this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm katty kay in washington — joe biden wins the us presidential election four days after voters went to the polls across america — he sweeps he sweeps to victory with more than 7a million votes so far, the highest ever for a presidential candidate. the president—elect says he's honoured and humbled — he's urging americans to unite and put the rhetoric of the campaign behind them. i'm barbara plett usher — in delaware — where preparations are being made for the president—elect to address the nation. the new way is the biden way. mr biden‘s supporters have taken the streets in cities across the us to celebrate —

these were the scenes in new york's times square. kamala harris makes history becoming the first woman and first of colour to be elected us vice president. president trump is back at the white house after playing golf. he's claimed again — without evidence — that he won the election — his supporters say they haven't given up. there is a tremendous amount of fraud based on what we have heard and what we have learned from some reputable sources, there was no republican oversight in the counting and there is no way possible some of those numbers could have gone up in the way they did during that timeframe.

welcome to the special news coverage. joe biden has been elected the forty—sixth president of the united states. the bbc projected a few hours ago that he'd crossed the threshold of 200 and 70 electoral college votes, after winning the key state of pennsylvania. the bbc has since projected mr biden to win nevada, too. this is the scene live in wilmington, delaware, where the president elect will make a victory speech shortly. he has already urged americans to unite and put the anger and harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind them. he will become president injanuary, pending the outcome of any legal challenges. mr biden‘s supporters have come out onto the streets across the country — these are pictures from new york where people have been dancing on the streets. some supporters of president trump have also been holding protests. as for the president — he's been on the golf course — in fact that's where he was when the announcement ofjoe biden‘s projected victory was made. and after he finished

his round, he was met by a wedding party. thank you, mr president! we love you! clearly plenty of support for the president at his golf courses. when mr trump got back to the white house, he began tweeting further claims that he had won the election — again without any evidence. barbara plett usherjoins me from wilmington, delaware — wherejoe biden will make his speech in a little little under an hour. he has waited a very long time. three attempts at the presidency and here he is finally able to go up stage and claim victory as the president—elect of the united states. i imagine the mood there is electric. what is the build—up? there is electric. what is the build-up? it is. people are very excited here. they have been waiting for a week to hear the results and as you said, mr

joe biden has been waiting decades to get to this point, to previously unsuccessful attem pts to previously unsuccessful attempts before but now he has finally made it to the white house. the guest here at this drive—in speech have been invited, they are people of other work of the campaign, local officials, or volunteers and our people just outside the camera view at the fence who are waving and cheering. many of them know him well because he is such a well—known figure in delaware. i spoke to one woman and she said is been our senator for such woman and she said is been our senatorfor such a long woman and she said is been our senator for such a long time and you but put them in the store and he has brought girl scout cookies from them, it is not just that they are pleased to see mr bided the fee president trump, the air please see is a local here in delaware. the speech, katty, will be very much focus on addressing the american nation andi addressing the american nation and i think one of his main themes will be as it has been throughout the campaign actually, to try to urge unity

to have americans come together, he has said that americans can be political opponents but they shouldn't be enemies, they should work together and that he believes in america as a country and he is optimistic and that he is the one at this moment in history who can actually heal those divisions and i think that will be a big part of this message. it is one of the driving rallies that vice presidentjoe biden has been doing during the campaign. who are the people who are in attendance? locals, staffers from the campaign, can anybody turn up who wants to? yes, to the first two questions. note to the last. they are local elected officials, they are volu nteers elected officials, they are volunteers who have worked on his campaign and i spoke to one whose low level volunteer who didn't know how they manage to make the grade and another one said it was because i president trump she was even present because she had only started to get motivated to be an activist

after he was elected. others have been campaign officials locally so they've all received invitations to this event. but asi invitations to this event. but as i mentioned, there have been as i mentioned, there have been a people gathering nearbyjust to come and enjoy the moment throughout the day and the are still there honking their horns and cheering whenever they have and cheering whenever they have an opportunity and they have said to me what is the major feeling what you have a one of them said i am just proud to be an american again. another one said this will bring decency back to america, we can go overseas now and i back to america, we can go overseas now and ifeel embarrassed to be american so people who felt very strongly that president trump administration was a negative thing but as i mentioned, joe biden sees it as his mission to ove i’co m e biden sees it as his mission to overcome those kinds of negative feelings between americans about their different views of donald trump in itself and it will plead for americans to come together. we expect to

hear from senator harris, to come together. we expect to hearfrom senator harris, the vice president elect as well this evening? yes, we do. we expect she will speak before joe biden not for very long, i think it will be the first time she will is spoken publicly this week. that of course is going to be a major event as well. the first woman vice president, the first black woman, the first asian—american, a lot of first there, and a very important pa rt there, and a very important part of the ticket as you know. mrjoe biden, being an older white man, 77, not exactly the face of the democratic party as we had been seeing the face of the democratic party as they wa nt to the democratic party as they want to present themselves anyway, yung and ifirst i'm female, mixed genders, she is very important. —— young and diverse, female. the progressive wing of the party, the left—wing will see her as an ally ora the left—wing will see her as an ally or a route to try to get to the more a centrist and moderate parts of the party and

get get their agenda through andi get get their agenda through and i have to add one note on joe biden age, i spoke to an elderly woman in the crowd was ina elderly woman in the crowd was in a wheelchair, not in the invited crowd, somebody who showed up, i said how irregular she said i'm 87 to my said only ten yea rs she said i'm 87 to my said only ten years older than president to be. —— i said how old are you. the new 50 is what i'm hearing. you have been there all day, barbara. it's been fairly lonely and empty and it is not lonely and empty any more. the partiesjust gearing up. let's go to washington and speak to gary o'donoghue outside the white house. we further celebrations from the joe we further celebrations from thejoe biden we further celebrations from the joe biden campaign. we further celebrations from thejoe biden campaign. what you're hearing from president trump? what is the mood? —— they call it what they a let here two hours ago, for our viewers that means. no more news out of the white house after that point in time, no more photos, no more press

conferences, nothing. they really have set the thing down after the president returned from his game of golf. that is obviously a huge decision from them at the moment when the networks were calling in for joe biden and the president—elect to make his big speech the night. of course the president hasn't off of twitter. it's kept repeating his allegations about illegal votes without any evidence whatsoever on twitter. outside the big fences around the white house, the party has been continuing around here. you mentioned kamala harris. we saw at least one sign that says paris 202a. —— harris, 202a. never too early to start talking about the next election in american politics. one of the rules of politics in washington. i'm imagining the president can hear the crowds outside and also he is watching fox news and all the coverage ofjoe biden. what is the sense ofjoe biden. what is the sense of the mood? you have to got

around him who can talk to him about his next steps and what the protocols are going to be over the next few days? we were told inside this is a pretty sombre mood inside the west wing itself and a lot of staffers are thinking about the future because of many of them as we know with the american system will be out of a job oncejoe biden system will be out of a job once joe biden takes system will be out of a job oncejoe biden takes over as president in january. of course, what also is happening there, we forget is that there isa there, we forget is that there is a fresh outbreak of covid—i9, the chief of staff mark meadows has got it in others and there have got it we are told and as have some people in the campaign, so there is contact tracing going on as well. but not really a much apart from that coming out. you have the think that presidents proximate closes friends, family and particular will be in there advising him,

of anke trump, his son ally jared kushner, both of whom have been at his side throughout this presidency, they might be having his air if nobody else does. —— e banco trump. i think it is not worthy if you think about some of the big defenders of this president over the last four years. —— ivanka trump. some of them have been very vocal. where is mike pompeo? we don't hear anything from mike pompeo. we don't hear anything from william barr. that makes me wonder whether or not the establishment really is now starting to walk away a little bit, keep his distance, thinking that perhaps things are over. very interesting watching the media empire over the last 2a hours. you saw fox last night. effectively saying to the president, laura ingram, it to his legacy good if you left with grace. we woke up this morning to the new york post with a picture ofjoe biden on the front of it in the

wall streetjournal also with an editorial basically pointing the way out for president trump suggesting it was time for him to go. you know, gary, the convention is the loser gives a concession speech and he is followed or she is followed by the victor. that is clearly not going to happen this time around it is only a convention, it is not a constitutional part of the law. is there an inclination the president was at some point give a formal concession speech? well, we don't really know is the honest truth. one of his previous to use staff that suggested he will concede when the time is right and whether he would do that in a speech are not we simply don't know. —— previous chief of staff. it is not a style to concede anything. we've known that for the last four years. it is an important point to make because while it isa

point to make because while it is a convention, it is a really important convention the sense that it sends the signal it sends the signal to the will of the government and the state department of the treasury and the pentagon ca baye department of the treasury and the pentagon cabaye sends a signal to your supporters out the estimate and comment that you say you believe it is over. it is time to move on. and without that signal, there will bea without that signal, there will be a lot of people in this country will still feel embittered and angry, and they will believe the president proximate claims about illegal votes a nd proximate claims about illegal votes and they will without any evidence, they will go along with that. —— president's claims. that is a worrisome moment i think for america. the transition time period between presidencies is weird two months that america has between administrations is always a vulnerable time. we saw last time around president obama having to expel dozens and dozens having to expel dozens and d oze ns of having to expel dozens and dozens of russians during the transition period while he was

still president. so they can be issues, big issues, and it will be intriguing to see how this president behaved during this transition as a loser, somebody was lost the election because if there is one thing we know he doesn't like, that is being a loser. yes. gary, really something the president hates. the idea of losing. he's caught members of the military losers as well in the past. what are the most unusual presidents in the most unusual presidents in the history which is why we are still talking about him. he will carry on having a big impact on republican politics. gary, thank you very much. let's take a look at how the last few hours unfolded — here's our north america editor jon sopel. after five long and tense days of waiting, in cities that have historically voted democrat, there was an explosion of noise and an outpouring of relief.

that, one, donald trump had been defeated and that, two, joe biden had been elected and the emotions worked probably in that order. they are celebrating as though their team has just won the world cup. cloud nine, simply cloud nine. i feel cleaner. we cried four years ago, we went out on a and screamed in shame for our country and now we are screaming injoy. just listen to washington's soundtrack today. there is celebration going on after five days of tension which has now dissipated, and this will be echoed in cities across the land. and if we turn the camera around this way, there is the security fence that keeps the people away from the white house. cnn projectsjoseph r biden junior is elected the 46th president of the united states. it was just after 11 o'clock this morning when news came thatjoe biden had crossed the victory threshold

by taking pennsylvania. the agonising wait was over. kamala harris, who now makes history becoming the first woman and person of colour to be vice—president, was out for a run when she heard the news. we did it, we did itjoe. you are going to be the next president of the united states. and joe and jill biden posed for this photo, the future first lady's and planted strategically to block out the word "vice". last night, joe biden gave another holding statement, increasingly confident, as that the tide of history was glowing in his direction. we don't have a final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers tell us it is clear, it tells a clear and convincing story. we are going to win this race. but, for all thejoy in the cities, trump supporters are enraged, believing the president's claimed that the election has been stolen, that there has been abroad, that the man they have put their trust in is

being turfed out unfairly. donald trump this morning left the white house to go and play golf, something he will soon have a lot more time for. but even driving into his club, the reality of his situation was brought home to him. this has been a week where everything seems to have come up short. though ever the showman, he stopped to pose with a couple getting married. thank you, mister president. the president is determined to fight. his lawyers are fanning out across the country, but what is their case? there are allegations aplenty, but substance seems thin. the word that donald trump hates worst in the whole world is "loser" but with his departure from the white house now seemingly inevitable, it may be the word that sticks. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. 45 presidents, only ten have failed to win reelection and now donald trump is one of

them. we will be covering that live event from vice president joe biden now president—elect joe biden now president—elect joe biden, it will take place in about 45 minutes. we will ta ke full in about 45 minutes. we will take full coverage of that from wilmington delaware. stay with us wilmington delaware. stay with us for that. kirk wagar is a retired us ambassador for singapore. he and his wife are personal friends of kamala harris, who they've known for 12 years. he has also knownjoe biden for more than 25 years. he's in miami. thank you forjoining us. your reaction? first off, thank you so much for having me on. it is a great day. it is a great day for americans and a great day for americans and a great day for the world i think you and i think it is a great day for web income a great day for people of colour and a great day for really anybody who wants to get back to normal. —— a great day for women. it has been a wonderful day in my yard of music and champagne, so i hope the world is celebrating with

us. we know joe biden the world is celebrating with us. we knowjoe biden quite well. it is been on the american stage for years and yea rs. american stage for years and years. he was vice president to barack obama for eight years but a lot of americans and a lot of people around the well don't know the vice president elect senator harris, you know her well. tell us about her scapula first off, thatjust brings a smile to my face. i've been involved in politics in one form or another for probably 30 years. and kamala is one of the most down to earth regular people who i've ever seen who put our earth regular people who i've ever seen who put oui’ name earth regular people who i've ever seen who put our name in a ballot at this level. i'm very excited for the well to do no the woman that my wife and i have been very lucky to get to know, long before, we got to know, long before, we got to know her when she was district attorney irani for attorney general and we maintain the friendship with her doug and her sister and brother—in—law. we worked together on the obama campaign. her niece is a good

friend. you will find a woman who understands if the magic of american exceptionalism is the fa ct american exceptionalism is the fact that people from around the world whether they be from britain or singapore or india oi’ britain or singapore or india orjamaica, they come to the united states and makes american veterans. her parents met at berkeley, a school that icani met at berkeley, a school that i can i get into today but i hope my kids can. herfather from jamaica and her mother from jamaica and her mother from india, she is myjemerson american herself. that is the special sauce that i think makes america great. and to have somebody in that role that understands that and also knows the challenges of a woman who many times probably the only woman in many of the rooms that she had to navigate and then to bea she had to navigate and then to be a woman of colour, and of two backgrounds and get being american first, section american first, section american story that i think that she will understand what more americans feel that many

other people have been in the child. suddenly the first woman ina child. suddenly the first woman in a perspective we have long needed. i'm very excited for oui’ needed. i'm very excited for our country. you will know this as serving as the ambassador for single bar how closely the rest of the world watches american elections, this when i have to say is my fifth american election that i've covered. i have never seen an election that is captivated the rest of the world and the way this one has for the last four days, on tenterhooks really waiting for the results. —— ambassador to singapore. how do you think having joe biden who sound the foreign relations committee for 36 years in the us senate and, the harris had this multinational background of her own, how much do you think they change america's reception and standing in the world ? reception and standing in the world? —— kemal harris.|j reception and standing in the world? -- kemal harris. ithink a lot. right off of the bat. ——

kamala harris. when i was a pa rent to kamala harris. when i was a parent to go to singapore, i spent an hour and a half at the vice president at the time talking about his relationship with lee klein due in the personal relationship he had with him. and i think you have both the vice president elect in the president—elect understanding allies, don't sleep on the fact that senator harris as a senator has been on the homeland security and intelligence committee. she is one of the few elected officials in congress that actually has the highest level security clearance and has seen what is going on. they are prepared and they understand what the world is but most importantly, they believe in alliances and believe in our friends. they also understand what our competitors and frankly those who wish our country harm or democracy harm, what they have been doing, and really understand what needs to be done. it is a very good story for our friends were the

envy britain orjapan or drug oi’ envy britain orjapan or drug or canada. —— whether it be britain orjapan or australia oi’ britain orjapan or australia or canada. we are back to what we need to be. i don't know if you realise this but i'm immigrant to the united states. iam from immigrant to the united states. i am from canada. i came to this country when i was 18, very long time ago. but america leads, we can't do it alone. we need our friends and allies leads, we can't do it alone. we need ourfriends and allies in the people who share our values. but for the last four yea rs, values. but for the last four years, those folks have not felt appreciated or felt included. and that changes today. prime ministerjustin trudeau has already tweeted his congratulations as well to the pair. that is the international agenda. let's have a quick look at the domestic agenda. what do you think the number one priority needs to be, ambassador? it is without question getting this pandemic under control. all of the

things that are secondary, obviously the economy and people back to work is crucial but you cannot do that given the complete lack of interest oi’ the complete lack of interest or effort on that. we have had governors and mayors try and do their best as they have on things like the paris accord but we need a president and national leadership and finally i think we have that. ambassador, thank you very much for joining ambassador, thank you very much forjoining us this evening. glad to hear there has been champagne flowing in your house. i am waiting to have a drink after this long week myself. thank you very much for joining us. the bbc‘s ros atkins has a summary of how mr biden won this election. you need a majority in the electoral college to become president in america. a system where they compete for individual states and if you win, you get a certain amount of electoral college votes, and to become president you need 270 electoral college votes.

because of the reasonable political predictability of a lot of states in america, we knewjoe biden would take california and new york. it was the states we can't predict that really decided which way the selection went. in the hours that followed the polls closing, actually the news was better for president trump, he took florida early on, later on he took ohio and iowa, he also took texas, which the biden campaign had given some attention to. but that is really where the good news stopped for president trump. then the biden campaign got better news. there was a huge focus on the midwest. hillary clinton lost all the key states in the midwest, joe biden was to try and win them back. he took wisconsin, he took michigan, which meant that when the day started, he was on 253 electoral college votes and needed 17 more to become president. various routes either through nevada and arizona or simply through the state

where he grew up, pennsylvania. he grew up in scranton. a few hours ago, that is what happened. he took pennsylvania and that took him over 270. we are still waiting on some states, north carolina, georgia, arizona, and nevada has been projected as well, he currently stands on 279. it doesn't matter what happens in the other states, he already has enough to be the president elect. one of the things that will define his presidency is how much progress he can make with congress. let's look at both houses of congress. the senate matters more because it is a tighter political contest. the democrats have a6, add in two independents who tend to vote for them, so 48 and so the republicans, four outstanding, two of those north carolina and alaska, we expect to go in the direction of the republicans and the thing we'll focus on is to runoffs for the two on is two runoffs for the two senate seats in georgia,

they will happen injanuary and if the democrats take them, it will be 50—50. then the deciding vote goes to the vice president, and of course the vice president elect is kamala harris, a democrat. that is why there will be a huge amount of attention on georgia in the coming weeks, outside of the fact we don't know who won the state. i will quickly mention the house of representatives. less politically dramatic. the democrats controlled it before election day and they still control it now. the republicans made some gains but that will not have any impact on the fact that the democrats on the whole control the lower house, so it is the senate that is the unknown at the moment, but we know about the house, and we know who will be president as well. we'll talk about georgia and the senate races injanuary. not that far off. it has a huge impact on howjoe biden can enact his own agenda and how effectively he can govern. who is the man who is wanted to be

president for so many decades and tried three times to win the white house? here's daniela relph with a profile of the president elect. joe biden had waited a long time for his run at the white house. now 77 years old, most of it spent in politics, few could match him for experience, and none had a personal back story quite like his. his early career was overshadowed by tragedy. he was elected to the senate in 1972. six weeks later, his wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident. his two sons were badly hurt. in this extraordinary moment that mixed the personal and political, at their hospital bedside, joe biden took the oath of office and never forgot those who rescued them. a man driving a tractor trailer broadsided my wife and children and killed my wife

and killed my daughter. guys i grew up with, the people who got me elected, they were the ones there with the jaws of life in their hands, saving the life of my two sons. the personal torment almost drove him from politics. but family and influential friends persuaded him to stay. his focus became foreign affairs, tearing into ronald reagan's policy on apartheid in south africa. our loyalty is not to south africa, it is to south africans, and south africans are majority black and they are being excoriated. it is not to some stupid puppet government over there. he ran for president in 1987 but dropped out after using an extract of a speech by britain's former labour leader neil kinnock without attribution. america's intervention in the balkan wars was partly due to his pressure on bill clinton.

we're told we're not taking sides. i'm here to take sides. mladic is a war criminal, the leader of the bosnian serbs. he is no better than himmler. in 2008, he ran for the presidency again. his campaign lost steam but his popularity, blue—collar roots and foreign policy expertise impressed the eventual winner, barack obama. as a vice presidential nominee, he said goodbye to the senate after nearly a0 years. i say for the last time, with more gratitude than i can express, i yield the floor. i will bear true faith and allegiance... joe biden was a forceful voice at the heart of the administration, sceptical on sending more american troops to iraq, in favour of gay rights