Donald Trump

In a speech in Ohio, the candidate outlined his plans to combat Islamic extremism, including a new screening test for arrivals to the US.

Applicants will be tested to determine if they share Western liberal values like LGBT and religious tolerance.

Democratic rival Hillary Clinton poured scorn on his plan, labelling it a "cynical ploy".

"This so-called 'policy' cannot be taken seriously," said her spokesman.

The paper said ledgers earmarked $12.7m (£9.8m) in undisclosed cash payments from a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine to Mr Trump's campaign head Paul Manafort between 2007 and 2012.

His lawyer said Mr Manafort had not received any such payments.

Now a few of his critics have seized on the country's Olympic victories to turn the Republican nominee's signature line against him.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who alongside Texas Sen. Ted Cruz remains the most prominent GOP holdout on Trump, tweeted Friday night, "Someone said we don't win anymore. Must not be watching Americans swimming in Rio tonight!"

And Trump is having none of it. The problem, he says, is ... The Times.

"The failing @nytimes has become a newspaper of fiction," he tweeted Saturday afternoon about two hours after the story went online. "Their stories about me always quote non-existent unnamed sources. Very dishonest!"

Trump has repeatedly called The Times a "failing" paper in reference to its financial challenges. He routinely calls the media "dishonest."

At a rally in Fairfield, Connecticut on Saturday night, he said "the newspaper is going to hell."

"Literally" was once used, exclusively, to introduce or punctuate a point meant to be taken in literal terms. But by 2013, enough people were using it interchangeably with "metaphorically" that even leading grammar pedants threw up their hands (literally?), and the Merriam-Webster and Cambridge dictionaries expanded their definitions.

"We're going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times," he said at a rally in Altoona, Pennsylvania. "If you do that, we're not going to lose. The only way we can lose, in my opinion -- I really mean this, Pennsylvania -- is if cheating goes on."

Trump said that Republican leaders in the state "are very concerned" about the possibility of cheating -- adding that "we have to call up law enforcement, and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everybody watching."

They said Mr Trump's "divisiveness" and "incompetence" risked drowning the party in November's election.

The letter said that the party should instead focus on protecting vulnerable candidates in elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Former members of Congress are among the signatories of the letter.

He said that Mrs Clinton would put liberal justices on the Supreme Court if she wins the presidency in November, threatening gun ownership rights.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina, Mr Trump hinted that gun rights advocates could stop her taking power.

That sparked an online backlash, many accusing him of inciting violence.

He replied that he was only urging gun rights supporters to vote in large numbers.

The remarks that sparked the firestorm were made at a rally in Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon.

Most forthright is New York's Daily News, which declares "Trump must go". "Hinting at assassination is too much, even for him," it explains.

Speaking at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Mrs Clinton said "words can have tremendous consequences."

Mr Trump sparked backlash after suggesting "Second Amendment people," or gun owners, could take action against her.

Mrs Clinton also said Mr Trump did not have the temperament to be president.

The former secretary of state called out Mr Trump for his recent row with the family of a fallen American Muslim soldier, which the military refers to as a Gold Star family.