
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of Republican President Donald Trump and one of the few prominent world leaders still not to have congratulated Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on his election win, asked on Thursday whether the vote in the U.S. was really over.

Pope Francis spoke with Joe Biden by telephone on Thursday to offer blessings and congratulations to the US president-elect on his victory, the Democrat's transition team said in a statement.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has congratulated Joe Biden on his US election win. Mr Biden called the PM ahead of the leaders of other major European countries.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday dug in his heels as one of the few leaders of major countries yet to congratulate Joe Biden on his presidential election win, saying it was too early and that his country was “not a colony”.

US President-elect Joe Biden named Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative and a decades-long confidant, to be his White House chief of staff Wednesday evening, moving quickly to put in place the senior leaders of the government he will lead early next year.

Europe's leading stock exchanges traded steadily on Tuesday after Monday's euphoria when they were boosted by the announcement of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is 90% effective thanks to a new technology called 'Messenger Ribonucleic Acid' or messenger RNA.

Brazil has issued a protocol instruction legally authorizing imports of genetically modified (GM) soy and corn from the United States at a time when Brazil is dealing with low stocks and record prices for these products.

The S&P 500 ended higher but closed just shy of a record on Monday as investors bet that a full economic reopening was finally in sight following the first positive data from a late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial.

The European Union's foreign policy chief on Monday extolled Joe Biden's victory in the U.S. election and, in a swipe at outgoing President Donald Trump, welcomed “the chance to work once again with a U.S. president who doesn't consider us a foe.”

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday made an urgent plea for Americans to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus, declaring that a mask is not a political statement as he vowed to make defeating the pandemic his No. 1 priority when he replaces President Donald Trump on Jan 20.