A huge tornado has devastated a small US town, killing at least 89 people. The twister left a path of destruction 1km wide through the heart of Joplin in the mid-western state of Missouri. It flattened 2,000 homes and businesses, and blew the roof off the local hospital. Residents were given just 20 minutes' notice to leave.

 

US President Barack Obama has cut short his visit to Ireland because of Iceland's erupting volcano. The drifting cloud of ash is already causing minor flight delays in Britain. Large crowds greeted the president in Dublin. He also visited a small village where one of his ancestors used to live.

 

An investigation is underway into a Taliban siege at a naval base in Karachi that killed 10 soldiers. Running gun battles between the army and the militants continued for more than 12 hours before the military regained control of the base.

 

And Victoria's Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a multi-million-dollar payout for a group of Melbourne residents forced from their homes because of a gas leak. More than 750 people from a housing estate at Cranbourne in the city's southeast had to abandon their homes when methane gas was found coming from a disused tip back in 2008.