TOKYO (AP) — Tropical storm Chan-hom moved westward Wednesday after making landfall in the greater Tokyo region the night before, knocking down trees and leaving thousands of homes without power. Five people suffered minor injuries.
Chan-hom was significantly weakened after making landfall in southern Ibaraki prefecture late Tuesday. It was near Gifu, in central Japan, early Wednesday as it headed toward Wakasa Bay on Japan's north-central coast. The storm was packing sustained winds of 64 kph (40 mph), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Chan-hom hit Japan days after typhoon Dolphin created havoc in parts of southern Japan, paralyzing traffic and sending hundreds to take shelter. After weakening to a storm, Dolphin killed 10 people in the Philippines and caused flooding in China, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to relocate.
In Tokyo, commuter trains and flights were operating normally and business was almost as usual, but the agency warned residents in northern and western Japan of heavy rain and thunder throughout the day.
Five people were injured slightly — two men in the northern prefecture of Iwate and three women in Ibaraki — according to prefecture officials. As of Wednesday morning, more than 3,000 homes were without electricity in Ibaraki and its neighboring Tochigi prefecture, according to TEPCO Power Grid.
The storm knocked down trees at several locations in Tokyo, including one in the posh shopping area of Omotesando, though nobody was injured, according to NHK public television.
It affected many holiday travelers during Japan’s “bon” Buddhist holiday week of honoring the ancestral spirits.
About 60 flights departing and arriving at Tokyo’s Haneda airport were canceled Tuesday. In Ibaraki, the popular Oarai beach was empty after closing due to the storm.
Tuesday’s landfall was a first by a tropical storm or typhoon in Ibaraki since the agency started keeping records in 1951.
Passengers line up in front of an All Nippon Airways counter at Haneda airport in Tokyo following flight cancellations due to Tropical Storm Chan-hom Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (Katsuya Miyagawa/Kyodo News via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The factional fight gripping the Democratic Party moved to Minnesota on Tuesday as voters were settling another moderate-versus-progressive U.S. Senate primary.
The race between centrist U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was playing out in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration surge, which led to the shooting death of two protesters by federal officers in Minneapolis and galvanized the president's liberal opposition.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. CDT in a race that was taking the temperature of Democratic primary voters a week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed won a bitter and divisive primary in Michigan that fired up the left and fueled anxiety among party leaders that Democrats will alienate moderate swing voters.
Whoever wins the primary for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, as it's known in Minnesota, will be the front-runner in November. Minnesota voters haven't elected a Republican to a statewide office since 2006. The Democratic nominee will face former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who won the GOP primary.
Still, Republicans are hoping a fraud scandal involving the widespread theft of public funds will give them an opening up and down the ballot.
Among the leading GOP candidates for governor is Mike Lindell — the Trump- endorsed pillow purveyor, who has been among the most persistent advocates of the lie that Trump's 2020 loss to Joe Biden was fraudulent. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar won the Democratic nomination for governor, defeating six other candidates.
In the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, Craig lined up support from Democratic establishment figures including House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as senators from battleground states.
She pointed to her record of winning tough races in a closely divided House district in the suburban Twin Cities, saying she has the experience to bring the change voters are demanding to Washington.
“She has the work ethic, she has the fight, she has the experience,” said Angie Oi, a Craig supporter and volunteer.
Flanagan had the support of leading progressive figures including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. She was also backed by Smith, the retiring incumbent.
The race was shaped by the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, confrontations that were caught on camera and fueled a backlash to Trump's immigration policies. Flanagan highlighted Craig's vote for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that passed early in Trump's second term. Craig repudiated her support after Good and Pretti were killed.
U.S. support for Israel and the influence of corporations and wealthy donors also figured prominently in a race that attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending by allies of both women.
“I love that she doesn’t take any corporate money, she doesn’t take any money from AIPAC,” said Andrea Ropella, a Flanagan supporter, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “The things that she says, she believes in and she stands for.”
Gov. Tim Walz declined to endorse either candidate, but late last month his wife, Gwen Walz, endorsed Craig over Flanagan, a move seen as a repudiation of her husband's running mate and governing partner for two terms.
Trump did not endorse a candidate on the Republican side, although Tafoya had support from the national GOP. Adam Schwarze, a Marine veteran and Navy SEAL, had the official backing of the state Republican committee and Royce White had an existing profile as a prior candidate, conservative commentator and a brief professional basketball career.
Republicans had another crowded primary in the race for governor.
Lindell established his national profile from his TV advertising campaign as the “MyPillow Guy.” He has been one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters and a persistent proponent of myths about the 2020 election. He lost a defamation lawsuit last year and was ordered to pay $2.3 million to a former employee of a voting systems company, whom he called a traitor.
In a post on social media Tuesday morning, Trump said Lindell “deserves a BIG WIN.”
Trump's endorsement carries enormous weight in GOP primaries, and few of his favored candidates have lost so far this year. But some prominent Minnesota Republicans worry Lindell is too toxic with independent voters and will drag down the entire GOP ticket. Even state GOP Chairman Alex Plechash raised doubts about Lindell's electability.
Jim Busche, 79, said he likes Lindell but agrees that he’s probably too controversial to win a general election, so he cast his vote for state House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
“I wanted to vote for somebody that at least has a chance,” said Busche, who is retired and lives in Independence.
Lindell’s primary opponents included Demuth, who had strong backing from GOP elected officials, and businessman Kendall Qualls, who won the Minnesota GOP's endorsement.
The winner will face Klobuchar, who has built a moderate profile over her 20 years representing the state in Washington.
No Republican has won a statewide race in Minnesota since Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected in 2006, but the state is more closely divided than that history would suggest.
In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Trump here by only 1.5 points, and in 2024, even with Walz on the ticket, Democrat Kamala Harris won the state by only 4 points.
In the state Legislature, Democrats hold just a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the House is split evenly between the parties.
Republicans think the fraud scandal, which led Walz to abandon his plans to run for a third term, gives them a rare opening to make inroads in an otherwise tough environment for the GOP.
At least 65 people have been convicted in a series of overlapping food fraud cases stemming from investigations that began during the Biden administration. One former nonprofit leader was sentenced in May to 42 years in prison in a $250 million fraud case.
Trump pointed to the scandals as justification for launching a massive immigration crackdown that he initially said would focus on the state’s large Somali community.
Gubernatorial candidate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., greets supporters after taking part in a Minnesota Governor Candidate Forum in Morgan, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Candidates for Minnesota governor, from left, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, Mike Lindell and Kendall Qualls participate in a forum at Farmfest, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Morgan, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Mike Lindell, gubernatorial candidate, greets Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who he will face in the Republican primary, as they arrive to take part in a Minnesota Governor Candidate Forum in Morgan, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., speaks during a forum for U.S. Senate candidates at Farmfest, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Morgan, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, greets supporters during a campaign event at the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Twin Cities Office in Minneapolis, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
