USA: Maya Donnelly awoke to what sounded like thunder in the early hours of the morning, but dismissed it as a typical monsoon storm and went back to sleep.

The man accused of killing three people in attacks at a Jewish community centre and Jewish retirement complex near Kansas City is a known white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader who was once the subject of a nationwide manhunt.

NO LAUGHING MATTER

ANOTHER round of volatile spring weather spread tornadoes and heavy rain across the US midwest and south yesterday as some communities were still trying to recover from the weekend twisters that killed 40 people.