The first of five tankers loaded with gasoline sent from Iran reached Venezuelan waters late Saturday, expected to temporarily ease the South American nation's fuel crunch while defying Trump administration sanctions targeting the two US foes.
The oil tanker Fortune encountered no immediate signs of US interference as it eased through Caribbean waters toward the Venezuelan coast and Venezuelan officials celebrated the arrival.
"Iran and Venezuela have always supported each other in times of difficulty, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza tweeted. Today, the first ship with gasoline arrives for our people.
The tanker and four behind it were finishing a high seas journey amid a burgeoning relationship between Iran and Venezuela, both of which Washington says are ruled by repressive regimes.
Russ Dallen, head of the Miami-based investment firm Caracas Capital Markets, confirmed the Fortune's location using ship tracking technology. He said the Clavel, the last of the five ships, ...

1st Iranian ship reaches Venezuela with no sign of US threat

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The former prime minister of Papua New Guinea has been arrested and taken in for questioning over alleged misappropriation and corruption involving the purchase of two generators from Israel.
Peter O'Neill was arrested by police at Jackson's International Airport in Port Moresby on Saturday after flying back from Brisbane, Australia, where he had been stranded because of COVID-19 lockdowns.
He was later released on bail and will spend two weeks in isolation at his home due to the same virus restrictions.
O'Neill led Papua New Guinea for seven years before quitting in 2019 after a number of resignations from his government.
Police said the investigation involves the purchase of the two power generators from Israel for 50 million kina (USD 14.2 million) when O'Neill was leading the country.
In a statement quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corp., police official Hodges Ette alleged O'Neill directed payments for the purchase of the generators without approval of parliament and without 

Former PNG prime minister arrested over corruption charges

Joe Biden won the Democratic Party of Hawaii's party-run presidential primary on Saturday, which was delayed by more than a month because of the coronavirus.
Biden defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 63% to 37%.
Biden won 16 of Hawaii's delegates and Sanders will take eight. Biden has a total of 1,566 delegates to the party's national convention, according to the count by the Associated Press. He needs 1,991 delegates to win the nomination, a threshold he is projected to reach in June.
A total of 35,044 voters cast ballots in the party-run primary. All ballots were cast by mail.
The party had initially planned to hold the primary on April 4 and had expected most party members would vote by mail and some would cast ballots at about 20 in-person polling sites around the state.
It began mailing ballots to registered party members in early March back when Sanders and Biden were the two front-runners and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was still maintaining her long-shot bid for the ...

Joe Biden wins Hawaii presidential primary delayed by virus

The military commander of eastern Libya-based forces said Saturday that they will continue fighting forces loosely allied with the UN-supported government in Tripoli, even though his campaign has suffered setbacks in recent weeks.
Khalifa Hifter, commander of the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces, has been waging a campaign for over a year trying to capture the capital. The military tide has been reversed in recent weeks, and his forces lost several towns and a key airbase.
Hifter's side controls the country's east and most of the south, while the UN-supported government controls areas in the west, including Tripoli.
In a two-minute audio speech addressed to his forces, Hifter said they will fight and fight against what he called Turkish colonialism.
Turkey is aiding the embattled government in Tripoli. It has recently stepped up its military support with armoured drones, air defenses and Syrian mercenaries with links to extremist groups. That has helped turn the tide against ...

Libya's Hifter: Tripoli campaign to continue despite losses

The Taliban and Afghanistan's president announced late Saturday a three-day cease-fire ahead of a major Islamic holiday that begins Sunday to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramzan.
The Taliban order, which was soon followed by an announcement via Twitter from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announcing the government extends the offer of peace," comes just days after US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul and Doha.
Khalilzad on his trip urged both the Taliban and the Afghan government to reduce violence and move ahead with intra-Afghan negotiations, a key pillar of a US peace deal with the Taliban signed in February to allow American troops to leave Afghanistan. The deal was also touted at the time as Afghanistan's best chance for peace after nearly four decades of war.
The Taliban's cease-fire announcement follows an Eid al-Fitr message from the Taliban leader which said the insurgent group was committed to the peace deal, was not seeking to monopolize power and ...

Taliban, Ghani declare three-day cease-fire for Eid holiday

Storms carrying large hail and damaging winds, including tornadoes, caused severe damage to parts of North Texas, officials said Saturday.
The town of Bowie, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Fort Worth, was hit hard by one tornado about 9 pm Friday, the National Weather Service confirmed Saturday.
A weather service survey team concluded from damage patterns that the twister rated an EF1 with winds estimated at up to 95 miles per hour (153 kilometres per hour).
City officials did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press, but Mayor Gaylynn Burris told the Bowie News that the storm damaged at least 50 businesses and at least that many homes in the town of more than 5,000 residents.
A police statement said no deaths or significant injuries were reported.  Severe storms also unleashed hail as large as softballs in the Wichita Falls area, about 110 miles (175 kilometers) northwest of Fort Worth, damaging roofs and vehicles.

Large hail, tornadoes, damage North Texas region

President Donald Trump visited one of his golf courses Saturday at the start of the Memorial Day weekend as he urges U.S. states to reopen after coronavirus-related lockdowns. Yet many Americans remained cautious as the number of confirmed cases nationwide passed 1.6 million.
In California, where many businesses and recreational activities are reopening, officials in Los Angeles County said they would maintain tight restrictions until July 4.
Some religious leaders took issue with Trump's declaration that houses of worship are essential and should resume in-person services this weekend.
Being at the epicenter of this pandemic and in order to protect our flock, we advise that congregations remain closed until more accurate and uniform information is provided, said Bishop Paul Egensteiner, who oversees the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's congregations in the hard-hit New York City region.
Rain dampened the start of the holiday weekend in the northeastern U.S., where newly ...

Holiday amid pandemic: Americans divided on how to respond

Millions of Muslims across Gulf nations, including a large number of Indian expatriates, will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramzan, on Sunday inside their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities in these nations on Saturday evening announced citing of the moon that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramzan and wished people on the blessed occasion.
However, they also continued to impose a lockdown which prohibits public gathering, religious congregations and even social engagements.
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf include Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Addressing the country on the occasion, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz said his country has taken precautionary, preventive and remedial measures to safeguard public health and said he would appreciate people celebrating Eid while they stay at home and remain aware and responsible about social distancing measures.
Oman's 

Socially distant Eid in lockdown across Gulf countries

New Yorkers experiencing cabin fever after two months of coronavirus quarantine received an unexpected reprieve when Gov. Andrew Cuomo eased the state's ban on gatherings in time for the Memorial Day weekend.
But beachgoers faced inclement weather Saturday that dampened crowds.  A look at those and other coronavirus developments in New York: ___
New York state on Saturday reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus deaths  84  in weeks in what Cuomo described as a critical benchmark. The daily death tally peaked at 799 on April 8.
Reducing the state's daily death count to fewer than 100 seemed almost impossible several weeks ago, the governor said. That figure, considered a lagging indicator, has remained stubbornly high even amid other signs of encouragement.  In my head, I was always looking to get under 100, Cuomo said. For me, it's a sign that we're making real progress. The number of hospitalized patients also continued to fall, dropping to over 4,600.
Cuomo announced that ...

Restrictions eased while virus deaths decline in New York

A 20-year-old Detroit nursing home patient was arrested for assault and battery after a video shared on social media showed a 75-year-old patient in the same facility being repeatedly punched in the face.
The incident occurred May 15 at the nursing home on the city's northwest side, Detroit police said.
The 75-year-old patient was injured and taken to a hospital. The names of the suspect and the victim have not been released.
The 20-year-old was arrested Thursday. The Wayne County prosecutor's office said Saturday that it expects him to be formally charged and arraigned on Sunday.
An attorney for the Detroit nursing home told WJXK-TV that the facility also is investigating and that staff members were not aware of the attack until they saw the video.
The 20-year-old man was not a long-term resident of the nursing home, according to the attorney.

Man, 20, arrested in nursing home assault captured on video

England captain Joe Root feels the likely ban on using saliva to shine the ball in the post COVID-19 pandemic world can actually improve the skills of the bowlers, who will have to put more effort to get something out of the pitch.
The Anil Kumble-led ICC committee has recommended banning the use of saliva to shine the ball when play resumes due to the risk of COVID-19 spread.
However, Root said the ban could "work in our favour and up skill levels."
"Not having the assistance that you might normally have means your accuracy has to improve," he was quoted as saying by metro.co.uk.
"Guys will have to find another way to get something out of the surface, whether that's a bit more effort, changing angles on the crease, using the wobble seam they might not have in their locker.
"It could develop our bowlers in a four or five-week period."
The issue has led to a divided opinion among past and present cricketers across the globe.
While Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has urged game's ...

Saliva ban can enhance skills of bowlers: Root

Police in Moscow have detained a man who threatened to blow up a bank with explosives he claimed to be carrying.
The man, carrying a bag from a food delivery courier service, entered the Alfa Bank branch office on a main Moscow thoroughfare on Saturday afternoon.
Alfa Bank said its employees at the office escaped through an emergency exit. It was not immediately clear if any customers were caught in the incident.
News reports said the man made unspecified demands.

Moscow police detain man who threatened to blow up bank

The French Football League (LFP) on Saturday set August 23 as the provisional date for the start of the next Ligue 1 season.
They are waiting on the outcome of UEFA's June 17 meeting on new dates for postponed European competitions before confirming the proposed launch of the 2020-21 campaign.
But the LFP on Saturday said that after talks with broadcasters, and leaving aside for now announcing specific match dates, "the start of season dates can be set on August 22 for Ligue 2 and August 23 for Ligue 1".
Ligue 1 was the first major European league to call a halt to the current coronavirus-hit campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain were named champions after the LFP declared the season over on April 30, their hand forced by the French government's measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Germany's Bundesliga returned last week and Spain's La Liga is due to return the week of June 8, as talks on the resumption of the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A continue.
The fates of the French .

Next Ligue 1 season set for August 23 start

Scottish Football Association chief executive Ian Maxwell believes a return to action in August is likely after the 2019/20 Premiership season was ended earlier this week.
September or October had previously been mooted as possible return dates but Maxwell is more optimistic.
"I think it is likely that we will see football in August," he said.
"We are seeing it in countries across Europe.
"I think it is definitely achievable, the plans we are putting in place are comprehensive.
"We have to make sure we are giving government comfort that we can do it in a manner that keeps the players, the staff, everybody involved in the game safe, and I'm sure we can do that."
But national clinical director Jason Leitch warned that professional sport would have to go through a number of stages before a return to competitive action.  Leitch said no dates had been attached to the phases.
"They may be three weeks apart if everything goes well, but they may be six weeks apart. It might go backwards a ...

Scottish football 'likely' to be back in August

Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to reduce Chinese telecom giant Huawei's involvement in Britain's 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a UK media report on Saturday.
According to The Daily Telegraph', Johnson has instructed officials to draw up plans that would see China's involvement in the UK's upgraded telecom network scaled down to zero by 2023.
He still wants a relationship with China but the Huawei deal is going to be significantly scaled back. Officials have been instructed to come up with a plan to reduce Huawei's involvement as quickly as possible, the newspaper quoted a well-placed source as saying.
He has taken a great many soundings from his own MPs on this issue and shares their serious concerns. The deal was struck before the pandemic hit but coronavirus has changed everything, the source said.
The move follows a tough stance taken by the US against China over spying concerns related to its involvement in the 5G network. Johnson is due to ..

Boris Johnson plans to scale back Huawei role in UK's 5G network: Report

Borussia Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc confirmed Saturday that Mario Goetze, who scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final, will leave at the end of the season.
"We will stop working together with Mario Goetze in the summer," Zorc told Sky before Saturday's Bundesliga game away to Wolfsburg.
"It is a joint decision after a constructive conversation. Mario is a really good guy."
The decision caps a frustrating season for the 27-year-old attacker, who has made only five league starts this term.
Goetze wrote himself into German football folklore by volleying home a cross during extra time in the 2014 World Cup final to seal a 1-0 win over Argentina at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium.
Six years on, Goetze has struggled to replicate the displays that once prompted former German FA technical director Matthias Sammer to describe him as "one of the best talents we've ever had".
Having come through the academy, Goetze helped Dortmund win the league and cup double in 2011 ...

World Cup winner Goetze to part ways with Dortmund

President Donald Trump plans to be on the Florida coast Wednesday to watch American astronauts blast into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center for the first time in more than a decade.
It will be the first time since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 that US astronauts will launch into space aboard an American rocket from American soil.  Also new Wednesday: a private company  not NASA  is running the show.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is the conductor and NASA the customer as businesses begin chauffeuring astronauts to the International Space Station.
The NASA/SpaceX Commercial Crew flight test launch will carry NASA's newest test pilots, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
They're scheduled to blast off from launch pad 39A, the same one the Apollo astronauts used to get to the moon.
The shift to private companies allows NASA to zero in on deep space travel. The space agency is working to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 under ...

Trump to attend Wednesday's NASA astronaut launch in Florida

The crowded Gaza Strip recorded its first death from the coronavirus on Saturday, officials said, amid fears an outbreak could paralyze the territory's already overstretched health care system.
The Palestinian health ministry said the deceased was a 77-year-old woman who had underlying health problems and had been placed at a special field hospital near the Rafah border crossing point upon arriving from Egypt.
Gaza's authorities, led by the militant group Hamas, reported 35 confirmed new cases this week, bringing the total to 55. All of the infected have been in designated quarantine and isolation facilities hosting returnees from abroad. There were no reports of community transmission of the virus.
Gaza's health care system is fraying under the weight of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, internal Palestinian division and repeated wars and skirmishes between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.
Home to 2 million people, the Gaza Strip has only a little over 60 ventilators and a chronic 

Gaza reports 1st virus-related death amid fears of outbreak

Migrant labourers staged a rare protest in Qatar over unpaid wages, the government said Saturday, at a time of economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and rock-bottom oil prices.
Images on social media showed more than 100 men blocking a main road in the Msheireb district of the capital Doha late Friday, clapping and chanting as police looked on.
"In response to the late settlement of salaries, a small number of expatriate workers conducted a peaceful protest in the Msheireb area on May 22," the labour ministry said in a statement.
"Following an immediate investigation (the ministry) has taken steps to ensure that all salaries will be promptly paid in the coming days." Legal action has been taken against the companies involved in non-payment of salaries, it added.
The oil-rich Gulf is reliant on the cheap labour of millions of foreigners, mostly from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.  Many live in squalid camps far from the region's showy skyscrapers and malls.
Almost 90 ...

Rare protest in Qatar over unpaid wages

Sri Lanka will ease the coronavirus lockdown restrictions from May 26, limiting the curfew hours from 10.00 pm to 4.00 am among other relaxations.
The curfew will be lifted during the day across the country, including hot-spot districts of Colombo and Gampaha, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's said in a statement.
The two districts were identified as coronavirus hot-spots and placed under round-the-clock curfew since March 20.
Inter-district movement will be permitted from Tuesday, except to Colombo and Gamapaha.
Though the curfew will be lifted during the day, social-distancing and other practices to check the spread of COVID-19 will be implemented strictly, officials said.
The coronavirus has claimed nine lives in the island nation with 1,068 confirmed cases.
This is the second round of curfew relaxations in the island-nation after certain changes were effected on May 11 to revive economic activity, as part of which employees of state and public sector companies were allowed to travel .

Sri Lanka to ease coronavirus restrictions from May 26

France's health minister wants to limit use of a popular malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment after a new study found it ineffective and warned of increased health risks.
Olivier Veran tweeted Saturday that he asked France's public health council to draft new rules for prescribing hydroxychloroquine and other treatments within 48 hours.
He specifically cited a study of 100,000 patients worldwide, published Friday in the Lancet, saying hydroxychloroquine and related drug chloroquine were ineffective against the virus and were tied to a greater risk of death and heart rhythm problems.
Prominent French virologist Dr. Didier Raoult drew international attention  including from U.S. President Donald Trump  for his research early in the pandemic suggesting hydroxychloroquine reduced virus symptoms. Raoult's office didn't comment on the minister's move.
France included the drug in a trial of multiple treatments and allowed its use for hospitalized patients.

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