NPR 2010-04-25

A massive weather system sweeping 1 across the Deep South is spawning 3 tornadoes 5. Suzette Berry lives just outside Yazoo City, Mississippi where she says a twister tore through Highway 49 and flattened 6 just about everything in its path.

"Trees downed, I mean, half a mile, not trees in two. Hillcrest Church is gone on 49, There's a funeral home there demolished 7."

Brett Tannehill of Alabama Public Radio recaps the first reports of tornadoes affecting several states.

A tornado 4 curved a path three quarter of a mile wide as it roared through Madison and Yazoo City, Mississippi, flattening 8 homes and buildings and causing multiple injuries. As the twister moved through Yazoo City, it picked up so much debris 9, it was visible on radar 10. The storm continues to spawn 2 touchdowns as it moved across Mississippi and toward Alabama. Earlier in the day, it also caused damage in Louisiana and struck a chemical plant, trapping some people under debris. For NPR News, I'm Brett Tannehill in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Meteorologists such as Greg Carbin with US Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma are expecting the storm system to intensify 11 in the coming hours.

"We already had thunderstorms associated with this intensification 12. A lot of warm moist air flowing north throughout of the Gulf 13 of Mexico is fueling as thunderstorm development and that a very strong jet stream coming across the Ark-La-Tex region."

No official word yet on casualties, but as we've been told there have been reports of widespread damage to homes and buildings.

Europe is back to being a full-fly zone now that the ash cloud from an erupting Icelandic volcano was no longer a threat. But as Larry Miller 14 reports from London, some airlines are still tackling a heavy backlog 15 of stranded 16 passengers.

By Sunday, 100,000 British passengers stranded around the world would have been repatriated 17, according to the UK's Air Travel Association. But that still leaves more than 50,000 unable to get home. While the airlines say it could be at least another week before the backlog's been cleared, according to the Guardian 18 Newspaper, passengers stuck in India, China and the US say the earliest flights they've been offered depart in over two weeks. British Airways 19 is asking customers booked on long-haul flights to volunteer to give up their seats for the stranded. Virgin 20 Atlantic reports it's been contacted by many such volunteers. British Airways has been criticized for offering seats at significantly overpriced fares on its Web site, but it explains that's to discourage new bookings so it can clear the backlog. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

A South Korean crew has recovered the front half of a warship 21 that exploded and sank a month ago near disputed sea border with North Korea. They've also found the body of another sailor who was among 46 killed or missing in the incident. South Korea says it has not found evidence that its northern rival played a role.

This is NPR News.

Negotiations 22 to end a month-long political standoff in Thailand are at an impasse 23. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is rejecting an anti-government group's latest demand to dissolve Parliament within a month. A protest leader says now his group is pulling out of those talks. For weeks, thousands of demonstrators have been occupying an upscale commercial district of Bangkok, severely 24 affecting business in the capital. The unrest has led to more than two dozen deaths.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the day the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce takes a look back at the fragile beginnings of one of astronomy's greatest tools.

Mario Livio is an astrophysicist with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. He remembers the launch of Hubble on space shuttle Discovery back in 1990 and the sickening realization 25 that the telescope's main mirror had a flaw.

"Oh, I cannot tell you, I mean, I thought that this was a disaster to be honest."

But in 1993, astronauts installed equipment that solved the problem. Since then, Hubble has gazed out into space with its view unobstructed by the Earth's atmosphere. And a fix-up mission to the orbiting telescope last year left it more powerful than ever before.

"And through its longevity 26, you know, we are celebrating our 20 years. It has really revolutionized the astronomy."

But no more repairs are planned for Hubble. NASA hopes the aging telescope will keep going until at least 2014. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

Recapping our top story, there are reports of tornadoes across parts of the southern US that have caused severe damage in some areas.