We're pausing our live coverage on the aftermath of Wednesday's events at the US Capitol. Here's a reminder of the top developments:

• President-elect Joe Biden described the violence as "one of the darkest days in the history of our nation" and blamed President Trump for stoking violence. He added it was "totally unacceptable" police had shown more leniency than in Black Lives Matter protests last year
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama said Wednesday's events "desecrated the centre of American government", adding: "Millions voted for a man so obviously willing to burn down our democracy for his own ego"
• Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has led calls for Trump to be removed from office. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, urged Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which allows for a transfer of power from the president to the vice-president
• Transport Secretary Elaine Chao has become the first cabinet member to resign over the "traumatic" unrest
• Other former supporters have strongly criticised the president, with former Attorney General Bill Barr saying Trump's actions were a “betrayal of his office and supporters” and Mick Mulvaney announcing he was stepping down from his role as special envoy to Northern Ireland
• Foreign leaders have added to the condemnation, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying Trump was "completely wrong" to incite violence and cast doubt on the election result
• A woman who was shot during the unrest has been named as Ashli Babbitt. Three other people died of "medical emergencies", according to police

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Traitors. Goons. Domestic terrorists. Just some of the terms used by members of Congress to describe those who invaded the seat of US government on Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

The storming of the US Capitol building in Washington DC stunned viewers around the world.

But how did Americans feel seeing the seat of their government being ransacked?

A new US citizen, a diehard Trump supporter, an anti-Trump Republican and a young Black Lives Matter protester - all members of our BBC voter panel - weighed in.

Read what they said.

Almost 60 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives have backed new articles of impeachment against the Republican president over Wednesday's unrest.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said in a tweet on Thursday that dozens of lawmakers had offered their support to the resolution that she and other members, including Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush, had prepared.

Donald Trump, who leaves office on 20 January, was impeached by the Democratic-held House in 2019 after he was accused of abusing his power and obstructing Congress. He was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate.

Leading Democrats have also called for the president to be removed under the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice-president to step up if the president is unable to perform his duties owing to a mental or physical illness.

It would require Vice-President Mike Pence and at least eight cabinet members to break with Mr Trump and invoke the amendment - something they have so far seemed unlikely to do.

Image source, Getty Images

In a short press briefing that ran less than two minutes, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany condemned the armed insurrection at the US Capitol "in the strongest possible terms".

Speaking "on behalf of the entire White House", she called the violence "appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the American way".

McEnany left the briefing room without taking any questions.

President Trump has not been seen in public today and his social media accounts remain suspended.

Washington DC's top prosecutor has not ruled out the possibility that the president himself could be investigated over the Capitol riot.

Acting attorney general for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, said "all actors" will be looked at.

Asked whether this included Trump, Sherwin responded: “We’re looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role and, if the evidence fits the elements of the crime, they’re going to be charged."

The president had urged his supporters at a rally outside the White House to march on Congress, while pushing unfounded claims of electoral fraud. As events spiralled out of control, he tweeted urging them to "remain peaceful".

The Association of Flight Attendants - a labour union that represents nearly 50,000 air crew - says it is "taking a hard line for flight safety" after problems aboard several flights to Washington DC.

Citing the Capitol riot and the possibility that some participants might soon be flying back home, AFA President Sara Nelson suggested the culprits should be banned from planes.

"Acts against our democracy, our government, and the freedom we claim as Americans must disqualify these individuals from the freedom of flight."

In a video that went viral on social media, Trump supporters on a packed flight to the DC area heckled Senator Mitt Romney with chants of "Traitor".

Trump's former chief of staff, John Kelly, has said he would vote to remove the president from office if he were still part of the cabinet.

"Yes, I would," Kelly, who served under Trump from 2017-18, told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview on Thursday.

"The one thing we have going for us here, Jake, is that it's only 13 more days", he added in reference to Biden's inauguration on 20 January.

Wednesday's invasion of the Capitol has revived political talk of removing Trump from office via a constitutional amendment. Here's our explainer:

What is the 25th Amendment?

Today, the Senate's top Democrat joined voices calling for Trump's presidential powers to be removed immediately after his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday.

Under the 25th Amendment, the vice-president can become acting president when a president is unable to continue his duties, if for example, he or she becomes incapacitated due to a physical or mental illness.

The part of the amendment being discussed is section four, which allows the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet to declare President Trump unable to perform his duties.

Find out more about the 25th Amendment here.

Image source, Twitter/ Ashli Babbitt

The day before she died, Ashli Babbitt wrote on social media about the gathering of Trump supporters in the US capital.

"Nothing will stop us," she wrote. "They can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours."

Babbitt, 35, was among the mob that breached the US Capitol on Wednesday. She has been identified by US Capitol Police as one of four people who died amid the chaos.

A veteran of the US Air Force, Babbitt served two tours in Afghanistan and Iraq before later deployments with the National Guard to Kuwait and Qatar, her ex-husband, Timothy McEntee, told US media.

A native of San Diego, California, Ms Babbitt had recently remarried, and worked at a pool service company with her husband, Aaron Babbitt.

On social media, Babbitt described herself as a libertarian and patriot. She posted frequently about President Trump, expressing ardent support for him and echoing his unproven claims of wide-scale voter fraud.

"She had a personality that you either loved or hated," McEntee told NPR. "She wasn't apologetic about it... she was proud of it, just like she was proud of her country and proud to be an American."

Read the full story here.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said Wednesday's events at the US Capitol "desecrated the centre of American government".

In a lengthy statement released on social media, Obama said: "Seeing the gulf between the responses to yesterday's riot and this summer's peaceful protests and the larger movement for racial justice is so painful. It hurts."

Decrying the sight of "the traitorous flag of the Confederacy", she lamented the "cracked skulls and mass arrests" that she said had been seen at Black Lives Matter protests.

"Millions voted for a man so obviously willing to burn down our democracy for his own ego," she said.

She called on social media platforms to "stop enabling this monstrous behaviour" and permanently ban Trump.

Obama also urged people to engage in "the uncomfortable, sometimes painful process" of "putting America back together".

Image source, MIKE THEILER / REUTERS

As violent Trump supporters surged past barricades and into the US Capitol, news agency photographers - who were there to document the vote certifying Joe Biden's election win - captured extraordinary scenes.

The last time government buildings were breached in Washington was in 1814 and the invaders were British soldiers.

But in 2021 a Trump supporter, carrying the Confederate flag, is walking freely through the halls near the entrance to the Senate, encountering little resistance.

Image source, WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES

Another image showed a rioter holding a podium bearing the seal of the Speaker of the House, while a third showed a man with a boot on the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Image source, SAUL LOEB / AFP

Image source, WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES

Image source, Getty Images

Yesterday's riots took place at the US Capitol - one of the country's most important buildings.

It's the area of Washington DC - the capital city of the United States - where Congress is situated. This is where the US government writes, debates and passes laws.

The Hill is centred around the US Capitol building - the main location protesters broke into.

This is where elected officials in the Senate and the House of Representatives sit when debating and voting on laws, making up the upper and lower chambers of Congress.

As well as these chambers, there are other office buildings where lawmakers and their staff work and meet to do their business.

Find out more here.

With his ban on Facebook and Instagram extended, President Donald Trump was notably absent on Wednesday as the US took stock of yesterday's events at the Capitol.

According to the White House, one of his tasks for the day included presenting the country's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to three golfers - among them Babe Zaharias, who was honoured posthumously.

Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player also received the honour.

Image source, EPA

If you're just joining our live coverage, here are the top stories of the day so far:

• As the fallout from Wednesday's invasion of the US Capitol grows, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer - the top Democrats in the US House and Senate respectively - are calling on President Trump to resign or be removed from office
• A Trump cabinet member and a number of other administration officials have resigned from their posts
• Joe Biden said the difference in the way Capitol rioters and Black Lives Matter protesters were treated is "unacceptable"
• Serious questions are being raised over how and why a security breach of this magnitude took place
• UK PM Boris Johnson said he "unreservedly condemns" Trump's efforts to incite his supporters with false election claims

The US is reeling after supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC on the day Congress was meeting to confirm Joe Biden's election victory.

Lawmakers were forced to take shelter, the building was put into lockdown and four people died in the chaos that followed a pro-Trump rally near the White House.

Here's a breakdown of how events unfolded on Wednesday.

Nga Pham
BBC News

On Wednesday, as protesters gathered outside before swarming the Capitol building, the yellow flags of the old South Vietnam regime could be seen.

In fact, the yellow flags of the former South Vietnam are a common sight at pro-Trump rallies across the United States.

Vietnamese Americans, especially those of the older generation who fled Vietnam after Saigon fell in 1975, are known for their support for the Republican party and Donald Trump.

A pre-election survey by the group Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote found that Vietnamese Americans are the only major East Asian ethnic community that favoured Trump over Biden, external. Trump’s anti-China and anti-communist rhetoric resonated greatly with the former refugees who risked their lives to escape communism.

But the support for President Trump has also become an increasingly divisive issue amongst the Vietnamese American community.

Hours after the Capitol riot, there are still calls on pro-Trump internet forums like the "ABC Trump" Facebook page for Vietnamese Americans to “take to the streets in support of President Trump” as “the battle continues”.

But there have also been condemnations.

“This is embarrassing,” one young Vietnamese American wrote on Twitter, adding: “They’ve brought shame to the flag”.

Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Jihadist supporters of both the Islamic State group (IS) and al-Qaeda have been celebrating online the scenes of chaos and violence in Washington.

The extremists and proponents of violent jihad - who view the US as their number one enemy - have been sharing images and videos from Capitol Hill, mocking American democracy and expressing hope that division will spread across the country.

There was no immediate comment from either group’s leadership on their official media outlets.

The events will have deeply worried America’s allies in the Middle East, for whom the US acts as a security guarantor.

Saudi Arabia’s leaders, who had a close relationship with the Trump administration and who waited days before congratulating President-elect Joe Biden, will now be hoping for a period of calm.

Sergeant-at-arms Paul Irving, who was responsible for maintaining law and order in the US House of Representatives, has resigned.

His resignation was announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at her press conference moments ago.

The top Democrat also said that she is calling for the resignation of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who she says has not spoken to her on the phone once since violence was unleashed on the Capitol yesterday.

Earlier today, her counterpart in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he would fire the Senate's sergeant-at-arms once Democrats become the majority in the chamber.

Image source, Getty Images

At a press conference earlier, Washington DC's mayor described yesterday's protests as "textbook terrorism" and "an affront to democracy".

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, squarely blamed Trump for inciting the violence seen yesterday.

During the press conference, police also identified all four people that died during the chaos.

Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old military veteran from California, was shot by a plainclothes Capitol police officer, according to Washington DC Police Chief Robert Contee.

Benjamin Phillips, 50, Kevin Greeson, 55, and Rosanne Boyland, 34, also died after suffering "medical emergencies", he said.

The three travelled from Pennsylvania, Alabama and Georgia respectively.

Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, is giving a news conference now where she says she has a message for Trump's cabinet members.

"Do they stand by these actions? Are they ready to say for the next 13 days that this dangerous man can do more harm to our democracy?"

Pelosi goes on to say that the House may be forced to file of articles of impeachment due to Trump's recent "seditious acts".

"Although it's only 13 days left, any day could be a horror show," she tells reporters.

Pelosi adds that Democrats are contacting her, demanding another attempt to remove Trump from office.

To remind you, Trump has already been impeached once, by the Democrat-led House in December 2019 over allegations he improperly sought help from Ukraine to boost his chances of re-election. If impeached again, he would be the first president in US history to be impeached twice.

"My phone is exploding with 'impeach impeach impeach'," she says.