BILLINGS, Mont. – Survivors of a tornado that tore into Montana‘s largest indoor arena and leveled several commercial buildings returned to a scene of devastation Monday — awe-struck that a twister so destructive caused no major injuries.

Under sunny, blue skies, owners of damaged businesses in Billings picked through the rubble of their storefronts, salvaging what they could from rain-soaked piles of debris.

Local officials said a 12,000-seat arena that suffered extensive damage would have to be gutted and, if there is structural damage, possibly razed.

But residents and local leaders said Billings got off surprisingly easy given the force of Sunday’s twister, which snapped trees and power lines, lifted the roof off the Rimrock Auto Arena and left debris scattered across hundreds of acres.

The only reported injury was a homeowner who was hit in the head by a large hailstone.

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FREMONT, Neb. – Voters in the eastern Nebraska city of Fremont on Monday approved a ban on hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants, the latest proposal in a series of immigration regulations taken up by communities around the country.

About 57 percent of voters in Fremont supported the proposal, according to unofficial results that still must be certified by the election commissioner. The measure is likely to face a long and costly court battle, with the American Civil Liberties Union saying it will try to block it before it even goes into effect.

The town of about 25,000 people has watched as its Hispanic population surged in the past two decades, largely due to the jobs available at the nearby Fremont Beef and Hormel meatpacking plants. The city also has an enviably low unemployment rate that matches the Nebraska rate of 4.9 percent.

Nonetheless, residents worry that jobs are going to illegal immigrants who they fear could drain community resources. Proponents of the ballot measure collected enough signatures and fought in the Nebraska Supreme Court to put the question to a public vote.

Supporters say the measure is needed to make up for what they see as lax federal law enforcement. Opponents say it could fuel discrimination.

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TOKYO (AFP) –
Japan’s government said Tuesday it had upgraded its economic growth forecast to around 2.6 percent for the year to March 2011, from an earlier projection of 1.4 percent.

That would see Japan achieve GDP growth of more than two percent for the first time since 2006, it said. For the fiscal year to March 2012, the government forecast 2.0 percent growth.

“Thanks to the government’s stimulus packages, strengthening in business profitability and improvements in employment and household income are spreading to an increase in private demand,” the Cabinet Office said in a biannual report.

Separately, the government unveiled a long-term fiscal management policy which aims to achieve a primary balance surplus in fiscal 2020 in a bid to avoid a Greece-style debt crisis.

Achieving surplus in the primary balance — the budgetary balance excluding payments for government debts — is key in curbing gross government debt.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti has made little progress in rebuilding in the five months since its earthquake, because of an absence of leadership, disagreements among donors and general disorganization, a U.S. Senate report says.

Obtained Monday by The Associated Press, the eight-page report is meant to give Congress a picture of Haiti today as U.S. legislators consider authorizing $2 billion to support the country’s reconstruction.

That picture is grim: Millions displaced from their homes, rubble and collapsed buildings still dominating the landscape. Three weeks into hurricane season, with tropical rains lashing the capital daily, construction is being held up by land disputes and customs delays while plans for moving people out of tent-and-tarp settlements remain in “early draft form,” it says.

The report was written by staff of Sen. John Kerry, the Massachuetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and other Democrats who interviewed U.S., Haitian, United Nations and other officials and visited resettlement camps, hospitals and schools throughout the quake zone.

“While many immediate humanitarian relief priorities appear to have been met, there are troubling signs that the recovery and longer term rebuilding activities are flagging,” said the report, which is scheduled to be released Tuesday.

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LONDON (AFP) –
The special envoy to Afghanistan has taken extended leave, the government announced, amid reports that he clashed with NATO and US officials over strategy to tackle the Taliban insurgency.

Sherard Cowper-Coles has temporarily stepped down just a month before a crucial international conference in the Afghan capital Kabul, which will be attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

“He’s on extended leave and he is returning in the autumn,” said a Foreign Office spokeswoman in London on Monday, without making clear what role he would be coming back to later in the year.

Foreign Secretary William Hague is to review the post of special envoy to Afghanistan, the BBC reported, citing a Foreign Office source, but added the minister had not sacked the envoy and had wanted him to remain in the job.

Cowper-Coles was appointed to the role, which also covers Pakistan, in February 2009 by the previous Labour government after serving as ambassador to Kabul.

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