'Battle rages on': Roy Moore refuses to concede Alabama Senate race

Defiant Republican Roy Moore has refused to concede defeat in the US Senate race in Alabama, saying: "The battle rages on."

The 70-year-old former state Supreme Court judge, who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct - which he denies - lost to Democrat Doug Jones in a tight contest.

Mr Jones, a 63-year-old former prosecutor, won the election after a slim 1.5% lead after 99% of the vote had been counted.

In an almost five-minute message on YouTube in which he quoted Bible verses and former US president Abraham Lincolm, Mr Moore condemned "abortion, sodomy and materialism" and said he was staying in the race because the "heart and soul of the country is at stake".

"Many do not share the vision of those who built this country," he said. "Today we no longer recognise the universal truth that God is the author of our life and liberty.

"Abortion, sodomy and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

He continued: "We have stopped prayers at schools. We have murdered over 60 million of our unborn children. We have redefined marriage and destroyed the basis of family.

"We have even begun to recognise the right of a man to claim to be a woman, and vice versa."

Mr Moore said the US was "in a struggle to preserve our republic, our civilisation and our religion".

"The battle rages on. In this race, we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots," he added.

"This has been a very close race and we are awaiting certification by the Secretary of State."

Mr Jones became the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from Alabama in 25 years, potentially opening the doors for his party to possibly retake the chamber in congressional elections next year.

In his video, Mr Moore said: "Immorality sweeps over our land, even our political process has been affected with baseless and false allegations which have become more relevant than the true issues which affect our country."

Mr Moore denies the sexual allegations against him despite opposition to him from within the Republican Party in the lead up to the vote, including calls to drop out of the race.

President Donald Trump, who endorsed his party's candidate and held a campaign rally for Mr Moore across the border in Florida last week, has since congratulated Mr Jones for his victory.

Mr Trump had initially backed Republican candidate Luther Strange in the state's senate run-off, who lost by nine points to Mr Moore.