Severe drought

    China’s longest river, the Yangtze River, has been plagued by severe drought, with the lowest rainfall since 1961, an official with the river’s flood control and drought relief headquarters said on Monday.

    The spring drought had affected Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with 40 to 60 percent less than average rainfall.

    Obama visits Britain

    U.S. President Barack Obama, accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, began his three-day state visit to Britain on Monday night.

    At the invitation of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, the president and his wife will stay at Buckingham Palace during their first state visit to the country. Last time they were invited to have tea in the palace with the British monarch when visiting London for the G20 summit in April 2009.

    Missouri tornado

    Rescue crews dug through piles of splintered houses and crushed cars on Monday in a search for victims of a half-mile-wide tornado that blasted much of this Missouri town off the map and slammed straight into its hospital.

    At least 116 people died, making it the nation’s deadliest single tornado in nearly 60 years and the second major tornado disaster in a month. An unknown number of people were hurt.

    Naval air base recaptured

    Troops recaptured Pakistan’s naval air force headquarters on Monday after a 16-hour battle with Taliban gunmen who had stormed the facility in the most brazen attack since the killing of Osama bin Laden. At least 12 military personnel were killed and 14 wounded in the assault that started at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday, a navy spokesman said. (SD-Agencies)