Donald Trump has held on to the state of North Carolina, the BBC projects.

With this win, Trump gains all of the state's 15 electoral votes - taking him to a final projected total of 232 electoral college votes.

However this is well short of the 270 votes needed for him to hold on to the presidency.

Democrat Joe Biden is the projected winner in Georgia.

The state - and its 16 electoral votes - have been closely watched since the 3 November election.

The narrow race between Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump has pushed the state into a manual recount.

However the recount is unlikely to change the result, according to the state's top election official.

The projected victory takes Biden to 306 electoral college votes.

Image source, Reuters

The BBC now projects that Joe Biden has won Arizona - the first Democrat to win the state since 1996. It extends his victory over Donald Trump by an extra 11 electoral votes.

Last week Republicans filed a lawsuit in the southwestern state asking for an audit of ballots cast on election day.

The case was filed against Maricopa County, the most populous in Arizona. It did not make any allegation of fraud, but rather sought a hand recount of a few hundred ballots at issue.

But on Friday US media reported the Trump campaign had dropped the case. A filing said that "the tabulation of votes statewide" had "rendered unnecessary" a judicial ruling - meaning that the margin of Biden's victory was too great for the result to be affected.

According to the BBC's election results data, Joe Biden won the state by more than 11,000 votes.

Image source, Getty Images

A pro-Trump rally is planned for this weekend in Washington DC, raising fears of violence on the streets. The Proud Boys - the far right group that Trump refused to condemn in his first debate and who have a reputation for street fights with their opponents - are planning to host the event despite not having a permit from local authorities.

Police in Washington have warned attendees of the demonstration, called the "Million MAGA March”, the “Stop the Steal” protest and the “March for Trump”, to leave guns at home or risk arrest.

Now Donald Trump has signalled his support - and has even suggested he could come along.

"Heartwarming to see all of the tremendous support out there, especially the organic Rallies that are springing up all over the Country, including a big one on Saturday in DC," he tweeted.

"I may even try to stop by and say hello."

Image source, Reuters

Biden's transition team says the Trump administration's denial of access to classified security briefings could affect Biden's ability to govern.

"We’re charging ahead with the transition," Jen Psaki said, but said that engaging directly with federal agencies would "significantly help".

"You need real-time information to deal with crises of the moment," she said, highlighting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. "It’s imperative that our team and our experts have that access."

One particular problem is the President's Daily Brief, a summary of national security threats made available to presidents each day. Democrats and senior Republicans - including senators like John Thune and Lindsey Graham - have said Biden should have access to it as soon as possible.

Yohannes Abraham told reporters that "each passing day, lack of access to current classified operations" puts the American people's interests "at risk".

Biden will be briefed by national security experts next week, Psaki said.

Reality Check

President Trump has been tweeting about Dominion voting machines claiming – without providing evidence – that they deleted votes for him and switched them to his rival, Joe Biden.

The machines were used in counties in 28 US states to cast and count ballots.

Fox News anchor Sean Hannity also singled them out – highlighting problems in Antrim County, Michigan.

There was an issue in the county, but it wasn’t the Dominion software that failed - it was actually down to a human error, as pointed out by Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, external.

The Antrim County clerk at first failed to correctly configure the reporting function in the machine, so the initial results were incorrect, with Mr Biden winning by around 3,000 votes.

Election officials noticed this unusual result in a typically Republican area, so they corrected the reporting function and re-ran the count - which showed President Trump winning by around 2,500 votes.

Secretary of State Benson said the initial incorrect tally was quickly identified and corrected and even if it hadn't been, it would have been detected at a later layer of checks meant to identify such mistakes. She added the problem was an isolated issue.

Dominion Voting Systems has released a statement saying, external: “Claims about Dominion switching or deleting votes are 100% false.”

The US government infrastructure security agency has said, external: "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."

Image source, Getty Images

The country's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci will participate in a briefing today on the administration's Covid-19 vaccine efforts - dubbed Operation Warp Speed - according to CBS News.

It is the only event on Donald Trump's public schedule today, meaning the president and the top doctor are set to appear together in public after a lengthy hiatus.

Last month, Dr Fauci said that Trump had not attended a coronavirus task force meeting - of which Dr Fauci is a member - in "several months".

Relations between the president and the health expert appeared to sour in recent weeks, after Dr Fauci publicly objected to a clip of him used in a Trump campaign advert, which he said was misleading.

In the days before the election, Trump branded Anthony Fauci “a disaster” and suggested that he might remove him as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Trump does not have the direct authority to do so.

Image source, Getty Images

One of the few things Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on this election is a shared exasperation with big tech.

Republicans have claimed that companies like Twitter and Facebook silence conservative opinion, while it seems that Democrats also think social media isn't doing enough to combat misinformation.

Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, took aim at Facebook today, telling reporters she is "not a big fan".

"I don't know what they have been doing, but I know they've been part of the problem, all along," she said.

Pelosi also said that President-elect Joe Biden moving to the White House will "greatly enhance" the power and leverage of her party, even though Democrats lost seats in the House of Representatives.

And the losses, she said, will not result in more compromises with Republicans. With several House races still yet to call, Republicans have flipped at least eight Democratic seats.

While Democrats have retained control of the lower chamber, eyes are turned now to Georgia, where the results of two runoff Senate elections will likely determine that chamber's balance of power.

Image source, PA Media

President Trump has given an interview to the Washington Examiner, external detailing his plans to challenge Joe Biden's victory.

Trump has made numerous unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud - which election officials have rejected outright - and he told the paper's chief political correspondent Byron York he thinks states will find more votes for him, which will overturn the result.

"I think we're going to win in Georgia," he said, where Biden is ahead by more than 14,000 and where a recount is underway. Trump claimed that officials in Michigan and Pennsylvania "wouldn't let our poll watchers and observers watch or observe" and also questioned the result in Arizona. "If we can do an audit [of votes], we'll be in good shape there."

Asked how quickly he could prove these claims and overturn the results, the president said "probably, two weeks, three weeks", before ending the interview: "Never bet against me."

Image source, G

As the US battles unrelenting Covid-19 outbreaks across the country, Republican Senator Rand Paul has told Americans who have recovered from the illness to "celebrate".

"We should tell them to throw away their masks, go to restaurants, live again, because these people are now immune," the Kentucky senator said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.

The comments from Paul - who tested positive for the virus in March - contradicts health guidance from experts who say there is no evidence that recovered patients are immune, and there is a risk of catching the virus multiple times.

More than 10.5 million Americans have been infected with Covid-19, and more than 242,000 have died. President-elect Biden has made tackling the pandemic his top priority.

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Getty Images

People around town and in other cities are talking about President-elect Biden. Meanwhile at the White House, President Trump’s advisors discuss his trade policies, act as if he will remain their boss for the next several years and that they will still have jobs on the premises. Many people disagree with them on both points. But no matter.

Trump’s circle is holding strong. One of the president’s economic advisers, Peter Navarro, said on Fox Business this morning that they are operating under the assumption that “there will be a second Trump term”.

He also called the vote counting process "an immaculate deception", echoing the president's unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud.

When I saw Navarro recently in front of the West Wing, he seemed equally confident about his future in the building. He refused to answer questions, and he aimed verbal barbs at journalists, just as he had always done. Then he waved vigorously at me as he slipped into the West Wing, a place where he was among friends.

People outside of the White House and in other parts of town say their time is almost over. But for those who are inside the West Wing, it’s business as usual.

Michael Bristow
BBC World Service Asia Pacific editor

Image source, Reuters

It is unclear why China delayed congratulating Joe Biden; it has not offered an explanation.

The closest Beijing came to revealing its thinking was on Monday when a foreign ministry spokesman said China was following international customary practices.

Maybe China did not want to congratulate Mr Biden, only for Mr Trump then to unexpectedly win.

But with other countries acknowledging Mr Biden’s victory, Beijing perhaps did not want to delay any longer and risk getting off on the wrong foot with the president-elect.

China will be hoping to reset its relations with the US, but there is little prospect of a major shift in the way Washington views Beijing.

Mr Biden might be more predictable than Mr Trump, and more willing to engage of global problems, such as climate change, but the mood towards China across America has become more negative.

On the campaign trail, Mr Biden even referred to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as a “thug”. That word alone will have lowered Beijing’s expectations.

Donald Trump's Twitter account has been a major feature of his presidency. He has announced major policy shifts on the social media site, launched attacks on foreign leaders, and rallied his supporters from the White House.

When social media hasn't been enough, the president has also held long, combative press conferences with reporters, at which he has attacked what he calls the "fake news" media and touted his achievements.

All that has changed since the election. The Twitter account @FactbaseFeed has been charting Donald Trump's every word. According to their analysis, he has now gone six days without making a verbal public statement - a record for his presidency.

He's on Twitter less too, with 43% fewer tweets than he averaged throughout 2020, the account says.

Image source, Getty Images

Election officials have now started recounting votes by hand in Georgia.

President-elect Joe Biden has a lead of about 14,000 votes, but almost 5 million ballots are due to be checked. Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud or irregularities in the state.

Counties have until next Wednesday to finish the recount. All counties are being told to certify their results by the end of this Friday - and if the recount result is different they will need to certify them again, the Washington Post reported.

State election official Gabriel Sterling told the newspaper it was the “largest hand retallying by an audit in the history of the United States”.

The state is due to certify its full results next Friday.

But there’s a separate recount that could also be triggered later this month.

Under state law, the losing candidate can call a recount if the margin is less than 0.5% of votes cast. Biden's victory at the moment is at 0.3%

The recount is unlikely to produce a different result, as they typically swing no more than a few hundred votes either way.

Image source, Reuters

President Trump still has not admitted defeat, and has launched lawsuits in several US states alleging electoral fraud in the days since the election (you can dive into the detail here).

One law firm however has had enough. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur filed a suit on behalf of the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania just days ago, but has already withdrawn from the case.

"Plaintiffs and Porter Wright have reached a mutual agreement that plaintiffs will be best served if Porter Wright withdraws," it said in a court filing.

The New York Times reported on Monday that lawyers at the Ohio-based firm had held meetings to share "concerns" about their work for the Trump campaign.

It was the same day the firm filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania's secretary of state, external alleging "irregularities" and a count "shrouded in secrecy".

US election officials on Friday dismissed Trump's unsubstantiated claims about electoral fraud, declaring the 2020 vote "the most secure in American history".

Joe Biden has been chosen as the next president of the US (despite what Donald Trump may say).

While the period between election day and the inauguration is rarely memorable, Trump's refusal to concede make the formalities more important this time.

The chances of Trump overturning Biden's victory are minuscule, but the president and his team could make things more difficult than usual.

Results are certified by 8 December, known as the safe harbour deadline, and are largely safe from challenges. Lawsuits can be filed, but the courts would likely throw them out.

Each state's electors will formally cast their votes on 14 December. Most states have laws requiring electors to vote for the winner of their state’s popular vote. This reduces the chance of “faithless electors” who go against the chosen candidate.

Congress will count and certify the electoral votes on 6 January, which is usually a formality.

This all leads up to Biden's big day on 20 January.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, EPA

China has been later than many countries to congratulate Joe Biden on the outcome of the US election.

However, many on the popular Sina Weibo social network aren’t entirely convinced that China’s congratulations hold that much weight.

President Xi Jinping has not himself commented on the outcome of the election. But today, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said “We have been following the domestic and international community’s response to the US presidential election, and we respect the American people’s choice; we congratulate Mr Biden & Ms Harris."

There’s fierce conversation about Mr Wang’s comments today. Some on Weibo say it’s notable that he referred to “Mr Biden” rather than “President-elect Biden”.

Some also note his follow-up comment shows that China hasn’t fully committed to an outcome, as Mr Wang went on to say: “At the same time, we understand that the outcome of the US election will be determined according to US laws and procedures.”

Others appear to have had their comments censored altogether. A post on the official People’s Daily Weibo page has had more than 1,700 comments, but only two are available to view, external.

Censorship is common in China when social media users ridicule, question or criticise the Communist Party government.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is considering running for president in 2024 as it dawns on him that there is little likelihood of remaining in the White House this time around, according to media reports in the US.

“He knows it’s over,” one adviser told the New York Times, external.

Trump has been asking advisers whether it might be possible for Republican legislatures to pick pro-Trump electors in key states who could then - in defiance of the ballots cast in those states - deliver him the electoral votes he needs for a second term, people briefed on the talks told the Times.

There is no real strategy in place at present as the president looks to "survive from one news cycle to the next," the Times reports.

Trump is seriously considering running again in 2024, it says.

NBC's Peter Alexander said he was also told this by somebody briefed on the discussions.

In the meantime, Trump is dividing his time between his White House residence and the Oval Office, watching news coverage of the election aftermath, the Times reports.

"His mood is often bleak, advisers say, though he is not raising his voice in anger, despite the impression left by his tweets, which are often in capital letters," the newspaper said.

Over 72 million Americans voted in favour of a second term for President Donald Trump. But despite falling short of victory, many of his supporters say they are not ready to move on.

Although allegations of widespread electoral fraud are unsubstantiated, about 70% of Republican voters do not believe Democrat Joe Biden won a "free and fair" election, according to a Politico/ Morning Consult poll.

The Trump campaign has requested recounts, filed lawsuits and amplified the suspicions of upset supporters.

We asked Trump voters what they make of the election result - read what they said here