Covid, racial equality top on Biden agenda

Washington: Tackling COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, racial equality and climate change are the four top priorities for the Biden administration, his transition team said on Sunday, a day after Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris won the November 3 US election.

Following a tense week of vote tallying, Democratic presidential candidate Biden on Saturday won the state of Pennsylvania and vaulted ahead in the race to become the next president of the United States.

Joe Biden's win in the key battleground state put him over the threshold of 270 electoral votes, cutting off all avenues for his opponent.

As his vice president, Kamala Harris will make history in myriad ways, becoming the first woman - and the first woman of colour - to occupy the office.

"We aren't just going to rebuild what has worked in the past. This is our opportunity to build back better than ever," said the Biden-Harris transition team, giving details of the priorities for the next administration.

"President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are confronting a pandemic, an economic crisis, calls for racial justice, and climate change. The team being assembled will meet these challenges on Day One," it said.

Once sworn into office, Biden and Ms Harris will provide the much-needed national leadership to tackle the pandemic and begin our nation's recovery, it said.

Biden and Harris would be sworn in on January 20. The mandate of the transition team is to put in place the infrastructure that can ensure smooth transition from the outgoing administration and efficiently run the administration on day one.