A massive tornado that swept through the Missouri town of Joplin has killed at least 89 people, a senior local official announced Monday.

"We have 89 confirmed dead due to this tornado," City Manager Mark Rohr said in a statement.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected for the first time to address the situation in Syria during a speech on the occasion of Liberation Day on Wednesday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, who along with Iran is Hizbullah’s main backer, is facing a nine-week uprising against his regime.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday accused Hizbullah of exercising "political assassination," as he condemned Iran's support for "extremists" in the region.

Speaking at the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC Policy Conference, Obama pointed to Iranian "hypocrisy" in "claiming to support the rights of protesters" in the region "while treating its own people with brutality."

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Sunday to "keep up pressure" on Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons and forcefully defended his call for an Israeli-Palestinian peace based on pre-1967 frontiers, suggesting critics had misrepresented him.

Outlining U.S. and U.N. sanctions imposed on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime, Obama said Iran is now "virtually cut off from large parts of the international financial system."

U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that he would order another covert military raid like that which killed Osama bin Laden if it was necessary to stop terrorist attacks.

Pakistan is furious that that United States sent Navy SEALs to raid bin Laden's Pakistan hideaway earlier this month without informing Pakistani authorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he shared U.S. President Barack Obama's vision for peace in remarks appeared aimed at defusing a deepening row with the U.S. leader.

"I am partner to the president's desire to foster peace and I value his efforts in the past and the present to achieve this goal," said Netanyahu, reacting to Obama's speech to the main pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

Speaker Nabih Berri stated on Saturday that his busy schedule prevented him from meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman on Friday.

He explained to reporters: “I was in the South and it helped me see the clear picture when he visited various officials, whom we all trust.”

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu lectured President Barack Obama in his own office Friday, warning him not to chase "illusions" of Middle East peace and opening a deep rift in U.S.-Israel ties.

In a dramatic Oval Office appearance, after 90 minutes of talks, Prime Minister Netanyahu emphatically vowed Israel would never return to its 1967 borders and laid down a set of non-negotiable conditions for peace talks.

U.S. President Barack Obama will hold one-on-one talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy at next week's G8 summit in France.

Obama, who will also visit Ireland, Britain and Poland next week on a major European tour, which will include the G8 developed nations summit in the French seaside resort of Deauville.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali assured on Friday that Syria is more fortified than ever after the recent unrest witnessed in the Arab country.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “Matters are improving and reforms are being implemented at a fast pace.”