powerful tornado...damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.

powerful tornado ...

The path of a powerful tornado is seen in Joplin, Mo. Tuesday, May 24, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.

tornado ripped through the Falcon Lake area of Piedmont in Oklahoma

A member of a search and rescue crew looks for missing children after a tornado ripped through the Falcon Lake area of Piedmont in Oklahoma May 24, 2011. Several tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma on Tuesday afternoon, the largest one striking El Reno, west of Oklahoma City, and continuing to the northeast, the National Weather Service said.

the Grimsvotn volcano casts shadow to the west.

This image provided by NASA shows an image taken by a NASA MODIS satellite acquired at 1:15 a.m. EDT on May 22, 2011 shows the ash plume from the Grimsvotn volcano casts shadow to the west. The Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Saturday, May 21 sending clouds of ash high into the air. The amount of ash spewing from the volcano tapered off dramatically on Tuesday, however, said Elin Jonasdottir, a forecaster at Iceland's meteorological office. The blue dots are data dropouts probably caused by the very bad light in the shadow of the plume.

Children in traditional Bavarian clothes

Children in traditional Bavarian clothes wait for the arrival of Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel, the Duke of Vastergotland, at a beer garden in Aying near Munich May 24, 2011. The royal couple is on a visit to Germany with stops in Munich and Berlin.

Libyan Muslims

Libyan Muslims perform their evening prayer at Benghazi's Revolution Square on May 24, 2011 as Jordan said it recognises the National Transitional Council as the "legitimate representative" of the Libyan people and intends to appoint an envoy the rebels' capital.

bestselling NOOK product line

The newest Barnes & Noble device in its bestselling NOOK product line, a 6-inch touch eReader, is pictured at an event held in their Union Square bookstore in New York, May 24, 2011. The compact new NOOK features a full touch screen, best-in-class battery life and a high-contrast E Ink Pearl display and for reading books and periodicals.

the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

An undated Lockheed Martin handout picture shows the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle being assembled and tested at Lockheed Martin's Vertical Testing Facility in Colorado, USA. The US space agency revealed plans on 24 May 2011 for a new spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to distant destinations and eventually to Mars. The system known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is based largely on the spacecraft called Orion that was part of scrapped plans developed during president George W Bush‘s administration to return astronauts to the moon. Up to four astronauts will be able to live for 21 days aboard the cone-shaped craft, which is designed to be 10-times safer than the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle fleet.

The three final couples

The three final couples are shown on stage during the final one-hour performance show of "Dancing with the Stars" in Los Angeles in this May 23, 2011 photograph. The finale takes place on Tuesday, with the winner being named. The couples are (from L to R) Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy; Kym Johnson and Hines Ward and Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas.

A woman sells grocery

A woman sells grocery in a street in Hanoi, Vietnam 25 May 2011. Vietnam's inflation accelerates to 19.78%, highest in Asia. Prices rose 19.78 percent from a year earlier, compared with 17.51 percent in April, according to data released by the General Statistics Office. The rate is the highest since December 2008

Cambodian environmental

Cambodian environmental activists perform during a rally in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 25 May 2011. Environmental activists celebrate the forest in a mass rally to call on the government of Cambodia to stop granting economic land concessions and suspend all those already granted in Prey Lang forest and conserve Prey Lang forest as a heritage for Cambodia.

The Tree of Life,"

Jessica Chastain, second from right, a cast member in "The Tree of Life," poses with fellow cast members, from left, Hunter McCracken, Tye Sheridan and Laramie Eppler at a screening of the film, Tuesday, May 24, 2011, in Los Angeles.

Pakistani onlookers ..

Pakistani onlookers gather around a police building after it was attacked by a suicide bomber in an explosives-laden pickup truck in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 25, 2011. A suicide bomber leveled a police building, killing five police officers and wounding at least 30 people in the latest round of bloodshed to rattle the country since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

temperatures reached 43 degrees Celsius

Indian men bathe using water from a road side pipe in New Delhi on May 25, 2011 where temperatures reached 43 degrees Celsius. A torrid heat wave buffeted northern India with mid-summer temperatures rising above 44 degrees celsius.

Residents swim along a flooded street

Residents swim along a flooded street after heavy downpour brought by Tropical storm Songda in Manila on May 25, 2011. A fierce storm approaching the Philippines intensified into a typhoon, the government said, warning it would unleash heavy rains across the main island of Luzon.

"the Legend Of Lady Yang"

Actresses pose for photos after a rehearsal of Chinese opera "the Legend Of Lady Yang" at the national theater center hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, May 25, 2011. The works will perform the play from May 26-29

Russia's Tatarstan

(FILES) In this photograph taken on April 15, 2011 Muslims pray during Friday noon prayers in the central Qol Sharif mosque in Kazan the capital of Russia's Tatarstan region. The authorities of Tatarstan worry about the rise of the radical Islam and the appearance of the militant Islamic groups in this mainly Muslim central Russian region known as a model of religious tolerance.

falling on the street"

Karren, part of the Pujie Girls, poses for a photograph while demonstrating planking during an interview with Reuters outside Taiwan's National Theatre in Taipei May 25, 2011. Lying face flat on the ground may not be the world's most glamourous photo pose but two Taiwanese "planking" women have made a name for themselves on the Internet -- and hope to use the craze to spread positive social messages. Calling themselves the Pujie Girls which literally translates to "falling on the street" in Mandarin, the pair are Taiwan's most well-known plankers, with almost 100,000 fans following them on Facebook.

'Your Plural View

A woman looks at a work entitled 'Your Plural View' by Olafur Eliasson featuring a mirror using stainless steel and aluminium at the Hong Kong International Art Fair in Hong Kong on May 25, 2011. Art HK11 runs from 26-29 May 2011 gathering 260 galleries from 38 countries

Cambodian villager

A Cambodian villager with his face painted participates in a protest to save rain forests at Democracy Square in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, May 25, 2011. The villagers from Cambodia's four provinces of Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom, Steung Treng and Kratie demanded the government to stop giving land concession to private companies.

photograph while demonstrating planking

Pujie Girls, Karren (R) and Jinyu, pose for a photograph while demonstrating planking during an interview with Reuters at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei May 25, 2011. Lying face flat on the ground may not be the world's most glamourous photo pose but two Taiwanese "planking" women have made a name for themselves on the Internet -- and hope to use the craze to spread positive social messages. Calling themselves the Pujie Girls which literally translates to "falling on the street" in Mandarin, the pair are Taiwan's most well-known plankers, with almost 100,000 fans following them on Facebook.

Debris from destroyed homes are seen after a massive tornado

MAY 24: Debris from destroyed homes are seen after a massive tornado passed through the town on May 24, 2011 in Joplin, Missouri. 116 people are known to have been killed and authorities expect the death toll to climb in the town of 50,000 people. Rescue workers are searching for survivors as the threat of further storms still looms.

Christal Comstock sits outside her family home

MAY 24: Christal Comstock sits outside her family home which was destroyed when a massive tornado passed through the town killing at least 116 people May 24, 2011 in Joplin, Missouri. The tornado that ripped through the town of about 50,000 people May 22, is being called the deadliest single tornado in the U.S. in 60 years.

The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses..

Widespead flooding

Tom Mahan takes a picture of a section of Pryor Creek Road south of Huntley, Mont. that was washed away from flood water in Pryor Creek on Sunday, May 22, 2011. Widespead flooding in the area closed a stretch of Interstate 90 from Hardin, Mont. to Ranchester, Wyo.

tornado hit Joplin,

A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses

Storm clouds dwarf

Storm clouds dwarf a farm near Lamar, Mo. as the sun sets Sunday, May 22, 2011. The storm earlier produced a large tornado moved through much of Joplin, Mo., damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (

Lady Gaga,

Lady Gaga, center, performs on the Main Stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, held at Carlisle Airport, Britain Sunday, May 15, 2011.

Israelis soldiers take position

Israelis soldiers take position along the fence after protesters crossed from Syria into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights close to the Druze town of Majdal Shams on May 15, 2011. Two people were killed and dozens wounded when Isreali soldiers opened fire. Bloodshed broke out as Palestinian refugees across the region living in refugee camps gathered along the Israel's borders in a show of mourning over the 1948 creation of the Jewish state known in Arabic as the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe."

SANA shows thousands of Palestinian refugees

A handout photo released by Syria’s official news agency SANA shows thousands of Palestinian refugees and Syrians moving toward the separating line between Syria and Israel, 15 May 2011. They had gathered in Ein El-Tina village in the Golan Heights and marched towards Majdal Shams village on the Israeli side of the Heights to commemorate 'Nakba Day', when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homeland in 1948 and the Israeli state was established. They came under Israeli fire, killing eight and injuring many more according to Syrian reports.

flowering Titan Arum

Visitors look at a flowering Titan Arum plant (Amorphophallus titanum) at Berlin's Botanical Garden, May 15, 2011. The flower, also known as the Corpse Flower, uses its pungent attraction to entice the insects it needs for pollination and only blooms for an average of 48 hours.

traditional Korean flower cap

South Korean assistants put a traditional Korean flower cap on a student during the Coming-of-Age Day ceremony to mark adulthood in Seoul on May 16, 2011. About 100 young women and men, including 20 foreigners, were invited to the ceremony hosted by the Seoul city administration to revive the centuries-old tradition of Chosun dynasty.

navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Air

In this Feb. 4, 2011 file photo released by the U.S. Navy and Northrup Grumman, the navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft successfully completing its historic first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. to mark a critical step in the program, moving the team forward to meet the demonstration objectives of a tailless fighter-sized unmanned aircraft to safely take off from and land on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The U.S. is developing aircraft carrier-based drones that could provide a crucial edge as it tries to counter China's military rise.

voting in village panchayat

Kashmiri villagers queue as they prepare to vote during a sixth phase of voting in village panchayat (civil bodies) elections on the outskirts of Srinagar on May 16, 2011. An Indian soldier was killed when Pakistani snipers allegedly shot across the sensitive border in divided Kashmir, an Indian paramilitary official said May 15. The incident occurred late May 14, in Indian Kashmir's Suchetgarh region, a Border Security Force (BSF) official said after the shooting shattered more than a year of calm along the militarised border in the Himalayan region. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is held in part by each but claimed in full by both

A man is suspended

A man is suspended in the air with hooks attached through his skin, in Lviv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2011. Body suspension is a bizarre ritual where a person hangs from flesh hooks put through temporary extreme piercing in the body

Paris Hilton

MAY 07: Boxer Manny Pacquiao (L) poses with Paris Hilton at a post-fight news conference after Pacquiao defeated Shane Mosley by unanimous decision to retain his WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 7, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Afghan children play on swings in Kabul

Afghan children play on swings in Kabul on May 8, 2011. A wave of attacks on government targets in the Afghan city of Kandahar May 7 were "revenge" by extremists for the killing of Osama bin Laden, a statement from President Hamid Karzai's office said.

Shaven-headed young boys wearing 3-D glasses watch a 3-D TV

Shaven-headed young boys wearing 3-D glasses watch a 3-D TV monitors at SK Telecom Ubiquitous Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, May 9, 2011. A group of children entered a temple, the main temple of Korean Buddhism's Chogye Order, to experience a monk's life for a month to celebrate Buddha's birthday on May 10

Korean woman rides a bicycle

A North Korean woman rides a bicycle with her child on her back, on the banks of Yalu River near the Chongsong county of North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 8, 2011. Picture taken May 8, 2011.

two-head conjoined female twin babies

A view of the two-head conjoined female twin babies in a hospital in Suining city in southwest China's Sichuan province 09 May 2011. Two previous ultrasonic scans in September and February both reported a single embryo to her mother Bao Qiaoying, a migrant worker, until a check on 03 May found it was with two heads. The parents decided for abortion but it was already too late. The hospital says they are China's first reported two-head conjoined twin babies, born 4.05kg together by caesarean on 05 May.