New US virus group chief was born in Yorkshire
■Allies hope for fresh start after Trump era ■Russia and China yet to offer congratulations
HE LOOKS set to be the leader of the free world in a few weeks, with the battle against coronavirus at the top of his agenda.
And US President- Elect Joe Biden has turned to a Yorkshireborn medic to lead the working group set up to tackle the virus which has killed nearly a quarter of a million Americans.
Democrat Mr Biden, who was declared the winner of the US election on Saturday, named Huddersfield- born former surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy as co- chairman of the coronavirus working group.
Dr Murthy was born on July 10, 1977, in Huddersfield, to immigrants from Karnataka, India but in 1978 the family crossed the Atlantic to Newfoundland, where his father worked as a District Medical Officer.
In 2013, he was named by Barack Obama as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States and the first person to hold that post of Indian descent.
The working group was pledged in a victory speech given in Wilmington, Delaware, in the early hours of Sunday after projected victory in Pennsylvania saw him over the threshold of 270 electoral college votes.
WORLD LEADERS welcomed Joe Biden’s election as US president as a chance to enhance cooperation on climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and other issues after four years of Donald Trump’s rejection of international alliances.
Mr Trump had yet to concede defeat, but Western and Asian allies expressed hoped for a fresh start following his “America first” trade policies, withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and attacks on Nato and the World Health Organisation.
In Asia, a region on edge about the strategic ambitions of China’s ruling Communist Party, the elected leaders of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan invoked “shared values” with Washington and expressed hope for close relations.
“I look forward to working with you to further strengthen the Japan- US Alliance and ensure peace, freedom, and prosperity in the Indo- Pacific region and beyond,” said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Twitter.
President Moon Jae- in of South Korea said he looked forward to working together “for our shared values”.
But the Russian president Vladimir Putin will not congratulate US president- elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin has announced.
Mr Putin is one of a handful of world leaders who have not commented on Mr Biden’s victory, which was called by major news organisations on Saturday.
But President Donald Trump’s team has promised legal action in the coming days and refused to concede his loss, while alleging large- scale voter fraud, so far without proof.
When Mr Trump won in 2016, Mr Putin was prompt in offering congratulations, but Mr Trump’s challenger in that election, Hillary Clinton, also conceded the day after the vote.
Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that this year is different.
“Obviously, you can see that certain legal procedures are coming there, which were announced by the incumbent president – therefore this situation is different, so we consider it correct to wait for the official announcement,” he said.
The leaders of China, Brazil and Turkey are also yet to offer congratulations and Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would wait to comment until the legal challenges over the vote were resolved.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin offered a similar explanation of why President Xi Jinping has stayed silent.
“We understand the presidential election result will be determined following US laws and procedures,” he said.
A senior Turkish official said Ankara was also was waiting for the various legal challenges to be settled before congratulating “the winner”.
“Turkey will congratulate the winner as soon as the results of the election will become official as part of the respect it has for the US people and democracy,” said Omer Celik, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party. “We are waiting for the final results... because there are objections and other disputes.”
Mr Celik said Turkey knows both Mr Trump and Mr Biden and is prepared to work with “whichever wing” is the winner.
Mr Peskov suggested that when the time comes, a congratulations message from Mr Putin would come with all the expected protocol.
“I remind you that Vladimir Putin said more than once that he will respect any choice of American people, and will be ready to work with any chosen president of the United States,” he said.
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, dubbed “the Trump of the Tropics” for his populist, off- the- cuff style, has not made any public comment on Mr Trump’s loss.
Mr Bolsonaro appeared to be actively uncomfortable with the outcome of the US race.
The Brazilian leader had previously expressed hope for Mr Trump’s re- election.
We consider it correct to wait for the official announcement. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin.