WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Monday replaced his defense chief, Mark Esper, with less than three months left in his presidency. "I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting secretary of Defense, effectively immediately," Trump tweeted. "Chris will do...

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union pressed ahead Monday with plans to impose tariffs and other penalties on up to $4 billion worth of US goods and services over illegal American support for plane maker Boeing, but expressed hope that trade ties would improve once President Donald Trump leaves office. EU trade ministers were discussing the move on a videoconference after international arbitrator...

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong's legislature will resign "en masse" if Beijing's top law-making committee moves to disqualify four of their colleagues for violating the semi-autonomous city's Basic Law, the convener of the bloc said Monday. The threat came ahead of a meeting of one of China's top law-making bodies, with Hong Kong media reporting that it was considering d...

BUDAPEST (AFP) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Monday a partial lockdown aimed at curbing a surge in coronavirus deaths that has sparked predictions of overwhelmed hospitals. The measures, due to start Wednesday, include an extension of an existing night-time curfew, a ban on gatherings, and closures of bars, restaurants and cultural venues, Orban said in a Facebook video. Sp...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump never admits defeat. But he faces a stark choice now that Democrat Joe Biden has won the White House: Concede graciously for the sake of the nation or don't -- and get evicted anyway. After nearly four tortured days of counting yielded a victory for Biden, Trump was still insisting the race was not over. He threw out baseless allegations that the electio...

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Jill Biden is no stranger to the glare of the political spotlight. Her husband has been a Washington insider since they wed in 1977, and she was America's second lady for eight years. But now that Joe Biden has won the White House, his 69-year-old wife will have the opportunity to push the role of first lady into the 21st century -- by keeping her full-time job as a professor...

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President-elect Joe Biden took the first steps Sunday towards moving into the White House in 73 days, as Donald Trump again refused to admit defeat and tried to sow doubt about the election results. With congratulations pouring in from world leaders and supporters nursing hangovers after a night of celebrations, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced they w...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of our lives forever. Just a year ago, none of us would have thought that the world would have to face this unbelievable reality. Nonetheless, here we are, and we will learn to overcome this pandemic and move forward. While there have been concerted efforts to develop effective vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, there are other coordinated efforts...

World leaders on Sunday cheered Joe Biden's election as US president as a chance to enhance cooperation on climate change, the coronavirus and other problems after four years of President Donald Trump's rejection of international alliances. Trump had yet to concede defeat, but Western and Asian allies expressed hoped for a fresh start following Trump's "American First" trade policies, withdrawal...

Biden wins Electoral College while Trump demands recounts

Contrary to the claims of Trump supporters, there has been no evidence of any serious vote fraud. And some Republican elected officials around the country began to distance themselves from Trump and urge him to accept the outcome gracefully. The utter rejection of Biden as the legitimate president by Trump and his supporters appears to represent something new in American political history, said ...

In the meantime, it remains unclear whether Trump will accept the results of the election as he spends the next three months as a lame duck president. Those who know him well say there is little chance he will go quietly into the night. "When Donald Trump loses there will never be a peaceful transition to power," said Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer-turned-critic Michael Cohen. He predicted T...

When the nominating process started, Biden lost badly in both Iowa and New Hampshire, inviting talk about how he might make a graceful exit from the race. He found emphatic redemption, powered by Black voters so vital to any Democratic candidate, by winning the South Carolina primary and resetting the race in his favor. That victory sent a message to Democratic voters in key states that Biden co...

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...

Biden, 46th president of the US, positions himself to lead a nation gripped by a historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil.