BBC News with Sue Montgomery

Rescuers in the United States are searching through debris to try to find survivors of a monster tornado that rolled through suburb of Oklahoma City wiping out entire neighborhoods. At least 24 people are known to have died with more than 200 injured. Mark McBride, a local politician who represents the devastated suburb of Moore described the extent of the destruction.

"I don't know how to explain that, these houses have lifted off the foundation. We have two schools that have been totally destroyed. The hospital here is just look like a bomb went off. And the retail stores just watered upon piles, it's just major devastation, lost of life, very sad, lost some children at school. And you know personal note, my parents lost their home."

Our correspondent Jonny Dymond is in the worst affected area.

Whole neighborhoods have been flattened here. Mud and debris coat the pavements, the cars and the houses that still stand. Many houses are just piles of rubble as if smashed by a giant hand, just sticks and bricks, bent bicycles, a chair, some scattered plates. But in the midst disaster, small splashes of good news appeared: Parents reunited with children, residents are returning to survey their broken homes, and all around, not 24 hours after the wind came, clearing, cleaning and even some reconstruction has begun.

The Iranian authorities have barred two leading candidates from standing in next month's presidential election, the former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. State television listed eight others who have been approved by the guardian council. James Reynolds reports.

Iran's guardian council has the power to disqualify any presidential candidates for almost any reason. The body has just exercised this power in a fairly dramatic way. Mr. Rafsanjani leads potential reformers; Mr. Mashaei represents the conservative rivals to Iran's ruling clerics. And it's now clear that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not want either man to disrupt an election he wants to reserve for loyal conservatives.

The technology giant Apple has been defending itself against accusations that it's avoided paying billions of dollars in tax. A U.S. Senate Committee report accused the company of using offshore subsidiaries to shield its money and to avoid tax in huge scale. But Apple's chief executive Tim Cook told the committee his company's international subsidiaries were wholly legal.

"We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws. We don't depend on tax gimmicks. We don't stash money on some Caribbean Island."

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French police say a right-wing historian has shot himself dead beside the altar of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The man has been named as Dominique Venner, a commentator known for his far-right political essays. Police said a note was found next to his body but did not disclose its contents. On a blog that Mr. Venner published earlier today, there is a critique of the French government's same sex marriage bill which the President signed into law on Saturday.

The Nigerian government says it’s going to release all women prisoners held on suspicion of involvement with the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram. The military is conducting a bigger offensive against Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. Mark Doyle is in the capital Abuja.

Since the insurgency began four years ago, there have been persistent reports that the Nigerian police are detaining the family members of suspected insurgents effectively holding them hostage. The government hasn't openly admitted this, but it has now said that the move to free all women prisoners demonstrated that the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was showing magnanimity and seeking peace. This may be the case, but the military offensive against the Islamists is continuing along with these more political moves.

Two Spanish tourists have been kidnapped while travelling in northwestern Colombia. The couple disappeared four days ago in the province of La Guajira near the Venezuelan border. The kidnappers have allegedly identified themselves as members of the Farc.

Police in the Czech Republic have discovered one million liters of illegally brewed alcohol hidden underground in storage tanks. Helped by geologists in their search detectives used pneumatic drills to break through concrete floors to find metal tanks filled with alcohol. The discovery is part of an investigation into the illegal spirits trade. More than 40 people died in the Czech Republic last year from drinking bootleg alcohol.

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