United States presidential election

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were named Time magazine's 2020 "Person of the Year" on Dec. 10 for their election victory over Donald Trump.

"For changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world," Time said, explaining its choice.

President-elect Joe Biden on Dec. 8 made his case for retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense, urging Congress to waive a legal prohibition against a recently serving military officer running the Pentagon.

Bilal Göregen, a visually-impaired Turkish musician who took social media by the storm after a video of him playing the Turkish darbuka while a cat "vibes" to the Finnish song "Ievan Polka" went viral, has said he wants to play for U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and congratulate him on his win.

The world passed the grim milestone of 1.5 million coronavirus deaths on Dec. 3, as several nations planned to deliver much hoped-for vaccines early next year to break the cycle of lockdowns and restrictions.

The US election results brought great relief to the friends of American democracy (and liberal democracy in general) around the world. The election of an experienced, moderate, dignified, "institutional" new president, a decent man to boot, raises hopes in Europe.

President-elect Joe Biden will have an all-female senior communications team at his White House, reflecting his stated desire to build out a diverse White House team as well as what's expected to be a return to a more traditional press operation.

Donald Trump has moved a step closer to conceding the US election after saying he will leave the White House if the Electoral College formalizes Joe Biden's victory at the polls.

But he insisted such a decision would be a "mistake," as he spent his Thanksgiving renewing baseless claims that "massive fraud" and crooked officials caused his election defeat.

Declaring "America is back," President-elect Joe Biden introduced his national security team, his first substantive offering of how he'll shift from Trump-era "America First" policies by relying on experts from the Democratic establishment to be some of his most important advisers.

Donald Trump has accepted a formal US transition should begin for President-elect Joe Biden to take office.

The president said the federal agency overseeing the handover must "do what needs to be done", even as he vowed to keep contesting his election defeat.

The General Services Administration (GSA) said it was acknowledging Mr Biden as the "apparent winner".

On Monday, the GSA told Biden they were ready to begin the transition