A tornado ripped through several villages on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least two people, damaging hundreds of homes, and fatally knocking over a cow, a disaster official said Thursday.
Another six people, most with serious injuries, were taken to a hospital after the tornado touched down late Wednesday in Lampung province's Tulang Bawang district, aid Raditya Jati, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman.
The powerful winds damaged 245 homes in three villages and knocked out power to most of the area, Jati said. The storm also threw a cow to its death, he said.
Officials were still evacuating villagers from affected areas on Thursday so they could clear debris.
A video released by the agency showed people run in panic when the wind started moving through their village accompanied by occasional flashes of lightning. People could be heard crying as the dark funnel cloud turned homes to rubble.
Indonesia's meteorological agency is predicting rain and strong wind ...

Tornado in Indonesia kills 2, damages hundreds of homes

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she called President Donald Trump morbidly obese because he's put down women for their weight. And besides, she suggested, the president could lose a few pounds himself as the coronavirus bears down on the nation's capital.
I gave him a dose of his own medicine. He's called women one thing or another over time, and I thought he thinks that passes off as humor in certain cultures," Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference.
"I was only quoting what doctors had said about him, so I was being factual in a very sympathetic way. For the record, the president is obese, but not morbidly so. Pelosi on Monday called Trump morbidly obese.
He responded by dismissing her as a waste of time. Pelosi's level of sympathy is unclear. Even as the virus ravages Americans and the U.S. economy, the two are barely speaking to each other.
They have sparred since the beginning of the Trump presidency and more sharply since Pelosi ascended to the ...

Pelosi: 'Morbidly obese' was taste of Trump's 'own medicine'

New Zealand's prime minister wants employers to consider switching to a four-day work week as a way to promote tourism, which has been hard-hit by the pandemic.
Jacinda Ardern said on Facebook Live people had learned a lot about work flexibility during the lockdown that was eased last week.
The nation's borders remain closed but Ardern said more flexible working arrangements could allow New Zealanders to travel more within their own country.
I hear lots of people suggesting we should have a four-day week. Ultimately, that really sits between employers and employees, Ardern said.
She added that she would really encourage employers to think about whether or not that is something that would work for their workplace, because it certainly would help tourism all around the country.

New Zealand PM wants employers to consider four-day work week to promote tourism

Justice Ministry officials are investigating a gambling scandal involving a top Japanese prosecutor seen as close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after a magazine reported he evaded a stay-at-home request to play mahjong.
The scandal involving Hiromu Kurokawa, head of the Tokyo High Prosecutors Office, surfaced Wednesday after the popular weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun said he played mahjong for money at the home of a newspaper reporter twice in May.
Japanese media reported that Kurokawa had admitted to the scandal and expressed his intention to resign.
Kurokawa is at the centre of a highly controversial bill pushed by Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party that seeks to extend the mandatory retirement age of public prosecutors while allowing the Cabinet to influence their appointment.
In January, Abe's Cabinet delayed Kurokawa's scheduled February retirement by altering the interpretation of the law, the first ever extension of a prosecutor's retirement.
Opponents have said the ...

Japan prosecutor seen close to Abe hit by gambling scandal

South Korea has reported 12 new cases of the coronavirus and one more death, bringing its totals to 11,122 cases and 124 deaths.
The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said 10 of the new cases came from Seoul and nearby Incheon, where health workers have been scrambling to track and test potential virus carriers following dozens of infections linked to nightspots.
South Korea was reporting around 500 new cases a day in early March but managed to stabilise infections with an active test-and-quarantine program, which has allowed the country to avoid real lockdowns.
Officials have been relaxing social distancing guidelines and proceeding with phased reopening of schools, which began with high school seniors on Wednesday.

South Korea reports 12 new coronavirus cases

In normal times, Roland Chang and his three sons start their day at dawn, picking up tourists in Waikiki and driving them to the ocean for a boat ride to see dolphins and turtles swimming in clear blue waters.
Four nights a week, the family's band performs Hawaiian music and popular songs at a hotel.
Their friends call them workaholics. To them, it's a routine. Or was until the coronavirus pandemic landed in Hawaii.
Like many businesses in tourism-dependent Hawaii, the Changs' company has had no income for two months. And they don't know if it will survive to see a post-COVID-19 world.
But they agree with the restrictions imposed in the name of public health. And the family, who is Native Hawaiian, believes there will be rebirth afterward. Roland Chang's sister NJ compared the wreckage to the way the fire goddess lays waste when a volcano erupts and lava flows across the land.
Madam Pele has always cleaned out. I think that's what we're going through, said NJ Chang, a school teacher ..

Pandemic knocks out large sections of Hawaii's economy

A New Zealand woman has been reunited with her dying sister in Australia after gaining an exemption from pandemic travel restrictions on compassionate grounds.
Australia had rejected Christine Archer's request for permission to fly from New Zealand four times before her story attracted media attention.
Her only sister Gail Baker was diagnosed with incurable ovarian cancer in late March after both countries stopped international travel.
Archer was eventually allowed to fly to Sydney and spent only a week in hotel quarantine before testing negative for the coronavirus. International travelers are usually quarantined for two weeks.
Family friends drove the retired nurse 490 kilometers (300 miles) from Sydney to the New South Wales state coastal town of Bowraville where her younger sibling greeted her with a hug on Wednesday.  Archer told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview aired on Thursday:
Words can't explain how I feel, to be honest. I'm just so happy that I finally got to ..

Australia lets woman travel to see dying sister

Plans for investing heavily in women's cricket "will be protected" despite the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a top official at the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Clare Connor, managing director of women's cricket at the ECB, said there are no guarantees but that there is a commitment at the highest level to protect a strategy to spend tens of millions of pounds on expanding women's and girls' cricket.
"I remain really confident that the momentum we've built behind the women's and girls' game will be protected to the absolute best of our endeavors," Connor told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"There is a very strong desire to protect the investment into the women's and girls' game."
The ECB on Thursday unveiled its Together Through This Test campaign highlighting the cricket community's volunteer efforts during the lockdown.
Cricketers and clubs have rallied to support their neighbors in more than 200 initiatives ranging from charity runs to food ...

Funding for women's cricket in England to be protected

Joe Biden has warned that those tasked with enforcing the law are abusing their powers, offering a measured critique of the Trump administration a day after he declined to respond to President Donald Trump's attacks directly.
Speaking on Wednesday to Columbia University Law School graduates via video, Biden urged them to protect the very foundations of democracy.
"Trust in self-governance. Because right now, it's under attack," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said. "The very people tasked with enforcing the rule of law are abusing their powers, protecting their friends, weakening the very principles that make our country work."
His comments come amid escalating rhetoric from Trump and his allies pushing conspiracy theories and alleging improper behaviour during the Obama administration.
Asked on Tuesday night how he'd respond to the allegations, Biden said, "I don't want to get down in the mud with these guys."
Speaking at a Yahoo News virtual town hall on Tuesday, ...

Biden warns of 'abuse of power' in measured Trump critique

If there's such a thing as clarity in this uncertain pandemic world, National Rugby League players and their fans in Australia received a bit more of it on Thursday.
The NRL announced a revised 16-round schedule for the competition, which has been suspended since March 23 because of coronovirus restrictions imposed after just two rounds of the season were played. There will be no paying spectators at matches.
The venues for the opening nine rounds were confirmed with all matches to take place at one of six grounds  two in suburban Sydney, one north of Sydney in Gosford, two in Queensland state at Brisbane and Townsville, and one in Melbourne.
If coronavirus restrictions are further eased after nine rounds, it's possible teams may be able to play matches at their home grounds.
The season resumes May 28 with the Brisbane Broncos hosting Parramatta to start the third round, which also features a match between old rivals the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Roosters are ...

After a tough road, Australia's NRL close to resuming season

Japan's top government spokesman said Thursday that the country is considering attending the Group of Seven summit meeting, if the U.S. reschedules the canceled gathering.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was responding to a question about President Donald Trump's tweet Wednesday that he is considering rescheduling the canceled G-7 meeting with world leaders in the U.S., because it would be a great sign to all of things returning to normal during the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump had scheduled the G-7 summit for June 10-12 at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. The summit was canceled it in March because of the pandemic, and Trump said the leaders would confer by video conference.
Suga said Thursday that he interpreted Trump's tweet as an expression of the President's intention to normalize the global economy quickly.
He said his understanding is that details such as the dates and format of the meeting are still being studied by the U.S. as host nation.
Suga said ...

Japan considers attending G-7 summit if it is rescheduled by Trump, host nation US

Denny Hamlin won NASCAR's first race since 1984 when rain stopped the event with 20 laps remaining at Darlington Raceway.
The Daytona 500 winner was out front but out of fresh tires and trying to hang on when he got unintended help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch on Wednesday.
The reigning Cup champion caused Chase Elliott to crash eight laps earlier to bring out the caution.
A furious Elliott waited for Busch on the apron of the track and flipped Busch the middle finger as he passed. As NASCAR cleaned the track, it started to rain and the cars were called to pit road under red-flag.
It was an already active evening at "The Track Too Tough To Tame" as drivers were racing against the field and the weather. As the drivers sat in their cars waiting for NASCAR to pull the plug, a handful of Elliott's crew members sat on the pit wall starring down Busch.
One of Busch's crew members sat between them on the wall and NASCAR eventually ordered everyone back over the wall.
Eight ...

Hamlin scores 2nd win of season at rain-shortened Darlington

Japan's economy minister says experts have approved a government plan to remove a coronavirus state of emergency in Osaka and two neighboring prefectures in the west where the infection is deemed slowing, while keeping the measure in place in the Tokyo region and Hokkaido.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters that experts at the meeting approved the plan to lift the measure in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo.
The measure will be kept in place in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures, as well as Hokkaido, where the infections have slowed but need further improvement.
The three are among the eight prefectures still under the emergency status after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted the measure last week in all but eight of the 47 Japanese prefectures. Abe declared the state of emergency on April 7 in parts of Japan including Tokyo and later expanded it to nationwide.
Under Japan's state of emergency, which does not enforce lockdowns, many people have followed the social distancing 

Japan ending state of emergency in 3 prefectures

After nearly two months sidelined in Guam with a coronavirus outbreak, the USS Theodore Roosevelt has gone out to sea for training, in preparation to return to duty in the Pacific.
The ship has been docked in Guam since March 27, as the 4,800 crew members went through rotations of quarantine, and more than 1,000 of them have tested positive for the virus over that time.
It feels great to be back at sea, Rear Adm. Stu Baker, commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, said in a statement. Getting Theodore Roosevelt and Carrier Air Wing 11 one step closer to returning to their mission in the Indo-Pacific is a great achievement for the crew."
In an Associated Press interview from the aircraft carrier earlier this week, Navy Capt. Carlos Sardiello said the ship will sail with a scaled-back crew of about 3,000, leaving about 1,800 sailors on shore who are still in quarantine or working with those who are.
The sailors in quarantine include up to 14 who recently tested positive again for the virus, 

Aircraft carrier returns to sea after coronavirus outbreak

Floodwaters surging through Central Michigan on Wednesday were mixing with containment ponds at a Dow Chemical Co. plant and could displace sediment from a downstream Superfund site, though the company said there was no risk to people or the environment.
Dow said the ponds held only water, and it has detected no chemical releases from the plant in Midland where the company was founded, though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said state officials would evaluate the plant when they're able.
Once the flooding recedes, Dow will be required to assess the Superfund site  contaminated with dioxins the company dumped in the last century  to determine if any contamination was released, the EPA said.
Meanwhile, the Tittabawassee River crested at just over 35 feet (11 meters) in Midland, about 3 feet (90 centimeters) below the forecast level.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had warned that the city of 42,000 people could end up under 9 feet (2.7 meters) of water by Wednesday evening after ...

Michigan flood displaces thousands, threatens Superfund site

Recession-hit Japan's exports plunged nearly 22 per cent in April, the country's worst drop in more than a decade as the coronavirus pandemic slammed global demand.
The Finance Ministry also said Thursday that imports fell 7 per cent.
The drop in exports is the worst since the 2008 financial crisis, as export-dependent Japan struggles to juggle the health risks of COVID-19 with the dire need to keep the economy going.
Like many other nations, Japan has asked people to work from home and maintain social distance to stop the virus from spreading. The government initiative was eased this month in regions with few or no new infections, though it remains in place for Tokyo and some other areas.
For April, exports totaled 5.2 trillion yen (USD 48 billion), down from nearly 6.7 trillion yen the same month in 2019. Imports dropped to 6.1 trillion yen (USD 57 billion) from 6.6 trillion yen.
Exports fell most dramatically to the US, India, Australia, South America, Russia, Iran and Italy. ...

Recession-hit Japan's exports, imports fall due to pandemic

A former Green Beret and his son have been arrested in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges.
Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and Peter Taylor, 27, are wanted by Japan on charges they helped Ghosn escape the country in December after he was released on bail.
The Taylors were arrested by the US Marshals Service in Harvard. They appeared before a federal judge from jail via video conference, wearing orange jumpsuits and tan face coverings because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Assistant US Attorney Stephen Hassink said Japan plans as quickly as possible to submit a formal request to extradite the Taylors.
An attorney for the Taylors said they plan to challenge Japan's extradition request on several legal and factual grounds.
Michael Taylor is a distinguished veteran and patriot, and both he and his son deserve a full ..

2 accused of smuggling ex-Nissan boss out of Japan in a box

The United Nations called on Venezuela's feuding political leaders Wednesday to urgently resume serious negotiations, while Russia and its Caracas government ally traded barbs with the United States and Colombia over a failed armed raid on the Venezuelan coast.
UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the UN Security Council that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called for a negotiated solution and we remain convinced that a real negotiation among Venezuela's main political actors is the only way forward.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, an agreement that strengthens democratic governance, with full respect for human rights and the rule of law is more urgent than ever, DiCarlo said.
We therefore call on all main political actors to resume serious negotiations.
Her comments came during a council meeting called by Russia to support Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's view that the May 3 incursion threatened peace in his country and regional security.
The raid at .

UN urges Venezuela's rival political leaders to resume talks

A 6-year-old victim of a fire that killed 13 children and two adults in a children's home outside the Haitian capital in February has been buried in a ceremony attended by her mother and one other mourner.
Lovena Luberice died in the home run by the U.S.-based Church of Bible Understanding, which has millions in annual revenue but repeatedly failed inspections at its two facilities in Haiti.
Authorities suspect the fire started because the home used candles instead of a functioning generator or battery in a country where power failures are frequent.
Lovena's body was held by authorities for three months awaiting autopsy because officials are investigating if the church or its employees bear criminal responsibility for the fire. The autopsy was never performed, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Lovena's mother, Ermilia, attended the ceremony at the Alma Funeral Home along with one friend, Yolande Jean-Louis.
Jean-Louis said other family members couldn't attend because ..

6-year-old children's home fire victim buried in Haiti

Venezuela's defense minister said Wednesday that planes and ships from the nation's armed forces will escort Iranian tankers arriving with fuel to the gasoline-starved country in case of any US aggression.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lpez said Venezuela's navy and air force will welcome the five Iranian tankers, seeing them through the nation's maritime territory and into port.
He compared the fuel tankers to humanitarian aid that China and Russia have sent to help Venezuela combat the new coronavirus pandemic.
A force of US vessels, including Navy destroyers and other combat ships, patrol the Caribbean on what US officials call a drug interdiction mission. Venezuelan officials paint them as a threat, but US officials have not announced any plans to intercept the Iranian tankers, or threatened to try that. Both countries have been hit with U.S. economic sanctions.
Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, also lashed out at the U.S., saying any attempt to ...

Venezuela to escort Iranian tankers bringing needed fuel

Before COVID-19 killed thousands of nursing home residents, about 4 in 10 homes inspected were cited for infection control problems, according to a government watchdog report Wednesday that finds a persistent pattern of lapses.
In light of the pandemic, seemingly minor cutting of corners such as an employee caring for residents while battling a cold has taken on new significance.
Warning signs were ignored and nursing homes were unprepared to face a pandemic, said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on a committee that oversees Medicare and Medicaid. There need to be big changes in the way nursing homes care for seniors.
The report from the Government Accountability Office found that state inspectors who help enforce federal nursing home standards classified the overwhelming majority of violations as not severe, generally meaning there was no actual harm to residents.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services carried out enforcement actions for 1% of violations ...

AP

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