| In the spotlight | Kamala Harris's prime-time speech tonight at the Democratic convention will be the first glimpse of how Joe Biden's campaign plans to deploy a history-making vice presidential nominee ahead of Election Day. Biden's team wants Harris to win over Black voters, young people and women. But they're so far severely limiting travel to in-person events and sharing few details about how she'll engage with voters. Campaign 2020 There are 76 days until the election. Here's the latest on the race for control of the White House and Congress. Democrats officially nominated Biden for president in a virtual roll call last night, part of an evening of speeches that largely shunted aside the party's left-leaning stars in favor of centrists. Click here for our viewers' guide to tonight's events. Other developments Sign up to receive daily election updates as a direct mobile notification on Twitter. Simply click on this link and like the tweet. Trade wobbles | President Donald Trump said he called off last weekend's trade talks with China, raising questions about a deal that's now the most stable point in an increasingly tense relationship. While China is making many of the structural changes it promised on issues such as intellectual property protection, its purchases of U.S. goods are well below where they need to be to meet promised targets. - Taiwan accused Chinese hackers of infiltrating government agencies in a bid to glean citizens' sensitive information.
- Click here to read how Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is strengthening its hold on Africa despite a U.S.-led boycott.
Graft probe | Chinese President Xi Jinping's latest campaign to purge corruption in China's vast law enforcement apparatus is gaining ground, with the Shanghai police chief under investigation for alleged violations of party discipline. More security cadres are expected to be ensnared as Xi prepares for a twice-a-decade party congress in 2022, which is likely to decide whether he stays on for a third five-year term. Military coup | Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was forced to step down last night after soldiers detained him and promised to pursue a democratic transition. His resignation came after weeks of mass protests over alleged corruption and his failure to quash an Islamist insurgency in the West African nation. The junta didn't say when a vote would be held.  Malians cheer rebel troops at Independence Square in the capital, Bamako, yesterday. Source: AFP 'Expansionist Strategy' | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Chrystia Freeland as finance minister after the previous finance chief resigned amid policy differences. Trudeau suspended all parliamentary business and promised to return next month with an "ambitious" new plan to help drive the recovery, suggesting he is in no rush to reverse the kind of spending that has already driven the budget gap to 16% of economic output this year — the highest deficit since World War II. What to Watch - Democratic and Republican leaders hinted they are looking for a way to revive negotiations on the next round of pandemic relief for the U.S., even as they remain far from any deal.
- Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya appealed to European Union leaders meeting today on the post-election crisis in her country to reject the victory claimed by longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko.
- Argentina's opposition leaders urged President Alberto Fernandez to drop his controversial proposal for justice reform, a day after nationwide anti-government protests.
And finally ... The massive Three Gorges Dam is facing its largest-ever flood surge, with as much as 74,000 cubic meters of water per second expected to flow into the reservoir and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River today and tomorrow. The Chinese city of Chongqing raised its emergency response to the highest level, as water lapped at the base of a 1,000-year-old giant Buddha sculpture along the river for the first time in more than 70 years.  Water being released from the Three Gorges Dam. Photographer: STR/AFP | 
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