- Biden hails democracy and rebukes Trump after electoral college victory
- William Barr steps down after dismissing Trump’s claims of fraud
- US Covid deaths pass 300,000 as first Americans receive vaccine
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10.20am GMT
China appears to have used mobile phone networks in the Caribbean to surveil US mobile phone subscribers as part of its espionage campaign against Americans, according to a mobile network security expert who has analysed sensitive signals data.
The findings paint an alarming picture of how China has allegedly exploited decades-old vulnerabilities in the global telecommunications network to route “active” surveillance attacks through telecoms operators.
Related: Revealed: China suspected of spying on Americans via Caribbean phone networks
10.17am GMT
Reuters report that Russian president Vladimir Putin has congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in the US presidential election, after Biden won the state-by-state electoral college vote that officially determines the U.S. presidency, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin had said it would wait for the official results of the election before commenting on its outcome, even as other nations congratulated Biden on the win in the days after the 3 November vote, when it had become obvious that he had overwhelmingly won the popular vote and secured the support of enough states to head to the White House in January.
10.09am GMT
If Dick Cheney gained notoriety as George W Bush’s “Darth Vader”, William Barr, the US attorney general, appeared a worthy successor as Donald Trump’s Lord of the Sith.
Barr played the role of presidential enforcer with apparent relish, whether spinning the Russia investigation in Trump’s favour or defending a harsh crackdown on this summer’s civil unrest.
Related: Barr couldn’t pass Trump’s loyalty test: shredding the US constitution | David Smith’s sketch
10.04am GMT
US President-elect Joe Biden delivered a forceful rebuke to president Donald Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of his victory, hours after winning the state-by-state electoral college vote that officially determines the US presidency. “In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” Biden said in a prime-time speech from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago,” Biden said. “We now know that not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that flame.”
10.00am GMT
Good morning, and welcome to our US politics live coverage on the day after Joe Biden secured an overwhelming victory in the electoral college, confirming that he won November’s election.
Related: Biden hails democracy and rebukes Trump after electoral college victory