Joplin, May 23
At least 89 persons have died in a tornado that left a path of destruction nearly 1-km-wide through the heart of Joplin, Missouri, and directly hit the small Midwestern city's main hospital, local officials said today. US weather officials said the tornado that hit at dinnertime on Sunday might have been the single deadliest in the country since 1953.

Rescue crews from throughout the region worked all night and into Monday morning in the town of about 50,000 persons, searching for anyone still alive in the rubble.

An unknown number of people were injured and officials said they expected to find more bodies as they dig through collapsed homes and businesses.

The tornado blew the roof off St. John's hospital where about 180 patients cowered, and some 2,000 homes and other buildings were destroyed. It flattened whole neighbourhoods, splintered trees, flipped cars and trucks upside down and into each other.

“It is a significant tragedy,” said Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. The residents were given a 20-minute notice when 25 warning sirens sounded throughout the southwest Missouri town around 6 pm CDT, said Jasper County Emergency Management Director Keith Stammers.

But the Governor said many people likely were unable to get to shelter in time. “The bottom line was the storm was so loud you probably couldn’t hear the sirens going off.”

He declared a state of emergency and called out the Missouri National Guard to help.

President Barack Obama called the Governor Sunday evening to “extend his condolences” to the families of Joplin. — Reuters

Reykjavik, May 23
Britain said flights could be disrupted from parts of the country on Tuesday by an ash cloud billowing from an Icelandic volcano, but said it did not expect a repeat of last year's travel chaos.

Britain's Met Office is predicting the plume of ash from the Grimsvotn volcano would cover the Irish Republic, Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern Britain by 0600 GMT. US President Barack Obama is due to fly into Britain on Tuesday from Ireland for a state visit.

The Irish Aviation Authority said flights to and from Ireland could be disrupted later in the week but did not expect problems in the next 48 hours. Other parts of Europe were on alert.

Last year, ash from an Icelandic volcano caused 100,000 flights to be cancelled, disrupting 10 million passengers and costing the industry an estimated $1.7 billion in lost revenues.

Asked if the ash cloud would cause some disruption to flights this time, a spokesman for Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said: "That's the way it's looking certainly at the moment."

Europe's air traffic control organisation said if volcanic emissions continued at the same rate the cloud could reach western French and northern Spanish airspace on Thursday.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to host Obama and other G8 leaders in France later this week.

Authorities have backed more relaxed rules on flying through ash after being criticised for being too strict last time. — Reuters

Dublin, May 23
President Barack Obama opens a six-day European tour with a quick dash through Ireland, where he will celebrate his own Irish roots and look to give a boost to a nation grappling with the fallout from its financial collapse.

After an overnight flight from Washington, Air Force One touched down in the Irish capital on a cool, rainy Monday morning. The president and his wife, Michelle Obama, were scheduled to start their trip meeting with Ireland’s political leaders.

The centerpiece of Obama’s largely ceremonial visit is a jaunt to Moneygall, the tiny village in County Offaly that is the ancestral homeland of Obama’s great-great-great grandfather on his Kansas-born mother’s side.

As the story goes, Falmouth Kearney, a shoemaker, left Moneygall for the United States in 1850 at the height of the Ireland’s Great Famine. Obama’s roots in the town were discovered during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Residents in the village of about 350 have been eagerly anticipating Obama’s stop here, applying fresh coats of paint to their homes, patching up the roads and hurriedly building a coffee shop called what else? Obama Cafe.

White House aides say the president shares their excitement and may even raise a pint at a local pub and connect with a few distant relatives. “It’s certainly quite likely that in a town of that size that is so deeply rooted in that part of Ireland that there are people who share those ties,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

Obama was to wrap up his trip here with an open-air speech at College Green, the same spot in the center of Dublin where President Bill Clinton drew a massive crowd for a speech during his 1995 trip to Ireland.

Obama’s remarks will be part of a larger rally that includes musical performances and appearances by popular Irish actors and athletes. In keeping with the festive mood, Obama aides said the president’s speech would not be political, instead focusing on the deep ties that bind the US and Ireland. — AP