Newspaper headlines: US 'holds its breath' in 'knife edge' election
By BBC News Staff
Published
image captionThe US election results are "on a knife edge", according to the Financial Times, which features pictures of President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden as they made speeches in the early hours of Wednesday morning. It says Mr Biden's performance in Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada are "raising his White House hopes" but Mr Trump has "vowed to fight on" after a "strong showing".
image captionThe Times says life in the US "seemed to be on hold" on Wednesday night as Americans waited for a result, with key battleground states "feverishly grappling with a huge increase in postal votes" because of the coronavirus pandemic. It points out that "a higher number of postal votes were requested by registered Democrats than by Republicans".
image captionIt's all about Mr Biden on the front page of the Guardian. The paper leads on the former vice president's claim that his campaign believes "we will be the winners" and reports his plea for national unity during a speech on Wednesday night. It says a threat by an "embattled" President Trump to challenge a Biden win in court was a reaction to the "prospect of defeat".
image captionIt's also Mr Biden's picture, not Mr Trump's, that dominates the Daily Telegraph's front page. It reports that the Trump campaign has filed lawsuits "demanding vote counting be halted" in Michigan and Pennsylvania, while the president's claim that he had won despite so many votes yet to be counted was "unprecedented in modern US political history". The paper reports that Mr Trump has had a "better showing" among Latino voters and African-American men, but Mr Biden "did much better among white men" than Hillary Clinton did in 2016 - "eating into Mr Trump's core base".
image captionThe Mirror says Mr Trump's allegation that "major fraud" had taken place with regards to vote counting - which he made without providing evidence - amounted to an "extraordinary tantrum" as Mr Biden "closed in on the White House". The paper calls Mr Trump "a liar and a cheat until the bitter end".
image caption"Make America wait again," quips the Metro. It says Mr Biden was "inching closer" to a win on Wednesday night while a "seemingly desperate" president threatened legal action. It points out that, even without all votes counted, Mr Biden had won more votes than any candidate in history - surpassing the 69,498,516 who backed Barack Obama in 2008.
image captionFor the i, Mr Trump's challenge to "routine counting of postal ballots" marks the beginning of a "poisonous legal battle". The paper calls it an "attempt to prevent defeat" and says "every vote matters in key states" with recounts "demanded after slim victory margins".
image captionThe Daily Express, running an exclusive interview with Health Secretary Matt Hancock, warns its readers the NHS "could collapse unless Covid is brought to heel" by another lockdown. Mr Hancock tells the paper the government must honour its "solemn promise" to provide care for all.
image captionThe Daily Star, also leading on coronavirus as England enters a four-week lockdown from Thursday, pictures a supermarket shopper with their face blurred out on its front page. Shoppers "went officially nuts" on Wednesday, it says, "panic-buying" pasta, rice and even tortilla chips.