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Joe Biden has called for Americans to “bring down the temperature” as he addressed the US for the first time in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory.

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, the US president said: “I know for some people it is a time for victory, for others it is a time of loss… the country chooses one or the other.

“I have said many times you can’t love your country only when you win, you can’t love your neighbour only when you agree.”

US election latest: Trump to select team in days

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the 2024 election results and the upcoming presidential transition of power, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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President Joe Biden giving his speech in the Rose Garden. Pic: Reuters

The president said he had spoken with Mr Trump and said he has ordered his team to ensure a “peaceful and orderly transition” of power.

He said: “The people vote and choose their own leaders and they do it peacefully. In a democracy, the will of the people prevails.”

His remarks could be seen as a subtle dig at how Mr Trump refused to accept he lost the election in 2020.

The president also spoke about the “integrity of the American electoral system”, saying: “It is honest, it is fair and it is transparent. It can be trusted, win or lose.”

He concluded: “America endures. We’re going to be okay, but we need to stay engaged.”

President Joe Biden after speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Pic: AP

Mr Biden’s speech was intended to highlight what he sees as his achievements, Sky News’ US correspondent Mark Stone said. With more time, those achievements may have been more clear, he added.

“I thought it was interesting that he kind of made the point, almost suggesting if we’d had a bit more time, maybe the American people would have felt the achievements that this administration has put forward,” he said.

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What will Trump 2.0 look like?

‘We must accept the result’, Harris tells supporters

It comes after vice president Kamala Harris called Mr Trump to concede the race and congratulate him.

In a speech in Washington DC, she told her supporters she was “proud of the race we ran” but said “we must accept the result”.

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What power does Joe Biden have now?

Trump’s path to decisive victory

Mr Trump won a decisive victory – comfortably clearing the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency and clinching five battleground states: North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

He is also leading in Arizona and Nevada, which are yet to be called, according to Sky’s US partner NBC News, meaning Mr Trump is on course to claim all seven swing states.

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The 78-year-old president-elect has been keeping a low profile after addressing his supporters in Florida yesterday morning to declare victory.

He is the first defeated president in over a century to return to the Oval Office and also the first convicted of a crime to win the presidency.

Mr Trump is facing several criminal and civil cases, but experts say his victory will essentially end the cases brought against him – at least while he is in the White House.

After spending his first day as president-elect receiving congratulatory phone calls from world leaders, Mr Trump will now begin the process of choosing who will be in his second White House administration before inauguration day on 20 January.

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Woman missing for more than 60 years found ‘alive and well’

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Woman missing for more than 60 years found 'alive and well'

A woman in the US who has been missing since 1962 has been found “alive and well”, authorities have said.

Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in July that year when she was 20 years old, Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators pursued numerous leads over the years but the case eventually went cold.

However, during a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed all the case files and evidence, and re-interviewed several witnesses – and found Ms Backeberg.

The 82-year-old was “alive and well” – living outside of the state of Wisconsin, the sheriff’s office said.

Ms Backeberg was married and had two children when she disappeared on 7 July 1962, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation.

She left her home to pick up her salary but never returned, causing her husband to ask family members where she was.

Shortly afterwards their 14-year-old babysitter claimed she and Ms Backeberg had hitchhiked to Wisconsin’s capital city Madison and then caught a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.

The teenager said when she arrived she became nervous and wanted to go home, while Ms Backeberg refused to return and was last seen walking near a bus stop.

Ms Backeberg’s marriage was troubled and there were allegations of abuse, the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation said, with a criminal complaint having been filed days before she went missing.

Her relatives insisted she would never abandon her children, the organisation added, and her husband passed a polygraph test and maintained his innocence.

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‘We talked for 45 minutes’ – detective

Detective Isaac Hanson, who found Ms Backeberg, said her sister’s Ancestry.com account was vital in helping him locate her address.

“That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” he told local news station WISN.

“So I called the local sheriff’s department, said, ‘Hey, there’s this lady living at this address. Do you guys have somebody, you can just go pop in?’

“Ten minutes later, she called me, and we talked for 45 minutes.”

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‘She sounded happy’

Mr Hanson said Ms Backeberg may have left home due to marital issues, but it was unclear why she had stayed away for so long.

He said he had promised to keep their conversation private.

“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he said.

“She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”

Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said Ms Backeberg made the choice to leave and her disappearance “was not the result of any criminal activity or foul play”.

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Trump posts AI image of himself as pope on Truth Social

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Trump posts AI image of himself as pope on Truth Social

Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal regalia on his Truth Social platform – just 11 days after the death of Pope Francis.

Uploaded onto his account early on Saturday morning, it shows the US president with a large gold cross on a chain around his neck.

From there, it was published, without comment or explanation, on the White House X and Instagram accounts and, though it drew fierce criticism, it was liked more than 100,000 times.

It comes just a few days after the world leader joked that he’d like to be the pontiff.

Last week, he was asked by reporters on the White House lawn who he would like to succeed Francis and he replied: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”

He went on to say that he did not have a preference, but there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”.

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‘I’d like to be pope’

Mr Trump was quickly accused of mocking Pope Francis’s death, but, by noon, UK time, the post had been liked more than 58,000 times on Instagram.

User comments, however, were mostly negative, with one saying that the image “isn’t funny. It’s not satire. And it’s not harmless”.

Another simply called it “disgusting”, while other reactions included “disturbing”, “disrespectful” and “offensive”.

On X, where the picture was liked more than 78,000 times, a user commented that Mr Trump was “making a mockery of the pious”, while another judged it “not a wise decision”.

The conclave to select a new pontiff will begin on 7 May after the death of Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Argentinian, who became pope in 2013, died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 due to a stroke and heart failure.

Last weekend, the president was criticised for wearing a non-traditional blue suit for Francis’s Vatican funeral and chewing gum during the ceremony.

However, his meeting in St Peter’s Basilica with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the outdoor mass got under way was dubbed “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office

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Mr Trump’s own religious views have long been a matter of speculation.

He was raised as a Presbyterian and publicly identified with it for most of his adult life, before, in October 2020, he renounced it and said he now considered himself a non-denominational Christian.

Many have questioned the depth of his faith, but that hasn’t stopped him appealing to conservative Christians and the Christian right, particularly evangelicals, some of whom have helped him get elected twice.

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Earlier this year, Mr Trump shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform showcasing what appeared to be a vision of Gaza under his proposed plan.

The footage showed the area transformed into a Middle Eastern paradise with exotic beaches, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying – and featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk.

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Harvey Weinstein accuser breaks down in tears on witness stand – and swears at his lawyer

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Harvey Weinstein accuser breaks down in tears on witness stand - and swears at his lawyer

One of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers broke down in tears and swore on the witness stand as a sexual abuse trial continues.

Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault

Miriam Haley claims the former Hollywood mogul forced oral sex on her in July 2006.

The case is being retried after the appeals court overturned his conviction last year.

She was working as a production assistant at the time.

Weinstein has strenuously denied all allegations, and Ms Haley also testified at Weinstein’s initial trial.

Miriam Haley, an accuser testifying at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial, arrives to the courtroom after a break in New York, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Miriam Haley. AP file pic

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 in New York.  (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
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Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday as he appeared for his retrial. Pic: AP

The 48-year-old was testifying in a Manhattan court when Weinstein’s defence lawyer Jennifer Bonjean questioned her account of the incident.

In court, Ms Bonjean asked why Ms Haley would agree to Weinstein’s invitation to his apartment after testifying about his previous behaviour, including her alleging that he barged into her home.

Ms Haley then became emotional after being asked how her clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly pulled out a tampon and performed oral sex on her.

She said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn’t recall the details, before Ms Bonjean asked: “You removed your clothes, right?”

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Ms Haley then told jurors that Weinstein “was the one who raped me, not the other way around” – to which his lawyer said: “That is for the jury to decide.”

She then started crying and said: “No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me.”

Sky’s US partner network NBC News reported that Ms Haley said during the exchange: “Don’t tell me I wasn’t raped by that f*****g asshole.”

Judge Curtis Farber then halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Ms Haley’s eyes were red and her face was glistening as she left the witness stand.

In February 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting Ms Haley – along with raping former actor Jessica Mann in a New York hotel in 2013 – and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

His conviction for the two crimes was overturned in April after an appeals court ruled the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.

After the appeal ruling, Weinstein was charged with raping one woman and forcing oral sex on two others.

Two of the charges are those he faced during the original trial, while the third – one of the charges of forcing oral sex on Kaja Sokola – was added last year.

Weinstein denies all allegations, and his lawyers argue his accusers had consensual sexual encounters.

Regardless of the outcome of the retrial, he will remain in prison over a 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for a separate count of rape. His lawyers are also appealing this sentence.

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