Congress has certified Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next president and vice-president of the US.
The electoral votes were approved after both the Senate and the House of Representatives rejected objections to the votes in the states of Pennsylvania and Arizona.
The normally procedural session of Congress was disrupted on Wednesday when supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol building.
The session resumed and continued through the night after the building was cleared.
Trump releases statement committing to “orderly transition”
President Trump has just released a statement committing to “an orderly transition on January 20th” but repeating his unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said, in a comment published on his spokesperson’s Twitter account. Twitter has temporarily blocked the president from using his own account.
“I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!” he added.
More than 60 legal cases by Trump’s campaign team challenging the November result have failed.
BBC World News
