New US President Joe Biden has warned the worst of the pandemic is still to come, as the number of American coronavirus deaths surpassed the country's troop fatalities in World War II.
Coronavirus cases have surged past 96 million worldwide, fuelled by the emergence of new variants including one that was first detected in Britain and has now spread to more than 60 nations, the World Health Organization said.
The United States remains the worst-hit country, with around a fifth of the two million global Covid-19 deaths, and Mr Biden has made the fight against the pandemic his administration's top priority. "We need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.