DeBusschere at Evercore ISI. "Further positive vaccine development news would help offset some of the increase in hospitalisations and deaths." - Key figures around 0230 GMT - Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.0 percent to 24,799.22 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.4 percent, or to 26,060.66 Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.2 percent to 3,351.56 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1892 from $1.1872 at 2215 GMT Dollar/yen: DOWN at 103.30 yen from 103.33 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3185 from $1.3156 Euro/pound: DOWN at 90.19 pence from 90.22 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $38.09 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.5 percent at $40.44 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 28,323.40 (close) London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 5,910.02 (close)

Equities rally after Biden is declared winner of US vote

Joe Biden is returning to the White House to lead the United States in the midst of an economic crisis after beating President Donald Trump in Tuesday’s election, but a turn of events likely to conjure an eerie sense of deja vu for the Democratic former vice president.

World Business Watch: New US President to battle economic crisis

HONG KONG — The Chinese state news media reacted with cautious optimism to former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, expressing hope that he would stabilize the fast-deteriorating relations between the two countries.

But many outlets also continued to warn of future tensions between the superpowers, and to suggest that American democracy was in decline.

Under President Donald Trump, trust and cooperation between the United States and China ebbed to their lowest levels in recent history as a trade war raged and officials on both sides hurled recriminations about espionage, protest movements and the coronavirus pandemic. China’s state-controlled news outlets had criticized Trump and the United States with increasing stridence in recent months.

But the immediate reaction to Biden’s victory Sunday was measured, indicating that China was willing to attempt, and indeed was eager for, a thaw.

“The outcome could usher in a ‘buffering period’ for already-tense China-U.S. relations, and offer an opportunity for breakthroughs in resuming high-level communication and rebuilding mutual strategic trust,” Global Times, a fiercely nationalistic tabloid, wrote in an article, citing Chinese experts.

The article suggested that the two countries could work together on combating climate change, containing the coronavirus and developing vaccines, saying that Biden would be “more moderate and mature” than Trump on foreign affairs.

Those that did venture optimism warned against excessive expectations. Although Trump had made demonizing China a central plank of his campaign rhetoric — especially as he tried to deflect blame for his disastrous response to the coronavirus outbreak — public opinion toward China in both parties has increasingly soured.

And geopolitical tensions between the two countries will most likely continue to simmer. The Global Times article pointed to unresolved disputes over the democracy movement in Hong Kong, the trade war and Taiwan.

Southern Daily, an official newspaper for the southern province of Guangdong, wrote on Weibo that while Biden would most likely treat Russia, not China, as the biggest foreign threat to the United States, “we don’t have to have illusions.”

“One thing is for sure, things will never return to the way they were before,” the post continued. “The world is not the world it was before.”

HONG KONG — The Chinese state news media reacted with cautious optimism to former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, expressing hope that he would stabilize the fast-deteriorating relations between the two countries.

HONG KONG — The Chinese state news media reacted with cautious optimism to former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, expressing hope that he would stabilize the fast-deteriorating relations between the two countries. But many outlets also continued to warn of future tensions between the superpowers, and to suggest that American democracy was in decline. Under President Donald Trump, trust and cooperation between the United States and China ebbed to their lowest levels in recent history as a trade war raged and officials on both sides hurled recriminations about espionage, protest movements and the coronavirus pandemic. China’s state-controlled news outlets had criticized Trump and the United States with increasing stridence in recent months. But the immediate reaction to Biden’s victory Sunday was measured, indicating that China was willing to attempt, and indeed was eager for, a thaw. “The outcome could usher in a ‘buffering period’ for already-tense China-U.S. relations, and offer an opportunity for breakthroughs in resuming high-level communication and rebuilding mutual strategic trust,” Global Times, a fiercely nationalistic tabloid, wrote in an article, citing Chinese experts. The article suggested that the two countries could work together on combating climate change, containing the coronavirus and developing vaccines, saying that Biden would be “more moderate and mature” than Trump on foreign affairs. Those that did venture optimism warned against excessive expectations. Although Trump had made demonizing China a central plank of his campaign rhetoric — especially as he tried to deflect blame for his disastrous response to the coronavirus outbreak — public opinion toward China in both parties has increasingly soured. And geopolitical tensions between the two countries will most likely continue to simmer. The Global Times article pointed to unresolved disputes over the democracy movement in Hong Kong, the trade war and Taiwan. Southern Daily, an official newspaper for the southern province of Guangdong, wrote on Weibo that while Biden would most likely treat Russia, not China, as the biggest foreign threat to the United States, “we don’t have to have illusions.” “One thing is for sure, things will never return to the way they were before,” the post continued. “The world is not the world it was before.”

Chinese state media reacts to Biden victory with cautious optimism

In the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">US election 2020</a>, one of the wins for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump </a>was from the state of Florida, where many conservative Cuban Americans backed his denunciation of leftist governments in Latin America.&nbsp;

However, people living in Cuba have preferred president-elect <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden </a>and a major reason is Trump's accusation that the Democrat favours leftist policies.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-continues-to-say-that-us-election-2020-was-stolen-341737">Donald Trump continues to say that US Election 2020 was 'stolen'</a>

For the unversed, Cuba is under Communist leadership for six decades.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-vows-to-unite-america-in-first-address-as-us-president-elect-341540">Biden vows to unite America in first address as US president-elect</a>

"I'm not the type to trust an American president, but given the situation, I prefer the other one over Trump," said Pablo Zalvidar, a 57-year-old parking attendant, as quoted by news agency AFP.&nbsp;

In the administration of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, historic rapprochement took place with Cuba in 2014, which opened the path of cordial relations between two nemeses.&nbsp;

However, the path was not followed when Trump came to power and in his four years, 130 measures were enacted on Cuba to reinforce embargo, a move that affected several people and nation's budding private sector.&nbsp;

Among the harsh measures, US cruises and many direct flights to Cuba were suspended and the US consulate in Havana was also shut down.&nbsp;

Political expert Jorge Gomez Barata said Trump's reelection would have been "a disaster or an apocalyptic threat" for Cuba.&nbsp;

"Trump, I can't stand the sight of him!" said Aidelvis Blanco, an employee at The Mandarin restaurant, hoping that Biden as a president will "make us feel better."

Biden's win has been a "really good news for the entrepreneur community in Cuba. The private sector was one of the hardest hit by the Trump administration's Cuban policy," said &nbsp;Oniel Diaz, head of the Auge consulting firm.&nbsp;

The president-elect is also generating a lot of hopes as he as the vice-president also encouraged collaboration between both the American countries in a host of sectors and played a key role in the reunification of people from Cuba and the Cuban diaspora.&nbsp;

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Sunday while congratulating Biden for the election win praised "the new direction" taken by the Americans and added that he believes in "the possibility of having a constructive bilateral relationship while respecting our differences." 
&nbsp;

In the US election 2020, one of the wins for Donald Trump was from the state of Florida, where many conservative Cuban Americans backed his denunciation of leftist governments in Latin America.

In the US election 2020, one of the wins for Donald Trump was from the state of Florida, where many conservative Cuban Americans backed his denunciation of leftist governments in Latin America. However, people living in Cuba have preferred president-elect Joe Biden and a major reason is Trump's accusation that the Democrat favours leftist policies. Also read | Donald Trump continues to say that US Election 2020 was 'stolen' For the unversed, Cuba is under Communist leadership for six decades. Also read | Biden vows to unite America in first address as US president-elect "I'm not the type to trust an American president, but given the situation, I prefer the other one over Trump," said Pablo Zalvidar, a 57-year-old parking attendant, as quoted by news agency AFP. In the administration of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, historic rapprochement took place with Cuba in 2014, which opened the path of cordial relations between two nemeses. However, the path was not followed when Trump came to power and in his four years, 130 measures were enacted on Cuba to reinforce embargo, a move that affected several people and nation's budding private sector. Among the harsh measures, US cruises and many direct flights to Cuba were suspended and the US consulate in Havana was also shut down. Political expert Jorge Gomez Barata said Trump's reelection would have been "a disaster or an apocalyptic threat" for Cuba. "Trump, I can't stand the sight of him!" said Aidelvis Blanco, an employee at The Mandarin restaurant, hoping that Biden as a president will "make us feel better." Biden's win has been a "really good news for the entrepreneur community in Cuba. The private sector was one of the hardest hit by the Trump administration's Cuban policy," said Oniel Diaz, head of the Auge consulting firm. The president-elect is also generating a lot of hopes as he as the vice-president also encouraged collaboration between both the American countries in a host of sectors and played a key role in the reunification of people from Cuba and the Cuban diaspora. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Sunday while congratulating Biden for the election win praised "the new direction" taken by the Americans and added that he believes in "the possibility of having a constructive bilateral relationship while respecting our differences."

Why Cubans prefer any US president other than Donald Trump

Former president Bush agreed that Trump had "the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges."

George Bush congratulates Democrat Biden for winning US presidential elections | US Election 2020

Hours after President-elect Joe Biden declared the coronavirus a top priority, the magnitude of his task became starkly clear Sunday as the nation surpassed 10 million cases and sank deeper into the grip of what could become the worst chapter of the pandemic yet.

The rate of new cases is soaring and for the first time is averaging more than 100,000 a day in the United States, which has reported more COVID-19 cases than any other country. An astonishing number — 1 in 441 Americans — have tested positive for the virus just in the last week.

With 29 states setting weekly case records, the virus is surging at a worrisome level in more than half the country. Nationwide, hospitalizations have nearly doubled since mid-September, and deaths are slowly increasing again, with few new interventions in place to stop the spiraling outbreak.

“We are in a terrifying place,” said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an assistant professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina who studies pandemic response. “All I see is cases continuing to go up, unless we do something.”

The nation’s worsening COVID-19 outlook comes at an extremely difficult juncture: President Donald Trump, who remains in control of the nation’s outbreak for the next 73 days, is openly at odds with his own coronavirus advisers, and the country is heading into a cold winter, when infections are only expected to spread faster as people spend more time indoors.

In a victory speech Saturday night, Biden said he was quickly focusing his attention on the pandemic, including plans Monday to announce a new task force of coronavirus advisers. But he faces a nation divided over mask rules and business shutdowns, even as experts say the situation may further deteriorate before the new administration takes over in late January.

At the White House, Trump has largely shuttered the coronavirus task force, insisted without evidence that the nation is “rounding the corner” in the fight against the virus and suggested that he might fire the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. In the days before and after Election Day, six White House aides and a top campaign adviser tested positive for the virus.

All of it comes as colder weather in much of the nation will force people indoors, where the virus is known to spread more readily; as college semesters end and students return home; and as gatherings for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays threaten to sow new outbreaks.

“I see this as a very precarious moment,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who said that the Trump administration had “basically thrown in the towel” on trying to control the pandemic, while Biden and his team have nothing to wield but “moral power and social power” until Jan. 20.

“Without significant action,” he said, “the idea that we have another 100,000 deaths by Inauguration Day would be a conservative estimate.”

Experts pointed to a number of steps a yet-to-be-sworn-in Biden could take to help control the pandemic. The options range from making a behind-the-scenes push for governors to issue mask orders and for Congress to supply more money for coronavirus testing, all the way up to a national lockdown if cases are still spiraling after Biden takes office.

Biden has said he wants to “shut down the virus, not the country.” But as he also vows to do “whatever it takes” to control the pandemic, the millions of Americans who turned out to vote in record numbers last week remain deeply split on how best to go about it.

“I’m anticipating the next shutdown,” said Voizene Stewart, 53, of Detroit, who said he voted for Biden after losing both his mother and his 34-year-old son to the coronavirus.

Even though he has gone months without spending significant time with his remaining children and grandchildren, he said he hopes that the president-elect will once again restrict businesses and urge people to stay home. “We need to get back to that,” he said. “They opened too early.” He noted with concern that the grocery store across the street from his home, which used to be quiet, was once again bustling with people.

Many other voters, including those who viewed Trump as a champion of the economy, remain far from persuaded.

“We’ve already suffered almost irreparable damage from closing things down,” said Dennis Rohr, a city commissioner in Mandan, North Dakota, who said he voted for Trump. Although case counts remain extremely high in Mandan and across North Dakota, Rohr, 77, feared that any type of shutdown would bring a new, even more dangerous slew of problems, including job losses and loneliness.

Nine months into the pandemic, the country is fading from exhaustion and impatience, but the virus is spreading more than ever before.

Unlike in the spring, when the virus devastated New York City and other places on the East and West coasts, it is now spreading nearly everywhere, with infections rising in 46 states.

In Pennsylvania, the state that gave Biden the electoral votes he needed to clinch the presidency, more people are testing positive for the coronavirus than at any other time in the pandemic. In Wisconsin, another pivotal state, hospitalizations for the virus have skyrocketed 500% in the past two months.

Surges have hit communities of all types, with remote counties and urban centers alike seeing major spikes. In rural Norton County, Kansas, which has lately had one of the country’s highest infection rates, every resident of a local nursing home has tested positive, as have hundreds of people in prison. In Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, more than 4,600 cases were announced Saturday.

Although the country is conducting far more tests now than it was in the spring, the soaring case numbers now reflect accelerating spread of the virus, not simply wider testing.

Hospitalizations, which give a clear picture of how many people are seriously ill with the virus at any given time, grew by 63% over the past month, according to data collected by the COVID Tracking Project. More than 55,000 people are now hospitalized with the virus, approaching earlier peaks of more than 59,000 in April and July.

Treatment has vastly improved since the height of the spring outbreak, when more than 2,200 people were dying per day. Even so, deaths, which tend to lag a few weeks behind new infections, are now trending upward. The country has averaged about 900 deaths a day over the last week, compared with about 700 a month ago.

Biden is in line to inherit one of the most serious and complicated national crises that any incoming president in more than a half-century has faced.

While other presidents have entered office during an economic slowdown, including President Barack Obama and Biden as vice president in 2009, not since Harry Truman in the final months of World War II has a new president faced a situation as “complex and multiheaded” as the pandemic, said Bruce Schulman, a political historian at Boston University.

Biden has said controlling the pandemic is the necessary first step to bringing back jobs and has said that on his first day in office, he would move rapidly to appoint a “national supply chain commander” and establish a “pandemic testing board,” similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wartime production panel.

On Sunday, Biden’s campaign released a first glimpse of his plan for the pandemic, including a commitment to “listen to science.” Public health experts offered initial praise for his coronavirus task force, which is expected to include Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general; Dr. David Kessler, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University professor.

But Biden has also promised to unify the country and govern as an “American president,” and millions of Americans, including many who supported Trump, voted with priority on the economy.

Hours after President-elect Joe Biden declared the coronavirus a top priority, the magnitude of his task became starkly clear Sunday as the nation surpassed 10 million cases and sank deeper into the grip of what could become the worst chapter of the pandemic yet.

Hours after President-elect Joe Biden declared the coronavirus a top priority, the magnitude of his task became starkly clear Sunday as the nation surpassed 10 million cases and sank deeper into the grip of what could become the worst chapter of the pandemic yet. The rate of new cases is soaring and for the first time is averaging more than 100,000 a day in the United States, which has reported more COVID-19 cases than any other country. An astonishing number — 1 in 441 Americans — have tested positive for the virus just in the last week. With 29 states setting weekly case records, the virus is surging at a worrisome level in more than half the country. Nationwide, hospitalizations have nearly doubled since mid-September, and deaths are slowly increasing again, with few new interventions in place to stop the spiraling outbreak. “We are in a terrifying place,” said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an assistant professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina who studies pandemic response. “All I see is cases continuing to go up, unless we do something.” The nation’s worsening COVID-19 outlook comes at an extremely difficult juncture: President Donald Trump, who remains in control of the nation’s outbreak for the next 73 days, is openly at odds with his own coronavirus advisers, and the country is heading into a cold winter, when infections are only expected to spread faster as people spend more time indoors. In a victory speech Saturday night, Biden said he was quickly focusing his attention on the pandemic, including plans Monday to announce a new task force of coronavirus advisers. But he faces a nation divided over mask rules and business shutdowns, even as experts say the situation may further deteriorate before the new administration takes over in late January. At the White House, Trump has largely shuttered the coronavirus task force, insisted without evidence that the nation is “rounding the corner” in the fight against the virus and suggested that he might fire the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. In the days before and after Election Day, six White House aides and a top campaign adviser tested positive for the virus. All of it comes as colder weather in much of the nation will force people indoors, where the virus is known to spread more readily; as college semesters end and students return home; and as gatherings for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays threaten to sow new outbreaks. “I see this as a very precarious moment,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who said that the Trump administration had “basically thrown in the towel” on trying to control the pandemic, while Biden and his team have nothing to wield but “moral power and social power” until Jan. 20. “Without significant action,” he said, “the idea that we have another 100,000 deaths by Inauguration Day would be a conservative estimate.” Experts pointed to a number of steps a yet-to-be-sworn-in Biden could take to help control the pandemic. The options range from making a behind-the-scenes push for governors to issue mask orders and for Congress to supply more money for coronavirus testing, all the way up to a national lockdown if cases are still spiraling after Biden takes office. Biden has said he wants to “shut down the virus, not the country.” But as he also vows to do “whatever it takes” to control the pandemic, the millions of Americans who turned out to vote in record numbers last week remain deeply split on how best to go about it. “I’m anticipating the next shutdown,” said Voizene Stewart, 53, of Detroit, who said he voted for Biden after losing both his mother and his 34-year-old son to the coronavirus. Even though he has gone months without spending significant time with his remaining children and grandchildren, he said he hopes that the president-elect will once again restrict businesses and urge people to stay home. “We need to get back to that,” he said. “They opened too early.” He noted with concern that the grocery store across the street from his home, which used to be quiet, was once again bustling with people. Many other voters, including those who viewed Trump as a champion of the economy, remain far from persuaded. “We’ve already suffered almost irreparable damage from closing things down,” said Dennis Rohr, a city commissioner in Mandan, North Dakota, who said he voted for Trump. Although case counts remain extremely high in Mandan and across North Dakota, Rohr, 77, feared that any type of shutdown would bring a new, even more dangerous slew of problems, including job losses and loneliness. Nine months into the pandemic, the country is fading from exhaustion and impatience, but the virus is spreading more than ever before. Unlike in the spring, when the virus devastated New York City and other places on the East and West coasts, it is now spreading nearly everywhere, with infections rising in 46 states. In Pennsylvania, the state that gave Biden the electoral votes he needed to clinch the presidency, more people are testing positive for the coronavirus than at any other time in the pandemic. In Wisconsin, another pivotal state, hospitalizations for the virus have skyrocketed 500% in the past two months. Surges have hit communities of all types, with remote counties and urban centers alike seeing major spikes. In rural Norton County, Kansas, which has lately had one of the country’s highest infection rates, every resident of a local nursing home has tested positive, as have hundreds of people in prison. In Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, more than 4,600 cases were announced Saturday. Although the country is conducting far more tests now than it was in the spring, the soaring case numbers now reflect accelerating spread of the virus, not simply wider testing. Hospitalizations, which give a clear picture of how many people are seriously ill with the virus at any given time, grew by 63% over the past month, according to data collected by the COVID Tracking Project. More than 55,000 people are now hospitalized with the virus, approaching earlier peaks of more than 59,000 in April and July. Treatment has vastly improved since the height of the spring outbreak, when more than 2,200 people were dying per day. Even so, deaths, which tend to lag a few weeks behind new infections, are now trending upward. The country has averaged about 900 deaths a day over the last week, compared with about 700 a month ago. Biden is in line to inherit one of the most serious and complicated national crises that any incoming president in more than a half-century has faced. While other presidents have entered office during an economic slowdown, including President Barack Obama and Biden as vice president in 2009, not since Harry Truman in the final months of World War II has a new president faced a situation as “complex and multiheaded” as the pandemic, said Bruce Schulman, a political historian at Boston University. Biden has said controlling the pandemic is the necessary first step to bringing back jobs and has said that on his first day in office, he would move rapidly to appoint a “national supply chain commander” and establish a “pandemic testing board,” similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wartime production panel. On Sunday, Biden’s campaign released a first glimpse of his plan for the pandemic, including a commitment to “listen to science.” Public health experts offered initial praise for his coronavirus task force, which is expected to include Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general; Dr. David Kessler, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University professor. But Biden has also promised to unify the country and govern as an “American president,” and millions of Americans, including many who supported Trump, voted with priority on the economy.

A ‘terrifying’ COVID surge will land in Biden’s lap

Although the final count was still being tallied over the weekend in several battleground states, Biden’s win in Pennsylvania with its 20 electoral college votes ensured he would prevail.

Lack of clarity over presidential transition as GSA yet to green light Biden's win

United States President-elect Joe Biden is expected to set up a coronavirus task force today in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

Set to take over the White House in January, Biden will meet an advisory board co-chaired by Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General, along with Marcella Nunez-Smith - Yale University Associate Professor, and David Kessler - the former commissioner for Food and Drug Administration.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/russian-president-putin-is-waiting-for-official-results-before-congratulating-joe-biden-341889" hreflang="en">Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden</a>

As of now, more than 237,000 Americans have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden is also set to provide his remarks on the potential plan for fighting COVID-19 in Wilmington, Delaware. He will also discuss ways in which he intends to rebuild the US economy.

"Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts,"&nbsp;Biden said on Monday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/opinions-blogs/in-a-changing-world-what-should-a-biden-foreign-policy-look-like-341883" hreflang="en">In a changing world, what should a Biden foreign policy look like?</a>

In addition, scientists and coronavirus experts will analyse how and when to reopen schools, and also ways to tackle racial inequalities.

Rick Bright, who was removed from the top position at Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will be reinstated under Biden’s plans. Biden will also induct Luciana Borio, a specialist in complex public health emergencies.

Donald Trump has often sidelined scientists on ways to deal with the pandemic, and has himself recovered from COVID-19.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/nine-things-the-biden-administration-could-do-quickly-on-the-environment-341877" hreflang="en">Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment</a>

For the first time since October 20, Vice President Mike Pence will meet the White House coronavirus task force.

On Saturday, Biden surpassed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes, which are intrinsic to winning the US election.

As of now, Biden has beaten Trump by more than 4 million votes, making Trump the first US president to lose re-election since 1992.

United States President-elect Joe Biden is expected to set up a coronavirus task force today in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

United States President-elect Joe Biden is expected to set up a coronavirus task force today in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted. Set to take over the White House in January, Biden will meet an advisory board co-chaired by Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General, along with Marcella Nunez-Smith - Yale University Associate Professor, and David Kessler - the former commissioner for Food and Drug Administration. Also read: Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden As of now, more than 237,000 Americans have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden is also set to provide his remarks on the potential plan for fighting COVID-19 in Wilmington, Delaware. He will also discuss ways in which he intends to rebuild the US economy. "Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts," Biden said on Monday. Also read: In a changing world, what should a Biden foreign policy look like? In addition, scientists and coronavirus experts will analyse how and when to reopen schools, and also ways to tackle racial inequalities. Rick Bright, who was removed from the top position at Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will be reinstated under Biden’s plans. Biden will also induct Luciana Borio, a specialist in complex public health emergencies. Donald Trump has often sidelined scientists on ways to deal with the pandemic, and has himself recovered from COVID-19. Also read: Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment For the first time since October 20, Vice President Mike Pence will meet the White House coronavirus task force. On Saturday, Biden surpassed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes, which are intrinsic to winning the US election. As of now, Biden has beaten Trump by more than 4 million votes, making Trump the first US president to lose re-election since 1992.

As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force

China on Monday refused to congratulate Joe Biden for winning the presidential election, saying the outcome still needs to be decided.

China refuses to acknowledge Joe Biden as next president of US

Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country. 
 
<a href="wionews.com/world/as-us-president-elect-joe-biden-set-to-convene-covid-19-task-force-341911">Also read | As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force</a> 
 
Biden has set up this coronavirus task force in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

Dr Vivek Murthy along with two other co-chairs would lead a team of leading public health experts.

Vivek Hallegere Murthy is a physician and former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the nineteenth Surgeon General of the United States.

The appointment of Murthy comes at a time when the United States is witnessing a record number of Covid-19 infections.

Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America’s 19th Surgeon General by then-president Barack Obama in 2014.

Born in the UK, he was the youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration.

Biden, in his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night, said: “On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021”.

The President-elect, however, did not announce who would lead that task force.

The Washington Post said that the task force would be co-chaired by Dr Murthy, the former Surgeon General, and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

(With inputs from agencies)

Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country.

Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country. Also read | As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force Biden has set up this coronavirus task force in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted. Dr Vivek Murthy along with two other co-chairs would lead a team of leading public health experts. Vivek Hallegere Murthy is a physician and former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the nineteenth Surgeon General of the United States. The appointment of Murthy comes at a time when the United States is witnessing a record number of Covid-19 infections. Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America’s 19th Surgeon General by then-president Barack Obama in 2014. Born in the UK, he was the youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration. Biden, in his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night, said: “On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021”. The President-elect, however, did not announce who would lead that task force. The Washington Post said that the task force would be co-chaired by Dr Murthy, the former Surgeon General, and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. (With inputs from agencies)

Biden picks Indian American to lead the new task force to tackle COVID crisis in US

The U.S. unemployment rate didn’t drop below the level it was at when Obama and Biden were elected until a year into their second term.

President-elect Joe Biden returns to battle another economic crisis

The United States became the first nation worldwide since the pandemic began to surpass 10 million coronavirus infections, as the third wave of the COVID-19 virus surges across the nation.

The country reported a record 131,420 COVID-19 cases on Saturday and has reported over 100,000 infections four times in the past seven days, according to a Reuters tally. The country has reported about a million cases in the past 10 days, the highest rate of infections since the nation reported its first novel coronavirus case in Washington.

The grim milestone came as global coronavirus cases exceeded 50 million, according to a Reuters tally on Sunday.

More than 237,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since the illness caused by the coronavirus first emerged in China late last year.

The daily average of reported new deaths in the United States account for one in every 11 deaths reported worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis.

The number of reported deaths nationwide climbed by more than 1,000 for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday, a trend last seen in mid-August, according to a Reuters tally.

Health experts say deaths tend to increase four to six weeks after a surge in infections. 
US President-elect Joe Biden, who spent much of his election campaign criticising President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, pledged on Saturday to make tackling the pandemic a top priority.

Biden will announce a 12-member task force on Monday to deal with the pandemic that will be led by former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler. The coronavirus task force will be charged with developing a blueprint for containing the disease once Biden takes office in January.

CORONAVIRUS IN US

The Midwest remains the hardest-hit region based on the most cases per capita with North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska the top five worst-affected U.S. states.

Illinois emerged as the new epicentre in the Midwest, with the state reporting over 60,000 COVID-19 infections in the last seven days, the highest in the country, according to Reuters data. The state reported more than 12,454 new cases on Saturday, the highest single-day number so far.

Texas, which accounts for 10% of total US cases, is the hardest-hit state and became the first to surpass a million coronavirus cases in the United States on Saturday.

New York, with over 33,000 fatalities, remains the state with highest number of deaths and accounts for about 14% of total US deaths.

(with inputs)

The United States became the first nation worldwide since the pandemic began to surpass 10 million coronavirus infections, as the third wave of the COVID-19 virus surges across the nation.

The United States became the first nation worldwide since the pandemic began to surpass 10 million coronavirus infections, as the third wave of the COVID-19 virus surges across the nation. The country reported a record 131,420 COVID-19 cases on Saturday and has reported over 100,000 infections four times in the past seven days, according to a Reuters tally. The country has reported about a million cases in the past 10 days, the highest rate of infections since the nation reported its first novel coronavirus case in Washington. The grim milestone came as global coronavirus cases exceeded 50 million, according to a Reuters tally on Sunday. More than 237,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since the illness caused by the coronavirus first emerged in China late last year. The daily average of reported new deaths in the United States account for one in every 11 deaths reported worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis. The number of reported deaths nationwide climbed by more than 1,000 for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday, a trend last seen in mid-August, according to a Reuters tally. Health experts say deaths tend to increase four to six weeks after a surge in infections. US President-elect Joe Biden, who spent much of his election campaign criticising President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, pledged on Saturday to make tackling the pandemic a top priority. Biden will announce a 12-member task force on Monday to deal with the pandemic that will be led by former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler. The coronavirus task force will be charged with developing a blueprint for containing the disease once Biden takes office in January. CORONAVIRUS IN US The Midwest remains the hardest-hit region based on the most cases per capita with North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska the top five worst-affected U.S. states. Illinois emerged as the new epicentre in the Midwest, with the state reporting over 60,000 COVID-19 infections in the last seven days, the highest in the country, according to Reuters data. The state reported more than 12,454 new cases on Saturday, the highest single-day number so far. Texas, which accounts for 10% of total US cases, is the hardest-hit state and became the first to surpass a million coronavirus cases in the United States on Saturday. New York, with over 33,000 fatalities, remains the state with highest number of deaths and accounts for about 14% of total US deaths. (with inputs)

US sets a grim record, becomes first nation to cross 10 million COVID-19 cases

China on Monday refused to congratulate <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden </a>for winning the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">presidential election</a>, saying the outcome still needs to be decided.&nbsp;

After several world leaders hailed Biden's victory, China said that the fate of US election would be decided by its "laws and procedures".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/did-you-know-mumbai-has-5-bidens-president-elect-himself-claims-341859">Did you know Mumbai has '5 Bidens'? President-elect himself claims</a>

"Our understanding is that the outcome of the election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told press in a briefing, as quoted by news agency AFP.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-jared-melania-advises-donald-trump-to-accept-us-election-2020-results-341813?UTM_SRC=breakingnews">After Jared, Melania advises Donald Trump to accept US election 2020 results</a>

"China's position on the relevant issues has been consistent and clear. Our resolve to protect the country's sovereignty, security and development benefits will not waver. We have always advocated that China and the US should control existing differences on the basis of mutual respect and mutual non-interference in internal affairs, and promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations. We hope the new US government can meet China halfway."

Beijing's statements came despite the relations between both the countries took a great hit under <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump </a>due to several reasons, among which trade tariffs and coronavirus crisis raised most concerns.

Trump blames China for giving the world pandemic and often describes the virus as "Wuhan virus".&nbsp;

This puts China in the list of Russia and Mexico that has still not recognised Biden as the president-elect.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Trump has refused to accept defeat and continues to push the claim that the election was rigged and he is the real winner of it.&nbsp;

China on Monday refused to congratulate Joe Biden for winning the presidential election, saying the outcome still needs to be decided. After several world leaders hailed Biden's victory, China said that the fate of US election would be decided by its "laws and procedures".

China on Monday refused to congratulate Joe Biden for winning the presidential election, saying the outcome still needs to be decided. After several world leaders hailed Biden's victory, China said that the fate of US election would be decided by its "laws and procedures". Also read | Did you know Mumbai has '5 Bidens'? President-elect himself claims "Our understanding is that the outcome of the election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told press in a briefing, as quoted by news agency AFP. Also read | After Jared, Melania advises Donald Trump to accept US election 2020 results "China's position on the relevant issues has been consistent and clear. Our resolve to protect the country's sovereignty, security and development benefits will not waver. We have always advocated that China and the US should control existing differences on the basis of mutual respect and mutual non-interference in internal affairs, and promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations. We hope the new US government can meet China halfway." Beijing's statements came despite the relations between both the countries took a great hit under Donald Trump due to several reasons, among which trade tariffs and coronavirus crisis raised most concerns. Trump blames China for giving the world pandemic and often describes the virus as "Wuhan virus". This puts China in the list of Russia and Mexico that has still not recognised Biden as the president-elect. Meanwhile, Trump has refused to accept defeat and continues to push the claim that the election was rigged and he is the real winner of it.

The election of 2020 ended for Republican Party leaders a lot like the election of 2016 began: As much as they may want to move on from Donald Trump, he won’t let them — and neither will the voters.

After losing the White House to Joe Biden and the popular vote for the seventh time since 1980, and facing the possibility of once-unthinkable defeat in Arizona and Georgia, Republicans were grappling with how to untangle the man from a movement that is likely to dictate party politics for years.

Even in defeat, Republicans saw clear indicators of the enduring power of Trump-style populism. By the time Biden gave his victory speech Saturday evening, Trump had received 7.4 million more votes than he did in 2016 — 1 million more in the battleground of Florida alone. Republicans cut into the Democratic majority in the House with wins in several swing districts from Iowa to New York, where they followed Trump’s slash-and-burn playbook of branding his opponents as far-left hysterics.

No one seems to be under the illusion that Trump will fade quietly. All week, as he launched an extraordinary, baseless attack on the integrity of the election, few in his party challenged claims that he was being cheated of a victory. Privately, some began discussing the possibility that he may not concede, which would put them in the awkward position of having to choose whether to defend him until Biden’s inauguration in 2 1/2 months.

This dynamic presents a problem for the Republicans who will run for office after Trump is no longer the leader of the party — on paper, at least. In particular, Republicans in their 30s and 40s see a road map to the bigger and more diverse coalition that the party has tried to build for two decades, if they can salvage the more popular aspects of the president’s appeal to middle-class Americans while jettisoning the racial grievances he fanned.

From Senate offices, think tanks and off-the-record salons, the conversations about what’s next have grown in urgency now that the final months of the Trump presidency are at hand.

“He is sort of the king with no heirs,” said Oren Cass, executive director of American Compass, a group that hosts monthly online happy hours of Capitol Hill staff and policy experts to debate the successes and failures of the Trump agenda. Cass said Trump’s defeat sets up a clash between more conventional Republicans who, on one hand, took the attitude of “This too shall pass, and we can go back to doing to what we were doing before,” and those who think the president “called attention to a certain set of issues and voters that certainly the center-right wasn’t paying enough attention to.”

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who said he has tried to reimagine Trumpism with “a mute button” for the president, expressed a view that had taken hold among conservatives — one that would seem to rule out any reflective, autopsy-style self-assessment of how they lost.

The fact that Trump’s defeat was not the blowout critics had hoped, Rubio said, means that the anticipated repudiation of Trumpian politics was wrong. “Trump was going to get wiped out. The GOP was going to get wiped out,” he said, running through often-repeated predictions. “Meanwhile, Republicans are going to probably hold the Senate and make up to a 10-seat gain in the House.”

While Rubio said he cannot imagine a scenario in which Trump was not in the picture — “He’s not going to just vanish into a building” — the president’s strong support among Latino voters in Florida (47%) and Texas (40%) showed how the party could expand a “multiethnic, working-class coalition” that did not fit neatly inside the left-right paradigm.

Navigating the unavoidable, disruptive force that is Trump complicates an already difficult job for conservatives like Rubio, 49. First, Republicans need to persuade more voters of color that they are welcoming, despite embracing Trump and his divisive rhetoric.

They also need to demonstrate that Republicans can be the party for Americans who are struggling economically — many of whom were won over by Trump’s message — not just the party that cuts taxes for corporations and dismantles government regulations.

A “pro-worker” Republican Party, as described by the likes of Sen. Josh Hawley, 40, of Missouri, would require a sea change in the way its members tend to balk at spending when there is a Democratic president.

Hawley, like Rubio, has been vocal about the need to pass a second coronavirus relief package, breaking with Republicans who have expressed concerns about growing deficits. Some conservatives have proposed less conventional ways of appealing to voters on the party’s traditional issues like family values, paid family leave and child tax credits.

Yuval Levin, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute who has been convening discussions with leading conservatives about the post-Trump landscape, said it would be unwise for Republicans not to embrace the pro-middle-class parts of the Trump agenda that he campaigned on in 2016 but then largely abandoned. “It’s not really even Trump’s message," Levin said. “He’s been president for four years, and his only legislative accomplishment is a perfectly traditional tax cut bill.”

If Trump did anything, Levin said, it was to shatter the notion that voters want Republicans to talk about smaller government. “A lot of people have been instinctively, reflexively saying, ‘We can’t be spending this kind of money right now.’ And I’m thinking, what voters want that? Who’s saying don’t give us money?” he said.

For starters, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He, Nikki Haley and other Republicans who want a starring role in the party’s post-Trump reboot have revived Tea Party-like critiques of government stimulus. Earlier this year, Haley resigned from the board of Boeing after the company asked for federal aid to help weather the pandemic-induced recession. She cited her “strong convictions that this is not the role of government.”

Other conservatives say that Republicans need to accept that Trump realigned the party’s coalition away from wealthy, well-educated people in the suburbs and that they should not obsess over winning those voters back.

“We are, by and large, no longer the party of white-college graduates,” said Rachel Bovard, senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute. “That was the Reagan coalition, and the Reagan coalition doesn’t exist anymore.”

Florida provided a model for what the future could look like. Trump easily won there, two Democratic members of Congress lost their seats, and voters approved a measure to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 — with 61% support. In a postelection memo, the Trump campaign noted how its improvement over 2016 came not from suburban or rural counties but “from larger, more urban counties.”

Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican elected twice in a heavily Democratic state, is credited with showing how his party can appeal in Black communities and with other traditionally left-leaning constituents by focusing on a middle-class message. He has one of the highest approval ratings of any governor in the country, with equal support from white and Black voters.

Unlike other Republicans, Hogan has been public in his criticism of the president and said he cast a write-in vote for Ronald Reagan. Reflecting on 2020, he argued that when Republicans look at how they lost, the answer won’t be voter fraud but rather a president who insisted on making his reelection about resentment and blame instead of how he would make the U.S. economy work for everyone. “One, he didn’t focus on the things that he ran on the first time. And he didn’t accomplish a lot for those folks,” Hogan said. “Two, the tone of anger and division turned off voters who might have been receptive to that message.”

Still, Hogan said, the election was neither a total repudiation of Trump or an embrace of Democrats. “It wasn’t a rejection of the Republican Party,” he said. “It was not an acceptance of the far-left.”

Republicans disagree on how deeply Trump has changed the party. In their most hopeful assessment, they argued that his influence was most noticeable in matters of style and tone, and that was not permanent. Dwindling are the days, some said, of Republican candidates bringing cardboard cutouts of Trump to campaign events, cursing in their ads and competing for the honor to claim they first embodied his belligerent style as someone who was “Trump before Trump.”

“We’ve got to figure out again how to be happy warriors like Reagan,” said Scott Walker, the former governor of Wisconsin who lost his seat in the Democratic rebound of 2018. He is now chief executive of Young America’s Foundation, where he is focused on college students, a group that has recoiled from the Republican Party under Trump.

Republicans, he said, need to do a better job of settling on a message that is more inclusive and begins “with the premise that even those you disagree can be inherently good.” 
&nbsp;

The election of 2020 ended for Republican Party leaders a lot like the election of 2016 began: As much as they may want to move on from Donald Trump, he won’t let them — and neither will the voters.

The election of 2020 ended for Republican Party leaders a lot like the election of 2016 began: As much as they may want to move on from Donald Trump, he won’t let them — and neither will the voters. After losing the White House to Joe Biden and the popular vote for the seventh time since 1980, and facing the possibility of once-unthinkable defeat in Arizona and Georgia, Republicans were grappling with how to untangle the man from a movement that is likely to dictate party politics for years. Even in defeat, Republicans saw clear indicators of the enduring power of Trump-style populism. By the time Biden gave his victory speech Saturday evening, Trump had received 7.4 million more votes than he did in 2016 — 1 million more in the battleground of Florida alone. Republicans cut into the Democratic majority in the House with wins in several swing districts from Iowa to New York, where they followed Trump’s slash-and-burn playbook of branding his opponents as far-left hysterics. No one seems to be under the illusion that Trump will fade quietly. All week, as he launched an extraordinary, baseless attack on the integrity of the election, few in his party challenged claims that he was being cheated of a victory. Privately, some began discussing the possibility that he may not concede, which would put them in the awkward position of having to choose whether to defend him until Biden’s inauguration in 2 1/2 months. This dynamic presents a problem for the Republicans who will run for office after Trump is no longer the leader of the party — on paper, at least. In particular, Republicans in their 30s and 40s see a road map to the bigger and more diverse coalition that the party has tried to build for two decades, if they can salvage the more popular aspects of the president’s appeal to middle-class Americans while jettisoning the racial grievances he fanned. From Senate offices, think tanks and off-the-record salons, the conversations about what’s next have grown in urgency now that the final months of the Trump presidency are at hand. “He is sort of the king with no heirs,” said Oren Cass, executive director of American Compass, a group that hosts monthly online happy hours of Capitol Hill staff and policy experts to debate the successes and failures of the Trump agenda. Cass said Trump’s defeat sets up a clash between more conventional Republicans who, on one hand, took the attitude of “This too shall pass, and we can go back to doing to what we were doing before,” and those who think the president “called attention to a certain set of issues and voters that certainly the center-right wasn’t paying enough attention to.” Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who said he has tried to reimagine Trumpism with “a mute button” for the president, expressed a view that had taken hold among conservatives — one that would seem to rule out any reflective, autopsy-style self-assessment of how they lost. The fact that Trump’s defeat was not the blowout critics had hoped, Rubio said, means that the anticipated repudiation of Trumpian politics was wrong. “Trump was going to get wiped out. The GOP was going to get wiped out,” he said, running through often-repeated predictions. “Meanwhile, Republicans are going to probably hold the Senate and make up to a 10-seat gain in the House.” While Rubio said he cannot imagine a scenario in which Trump was not in the picture — “He’s not going to just vanish into a building” — the president’s strong support among Latino voters in Florida (47%) and Texas (40%) showed how the party could expand a “multiethnic, working-class coalition” that did not fit neatly inside the left-right paradigm. Navigating the unavoidable, disruptive force that is Trump complicates an already difficult job for conservatives like Rubio, 49. First, Republicans need to persuade more voters of color that they are welcoming, despite embracing Trump and his divisive rhetoric. They also need to demonstrate that Republicans can be the party for Americans who are struggling economically — many of whom were won over by Trump’s message — not just the party that cuts taxes for corporations and dismantles government regulations. A “pro-worker” Republican Party, as described by the likes of Sen. Josh Hawley, 40, of Missouri, would require a sea change in the way its members tend to balk at spending when there is a Democratic president. Hawley, like Rubio, has been vocal about the need to pass a second coronavirus relief package, breaking with Republicans who have expressed concerns about growing deficits. Some conservatives have proposed less conventional ways of appealing to voters on the party’s traditional issues like family values, paid family leave and child tax credits. Yuval Levin, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute who has been convening discussions with leading conservatives about the post-Trump landscape, said it would be unwise for Republicans not to embrace the pro-middle-class parts of the Trump agenda that he campaigned on in 2016 but then largely abandoned. “It’s not really even Trump’s message," Levin said. “He’s been president for four years, and his only legislative accomplishment is a perfectly traditional tax cut bill.” If Trump did anything, Levin said, it was to shatter the notion that voters want Republicans to talk about smaller government. “A lot of people have been instinctively, reflexively saying, ‘We can’t be spending this kind of money right now.’ And I’m thinking, what voters want that? Who’s saying don’t give us money?” he said. For starters, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He, Nikki Haley and other Republicans who want a starring role in the party’s post-Trump reboot have revived Tea Party-like critiques of government stimulus. Earlier this year, Haley resigned from the board of Boeing after the company asked for federal aid to help weather the pandemic-induced recession. She cited her “strong convictions that this is not the role of government.” Other conservatives say that Republicans need to accept that Trump realigned the party’s coalition away from wealthy, well-educated people in the suburbs and that they should not obsess over winning those voters back. “We are, by and large, no longer the party of white-college graduates,” said Rachel Bovard, senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute. “That was the Reagan coalition, and the Reagan coalition doesn’t exist anymore.” Florida provided a model for what the future could look like. Trump easily won there, two Democratic members of Congress lost their seats, and voters approved a measure to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 — with 61% support. In a postelection memo, the Trump campaign noted how its improvement over 2016 came not from suburban or rural counties but “from larger, more urban counties.” Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican elected twice in a heavily Democratic state, is credited with showing how his party can appeal in Black communities and with other traditionally left-leaning constituents by focusing on a middle-class message. He has one of the highest approval ratings of any governor in the country, with equal support from white and Black voters. Unlike other Republicans, Hogan has been public in his criticism of the president and said he cast a write-in vote for Ronald Reagan. Reflecting on 2020, he argued that when Republicans look at how they lost, the answer won’t be voter fraud but rather a president who insisted on making his reelection about resentment and blame instead of how he would make the U.S. economy work for everyone. “One, he didn’t focus on the things that he ran on the first time. And he didn’t accomplish a lot for those folks,” Hogan said. “Two, the tone of anger and division turned off voters who might have been receptive to that message.” Still, Hogan said, the election was neither a total repudiation of Trump or an embrace of Democrats. “It wasn’t a rejection of the Republican Party,” he said. “It was not an acceptance of the far-left.” Republicans disagree on how deeply Trump has changed the party. In their most hopeful assessment, they argued that his influence was most noticeable in matters of style and tone, and that was not permanent. Dwindling are the days, some said, of Republican candidates bringing cardboard cutouts of Trump to campaign events, cursing in their ads and competing for the honor to claim they first embodied his belligerent style as someone who was “Trump before Trump.” “We’ve got to figure out again how to be happy warriors like Reagan,” said Scott Walker, the former governor of Wisconsin who lost his seat in the Democratic rebound of 2018. He is now chief executive of Young America’s Foundation, where he is focused on college students, a group that has recoiled from the Republican Party under Trump. Republicans, he said, need to do a better job of settling on a message that is more inclusive and begins “with the premise that even those you disagree can be inherently good.”

Trump lost the race. But Republicans know it's still his party.

Tensions between the world's two largest economies have intensified over the past year, shaking up technology supply chains and trade relations, and stoking fears that a financial war between the two countries could be brewing.

US Election 2020: What is in store for China-U.S relation?

The United States has a long history of peaceful transfers of power that is likely to continue despite President Donald Trump's attacks on the legitimacy of the election result, national security experts said.

Here is what to expect in the weeks and months to come.

DOES TRUMP FACE A DEADLINE TO LEAVE OFFICE?

Yes. The US&nbsp;presidential election is not formally over. Electors - party loyalists who typically pledge to support the candidate who gets the most votes in their state - will convene on Dec. 14 to formally cast their votes. The newly seated Congress accepts the results from the Electoral College on Jan. 6. If Biden wins the Electoral College vote, as expected, he will be sworn in at noon on Jan. 20 — a date set in the Constitution.

CAN BIDEN TRANSITION INTO POWER OVER TRUMP'S OBJECTIONS?

Yes. Trump has only so much power to slow Biden's transition.

A law called the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 makes career civil servants vital to the transfer of power. They face deadlines for providing data and access to incoming officials.

Under the law, the transition process will shift into high gear once a federal agency called the US&nbsp;General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal buildings, names an apparent winner of the election. At that point, the incoming president's team can obtain briefing books, tap into funds, and send representatives to visit government agencies.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russian-president-putin-is-waiting-for-official-results-before-congratulating-joe-biden-341889" hreflang="en">Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden</a>

On Sunday, experts in transitions sent a letter to the GSA's administrator, Emily Murphy, urging her to recognize Biden as the winner.

"While there will be legal disputes requiring adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin," the letter from the Center for Presidential Transition said.

The GSA said in a statement on Saturday it "ascertains the apparent successful candidate once a winner is clear based on the process laid out in the Constitution."

Political scientists told Reuters they are optimistic about the resilience of this legal framework.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-us-president-elect-joe-biden-set-to-convene-covid-19-task-force-341911" hreflang="en">As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force</a>

Despite the animosity between Trump and Biden on the campaign trail, the Trump administration earlier this year complied with statutory requirements for providing federal office space and government resources to the Biden campaign.

Government officials take an oath to uphold the US&nbsp;Constitution. This oath would require recognizing Biden as the incoming president if he wins the Electoral College, regardless of what Trump says, said Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law at the University of Texas.

"I find it very hard to believe the military, the Secret Service, the FBI, or any other relevant part of the bureaucracy would go along with Trump if the Electoral College or a court says otherwise," said Chesney.

WOULD THE MILITARY KICK TRUMP OUT IF HE REFUSES TO LEAVE?

Two US&nbsp;army veterans raised the possibility of the military forcefully removing Trump in an "open letter" to the top US&nbsp;general, Mark Milley, in August.

"If Donald Trump refuses to leave office at the expiration of his constitutional term, the United States military must remove him by force, and you must give that order," stated the letter, published in Defense One and written by John Nagl, a retired Army officer, and Paul Yingling, a retired US&nbsp;Army lieutenant colonel.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kansas-democrat-who-admitted-to-revenge-porn-wins-state-house-seat-341910" hreflang="en">Kansas Democrat who admitted to revenge porn wins state house seat</a>

But others have said such a move would be better left to the US&nbsp;Secret Service, citing a bedrock US&nbsp;legal principle that military personnel should stay out of domestic law enforcement matters.

"We have constitutional processes for dealing with this, and the military is nowhere in that equation," said Kori Schake, a director of foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute.

If Trump truly refused to leave the White House, on Jan. 20 he would become a "trespasser," Chesney said.

"The Secret Service would come and escort him out," he said.

The United States has a long history of peaceful transfers of power that is likely to continue despite President Donald Trump's attacks on the legitimacy of the election result, national security experts said.

The United States has a long history of peaceful transfers of power that is likely to continue despite President Donald Trump's attacks on the legitimacy of the election result, national security experts said. Here is what to expect in the weeks and months to come. DOES TRUMP FACE A DEADLINE TO LEAVE OFFICE? Yes. The US presidential election is not formally over. Electors - party loyalists who typically pledge to support the candidate who gets the most votes in their state - will convene on Dec. 14 to formally cast their votes. The newly seated Congress accepts the results from the Electoral College on Jan. 6. If Biden wins the Electoral College vote, as expected, he will be sworn in at noon on Jan. 20 — a date set in the Constitution. CAN BIDEN TRANSITION INTO POWER OVER TRUMP'S OBJECTIONS? Yes. Trump has only so much power to slow Biden's transition. A law called the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 makes career civil servants vital to the transfer of power. They face deadlines for providing data and access to incoming officials. Under the law, the transition process will shift into high gear once a federal agency called the US General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal buildings, names an apparent winner of the election. At that point, the incoming president's team can obtain briefing books, tap into funds, and send representatives to visit government agencies. Also read: Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden On Sunday, experts in transitions sent a letter to the GSA's administrator, Emily Murphy, urging her to recognize Biden as the winner. "While there will be legal disputes requiring adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin," the letter from the Center for Presidential Transition said. The GSA said in a statement on Saturday it "ascertains the apparent successful candidate once a winner is clear based on the process laid out in the Constitution." Political scientists told Reuters they are optimistic about the resilience of this legal framework. Also read: As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force Despite the animosity between Trump and Biden on the campaign trail, the Trump administration earlier this year complied with statutory requirements for providing federal office space and government resources to the Biden campaign. Government officials take an oath to uphold the US Constitution. This oath would require recognizing Biden as the incoming president if he wins the Electoral College, regardless of what Trump says, said Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law at the University of Texas. "I find it very hard to believe the military, the Secret Service, the FBI, or any other relevant part of the bureaucracy would go along with Trump if the Electoral College or a court says otherwise," said Chesney. WOULD THE MILITARY KICK TRUMP OUT IF HE REFUSES TO LEAVE? Two US army veterans raised the possibility of the military forcefully removing Trump in an "open letter" to the top US general, Mark Milley, in August. "If Donald Trump refuses to leave office at the expiration of his constitutional term, the United States military must remove him by force, and you must give that order," stated the letter, published in Defense One and written by John Nagl, a retired Army officer, and Paul Yingling, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel. Also read: Kansas Democrat who admitted to revenge porn wins state house seat But others have said such a move would be better left to the US Secret Service, citing a bedrock US legal principle that military personnel should stay out of domestic law enforcement matters. "We have constitutional processes for dealing with this, and the military is nowhere in that equation," said Kori Schake, a director of foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute. If Trump truly refused to leave the White House, on Jan. 20 he would become a "trespasser," Chesney said. "The Secret Service would come and escort him out," he said.

US election 2020: How and when will incumbent President Donald Trump leave office?

Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser Jared Kushner has reportedly advised him to concede the election after Trump's assertion in a statement from his campaign that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” and that the race is “far from over."

After the declaration on Saturday that Democrat Joe Biden had won the race for the White House, Republican President Donald Trump and his allies made one thing clear: he does not plan to concede anytime soon.

Kushner has approached the President about conceding the election, CNN quoted two unidentified sources as saying.

Kushner has told others that he has urged the president to accept the outcome of the race — even if Trump won't come to terms with how it was reached.

"I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands," Trump said in the statement, which states that the campaign’s legal battle will begin Monday. 
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
Biden-Kamala Harris deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said that there has been no communication between Biden and Trump, or between any representatives from either campaign, since the race was called earlier in the day after the 77-year-old former US vice president crossed the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the race for the White House. 
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
Trump, 74, who was at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday when the race was called, has not denied the outcome of the election, privately at least, CNN, quoted sources as saying. 
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
But Trump was continuing to push his attorneys to pursue legal challenges that would delay formal certification of the results of the 2020 presidential polls.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who recently tested positive for coronavirus, discussed next steps with the legal team on Saturday, CNN added.

Biden, in his victory speech on Saturday night, did not mention Trump, a Republican, by name. 
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
Biden said he was humbled by the trust America had placed in him and reached out to those Americans who did not vote for him. 
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
"I understand the disappointment tonight. I've lost a couple of times myself. But now, let's give each other a chance," he said, adding later in his remarks, "This is the time to heal in America." 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 
Biden claimed that he would be a president that would lead the entire nation, regardless of political party.

“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify — who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States,” Biden said. 
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
The former vice president noted in his remarks that it is time both sides "listen to each other again."

"It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies. They are Americans," Biden said.

(With inputs from agencies)

Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser Jared Kushner has reportedly advised him to concede the election after Trump's assertion in a statement from his campaign that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” and that the race is “far from over.

Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser Jared Kushner has reportedly advised him to concede the election after Trump's assertion in a statement from his campaign that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” and that the race is “far from over." After the declaration on Saturday that Democrat Joe Biden had won the race for the White House, Republican President Donald Trump and his allies made one thing clear: he does not plan to concede anytime soon. Kushner has approached the President about conceding the election, CNN quoted two unidentified sources as saying. Kushner has told others that he has urged the president to accept the outcome of the race — even if Trump won't come to terms with how it was reached. "I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands," Trump said in the statement, which states that the campaign’s legal battle will begin Monday. Biden-Kamala Harris deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said that there has been no communication between Biden and Trump, or between any representatives from either campaign, since the race was called earlier in the day after the 77-year-old former US vice president crossed the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the race for the White House. Trump, 74, who was at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday when the race was called, has not denied the outcome of the election, privately at least, CNN, quoted sources as saying. But Trump was continuing to push his attorneys to pursue legal challenges that would delay formal certification of the results of the 2020 presidential polls. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who recently tested positive for coronavirus, discussed next steps with the legal team on Saturday, CNN added. Biden, in his victory speech on Saturday night, did not mention Trump, a Republican, by name. Biden said he was humbled by the trust America had placed in him and reached out to those Americans who did not vote for him. "I understand the disappointment tonight. I've lost a couple of times myself. But now, let's give each other a chance," he said, adding later in his remarks, "This is the time to heal in America." Biden claimed that he would be a president that would lead the entire nation, regardless of political party. “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify — who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States,” Biden said. The former vice president noted in his remarks that it is time both sides "listen to each other again." "It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies. They are Americans," Biden said. (With inputs from agencies)

Son-in-law Jared Kushner urges Donald Trump to concede the election, report says

After US media declared Joe Biden the winner of US Presidential Election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to "compensate for its previous mistakes". 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-vows-to-unite-america-in-first-address-as-us-president-elect-341540">Also read | Biden vows to unite America in first address as US president-elect</a> 
 
"Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments," Rouhani said, in a statement on his official website. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/slated-to-be-first-woman-us-vice-president-harris-vows-will-not-be-the-last-341555">Also read |&nbsp;Slated to be first woman US vice-president, Harris vows 'will not be the last'</a>

Under President Donald Trump, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated, reaching fever-pitch earlier this year. One of Trump's signature foreign policy moves was unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal in 2018, which had seen Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

This US "administration's harmful and wrong policy for the past three years was not only condemned by people all around the world but was also opposed by the people of (the US) in the recent election," Rouhani said.

He added that the Iranian people's "heroic resistance against the imposed economic war" by the Trump administration "proved that America's maximum pressure policy is doomed to fail." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/kamala-harris-once-asked-aunt-in-india-to-break-coconuts-for-her-good-luck-at-hindu-temple-321157">Also read |&nbsp;Kamala Harris once asked aunt in India to break coconuts for her good luck at Hindu temple</a>

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the US election result would have "no effect" on Tehran's policies towards Washington.

Biden has said during his campaign that he plans to embark on a "credible path to return to diplomacy" with Iran, and raised the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama.

Earlier, major US news networks declared Biden as the winner of the November 3 presidential election after he crossed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure victory.

The news of Biden's win led to celebrations in major cities across the US, including outside the White House in Washington DC.

(With inputs from agencies)

After US media declared Joe Biden the winner of US Presidential Election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to "compensate for its previous mistakes".

After US media declared Joe Biden the winner of US Presidential Election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to "compensate for its previous mistakes". Also read | Biden vows to unite America in first address as US president-elect "Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments," Rouhani said, in a statement on his official website. Also read | Slated to be first woman US vice-president, Harris vows 'will not be the last' Under President Donald Trump, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated, reaching fever-pitch earlier this year. One of Trump's signature foreign policy moves was unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal in 2018, which had seen Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. This US "administration's harmful and wrong policy for the past three years was not only condemned by people all around the world but was also opposed by the people of (the US) in the recent election," Rouhani said. He added that the Iranian people's "heroic resistance against the imposed economic war" by the Trump administration "proved that America's maximum pressure policy is doomed to fail." Also read | Kamala Harris once asked aunt in India to break coconuts for her good luck at Hindu temple Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the US election result would have "no effect" on Tehran's policies towards Washington. Biden has said during his campaign that he plans to embark on a "credible path to return to diplomacy" with Iran, and raised the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama. Earlier, major US news networks declared Biden as the winner of the November 3 presidential election after he crossed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure victory. The news of Biden's win led to celebrations in major cities across the US, including outside the White House in Washington DC. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Opportunity to compensate for previous mistakes’: Rouhani calls on Biden to return to nuclear deal

Joe Biden was announced as the upcoming President of the United States two days ago, as projections from all major American networks announced him as the winner in US election 2020, defeating Donald Trump

Even as wishes poured in from across the globe - ranging from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Macron, many leaders are playing it safe.

According to Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia on Monday claimed that he was waiting for the official results, to be released in January, before moving forward with congratulating either sides.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/after-jared-melania-advises-donald-trump-to-accept-us-election-2020-results-341813" hreflang="en">After Jared, Melania advises Donald Trump to accept US election 2020 results</a>

A Kremlin spokesperson added that Putin respects “the choice of the American people”.

"We consider it correct to wait for the official results to be finalised. I want to remind you that President Putin repeatedly said he will respect the choice of the American people," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Joe Biden, the US President-elect took a lead over Donald Trump in the vote count, prompting leaders across the world to congratulate him as his Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/donald-trump-continues-to-say-that-us-election-2020-was-stolen-341737" hreflang="en">Donald Trump continues to say that US Election 2020 was 'stolen'</a>

In 2016, after Trump’s victory, Putin has congratulated him within the hour of confirmation.

According to Peskov, the 2020 election is peculiar owing to the legal options Donald Trump is planning to take against the projected results. He has also refused to concede.&nbsp;

"The difference is quite obvious... then there were no announcements of legal challenges," Peskov added.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/us-election-2020-wishes-pour-in-as-joe-biden-wins-presidency-341486" hreflang="en">US election 2020: Wishes pour in as Joe Biden wins presidency</a>

"We hope that with the next president of the United States it will be possible to re-establish a dialogue and together agree on ways to normalise our bilateral relations," he said.

During the 2016 elections, Russia was accused of interfering in order to elect Donald Trump.

Joe Biden was announced as the upcoming President of the United States two days ago, as projections from all major American networks announced him as the winner in US election 2020, defeating Donald Trump Even as wishes poured in from across the globe - ranging from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Macron, many leaders are playing it safe.

Joe Biden was announced as the upcoming President of the United States two days ago, as projections from all major American networks announced him as the winner in US election 2020, defeating Donald Trump Even as wishes poured in from across the globe - ranging from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Macron, many leaders are playing it safe. According to Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia on Monday claimed that he was waiting for the official results, to be released in January, before moving forward with congratulating either sides. Also read: After Jared, Melania advises Donald Trump to accept US election 2020 results A Kremlin spokesperson added that Putin respects “the choice of the American people”. "We consider it correct to wait for the official results to be finalised. I want to remind you that President Putin repeatedly said he will respect the choice of the American people," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Joe Biden, the US President-elect took a lead over Donald Trump in the vote count, prompting leaders across the world to congratulate him as his Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Also read: Donald Trump continues to say that US Election 2020 was 'stolen' In 2016, after Trump’s victory, Putin has congratulated him within the hour of confirmation. According to Peskov, the 2020 election is peculiar owing to the legal options Donald Trump is planning to take against the projected results. He has also refused to concede. "The difference is quite obvious... then there were no announcements of legal challenges," Peskov added. Also read: US election 2020: Wishes pour in as Joe Biden wins presidency "We hope that with the next president of the United States it will be possible to re-establish a dialogue and together agree on ways to normalise our bilateral relations," he said. During the 2016 elections, Russia was accused of interfering in order to elect Donald Trump.

Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden

Will Joe Biden be good or bad for Brexit Britain? Might Washington now favour France and Germany? But What does Joe Biden's win mean for Brexit?

US election 2020: What does Joe Biden's win mean for Brexit?

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden campaigned on the most ambitious climate platform of any presidential candidate in history, promising to spend $2 trillion over four years to draw down planet-warming fossil fuel emissions and convert much of the nation to clean energy.

The possibility that the Senate could remain under the control of Republicans, who have generally opposed climate legislation, puts a damper on some of his biggest-ticket plans. But with or without Democratic control of the Senate, the first 100 days of the Biden administration are likely to see a flurry of executive actions addressing climate change, as well as a major push to insert clean energy provisions into legislation that could pass with a bipartisan coalition.

Here are nine things Biden may do early on to put the United States back on a path to addressing climate change.

1. Rejoin the Paris Agreement

Biden has pledged throughout the campaign, and again this past week, that on the day he takes office he will recommit the United States to the global agreement on climate change. That would only require a letter to the United Nations and would take effect 30 days later.

2. Convene global leaders

Biden has said he intends to assemble a “climate world summit” to press leaders of the big industrial nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions more aggressively.

3. Reverse energy rollbacks

Expect the Biden administration to immediately rescind a large number of President Donald Trump’s executive orders on energy, particularly a March 2017 order calling on every federal agency to dismantle their climate policies. Several experts said he is likely to replace it with one declaring his administration’s intention to cut greenhouse gases and instructing all government agencies to look for ways to do so.

4. Make climate part of coronavirus relief

The Biden administration will very likely push to include clean energy provisions in any new economic stimulus measures Congress considers. That could include things like research and development funding for clean energy, money for states to continue their renewable energy expansion, and an extension of tax credits for renewable energy industries.

5. Sign executive orders to cut emissions

Developing and finalizing new regulations will take time, and, if challenged, they may ultimately be struck down by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. But Biden has indicated that, early in his administration, he will sign executive orders instructing agencies to develop new methane limits for oil and gas wells, to reinstate and strengthen fuel economy standards, and to tighten efficiency standards for appliances and buildings.

6. Create new financial regulations

Biden has also said he will, on the first day of his administration, sign an executive order requiring public companies to disclose climate change-related financial risks and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations.

7. Revise rules on fossil fuel production

Biden is expected to cancel a 2017 executive order to lift restrictions on offshore energy exploration and production. He also could stop the Trump administration’s expedited reviews of pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.

8. Prioritize environmental justice

Biden has made addressing the effects of pollution and global warming in low-income communities a central element of his climate plan. In the near term, a Biden administration could create an environmental justice advisory board to coordinate policies across agencies and take concrete steps like increasing pollution monitoring in vulnerable communities and creating mapping tools to better understand disparities.

9. Restore wildlife areas

Biden has pledged to take “immediate steps to reverse the Trump assault on America’s national treasures” including major cuts in 2017 to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as opening parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Biden has said on the first day of his administration he will sign an executive order to conserve 30% of U.S. land and waters by 2030.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden campaigned on the most ambitious climate platform of any presidential candidate in history, promising to spend $2 trillion over four years to draw down planet-warming fossil fuel emissions and convert much of the nation to clean energy.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden campaigned on the most ambitious climate platform of any presidential candidate in history, promising to spend $2 trillion over four years to draw down planet-warming fossil fuel emissions and convert much of the nation to clean energy. The possibility that the Senate could remain under the control of Republicans, who have generally opposed climate legislation, puts a damper on some of his biggest-ticket plans. But with or without Democratic control of the Senate, the first 100 days of the Biden administration are likely to see a flurry of executive actions addressing climate change, as well as a major push to insert clean energy provisions into legislation that could pass with a bipartisan coalition. Here are nine things Biden may do early on to put the United States back on a path to addressing climate change. 1. Rejoin the Paris Agreement Biden has pledged throughout the campaign, and again this past week, that on the day he takes office he will recommit the United States to the global agreement on climate change. That would only require a letter to the United Nations and would take effect 30 days later. 2. Convene global leaders Biden has said he intends to assemble a “climate world summit” to press leaders of the big industrial nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions more aggressively. 3. Reverse energy rollbacks Expect the Biden administration to immediately rescind a large number of President Donald Trump’s executive orders on energy, particularly a March 2017 order calling on every federal agency to dismantle their climate policies. Several experts said he is likely to replace it with one declaring his administration’s intention to cut greenhouse gases and instructing all government agencies to look for ways to do so. 4. Make climate part of coronavirus relief The Biden administration will very likely push to include clean energy provisions in any new economic stimulus measures Congress considers. That could include things like research and development funding for clean energy, money for states to continue their renewable energy expansion, and an extension of tax credits for renewable energy industries. 5. Sign executive orders to cut emissions Developing and finalizing new regulations will take time, and, if challenged, they may ultimately be struck down by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. But Biden has indicated that, early in his administration, he will sign executive orders instructing agencies to develop new methane limits for oil and gas wells, to reinstate and strengthen fuel economy standards, and to tighten efficiency standards for appliances and buildings. 6. Create new financial regulations Biden has also said he will, on the first day of his administration, sign an executive order requiring public companies to disclose climate change-related financial risks and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations. 7. Revise rules on fossil fuel production Biden is expected to cancel a 2017 executive order to lift restrictions on offshore energy exploration and production. He also could stop the Trump administration’s expedited reviews of pipelines and other fossil fuel projects. 8. Prioritize environmental justice Biden has made addressing the effects of pollution and global warming in low-income communities a central element of his climate plan. In the near term, a Biden administration could create an environmental justice advisory board to coordinate policies across agencies and take concrete steps like increasing pollution monitoring in vulnerable communities and creating mapping tools to better understand disparities. 9. Restore wildlife areas Biden has pledged to take “immediate steps to reverse the Trump assault on America’s national treasures” including major cuts in 2017 to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as opening parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Biden has said on the first day of his administration he will sign an executive order to conserve 30% of U.S. land and waters by 2030.

Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment

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