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Three people have died after a tornado struck the small town of Cincinnati in Arkansas, according to local officials.

The storm caused damage near a local highway in the town’s centre and points west of Washington County, county dispatcher Josh Howerton said.

There were “lots of injuries”, he added, quoted by AP news agency.

The storm also caused damage in the town of Tontitown, the deputy emergency manager for Washington County said.

Rick Johnson said emergency responders are experiencing difficulties in reaching the damaged areas because of power lines that have been knocked down.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said that power was out throughout Washington County.

The tornado hit Cincinnati, located about 20 miles (32km) west of the city of Fayetteville, around 0600 local time (1200GMT), said Joe Sellers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oklahoma.

The storm system also injured at least two people and caused damage to five homes in Benton County, a region near the Arkansas state lines with the states of Oklahoma and Missouri, Matt Garrity, the county’s manager of emergency services, told the CNN news network.

Homes were damaged in the county, and the local airport has closed due to debris in the region, Mr Garrity said.

Tornado warnings were issued by the weather service for north-west Arkansas and parts of Missouri.

The storm system that caused the tornado is moving northeast into Missouri and is maintaining its strength, which is an unusual occurrence, Mr Sellers said.

He added that a combination of warm, wet air in the region and colder air moving in from the west created the conditions necessary for the tornado.

“Anytime you have a significant change in air mass there is going to be unsettled weather marking the two different air masses,” Mr Sellers told AP.

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The new year has been welcomed in with glittering fireworks displays in major world cities.

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Preparations for open air Hogmanay celebrations are well under way in cities across Scotland.

In Edinburgh 80,000 are expected to gather for the party on Princes Street to see in the New Year.

Glasgow is hosting a ceilidh in George Square, open only to ticket holders, followed by a fireworks display.

Inverness is preparing for a huge free party at the Northern Meeting Park Arena, with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Peatbog Fairies and Blazin Fiddles.

Aberdeen city council has organised a free fireworks display from the roof of His Majesty’s Theatre at midnight.

Hundreds of people are also expected to attend Stonehaven’s annual fireballs ceremony.

Stirling Castle’s event, which features singers including Wagner Carrilho from the X Factor, ends with the city’s “biggest ever” hogmanay fireworks display at midnight.

A piper will play at the Midsteeple in Dumfries from 2345 to 0015 GMT and revellers are expected to gather for the bells at midnight.

The events are a draw to tourists from around the world and a boost to the Scottish economy.

According to the Scottish government, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay alone generated an estimated £29m in 2009.

More than 25,000 people took part in a torchlight procession in Edinburgh on Thursday evening to kick off the city’s New Year festival in the capital.

The event, which started at Parliament Square, marked the beginning of a four-day celebration.

Organisers said the numbers of people attending Thursday night’s event had been “record-breaking”.

The city’s main Hogmanay ticket events, including an open air concert starring Biffy Clyro, begin at 2100 GMT.

Edinburgh’s emergency services and the city council have issued a number of guidelines warning revellers to stay safe, be sensible and keep warm and dry during the celebrations.

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Thousands more people are evacuating their homes as widespread flooding continues across the Australian state of Queensland.

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Northern Ireland Water says it expects most homes in NI to have their water restored by the middle of next week.

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Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has left it until his last day in office to rule on whether to extradite an Italian former left-wing militant.

Cesare Battisti was convicted in absentia of murdering four people in Italy in the 1970s during a series of left-wing kidnappings and killings.

He was arrested in Brazil in 2007 after being on the run for 30 years.

Some Brazilian media have reported that the president is likely to reject Italy’s extradition request.

Battisti escaped from an Italian jail in 1981 while awaiting trial and has spent the intervening years in France – where he started a career as a novelist – Mexico and finally Brazil.

The 56-year-old denies the murder charges, says he is the victim of persecution in Italy and that he risks being killed if extradited.

The Italian government says the former member of the radical Armed Proletarians for Communism is a terrorist.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Thursday that it would be “incomprehensible and unacceptable” if President Lula were to rule against extradition.

“President Lula will have to explain that choice, not only to the Italian government, but to all Italians and in particular the families of victims,” Mr Berlusoni’s office said in a statement.

Last year, when the Brazilian government declared Battisti a refugee, Italy protested by withdrawing its ambassador.

Brazil’s Supreme Court later ruled that the fugitive should be sent back because of a bilateral extradition treaty with Italy, but it left the final say with President Lula.

The popular leftist president hands over to his elected successor Dilma Rousseff on 1 January.

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Belarus shuts the local office of European human rights watchdog the OSCE, which was highly critical of its election.

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Three teenagers are still being questioned over the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy in south London.

The victim was found dying in a stairwell on a housing estate in Peckham on Wednesday afternoon.

Police are linking his death and the stabbings of two teenagers nearby. One of them remains seriously ill in hospital.

Two 17-year-old boys and an 18-year-old were arrested at the scene and are being quizzed by detectives.

Police said they were investigating whether the violence was gang-related.

The 17-year-old boy, who has not been named, was found bleeding to death on the fourth floor of Heron House on the Pelican Estate at about 1630 GMT on Wednesday.

Post-mortem tests showed he had been shot in the neck and chest.

A second 17-year-old was found with stab wounds in a flat in neighbouring Gannet House and he is still in hospital in a serious condition.

An 18-year-old went to King’s College Hospital with minor injuries and has since been allowed home.

In response to the killing Footballer Rio Ferdinand, who grew up not far from the Pelican Estate, urged the government to do more for young men.

Writing on Twitter the England and Manchester United player said Peckham was “again in the news for the wrong thing” and called on the government to “sort this out please”.

Ferdinand said “a number of things need to change” and young men need real role models, good parenting, respect, drive, opportunities and a “goal in life” as well as something to do.

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Fifteen people, mostly schoolgirls, were drowned when a school bus was swept off the road by flood waters caused by torrential rain, Egyptian police say.

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ScotRail is set to repay £500,000 to season ticket holders who were unable to travel in Scotland’s big freeze.

Severe snowfalls and sub-zero conditions brought parts of the country’s rail and road system to a standstill over the past month.

ScotRail said the refunds would cover the four weeks ending 11 December and went beyond its obligations.

Meanwhile, Transport Scotland said urgent repairs and pothole filling were taking place on the trunk road network.

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Celebrations are being held around the world to mark the new year.

Thousands of revellers have taken to the streets in New Zealand – the first major country to see in 2011.

Australians are marking the occasion in Sydney with what is billed as the largest and most advanced New Year’s Eve fireworks display in the world.

Displays are also planned in Europe, while up to a million people are expected in New York to see the famous Times Square Ball drop at midnight.

The municipal authorities and warmer weather have combined to clear the streets following the snowstorm which blanketed the city this week.

This year meanwhile marks the first time Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, officially celebrates the new year. In previous years, the city authorities have focused on Tet, the holiday marking the lunar new year.

In Burma, however, the military government has banned all fireworks and said severe action would be taken against anyone using them.

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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson does not expect to add to his squad in the January transfer window.

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A lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky lodges an appeal against the new jail term handed down to the former Russian oligarch.

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Looming rises in petrol duty and VAT are set to push petrol prices even higher than their current record levels.

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Sydney Harbour in Australia holds a fireworks spectacular as celebrations take place around the world to mark 2011.

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