When President Trump hosts a farewell ceremony for himself at Andrews Air Force Base on Wednesday morning, one man will be notable by his absence - his Vice-President Mike Pence.

Instead Pence will be attending the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

His aides told the Washington Post that it would it would be "logistically challenging for the vice-president to do both."

Pence has also shared a series of pictures in a farewell tweet - none of them featuring Trump.

Pence has only met once with Trump since 6 January, when pro-Trump rioters at the US Capitol repeatedly chanted: "Hang Mike Pence!"

The vice-president and his wife Karen will then fly home to Indiana. It remains unclear whether he intends to run for office again.

Image source, Reuters

Kamala Harris savoured the moment she became the first woman, and the first black and Asian-American person, to be vice-president-elect, with a very hearty laugh.

In a video posted to her social media she shares the news with President-elect Joe Biden: "We did it, we did it Joe. You're going to be the next president of the United States!"

Her words are about him but the history of the moment is hers.

Just over a year ago, as the senator from California hoping to win the Democratic nomination for presidency, she launched a potent attack on Joe Biden over race during a debate. Many thought it inflicted a serious blow on his ambitions.

But by the end of the year her campaign was dead and it was Mr Biden who returned the 56-year-old to the national spotlight by putting her on his ticket.

Read more about Kamala Harris here

Pramila Krishnan
BBC Tamil Service correspondent

Thulasendrapuram village, in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, is an exuberant mood today - and rightly so.

It is the maternal ancestral village of Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. People here have pulled out all stops to celebrate this historic moment – Ms Harris will be the first female vice-president of the US.

There are banners displayed major on road junctions congratulating her. Sweets and savouries have been prepared. There’s even a calendar with pictures of Joe Biden and Harris being distributed.

People carrying placards of Harris offered prayers at the local temple. They presented flowers and sweets as a token of gratitude to the family deity of Ms Harris. Fireworks followed and chocolates were distributed to devotees.

“We hope she [Harris] will visit our village someday. Her achievement has inspired many women in our village to dream big,” Sudhakar, one of the organisers, told the BBC, recalling how people here had prayed for a Biden/Harris victory in December.

Sivaranjini, a commerce graduate, is eagerly looking forward to the ceremony.

“Ms Kamala lives faraway from our village. But we feel connected [to her].”

More now on the executive orders announced a short time ago by President-elect Joe Biden's team.

Biden will enact a range of measures on Wednesday to help tackle Covid-19 which has taken more than 400,000 lives in the US:

• He will cease action to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) with US virus expert Dr Anthony Fauci set to participate in a WHO international executive board meeting this week on behalf of the US
• He will sign an executive order to centralise the national Covid-19 response - an order to coordinate the distribution of protective equipment, vaccines and tests
• He will ask federal agencies to extend moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures, as well as extending a pause on payments of federal student loans
• He will launch a “100 Days Masking Challenge" asking US citizens to mask up for 100 days. He will also sign an executive order requiring masks and distancing on all federal property.

Mr Biden will also take immediate action to tackle the climate crisis, including:

• Signing an instrument, sent to the UN later on Wednesday, to rejoin the Paris climate agreement
• He will sign an executive order to "roll back" President Trump's environmental actions across the last four years. He wants agencies to review emissions standards and work to better protect national treasures - including a moratorium on oil and gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• He will also review individual decisions impacting climate - including revoking a presidential permit given to the Keystone XL pipeline. Read more on the controversial pipeline here

The heads of the EU's executive and council have both given speeches this morning hailing the inauguration of Joe Biden. Council President Charles Michel told the European Parliament that it was "an opportunity to rejuvenate our transatlantic relationship, which has greatly suffered in the last four years".

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that even though Donald Trump's presidency would soon be history "his movement will not". But she said Mr Biden's oath would provide a message of healing for a deeply divided nation:

We’ve made it to the Capitol. It’s quite a job just getting near the building with so many roads closed and being patrolled by National Guard and police. Then several layers of security, plus a stage to confirm we’ve received negative Covid-19 test results in the last 24 hours.

We are now busy setting up in our spot on the platform at the West Front along with many other news teams. From our position we can see the whole stage. Chairs are set out socially distanced in front of the podium where Mr Biden will deliver his inauguration speech.

We had a brief touch of snow first thing which has turned into a spot of rain, so some are seeking shelter below the media stands. The forecast has it drying up by around 08:00 local time (13:00 GMT).

President-elect Joe Biden's team has announced the executive actions he will take immediately, external. They include reversals of Trump policies including:

• Stopping the US pullout from the World Health Organization (WHO)
• Rejoining the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
• Ending a ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Donald Trump, in his 20-minute pre-recorded farewell speech, said his administration did what it came to do and more. One can debate the significance of his accomplishments – whether 400 miles of rebuilt border wall, tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks, confirmed judges, trade wars and modest Mideast diplomatic agreements amount to much in the way of substantive achievement.

But at least in one way, his boast is certainly true. Trump ran for president in 2016 to shake up the existing political order. He campaigned as an outsider giving voice to those who distrusted the establishment and felt the system no longer worked for them.

“I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices because that’s what you elected me to do,” he said. The unrest and resentment that Trump rode to the White House crested and crashed on the US Capitol two weeks ago, leaving behind wreckage – literal and metaphorical – that will take time and effort to clear.

After four years of shattered norms and traditions, of turning expectations of presidential behaviour on their head, Trump leaves US government changed – fundamentally and, perhaps, irreversibly. That, at least, was a promise made and a promise kept.

Image source, White House

On Tuesday Donald Trump gave his final address as president - asserting: "We did what we came here to do – and so much more."

"America is not a timid nation of tame souls who need to be sheltered and protected from those with whom we disagree," he said.

He added: "We are - and must always be - a land of hope, of light and of glory to all the world."

Here's what else he had to say:

• On his administration's record: "Above all, we have reasserted the sacred idea that in America, the government answers to the people."
• On domestic policy: "Our agenda was not about right or left, it wasn’t about Republican or Democrat, but about the good of a nation, and that means the whole nation."
• On foreign policy: "We revitalised our alliances and rallied the nations of the world to stand up to China like never before. As a result of our bold diplomacy and principled realism, we achieved a series of historic peace deals in the Middle East... I am especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new wars."
• On the Capitol riot: "Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated."
• On his legacy: "Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning."

In the aftermath of last week's Capitol riots, Washington DC is preparing for Joe Biden's inauguration with extreme security measures - closing roads, erecting barbed wire fences and deploying 20,000 US troops.

The FBI has revealed that dozens of people on its watchlist came to the capital the day of the riot.

Image source, Reuters

A lifelong dream for Joe Biden comes true later with his inauguration as the 46th president. Third time proved the charm for Mr Biden - though there were some bumps along the way.

Unlike previous attempts in 1987 and 2008, he entered the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination as the de facto frontrunner, the best-known in the field.

Mr Biden's lower-key election campaign style contrasted with President Donald Trump's larger rallies as the Democrat portrayed himself as more responsible on observing coronavirus measures.

Although former President Barack Obama called him the "best vice-president America has ever had", Mr Biden's record from four decades in public office came under attack. So who is Joe Biden and how did he become the next US president?

Read more here

Image source, Reuters

The inauguration of a new president is a day that usually follows decades of custom and precedent. A day that follows a routine set in stone. Well, you can forget all that this year.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will still take the oath, of course, to make them officially US president and vice-president, but this will be a much scaled back affair, due to Covid and the recent riots.

Here's everything you need to know about the big day.

Read more here

Image source, Reuters

As we mentioned earlier, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is one of 73 people who have received pardons from the president in his final hours of office.

Another 70 people have had prison sentences commuted, ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration at noon (17:00 GMT).

Steve Bannon was a key strategist to President Trump during his 2016 campaign. He was charged in August last year with fraud over a fundraising campaign to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Rapper Lil Wayne and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick are also among those who have received pardons and commutations, according to the White House.

The president has not issued pre-emptive pardons for himself or family members, despite speculation that he would do so.

Read more here

Image source, Reuters

President Trump is scheduled to leave the White House at 08:00 local time (13:00 GMT), and has no plans to attend Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s inauguration.

Instead, he’ll host a farewell ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland, and catch a flight on Air Force One to Florida, where he’ll begin post-presidential life at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach.

Mr Biden, meanwhile, plans to attend Mass this morning at a cathedral in DC with the four top congressional leaders - Republicans and Democrats.

He and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in shortly before midday (17:00 GMT) outside the US Capitol.

There will be musical performances from Lady Gaga - who will sing the national anthem - Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks.

In the evening, actor Tom Hanks will host a concert at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial, with appearances from stars including Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Jon Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, and Demi Lovato.

Image source, Getty Images

Thanks for joining our live coverage of Joe Biden's inauguration as 46th US president.

• Mr Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn shortly before midday (17:00 GMT) by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts
• Coronavirus restrictions mean the ceremony will not be attended by the crowds who are usually at inaugurations
• The event will also see extra-tight security after the US Capitol was breached by violent pro-Trump protesters on 6 January
• Donald Trump will not attend, making him only the fourth president not to be at his successor's inauguration
• Tuesday was Mr Trump's last day as president. In a farewell video message, Mr Trump called on Americans to pray for the incoming administration, though he did not mention his successor by name
• During his final hours in office he issued more than 140 pardons and commutations, including to his former advisor Steve Bannon
• But he did not issue pre-emptive pardons for himself or family members, despite speculation that he would do so