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A mother and her eight-year-old son are among at least three people who died as a destructive storm system that stirred up tornadoes swept through the US.

To the north, it delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains and was expected to push more snow and ice into Appalachia and New England.

The wintery blast dumped more than two feet (60cm) of snow in parts of South Dakota.

To the south, it produced a number of tornadoes.

Outside New Orleans, eight people were taken to hospital and one woman was found dead after a suspected twister struck the community of Killona along the Mississippi River, damaging homes and flinging debris.

Damage is seen along Schoolhouse Road after a tornado moved through area in Killona, La., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. (Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
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Cars got flipped. Pic:The New Orleans Advocate via AP
Debris is piled up following severe weather Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Keithville, La. A volatile storm ripping across the U.S. spawned tornadoes that killed a young boy and his mother in Louisiana, smashed mobile homes and chicken houses in Mississippi and threatened neighboring Southern states with more punishing weather Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jake Bleiberg)
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Homes were totally destroyed. Pic: AP

Sheriff Greg Champagne said: “There was debris everywhere. This was a horrific and a very violent tornado.”

And about 280 miles (450 kilometres) away in northern Louisiana, emergency services found the bodies of a mother and eight-year-old boy reported missing after another tornado swept away their mobile home.

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A steady stream of tornado warnings was issued on Wednesday across large portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Power lines and metal roofing are seen in a tornado damaged neighborhood in Gretna, La., in Jefferson Parish neighboring New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
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Power lines were smashed. Pic: AP

One, which touched down in southwest Louisiana, damaged several buildings on the campus of a hospital, another, in neighbouring Mississippi, destroyed four large chicken houses – one containing 5,000 roosters.

Mobile homes at a nearby park were reduced to piles of shredded debris.

Dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed in Texas, too.

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At least five people were injured In the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, police said. A possible tornado blew the roof off the city’s municipal service centre, leaving debris dangling from power lines.

The forecast was for more severe storms with additional tornadoes to be expected across an area of the Gulf Coast region populated by nearly three million people from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama.

A Winn-Dixie employee talks to a customer telling them the store is closed after the facade had fallen down due to a tornado in Gretna, La., in Jefferson Parish neighboring New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. No one was injured at the store. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
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The front of a supermarket came crashing down. Pic: AP
Gordon Weyaus, left, and Katy Little with dog Jax walk along Mandan Street in Bismarck, N.D., in the snow on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)
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The storm system also blanketed North Dakota with snow. Pic: The Bismarck Tribune via AP

More damaging weather was also forecast for the Florida panhandle.

Icy weather from the huge storm was expected to affect the US from coast to coast at some point, with ice and snow heading to the eastern US in coming days.

Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, said: “This system is notable for the fact that it’s going to impact areas all the way from California to eventually the northeast.”

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Why did Trump drop the F-bomb?

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Why did Trump drop the F-bomb?

Donald Trump has lashed out at both Israel and Iran – clearly frustrated after both sides exchanged missiles despite a ceasefire being declared.

For now though, a cessation of hostilities has held, with Israel saying its operation is now over.

The US president is now in The Netherlands for the NATO summit, and received a gushing text from Secretary-General Mark Rutte while en route.

US Correspondents James Matthews and Mark Stone discuss the latest.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

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Leaks plunge success of ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ into serious doubt

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Leaks plunge success of 'Operation Midnight Hammer' into serious doubt

There is a critical question hanging over the events of the past few days.

Behind the chest-thumping from Donald Trump, and the bewilderment beyond at his statecraft-by-social-media, doubts have now reached fever pitch about the success of the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites.

Leaks from the US Defence Department suggest the bunker busting bombs dropped on Iran’s three nuclear enrichment sites might only have set the country’s nuclear capabilities back by months.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting alongside Vice President J.D. Vance in the Situation Room at the White House

“We were assuming that the damage was going to be much more significant than this assessment is finding,” said one of three sources, speaking to NBC News.

“This assessment is already finding that these core pieces are still intact. That’s a bad sign for the overall programme.”

NBC News has spoken to three sources – all of whom say that the initial assessment by the Defence Intelligence Agency has concluded that the US airstrikes were not as effective as Mr Trump claimed.

Similar leaks were made to The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.

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Why did Trump lash out at Iran and Israel?

Responding to the CNN leak, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.”

She continued: “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear programme. Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000lb bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

In his address to the nation on Saturday night, Mr Trump had said: “I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”

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Trump: Iran strikes ‘spectacular success’

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has also dismissed the leaks, saying: “Based on everything we have seen – and I’ve seen it all – our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons.

“Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target – and worked perfectly.”

“The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran, so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission.”

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Iran’s nuclear capabilities

Battle Damage Assessments (BDAs) take a long time to be close to conclusive and require extensive intelligence analysis.

Speaking to Sky News, former director of the CIA and top US General David Petraeus cautioned about drawing any conclusions at this stage.

“Well, the truth is, it is just too soon. And those who are leaking should know that it takes a long time to do the battle damage assessment. And those who have actually pushed back in very conclusive ways also probably should have wait for the full results,” Gen Petraeus said.

“This is a very painstaking process. It’s an effort by the overall intelligence community, not just Defence Intelligence Agency. In fact, the CIA would be the lead in this effort to mine all sources of intelligence, imagery, intelligence of all types, signals, cyber, even open-source intelligence.”

Read more analysis:
There’s one F word Trump fears most
Can Tehran regard Trump as trusted broker of peace?

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Trump’s ‘ripping up the rule book’

Beyond the debate over the extent of the damage, questions remain over whether Iran might have managed to move equipment including centrifuges. Critically too, the whereabouts of about 400kg of highly enriched uranium is unknown.

The classified assessment of the military’s operation in Iran has been transmitted to Congress and has been viewed by some senators in a secure location, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

“I’ve reviewed the classified material,” Democratic Party Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that my colleagues went and looked at it and mainly started talking about it publicly. That’s not we’re supposed to do with a classified report,” he added.

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Iran ‘not at all’ thankful for Trump

Speaking on Sunday to NBC’s Meet The Press, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon insisted Iran’s nuclear capability had been dramatically set back.

“I think it’s still very early to jump into conclusions. We have to wait for the assessment. I can tell you one thing for sure. If you look where Iran was 12 days ago and where they are today, you understand that both Israel and the US were able to degrade the capabilities, push them back decades, and if we had an imminent threat, it doesn’t exist anymore.”

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Donald Trump’s four-letter fury is a reminder there’s one F word he fears most

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Donald Trump's four-letter fury is a reminder there's one F word he fears most

Failure – it’s the F word Donald Trump fears most.

Hence the early morning rant from a president, F for frustrated.

The day before had seen head-spinning developments in which a ceasefire between Israel and Iran turned on a Truth Social post.

If it felt fragile, that’s how it appeared overnight. There were exchanges between both sides beyond the deadline, and the president woke frustrated.

An unlikely diplomatic result looked exactly that.

Donald Trump speaks to media ahead of boarding Marine One to depart to attend the NATO Summit in The Hague. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump lashed out at Iran and Israel before boarding a flight to Europe on Tuesday. Pic: Reuters

Trump’s four-lettered fury was aimed primarily at Israel, which on Tuesday morning gave the appearance of an ally that had reeled him into the fight and wasn’t letting go.

It also leant into doubts around Trump’s influence over Israeli actions.

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If this process is heading towards nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran, Trump doesn’t need questions surrounding his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tehran needs to believe Trump can tighten the leash.

It will have been comforted by his remarks on board Air Force One, from where he called Netanyahu.

Speaking to the travelling media, Trump said he didn’t want to see regime change in Iran, having floated support for the idea last week.

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Israel’s prime minister’s office issued a statement that spoke of having “achieved all the war’s objectives”.

The wording speaks to a move beyond aggression.

Time will tell, and this ceasefire feels fragile still, but it’ll do for Trump for now, the self-styled peacemaker making peace one social media post at a time.

He is strengthened by the success of his diplomacy, a fact laid bare – where else? – on Truth Social.

Read more:
How much damage did the US inflict on Iran?
Can Tehran trust Trump as a broker of peace?

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to The Hague, to join world leaders gathering in the Netherlands for a two-day NATO summit. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Trump boarding Air Force One to travel to Europe on Tuesday. Pic: AP

As he flew towards the NATO summit, Trump posted a message from the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte.

It’s unclear if Rutte knew it would be published, but it’s abundantly clear he’s a man with lips puckered as the US president swaggers towards the gathering.

Referring to NATO countries’ commitment to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP, he wrote: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world.

“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

The effusive praise speaks to power enhanced for the US president as he prepares to attend the NATO gathering.

His stature is reinforced by his most recent result… as long as it lasts.

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