Sri Lanka, Jan. 20 -- In a somber ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday night that was his first stop in Washington, President-elect Joe Biden signaled that honoring that grief and the terrible toll of the last year would be at the very heart of his administration.

US President-elect Joe Biden led a simple but powerful tribute Tuesday to the 400,000-plus Americans lost to the coronavirus, as he arrived in Washington on the eve of his inauguration.

"Let us shine the lights in the darkness along the sacred pool of reflection and remember all who we have lost," the 78-year-old Democrat said as 400 lights lining the water were turned on as a memorial to those who have died.

Church bells pealed across Washington, while lights on New Y...