USA

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate Tuesday night, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining together in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped virtual convention to send him into the general election campaign to oust President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump vowed to create 10 million jobs in 10 months, in part by setting up tax credits for US companies that relocate manufacturing facilities to the United States from China.

Trump, seeking to build support ahead of the Nov 3 election, told supporters during a visit to Mankato, Minnesota, his administration would also strip federal contracts from companies that outsourced work to China.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) has been going all out to help the government-led response to the oil spill in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, a UN spokesman said Monday.

The UN is "providing technical support on the impact assessment and environment protection, also focusing on affected communities," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a regular noon briefing.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The continuing heavy rains and floods have impacted nearly 220,000 people in 17 of Sudan's 18 states, a United Nations spokesman said Monday.

"More than 20,000 houses have been completely destroyed and an additional 20,000 more have been damaged," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a regular noon briefing.

Some 2,000 water sources have now been contaminated or are non-functional, compromising access to clean water in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The damage toll in Lebanon following the Beirut blast is rising as the United Nations and partners continue their assessment, now reporting more than 290,000 people who have been left jobless, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders is imploring his supporters to vote for Joe Biden, suggesting that without a unified Democratic Party, years of gains by the progressive movement could be lost and that the country may not even survive four more years of President Donald Trump.

“At its most basic, this election is about preserving our democracy,” the Vermont senator said Monday night, in his opening night speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention. “During this president’s term, the unthinkable has become normal.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a public backlash over mail disruptions, the Trump administration scrambled to respond as the House prepared an emergency vote to halt delivery delays and service changes that Democrats warned could imperil the November election.

The Postal Service said it has stopped removing mailboxes and mail-sorting machines amid an outcry from lawmakers. President Donald Trump flatly denied he was asking for the mail to be delayed even as he leveled fresh criticism on universal ballots and mail-in voting.

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — Forty-year-old Antonio Valenzuela’s death didn’t spark widespread protests like George Floyd’s. In fact, the police killing of Valenzuela drew little attention outside the American Southwestern city just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has retweeted an audio recording that U.S. intelligence officials have described as being part of a Russian campaign to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The leaked conversation, purportedly between Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, dates from Feb. 18, 2016. The excerpt of it retweeted by Trump centers on the ouster of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, who had previously investigated the owner of a Ukraine energy company where Biden’s son, Hunter, once held a board seat.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A nonpartisan congressional watchdog’s finding that the two top officials at the Department of Homeland Security are legally ineligible to hold their posts is “erroneous” and should be withdrawn, a Trump administration official said Monday.

Acting DHS general counsel Chad Mizelle defended the legality of the administration’s appointments and said the timing and the author of the finding by the General Accountability Office appear to be politically motivated.