US

Vika Latai Moa worked remotely as an Operations Manager for Savino Del Bene USA, Inc. (Savino USA), an overseas trucking logistics operation out of Grapevine between June 2016 and October 2019.

Working remotely, prosecutors say Moa was pretty much on her own as a bookkeeper for the company, and that was fertile ground for mischief.

According to Kaniva News, court records show that Moa used fake invoices to overbill the company, who then paid more than $2.6 million into a bank account that she had access to.

The leaders are set to meet with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a high-level US delegation in Port Moresby on Monday.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape told local media on Thursday that President Joe Biden had called to apologise for his absence due to the need to return to Washington for meetings with Congressional leaders to raise its debt ceiling issue and avoid a default.

"He conveyed his sincerest apologies that he cannot make it into our country," Marape said.

America is poised to sign a deal with PNG which would give US armed forces uninhibited access to PNG's territorial waters and airspace.

RNZ Pacific has seen a draft copy of an agreement that will be signed off when US President Joe Biden makes a historic visit to PNG next week on Monday.

The document outlines the terms and conditions for preferential access to various PNG sea and airports.

James Cho died alongside his parents Cho Kyu Song, 37, and Kang Shin Young, 35, according to reports. His six-year-old brother was injured but survived.

BBC reports the identifications come as officials probe whether the killer had links to any far-right organisations or beliefs.

Eight were killed in the shooting.

Several victims remain in hospital.

A verified GoFundMe page says that the Cho family were at the Allen Premium Outlets mall on Saturday to exchange clothing their six-year-old son had received as a birthday gift a few days before.

Police said the illicit drugs, which were concealed in buckets of washing powder inside a shipment from California, USA were intercepted by a Customs Officer with the assistance of the Tonga Police Detector Dogs during routine Customs checks at one of the bonded warehouses on Thursday, 7 April 2023.

The couple are currently in police remand to appear in court later today, Monday, 8 May 2023.

The male driver was in custody, Lieutenant Martin Sandoval of the Brownsville Police Department said, adding he was charged with reckless driving and could face additional charges.

The incident happened in the city of Brownsville near the Mexican border at about 8.30am local time on Sunday.

Sandoval said the victims in the morning crash were waiting at a bus stop near Ozanam Center, a shelter for the homeless used by migrants. He said some migrants were among the dead.

The FDA said it "has significant concerns of bacterial contamination" in the test kit solution in some Pilot COVID-19 At-Home Tests.

Using the contaminated solution "may pose safety concerns" as well as cause the test to give an inaccurate result.

BBC reports the agency warned tests should be thrown out immediately.

Over 500,000 tests were distributed to the CVS drugstore and around 16,000 were distributed to Amazon.

None were made available through one of the federal government's testing programmes.

Homes were destroyed and thousands left without power after storms caused devastation across several states.

According to the Washington Post, more than 60 tornado reports have been recorded.

States including Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama and Mississippi have all had fatalities as a result of the weather.

One storm shredded through the Arkansas town of Wynne - a community some 170km east of the state capital, Little Rock.

Reuters reports four people were missing following the twister, which left a trail of damage for more than 161km (100 miles).

The tornado struck Silver City, a town of 200 people in western Mississippi, as well as Rolling Fork, with a population of 1700, which was hardest hit. Parts of the state remain under tornado warning.

"At least twenty three Mississippians were killed by last night's violent tornados," Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter.

BBC reports investors have recently been unnerved by a string of bank failures.

But US stock markets were higher after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signalled the US government would protect people's deposits if another bank collapsed.

In the UK, the FTSE closed 1.79% higher after gains in top bank shares.

NatWest, Prudential and Barclays shares gained about 5%, while Standard Chartered and Lloyds also traded higher.

Ms Yellen said "the situation is stabilising, and the US banking system remains sound" in a speech on Tuesday.