The global tally of people infected by the coronavirus shot past 50 million as United States President-elect Joe Biden geared up to name the scientists who will lead the country's response to its disastrous outbreak.

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.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday congratulated Joe Biden on winning the White House, pledging to work together to ensure “peace, freedom and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region that is increasingly dominated by China.

Minutes after US media declared Democrat Joe Biden victor in the tight race for the US presidency on Saturday, President Donald Trump rejected that conclusion, saying he will prove in court that he was the winner.

US President-elect Joe Biden is planning to address the nation on Saturday night.

Kamala Harris has made history with her election as Joe Biden's vice president, becoming the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American to win the second highest US office.

US President Donald Trump has said his campaign would begin challenging US election results in court next week after media outlets called the race for Democrat Joe Biden, saying “this election is far from over.”

Democrat Joe Biden has won Pennsylvania, surpassing the 270 electoral vote threshold to take the White House and become the 46th president of the United States.

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has ordered county election boards in Pennsylvania to comply with a state directive to separate mail-in ballots received after 8:00pm on Election Day from other ballots.

The United States reported record new coronavirus cases for the third day in a row, as Joe Biden vowed to act against the pandemic on "day one" if he wins the presidential election in the world's worst-hit nation.

Joe Biden says he is already preparing to assume the presidency even though he has not been declared the winner in his race against President Donald Trump.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday urged both sides in the US election to show restraint until the results were available, adding it was irresponsible to aggravate tensions.

The US Office of Special Counsel has opened an investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign’s use of the White House as an Election Day command center violated federal law, Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell said on Thursday.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg hit back at Donald Trump on Twitter late on Thursday saying the US president should “chill” about the election, a riposte to his tweet last year mocking the teenager over what he called her anger management issues.

The US State Department gave Congress notification it plans to sell 18 sophisticated armed MQ-9B aerial drones to the United Arab Emirates in a deal worth as much as $2.9 billion, people briefed on the notification said.

Backers of President Donald Trump, some carrying guns, ramped up demonstrations on Thursday night against what he has baselessly called a rigged election, in battleground states where votes were still being counted.

A bipartisan majority of Americans do not accept Trump’s premature victory declaration in the US presidential election and most are willing to wait for all votes to be counted before deciding who won, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

It was at the same time shocking and utterly to be expected. As the nation held its collective breath and awaited the result of the 2020 presidential election, US President Donald Trump stepped to the podium in the White House on Thursday and made a full-frontal attempt to undermine the integrity of the vote, which was leaning in the direction of Democrat Joe Biden.

Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said he expects a recount due to the small margin for the presidential election in the battleground state, where Democrat Joe Biden has a small lead over President Donald Trump of just over 1,000 votes.

Some Republican lawmakers are criticising President Donald Trump’s unsupported claim that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election, saying Trump’s comments undermine the US political process and the bedrock notion that all Americans should have their vote counted.