Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes in the coastal US states of Texas and Louisiana as Hurricane Laura barrels towards them. The storm is expected to move from Cuba through the Gulf of Mexico, hitting both states by Wednesday.

The hurricane lands as another storm, Marco, struck Louisiana on Monday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.

Both have already wreaked havoc in the Caribbean, destroying homes and killing at least 20 people. US President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration for Louisiana, ordering federal assistance to co-ordinate relief efforts. More than 385,000 residents were ordered to leave the Texas cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, while an additional 200,000 were told to evacuate Calcasieu Parish in south-western Louisiana.(BBC)…[+]

US President Donald Trump has warned his fellow Republicans their opponents may “steal” November’s election, as his party anointed him as their candidate. “They’re using Covid to defraud the American people,” Mr Trump told delegates on the first day of the party convention in North Carolina. He repeated an untrue claim that mail-in ballots could lead to voter fraud. An unprecedented number of Americans are expected to vote by mail as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Experts and voting officials have dismissed the claim that mail-in voting leads to fraud as a false conspiracy theory. Mr Trump himself uses the system regularly.

Opinion polls suggest he is lagging behind Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Mr Biden, the former vice-president to Barack Obama, has boasted a 10-point lead on occasions. Addressing delegates in person at a party conference that has been dramatically scaled back by the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Trump accused Democrats of “using Covid to steal an election“.(BBC)…[+]