US Election 2020 LIVE: Black leaders greet Biden win, pledge to push for equality

20:00 November 08

Johnson denies his Trump ties weaken UK-US bond under Biden

Britain and the United States will work together to support democracy and combat climate change, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday, as he denied that his close ties to President Donald Trump would hurt U.K.-U.S relations once President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Johnson, who has yet to speak to the president-elect, said the two countries’ “common global perspective” would be vital to shore up a rules-based global order that is under threat.

“The United States is our closest and most important ally,” said Johnson. “And that’s been the case under president after president, prime minister after prime minister. It won't change."

20:00 November 08

"The United States is our closest and most important ally": UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tells The Associated Press that his ties to Donald Trump won't get in the way of a close working relationship with Joe Biden's administration.

17:57 November 08

When Biden spoke of distant relatives living in Mumbai

When US President-elect Joe Biden was in India''s financial capital in 2013, he had told an audience that his distant relatives live in Mumbai. Biden reiterated his claim two years later at an event in Washington, saying there are five Bidens living in Mumbai.

With the 77-year-old Democrat set to take oath as the 46th US President in just over two months, nobody in Mumbai has so far turned up to claim that he is Biden''s relative.

Decades after he received a letter from someone by the last name of Biden from Mumbai, soon after becoming a senator, Biden learned that his "great, great, great, great, great grandfather" had worked in the East India Company.

"There are five Bidens in Mumbai, India," Biden, then Vice President, told a Washington audience in 2015 at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of India-US civil nuclear deal.

17:33 November 08

Jerusalem municipality offers Donald Trump 'new employment options'

With Donald Trump on his way out of the White House, Jerusalem Municipality has urged him "not to worry" as it may have a number of open positions that he could be eligible to apply for, a media report here said.

"For the attention of the follower Donald J. Trump - you don't need to worry! Our new Jerusalem job board is updated with worthwhile offerings every day, and will make Jeruz great again. (In fact it always has been)," the municipality's Facebook page said, attaching a link to the job board.

The post was however quickly removed from the Municipality's Facebook page, according to media reports. 

17:20 November 08

India Inc looks forward to enhanced Indo-US ties as Biden wins

India Inc on Sunday hailed the victory of Joe Biden in the US Presidential election, while hoping for enhanced ties and cooperation between India and the United States, especially in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Congratulating President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, CII President Uday Kotak said, "with rising trade and investment ties between the two countries, the health of our economies are inextricably linked and we must work together during this critical time to reinvigorate the bilateral economic agenda - facilitating economic growth, enhancing job creation, supporting small business and enabling cooperation in the investment-related movement of professionals."

With the election of Biden as President and Harris as Vice President, he said, "we are looking forward to engaging with the administration's leadership to promote post-pandemic economic stability, business collaboration, our shared democratic values and increased people-to-people ties that have defined the special India-US relationship."

Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood said, "under the Biden-Harris leadership, the Indo-US economic ties would go from strength to strength, getting deeper into areas of advanced scientific research and development, business to business cooperation in strategic areas."

He expressed confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden would chalk out great cooperation in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

"The vaccine development, manufacture and distribution would require immense global cooperation: India and the US would surely be leading such cooperation," Sood said, while also applauding Harris'' feat of becoming the first woman Vice-President of the US, saying: "You have been so gracious in hailing your Indian roots and values".

17:11 November 08

Modi-Biden will take Indo-US relationship to next level: BJP

Congratulating US President-elect Joe Biden on his poll victory, BJP leaders on Sunday said Indo-US relations are based on the principles of democracy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden will take the ties forward to the next level.

BJP leader Ram Madhav said the people of America have made their choice and now it is for the rest of the world to welcome their decision and congratulate their leadership.

"The US and India stand on a strong bipartisan bilateral relationship based on the principles of democracy, mutual benefits and global peace. I am sure under the new leadership of Biden-Harris, US-India ties will continue to progress as strong as they have been," he told media. 

17:02 November 08

Iran's president calls on Biden to return to nuclear deal

Iran's president called on President-elect Joe Biden to “compensate for past mistakes” and return the US to Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, a state-run news agency reported on Sunday. Hassan Rouhani's comments mark the highest-level response from Iran to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris clinching the November 3 election.

17:02 November 08

Biden recites deceased son's favourite Catholic hymn in victory speech

US President-elect Joe Biden concluded his victory speech by reciting his deceased son Beau's favourite popular Catholic hymn "On Eagles' Wings", hoping that the carol will give comfort to many Americans grieving the loss of their loved ones due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden, 77, who is a practising Catholic, said the hymn has inspired him through the final days of his election campaign.

17:01 November 08

America is a ''beacon for the globe'': Biden

 President-elect Joe Biden has said that America is a "beacon for the globe" and that efforts must be made to "restore the soul" of the country.

"Tonight the whole world is watching America, and I believe that at our best, America is a beacon for the globe. We will lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example," Biden said while addressing the nation for the first time as president-elect.

"We must restore the soul of America," Biden said late on Saturday while celebrating his electoral victory along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

16:54 November 08

Black leaders greet Biden win, pledge to push for equality

President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was celebrated by civil rights activists and Black leaders who warned that a tough road lies ahead to address America’s persistent inequalities and the racial division that Donald Trump fueled during his presidency.

Biden will take office in January as the nation confronts a series of crises that have taken a disproportionate toll on Black Americans and people of color, including the pandemic and resulting job losses. Many cities saw protests against racial injustice during a summer of unrest.

16:50 November 08

From Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., to a pro-Trump rally in Atlanta, to the hometown of Kamala Harris in Oakland, California, America reacts to Joe Biden's White House win.

Jubilant crowds celebrated the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the nation’s next president and vice president Saturday, honking horns, cheering and dancing in the streets across the country.

Supporters of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence turned out to express their disapproval and to back the president, who has not conceded and vowed a legal fight.

15:28 November 08

I'm planning to go for her swearing-in ceremony: G Balachandran, maternal uncle of Kamala Harris

"I spoke to her day before yesterday. It was family chitchat. I did not ask any political questions over the phone. I am planning to go to her swearing-in on January 20," Balachandran told media.

15:24 November 08

Iranians optimistic about Biden as US President

Iranians welcomed the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States on Sunday, expressing hope for the future of their country, which has in recent years been battered by the most severe sanctions in its history.

The results of the US  election quickly made a positive impact on the currency market, with Iranian rial being sold at 247,000 for a single US dollar on Sunday, remarkably down from about 310,000 rials before the vote.

One Tehran resident compared Biden's election to the 1987 UN security council resolution 598 that ended the eight-year-long war between Iran and Iraq, and led to hope towards future in the country.

However, citizens said the short-term effects are slight, and it depends on how the country's officials would deal with Biden.

15:24 November 08

Jared Kushner has approached Trump about conceding the election: Reports

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached the President about conceding the closely-fought election to his Democratic rival Joe Biden, according to media reports on Sunday. Kushner has told others that he has urged the president to accept the outcome of the race.

The move comes following Trump's assertion in a statement from his campaign -- after major US media outlets projected that President-elect Biden will become the 46th president of the United States -- that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” and that the race is “far from over."

15:12 November 08

Lawmakers and climate advocates from around the globe have lined up to work eagerly with US President-elect Joe Biden to move quickly to implement green recovery policies that will accelerate the shift to a cleaner and safer world for all.

15:00 November 08

When Joe Biden visited IIT

Way back on July 25, 2013, the then US Vice-President JoeBiden --now the US President-elect -- had visited the hallowed portals of the famed Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), and the memories of that trip are still fresh among officials here

09:59 November 08

Empire State Building shines red, white and blue

New York's iconic Empire State Building lit up in red, white and blue. 

The landmark's Twitter account said the lights took "the American flag to the sky... in honor of the 2020 Presidential decision".

08:51 November 08

Kamala Harris delivered her first speech as US vice president-elect on Saturday night in an all-white suit, paying homage to suffragettes of the 20th century who worked to get women the right to vote in the United States.

Harris pays tribute to Black women in first speech as VP-elect

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday paid tribute to the women, particularly Black women, whose shoulders she stands on as she shatters barriers that have kept mostly white men entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries.

"Tonight I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been," Harris said, wearing a white suit in tribute to women's suffrage. She called it a testament to President-elect Joe Biden's character that "he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exist in our country, and select a woman and his vice president."

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” Harris said in her first post-election address to the nation.

The 56-year-old California senator, also the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, represents the multiculturalism that defines America but is largely absent from Washington's power centers. Her Black identity has allowed her to speak in personal terms in a year of reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism. As the highest-ranking woman ever elected in American government, her victory gives hope to women who were devastated by Hillary Clinton's defeat four years ago.

Harris told little children to "dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they're never seen it before." After Biden's speech, she was joined on stage by her family, including her two grandnieces who wore white dresses.

07:48 November 08

Crowds on the streets in DC, NY and Philadelphia

Supporters of US President-elect Joe Biden poured onto the streets on Saturday in cities across the country to celebrate his victory in the presidential election.

News of Biden’s victory set off celebrations in Philadephia, New York and Washingtion DC as jubilant supporters threw street parties, danced and honked their car horns to celebrate his election and that of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who makes history as the first Black woman elected to the second-highest office in the United States.

07:47 November 08

Crowds in DC react as they watch Harris speak

Crowds gathered on Washington DC's 16th street on Saturday to celebrate the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

They set off fireworks and watched Biden's Vice-President elect Kamala Harris deliver her victory speech.

07:41 November 08

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris were joined on stage following their speeches in Wilmington, Delaware, tonight by their families.

Biden to unveil COVID-19 panel Monday

Joe Biden will unveil a group of scientists and experts to help him craft a plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic on Monday.

Biden announced his plans to launch the COVID-19 task force during remarks at his victory party Saturday night. He said those advisers would help him take the proposals he’s released during the campaign for dealing with the pandemic — which includes investments in personal protective equipment and loans for small businesses as well as plans to implement more standardized public health guidelines — and turn those proposals into a “blueprint” that he’ll enact when inaugurated president next January.

Biden said the plan would be “built on bedrock science” and “constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern.” Biden made President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic a central focus of his campaign and pledged that his top priority as president would be managing the virus.

Biden said that “our work begins with getting COVID under control”, adding Americans “cannot repair the economy, restore our economy or relish life’s most precious moments” without doing so.

07:25 November 08

Biden pledges to be a president who seeks unity

Delivering his first remarks as president-elect at a victory party in Wilmington, after he was officially declared the winner of the presidential election on Saturday, Joe Biden pledged to be a president “who seeks not to divide but to unify.”

Biden jogged onto the stage wearing a black suit, black mask and light blue tie. He pointed and waved at the screaming crowd gathered to hear him speak.

Echoing his campaign stump speech, Biden promised to be a president who “doesn’t see red states or blue states, only sees the United States,” and said he would work “with all my heart” to win the confidence of all Americans.

"I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify; who doesn't see red states and blue states, only sees the United States," Biden said in his victory speech on Saturday night.

"This is the time to heal in America," he said.

In his first remarks as President-elect, Biden said, "I am humbled by the trust and confidence you've placed in me."

"I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class and to make America respected around the world again, and to unite us here at home," the 77-year-old Democrat leader told the gathering amid applause and cheers from the audience. 

07:11 November 08

VP-elect Kamala Harris tells supporters that voters have 'ushered in a new day for America'

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris says voters have “ushered in a new day for America.”

Harris is speaking Saturday in her first address to the nation since she and Joe Biden were declared the winners of the presidential election.

Harris says voters chose hope, unity, decency, science and truth in choosing she and Biden over President Donald Trump.

Harris, the first woman to be elected vice president, wore a white pantsuit in tribute to women’s suffrage. She also opened her remarks with a tribute to the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights icon, who said democracy is not a state but an act. Harris will also be the first Black woman to serve as vice president.

Hundreds of cars filled the parking lot outside the Wilmington convention center in Delaware for a drive-in rally to celebrate Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race.

With temperatures mild Saturday night, more than 1,000 people sat on the roofs of their cars or milled around in small groups nearby, many cheering and waving American flags or Biden campaign signs. The smell of grilling meat hung in the air not unlike a football tailgate, and some of the attendees danced and sang, sweating through facemasks that appeared to be nearly universally worn.

The campaign set up cranes with towering American flags, an American-flag lined stage and projected a 10-story tall Biden-Harris logo over a digital American flag on the side of a hotel beside the convention center. Blue and red lights illuminated state flags perched on the roof of another nearby building.

06:34 November 08

US Election 2020 LIVE: Kamala Harris tells supporters that voters have 'ushered in a new day for America'

Washington:Joe Biden, who triumphed over incumbent US President Donald Trump in a divisive, bitter and closely-fought presidential election, appealed to fellow Americans on Saturday that it is time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind and come together as a nation.

The 77-year-old Democrat, who became the oldest man ever to be elected to the White House, will be the 46th president of the United States, after securing a major victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

Biden will win Nevada, picking up another state after winning the presidency. There are six electoral votes at stake in Nevada. This brings Biden's current electoral vote total to 279, CNN reported.

"I am honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris," Biden said in his first statement after America's major news outlets declared him the winner of the November 3 elections, thus making him the President-elect.

"In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America," he said.

"With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It's time for America to unite. And to heal," Biden said.

"We are the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do if we do it together," said the President-elect.

Before becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama. He is also Delaware's longest-serving senator.

Senator Kamala Harris, 56, who is of Indian origin, has become the first-ever woman vice president-elect of the United States. She would also be the country's first Indian-origin, first Black and first African American vice president of the country.

Biden and Harris would be sworn in as the President and Vice President of the country on January 20.

"America, I'm honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans - whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me," Biden said in a tweet after the US media projected him as the winner of the November 3 election.

"This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It's about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let's get started," tweeted Vice President-elect Harris.

Biden ran twice unsuccessfully for president - in 1988 and 2008.

Trump, a Republican, was playing golf in Virginia when major media outlets called the race. He is now the first incumbent president to lose reelection bid after George H W Bush in 1992.

Trump, 74, was in no mood to concede the race and declared himself as the winner of the November 3 presidential election.

"I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!" tweeted Trump. His campaign has vowed not to give up and has launched several lawsuits in some battleground states.

Counting of ballots is still ongoing in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. Biden has the lead in all the four states, which according to major media outlets is unlikely to be reversed.

"Former vice president Joe Biden is projected to win Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes, according to Edison Research, putting him over the 270 needed to win the presidency," The Washington Post reported.

The call came at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday (local time), after a report of more, counted votes from Pennsylvania.

"Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, promising to restore political normalcy and a spirit of national unity to confront raging health and economic crises, and making Donald J. Trump a one-term president after four years of tumult in the White House," The New York Times said.

Biden's victory amounted to a repudiation of Trump by millions of voters exhausted with his divisive conduct and chaotic administration and was delivered by an unlikely alliance of women, people of colour, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans. 

Former US presidents Obama and Bill Clinton on Saturday congratulated Biden and Harris on their historic electoral victory.

"I could not be prouder to congratulate our next President, Joe Biden, and our next First Lady, Jill Biden. I also couldn't be prouder to congratulate Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff for Kamala's groundbreaking election as our next Vice President," Obama said in a statement.

"We're fortunate that Joe's got what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way. Because when he walks into the White House in January, he'll face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has a raging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril," Obama said.

"America has spoken, and democracy has won. Now we have a President-Elect and Vice President-Elect who will serve all of us and bring us all together. Congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on your momentous victory!," Bill Clinton said in a tweet. 

(PTI)