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A huge tornado funnel cloud touches down in Orchard, Iowa, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. The Globe Gazette and Mitchell County Press News reported that Lori Mehmen of Orchard, took the photo from outside her front door. Mehmen said the funnel cloud came near the ground and then went back up into the clouds. Besides tree and crop damage, no human injuries were reported.

(AP Photo/Lori Mehmen)

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Afghan soldiers are seen, left, in front of the damaged shops near the prison, unseen, which was attacked by Taliban militants in Kandahar south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, June 14, 2008. More than 600 prisoners escaped during a brazen Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan that knocked down the front gate and destroyed a two-story police checkpoint, a police official said Saturday. At least nine police were killed.

(AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

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” Japanese killer wrote of stabbing spree on Internet “

TOKYO (AFP) – A disturbed young auto worker who killed seven people on a stabbing frenzy in downtown Tokyo had posted dozens of warnings of what he was going to do on Internet bulletin boards, police said Monday.

As stunned mourners placed flowers, sweets and comic-book images at a makeshift shrine, new details emerged of how he kept a detailed log of his plans to wreak havoc in Akihabara, the hub of Tokyo’s comic-book subculture.

The assailant behind Japan’s deadliest crime in seven years, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato, worked on a temporary contract at an auto components factory in central Shizuoka prefecture, police said.

On Sunday, he drove a rented two-tonne truck some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the town of Susano to Tokyo, swerving the vehicle into pedestrians before bursting out and stabbing at random with a survival knife.

He wounded 17 people, seven of whom died, before police forced him to drop his weapon at gunpoint and overpowered him.

He told police he was “tired of living” and had no motive other than to kill people — anyone he found.

Kato reportedly had a strong interest in comic-book and video-game subculture.

In a school yearbook in which graduating students were asked to describe their personalities, Kato enclosed a picture of an action hero and simply wrote the word “crooked” in English, reports said.

He admitted to police that he had documented his journey on Internet bulletin boards in messages posted from his mobile telephone, a police spokesman said.

“I’ll crash my vehicle into people and if the vehicle becomes useless, I’ll get out a knife. Goodbye everyone!” said one posting hours before the crime, as quoted by Japanese media.

Reports said he made some 30 anonymous postings on various sites before the crime, including one on May 27 entitled “A disaster in Akihabara ,” warning that an incident would take place imminently.

Kanto Auto Works, the company to which Kato was dispatched from a temping agency in November, said he had been working normally until going missing on Friday.

“We’ve been told that his attitude at work was very good and that he didn’t stir any problems in the workplace,” said company spokesman Naoyuki Hashimoto.

Residents of Kato’s hometown interviewed by Nippon Television said that he did well at school. “He was good both at studying and sports. He was respected in the classroom,” one woman said.

Japan prides itself on its public safety and has not seen such a deadly crime since a former mental patient stabbed to death eight children at an elementary school. That incident came seven years to the day before Sunday’s stabbing spree.

Chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said officials would study whether laws could be tightened on possession of knives. Japan strictly controls firearms.

“People say that public morality and relations between people are declining,” Machmiura said. “But I don’t think we can explain this case only by that.”

Around the crime scene, overnight rain had washed away the blood stains from the streets of the neon-lit electronics district, where residents placed flowers and pressed their hands together in prayer at a makeshift shrine.

In the Japanese tradition, mourners left offerings at the shrine including sweets, coffee, beer and — in a twist befitting Akihabara — comic-book images of action heroes.

“I left coffee because I think that some of the victims will need coffee in the morning,” said Ukyo Murakami, a 14-year-old boy on his way to school.

“I’m afraid he did this because he played video games. But he should have known that in life, you can’t hit the restart button.”

Businesswoman Tomoko Iizuka, 58, was sobbing as she paid her respects with a bouquet of flowers on her way to work.

“The victims included young people with a bright future. Why did he do such a crazy thing?” she said.

“It’s all his fault. He deserves the death penalty.”

Kazuki Homna, a university student carrying a backpack, said he was a close friend of one of the victims, 21-year-old Mai Muto, with whom he had spent time in San Francisco on a school exchange programme.

“She died not because of illness but because of a cruel tragedy,” he said after placing flowers.

“She was dreaming of working in the music industry but couldn’t make it. I just can’t find the words to say how sorry I am.”

by Shingo Ito

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” Racial attitudes pose challenge for Obama ”

GREENSBURG, Pa. – Joyce Susick is the type of voter who might carry Barack Obama to the White House — or keep him out. A registered Democrat in a highly competitive state, she is eager to replace George W. Bush, whom she ranks among the worst presidents ever.

There’s just one problem.

“I don’t think our country is ready for a black president,” Susick, who is white, said in an interview in the paint store where she works. “A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania.”

Susick said her personal objection to Obama is his inexperience, not his color. “It has nothing to do with race,” she said.

If Susick is right about Pennsylvania voters, it presents a major hurdle for the presumed Democratic nominee. Democrats have carried Pennsylvania in the last four presidential contests, and Obama would have to offset a loss of its 21 electoral votes by taking Republican-leaning states from John McCain.

Polls suggest that Susick, a grandmother of three, does not represent most registered Democrats here or elsewhere. But there may be enough like-minded voters in Pennsylvania, whose last two presidential elections have been close, to tip it to McCain.

In the April 22 primary, Susick voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who carried Pennsylvania by 10 percentage points. Perhaps more troubling for Obama, one in four Clinton’s backers told exit pollsters they would vote for McCain if Obama were the nominee; an additional 17 percent said they would not vote at all.

Obama has time and money to court these voters. Polls indicate some can be swayed. But the first-term senator is wading into unknown waters. Political scientists have reams of data about past elections, but there has been no test of how many voters make their ultimate decision based on race.

The answer may determine the presidency. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Florida, with large numbers of white, working-class voters, could prove problematic for a black man even in a year that otherwise looks grim for GOP candidates.

Gauging voter sentiments about race is notoriously difficult. Many voters hide their feelings from pollsters and it is possible that some do not even realize race’s influence on their behavior.

In interviews with 40 Pennsylvanians across three counties that Clinton won by big margins, only one person indicated opposition to Obama simply because of his race. But several others said their neighbors might do so. Some offered objections that are familiar, and suspicious, to Obama’s aides and supporters.

A few, like Susick, suggested the nation needs more time to prepare for a black president — and perhaps a woman as well.

“I don’t think we’re ready for either one yet,” said Doug Richardson, 62, a contractor from Latrobe. Obama “just hasn’t impressed me,” he said over midmorning coffee with a friend at Denny’s. “His middle name bothers me a lot.” That name is Hussein.

Obama may have little to lose with voters such as Richardson, a self-described conservative who likes McCain. More worrisome are longtime Democrats who backed Clinton in April but are threatening to abandon the party now that she is not the nominee.

Rose Iezzi, who lunched recently with two friends at a Greensburg cafe, is one. All three women are middle-aged, work for an accountant and admire Clinton. But only Iezzi took a hard stand against Obama.

“I think he’s a snake oil salesman,” she said. “He’s a little too slick and smooth.”

“He just doesn’t appeal to me, and not because of race, definitely,” she said in an interview in which race had not been mentioned.

Such comments are all too familiar to Richard Akers, who phoned dozens of prospective Pennsylvania voters as an Obama campaign volunteer in April. Democrats often explained their opposition to Obama with “excuses that were not rational or valid, as I saw it,” said the retired bank director from Johnstown, another hotbed of Clinton support.

“To me, it was almost a code,” Akers said. “‘He doesn’t wear a flag pin.’ It seemed like code for ‘He’s not one of us.’”

In Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, some people hardly hide their prejudices.

Robert Miller, 72, who lives in a government subsidized room in Bedford, said the Constitution should be amended so it will “not let any colored people run for the White House.” He seemed unsure about his voting record in recent elections, but vividly recalled voting for Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

Dixie Pebley of Johnstown, 71, explained her distaste for Obama, saying, “black doesn’t bother me, but Muslim does.” When reminded that Obama is a Christian, she conceded the point, but added: “He was born Muslim and raised Muslim, that’s enough for me. He just scares me to death.”

Obama, the son of a white mother from Kansas and black father from Kenya, was born and raised in a mostly secular family that occasionally attended Christian services. He joined the United Church of Christ as a young adult.

Obama has little to fear from Pebley, who said she no longer votes because she is disillusioned with politicians. But even some likely voters who are largely sympathetic to him are troubled by his ties, now broken, to a former pastor who cursed the United States and accused the government of possible conspiracies against blacks.

Kate Tanning, a Pittsburgh antiques dealer who was lunching with friends in Bedford, rejected Obama’s claim that he did not know of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s most bombastic statements even though Obama attended Wright’s Chicago church for 20 years.

“That’s the one thing about him I can’t believe,” she said.

Obama generally avoids direct racial appeals, and he is likely to pursue such voters with familiar arguments: His opposition to the Iraq war and appeals for national unity and bipartisanship, for example. He may be making progress. National polls show him leading McCain among female voters and running even among Catholics, two groups that generally backed Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

But national polls are less important than those in the roughly 15 highly competitive states in which both parties will focus their efforts. These are all big states full of white, working-class voters who were Clinton’s base, and include Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Obama will count on voters such as Iezzi’s lunchmates, Susan Szymanski and Roxane Uhrin. Both said they strongly preferred Clinton, but will vote for Obama this fall in hopes of changing policies on the economy and Iraq.

“I don’t want a third term of George Bush,” Szymanski said.

James Antoniono, a Greensburg lawyer and veteran Democratic activist who worked for Clinton, said many Clinton backers will support Obama this fall, including some who told exit pollsters they would not.

“It’s one thing to come out of the voting both and say that,” Antoniono said. “It’s another thing when you’re faced with a choice in the general election.”

Still, he said, Obama and his aides face tough battles. “There’s no way they win Ohio, in my mind,” he said in his law office, which faces Westmoreland County’s elegant old courthouse. “I think Pennsylvania is winnable,” he said. But he predicted Obama will “lose Westmoreland big,” even though registered Democrats far outnumber Republicans in the county, which is east of Pittsburgh.

At least one Obama fan thinks the impact of racial prejudice may be limited.

Rick Weimer, a retired Coca-Cola truck driver who was eating a Chinese dish at a mall food court in Johnstown, said analysts are “pretty accurate” in describing Pennsylvania as Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west “and Alabama in between.” Obama’s race “will hurt him” in many places, said Weimer, who follows the campaign intensely on cable TV. “But when push comes to shove, people around here want change.”

That might include some white Democrats who publicly criticize Obama just to fit in with their neighbors, he said. “Once they go into the voting booth,” he said, “who knows?”

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer

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” Polish-born Podolski admits to split soccer loyalties ”

KLAGENFURT, Austria (AFP) – Polish-born forward Lukas Podolski admitted he was suffering from divided loyalties after his goals sealed a 2-0 win which sank Poland and launched the German’s Euro 2008 campaign.

Having turned 23 last Wednesday, Podolski combined with Germany’s other Polish-born forward Miroslav Klose for his first goal on 20 minutes and followed up with an unstoppable volley on 72 minutes.

“We did the essential in winning our opener, but this victory does not over enthuse me as I am originally from Poland. All my family is over there,” he said.

“I have two hearts – a German one and a Polish one!”

“I had some family in the stands and they were driving back home after the game, so I ran to them at the end of the game.

“I didn’t really celebrate after the first goal as a mark of respect, I have a big family in Poland and was born there, I wanted to show some respect.”

Podolski, normally a striker, had been handed an attacking midfielder role by Germany coach Joachim Loew and the move paid off in spectacular style.

The Bayern Munich forward gave Germany an extra attacking option supporting front men Miroslav Klose, the top scorer at the last World Cup, who was partnering VfB Stuttgart hot-shot Mario Gomez up front.

The trio combined to give Germany a break through on 20 minutes when Gomez flicked the ball over the defence for Klose to draw the goalkeeper before Podolski tapped the ball past Poland’s Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

But Podolski said Germany must improve if they are to beat Group B rivals Croatia here on Thursday after they began their Euro 2008 campaign with a 1-0 win over co-hosts Austria on Sunday.

“We reached our goal and we worked very hard, we had to go the distance, we will have to improve for our next game against the Croatian time if we want to be victorious,” added Podolski.

After the Germans picked up their first win at a European Championships for 12-years, Germany coach Loew was keen to praise his entire side.

“The whole team, not just Lukas Podolski, played well, we know Lukas is a very dangerous attacker for any goalkeeper, but Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose helped him immensely,” said Loew.

“I think from a tactical point of view, our defence worked very well, we didn’t make many defensive mistakes, which was pleasing.

“We desperately wanted to start with a victory and we can be happy with the result.”

Germany captain Michael Ballack added the Germans had been their traditional efficient selves in sealing the points, but warned against complacency ahead of their game against Croatia.

“I think we played well. It’s always difficult – you never know where you are before the first game of a tournament. I think we deserved victory, but we will have to raise our game against Croatia.”

The Poles were making their European Championship debut, but are still yet to beat Germany in 16 meetings between the sides since 1933 with the Germans now claiming 12 wins with four draws between the neighbours.

“You can imagine how disappointed we are, but our opponents played at the highest level,” said Beenhakker.

“The first goal was well taken, I was not impressed with the second goal, we tried to put some more pressure on and played a bit more open, which led to the consequence of the second goal.

“After the second goal it was all over.

“We matched them for 70 minutes, but the last 20 was best forgotten.

“We will have to get over the disappointment tonight and tomorrow we will begin again.”

by Ryland James

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” Croatia open with unconvincing Austria win ”

VIENNA (AFP) – Croatia opened their Euro 2008 account with a predictable but unconvincing 1-0 victory over co-hosts Austria at the Ernst-Happel Stadium here in Vienna on Sunday.

There were no surprises in a match between one of the outsiders for a run to the title and a team ranked 92nd in the FIFA world rankings – below even the likes of Guatemala, Libya and Trinidad and Tobago.

Despite the victory, Croatian coach Slaven Bilic – a former West Ham and Everton player – revealed his players weren’t too happy after a match that saw them hanging on during the last half hour.

“First of all I’m glad. I’m happy that after so many years we’ve finally won a game at such a great tournament,” said Bilic, who was a player the last time Croatia won a game at the European Championships, back in 1996. The last time they won a game at a big tournament, though, was the 2002 World Cup.

“I’ve got to congratulate the players for playing so well, this will certainly boost our self confidence for the next two games (against Poland and Germany).”

It took only four minutes for Austria to be exposed as the minnows that they are in this competition as Rene Aufhauser clumsily bundled over Ivica Olic in the box.

Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz was booked for protesting over-zealously but there was little doubt that referee Pieter Vink from the Netherlands had got it spot on.

So too did new Tottenham signing Luka Modric, who calmly slotted the ball down the middle as former Sunderland goalkeeper Jurgen Macho dived to his right.

Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said things could not have started worse.

“This was the worst possible start we could have had in the opening match of a big tournament,” he said.

“After four minutes we conceded a goal and we took time to recover from that. During the first 30 minutes we didn’t play well, we were nervous and our combinations weren’t good.

“But for the rest of the match we played the way we should. We followed our tactical plan, did it well and even dominated the second half.”

Croatia bossed the early stages without looking like adding to their advantage while it took the co-hosts almost half an hour to muster their first effort on target.

Even then, centre-back Sebastian Proedl was wayward with a header from captain Andreas Ivanschitz’s free-kick.

Croatia should have doubled their lead on 35 minutes when a deep cross from Manchester City’s Vedran Corluka fell to Mladen Petric at the back post, but he lashed a left foot volley miles off target when composure, and maybe even a touch to bring the ball under control, was needed.

Austria had a brief period of pressure before the break when Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa palmed away a dangerous cross from Joachim Standfest and then Josip Simunic cut out a centre from Martin Marnik.

Pletikosa was then called into action again to punch clear Ivanschitz’s corner before Standfest headed high and wide with a far post header from a deep cross.

Modric got behind the Croatia defence on the hour mark after a mistake from Pogatetz but Martin Stranzl sniffed out the danger and cleared the Spurs man’s cross before Olic could get to it.

Just as had happened in the first half, Austria came more into things later on and the introduction of the lively Umit Korkmaz, as well as veteran Croatian born forward Ivica Vastic, added a spark to the hosts.

Even spurred on by a crowd of more than 50,000 people, Austria caused a few scares for the Croatians, who actually came closest to scoring when substitute Igor Budan’s flick from a Corluka cross was deflected just past the near post.

Moments later another substitute Roman Kienast almost levelled but his flicked header drifted wide.

by Barnaby Chesterman

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” Heavy rain, floods pound Midwest, with more on tap ”

DETROIT – Large swaths of three Midwest states were declared disaster areas as days of vicious storms and flooding forced rescuers into boats and residents to flee flooded communities. The death toll stood at eight and more rain was forecast Monday.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle sought emergency aid for 29 counties and President Bush late Sunday declared a major disaster in 29 Indiana counties. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said nearly a third of his state’s 99 counties need federal help.

Flooding was expected to be a problem Monday and later in the week across the region as up to 10 inches of rain drains into already swollen rivers.

“This thing came on fast with such a radical deluge of water that people were describing going from a feeling of security to waist-deep water in a matter or 15 or 20 minutes,” said Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

While the Midwest tried to handle the onrushing water, the Northeast baked. Heat advisories were posted early Monday in New Jersey and temperatures around New York City were expected to pass the 100-degree mark.

The Midwest storms triggered horrible memories for people in the rural areas of western Wisconsin still struggling to recover from flash-flooding last August. Those floods sent entire houses sliding into highways, washed out roads and forced many to flee in the middle of the night.

Soldiers in Wisconsin were deployed Sunday evening to assist with the evacuation of 24 people in Ontario in rural Vernon County. Evacuations also occurred in Racine and Juneau counties and elsewhere across a 150-mile soaked swath of the state from Milwaukee to the Mississippi River.

On Sunday, blinding sheets of rain transformed the Kickapoo River into an angry rush of taffy-colored water and officials warned it could crest 6 feet over flood stage sometime Monday.

Gravel driveways and dirt roads became avalanches. Great muddy lakes covered farm fields. Bluffsides disintegrated, covering roads with trees, rocks and branches.

The area’s small towns have become isolated islands. Roads leading into La Farge were all but blocked, Viola was unreachable and low-lying areas of Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills were underwater — again, officials said.

“It’s exhausting,” said Barb Edge, 50, who lives on the edge of the Kickapoo in Soldiers Grove. She said her house suffered $9,000 worth of damage in August. “We just got the damage repaired. It’s just horrible.”

The weekend death toll included a person killed when lightning struck a pavilion at a state park in Connecticut and a man who drowned in his vehicle about 50 miles south of Indianapolis.

Michigan’s toll stood at six. Two people delivering newspapers early Sunday for The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan drowned after the road beneath their car collapsed and it plunged into a ravine.

Two other people in Michigan were killed by falling trees, a 76-year-old man apparently drowned while tending to a dam and a woman was killed when high winds blew a recreational vehicle on top of her, authorities said.

Residents of Indiana tried to cope with the aftermath of as much as 11 inches of rain swamping the state on Saturday. And more rain was on the way: The National Weather Service said a new storm system could drop from 1 to 3 inches of rain on the state late Monday.

About 1,500 people were asked to leave the towns of Elnora and Plainville, about 100 miles southwest of Indianapolis, because of flooding along the White River. In Morgan County, southwest of Indianapolis, about 150 residents were taken out of a flooded nursing home.

Officials moved more than 250 patients and employees from Columbus Regional Hospital in southern Indiana. Workers pumped water out of the basement, and a couple inches of mud covered the first floor of the center, which was forced to close.

Jack Elkins, 67, said his condominium near the hospital was inundated with water in a matter of minutes Saturday night. Once the storm drains filled up, it took 15 minutes for about 8 inches of water to ruin his place. “It looked like a river in front of my house,” he said as he took a break from ripping up carpeting and flooring.

The storms struck on the 55th anniversary of the deadliest tornado in Michigan history. The June 8, 1953, tornado that struck the northern Flint community of Beecher and left a 23-mile path of destruction killed 116 people and injured another 844 along its path.

The storms popped up in central Kansas in the late afternoon and moved northeast toward Missouri, producing winds up to 80 mph and golf-ball sized hail in some areas, according to National Weather Service spotters.

One building and six cars at the correctional facility in El Dorado County east of Wichita suffered were damaged by hail nearly three inches in diameter, Butler County emergency personnel reported to the weather service.

In areas of Minnesota near the Iowa line, officials asked residents in the Winnebago Valley to evacuate. More than 60 people were being taken to a shelter in Caledonia from a campground and a flood warning was posted for the Root River near Houston.

Residents of Chicago’s northern and southern suburbs spent Sunday cleaning up from at least seven tornadoes the night before. The storms tore roofs off homes, toppled power lines and overturned tractor-trailers.

By JIM IRWIN, Associated Press Writer

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