US News Roundup: Biden and Trump go on the offensive as U.S. campaign; How a 'blue shift' in U.S. mail ballots might set off Election Week chaos and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

How a 'blue shift' in U.S. mail ballots might set off Election Week chaos

When polls closed in Arizona's U.S. Senate race in November 2018, initial results from in-person voting showed Republican Martha McSally in the lead. Her advantage evaporated in the days that followed with the tallying of postal ballots. "Electoral corruption - call for a new election?" President Donald Trump posted on Twitter at the time. His suggestion had no effect, and McSally conceded to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema six days after Election Day.

Police break up scuffles between demonstrators, arrest two in Oregon's state capital Police broke up scuffles between supporters of President Donald Trump and Black Lives Matter activists and arrested two people in Salem, Oregon, on Monday as protests in the region turn increasingly violent. More than 100 Trump supporters, including members of the all-male, alt-right group the Proud Boys, came to the capitol building in Salem, about 45 miles (72 km) south of Portland, in a caravan of vehicles on Monday afternoon, waving Trump 2020 signs and American flags and some carrying weapons. They were met by about 20 Black Lives Matter protesters.

Supporters who helped Trump win presidency lagging in motivation this year With less than two months to go until the U.S. election, President Donald Trump is having trouble energizing his core supporters, especially white voters without college degrees who were key to his victory in 2016, a Reuters polling analysis shows. The analysis, based on Reuters/Ipsos national opinion polling from May to August and 2016 exit poll data, found that Trump has lost support among non-college educated whites, who made up 44% of the U.S. electorate four years ago and heavily favored the Republican over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Taxpayer, conservation groups pressure U.S. to halt drilling auctions U.S. taxpayer and conservation groups on Tuesday will urge the Trump administration to halt plans to sell oil and gas leases on more than 300,000 acres of public lands this month, saying prices are unlikely to be competitive due to the weakened state of the drilling industry. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will hold the first of six September lease sales in Nevada on Tuesday with an auction of 11 land parcels covering more than 15,000 acres. It will sell other leases later in the month in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and several other states.

Wildfires rage in California as heat wave lingers across U.S. West Three large wildfires continued to burn in California as a record-breaking heat wave was set to linger across large swaths of the western United States on Monday. The Creek Fire, which has engulfed the Fresno area in central California and caused the emergency evacuation over the weekend of more than 200 people vacationing at a popular reservoir, was still 0% contained as of early Monday morning, fire officials said.

Amazon's Bezos tops Forbes richest list, pandemic knocks Trump lower Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos topped Forbes' list of richest Americans for the third year in a row, while U.S. President Donald Trump's ranking dropped as the coronavirus pandemic slammed his office buildings, hotels and resorts, the magazine said Tuesday. The aggregate wealth of the Forbes 400 list rose to a record $3.2 trillion, as the richest Americans continued to do well even though the pandemic has devastated the economy and caused more than 1.8 million Americans to lose their jobs.

White House's Meadows says he is optimistic for COVID-19 funds before election White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Tuesday said he was hopeful there would be another round of federal COVID-19 stimulus funding ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, but signaled no new breakthrough in talks with congressional Democrats. Meadows, in an interview on Fox Business Network, said the bill being put forward by Senate Republicans would hopefully provide a basis for a future agreement with Democratic lawmakers and that negotiations were ongoing.

Rebuilt after 9/11, World Trade Center threatened anew by coronavirus As the ruins of New York's World Trade Center smoldered following the September 11 attacks of 2001, skeptics doubted it could ever rise again. Now, as the 19th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the grand vision set forth after its destruction has largely been realized. But the rebuilt World Trade Center complex is under threat anew - this time, from a microscopic virus.

Biden and Trump go on the offensive as U.S. campaign enters final stretch President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden took rhetorical swipes at each other on Monday as the presidential campaign entered its traditional homestretch on the U.S. Labor Day holiday. Trump described Biden, whom he trails in national polls, as a threat to the economy and "stupid," while Biden took aim at Trump's reported disparaging of fallen troops.

House Democrats launch probe of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy: Washington Post Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have called for the immediate suspension of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as they launch an investigation into his testimony to lawmakers, the Washington Post newspaper said https://wapo.st/328T3E1 on Monday. The paper quoted Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic chairwoman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, as saying the committee would start an investigation, adding that DeJoy may have lied to it under oath.