Residents began returning home to their flattened Oklahoma town after a giant tornado killed at least 24 people, destroyed countless homes and reduced one elementary school almost entirely to rubble, killing seven children inside. Authorities said they were confident that all survivors and bodies had been found.

A massive tornado spanning a half-mile (800 meters) and clocking winds up to 200 mph (320 kph) devastated a town outside Oklahoma City, killing at least 24 people, including at least seven children, the state medical examiner's office said Monday. Rescuers continued to search the rubble for survivors.

U.S. home-improvement retailer The Home Depot reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings Tuesday and raised its full-year outlook thanks to the U.S. housing market recovery.

Two senior aides to U.S. President Barack Obama knew weeks ago about a watchdog report on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting of conservative groups, a spokesman said on Monday, shifting the focus to the White House in a fast-moving controversy.

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Manhattan Monday to protest the killing of a gay man allegedly taunted with homophobic slurs — the most recent in a spate of bias attacks stirring up anxiety, disbelief and outrage in a famously gay-friendly neighborhood.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday saluted Myanmar President Thein Sein for his leadership in pushing through startling political reforms, but warned that violence against Muslims must stop.

U.S. President Barack Obama will leave on his first major African tour next month, visiting Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, but his itinerary released on Monday bypasses Kenya, an ancestral homeland.

China's new leader Xi Jinping will confer with U.S. President Barack Obama next month in California, months earlier than their expected first meeting, as both sides seek to stem a drift in relations, troubled by issues from cyberspying to North Korea.

Guatemala's top court overturned the genocide conviction of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt and ordered on Monday that his trial restart.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations against terrorism suspects overseas that are currently run by the CIA, several government sources said on Monday.