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As day breaks in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, the chirping birds in the blue skies above cut through the eerie quiet.

Occasionally, a car passes with the front window rolled down as people take phone pictures and videos of destruction on a film-set scale.

A lone figure is plotting a path between mounds of wood and corrugated iron, which bear little resemblance to what stood here before.

It is the first time Erwin Macon, a janitor at the local primary school, has been back in the daylight to see what remains of the place he calls home.

The footprint of his mobile home is still there. Everything else, as he says, is gone.

“A lot of people lost their lives. Coming by here, seeing this, it’s hard to deal with,” he says, looking into the distance.

“I’m blessed to be alive.”

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Moment tornado hits Mississippi school

How man clung to carpet to ensure unlikely survival

It was just before 8pm on Friday when Macon received a text from the authorities, urging people to take shelter.

But it was too late. Within a few minutes, the tornado and its near 200mph swirling winds were upon him and the other almost 2,000 people who live in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

“I didn’t even hear the siren go off,” he says.

“So when it came, I couldn’t tell you which direction that storm was coming from.

“First it got calm and quiet and next thing you know, you start hearing all that noise and I felt coming towards me.

“The only thing I could do was to get the mattress off the bed and throw it on top of me and lay on the floor.

“The storm blew the mattress off and the only thing that covered me was the carpet.

“Somehow it wrapped around me, and no debris got on me, it kept the rain off.

“I was just holding so tightly, so I wouldn’t get sucked out. That was God, because I’m not supposed to be here.”

Photos show how deadly storm reduced buildings to rubble

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‘It’s really bad’: Residents hit by tornado

‘Blood running down my face’

Rolling Fork is a deeply religious community – and Lauretta Reed was thanking God, too, after her miraculous escape from the same mobile home park.

She has just been released from the hospital, with stitches holding together a deep gash on her forehead and a finger which was, she says, half hanging off.

“It happened so fast, I don’t know what hit me,” she says.

“I just heard a roar like a big train coming towards me. I don’t know how long it lasted for, but when I came out I had blood running down my face.

“It was still lightening and people were screaming and crying for help and I couldn’t help them. It hurts.”

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A resident surveys the damage done to her car in Amory, Mississippi. Pic: AP
A homeowner surveys the damage in Amory, Mississippi. Pic: AP
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Damage from the tornado in Amory, Mississippi. Pics: AP

Seeing the scale of the damage, it is hard to believe that more lives were not lost here, even as the search and rescue effort continues.

Everything in the path of the tornado was pulverised.

Almost everyone here has a story to tell.

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Sheriff heartbroken after relative dies in US tornado

Hiding in a fridge as building destroyed

At Chuck’s Dairy Bar, a diner on the main road of this small town, perhaps the most miraculous of survival stories, as employees hid in a refrigerator while the tornado passed through.

Owner Tracy Harden says: “The lights flickered and someone said ‘cooler’. Nine of us rushed in, really quickly.

“Before my husband could close the door, he said, ‘I can see the sky’. That meant our roof was gone.

“I can’t say how long we were in there, but we felt it moving. We were being pushed and shoved between each other.

“Then all of a sudden it stopped”.

Tracy and Tim Hardin, owners of Chuck's Dairy Bar, survey the tornado destruction to their business in Rolling Fork. Pic: AP
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Tracy and Tim Hardin, owners of Chuck’s Dairy Bar, survey the tornado destruction to their business in Rolling Fork. Pic: AP

The tornado left as fast as it had come.

But the scars – in the minds, businesses and homes of people in Rolling Fork – will take much longer to heal.

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Tennessee: Man tries to detonate 14 explosive devices while being arrested

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Tennessee: Man tries to detonate 14 explosive devices while being arrested

Police in Tennessee have discovered 14 improvised explosive devices in a man’s home as they were arresting him, the local sheriff’s office said.

Officers were executing a warrant in the home of Kevin Wade O’Neal in Old Fort, about 45 miles (70km) east of Chattanooga, after he had threatened to kill public officials and law enforcement personnel in Polk County.

After arresting the 54-year-old, officers noticed “something smouldering” in the bedroom where he was found.

Kevin Wade O'Neal. Pic: Polk County Sheriff's Office
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Kevin Wade O’Neal. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office

On closer inspection, they discovered an improvised explosive device and evacuated the house until bomb squad officers arrived at the scene.

Fourteen devices were found inside the property – none of which detonated.

Improvised explosive devices were found in Kevin Wade O'Neal's home. Pic: Polk County Sheriff's Office
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Improvised explosive devices were found in Kevin Wade O’Neal’s home. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office

Kevin Wade O'Neal's home in Old Fort, Tennessee. Pic: Polk County Sheriff's Office
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Kevin Wade O’Neal’s home in Old Fort, Tennessee. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office

O’Neal was charged with 11 counts of attempted first-degree murder, corresponding to nine officers and two other people inside the property when the suspect tried to detonate the devices.

He also faces 14 counts of prohibited weapons and one count of possession of explosive components.

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O’Neal is being held at the Polk County jail and his bond is yet to be determined.

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Trump orders two nuclear subs to be moved closer to Russia

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Trump orders two nuclear subs to be moved closer to Russia

Donald Trump says he has ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the “appropriate regions” in a row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

It comes after Mr Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of Russia‘s Security Council, told the US president on Thursday to remember Moscow had Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.

On Friday, Mr Trump wrote on social media: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Trump-Russia live: Follow Ukraine war latest

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Trump: ‘We’re going to protect our people’

Speaking outside the White House later in the day, Mr Trump was asked about why he had moved the submarines and replied: “We had to do that. We just have to be careful.

“A threat was made and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia and we’re going to protect our people.”

The spat between Mr Trump and Mr Medvedev came after the US president warned Russia on Tuesday it had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face tariffs, along with its oil buyers.

Moscow has shown no sign that it will agree to Mr Trump’s demands.

Trump’s move appears to signal a significant deterioration in relationship with Putin

Normally it’s Moscow rattling the nuclear sabres, but this time it’s Washington in what marks a dramatic escalation in Donald Trump’s war of words with the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

More importantly, it appears to signal a significant deterioration in his relationship with Vladimir Putin.

The US president’s patience with the Kremlin was already at its thinnest earlier this week, when he shrank his deadline for progress towards a peace deal from 50 days to 10.

But Russia’s lack of outward concern with this stricter ultimatum – which has swung from dismissive to (in Medvedev’s case) insulting – seems to have flicked a switch.

For this is the first time Trump’s pressure on Moscow has amounted to anything more than words.

We don’t know where the subs are, or how far they had to move to get closer to Russia, but it’s an act that sits several rungs higher than the usual verbal threats to impose sanctions.

How will Russia respond? I’m not sure Vladimir Putin has ever caved to an ultimatum and I doubt he’ll start now.

But I don’t think he’ll want the situation to deteriorate further. So I suspect he’ll make another offer to the US, that’s dressed up as a concession, but in reality may prove to be anything but.

It’s a tactic that’s worked before, but the stakes have suddenly got higher.

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On Thursday, Mr Medvedev reminded Mr Trump that Russia possessed a Soviet-era automated nuclear retaliatory system – or “dead hand”.

Mr Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was referring to a secretive semi-automated Soviet command system designed to launch Russia’s missiles if its leadership was taken out in a decapitating strike.

He made the remarks after Mr Trump told him to “watch his words” after Mr Medvedev said the US president’s threat of hitting Russia and its oil buyers with punitive tariffs was “a game of ultimatums” and added that “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war” between Russia and the US.

Dmitry Medvedev. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Dmitry Medvedev. Pic: Reuters

Mr Medvedev served as Russia’s president from 2008 and 2012, when Mr Putin was barred from seeking a third consecutive term, but then stepped aside to let him run again.

As deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, he has become known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

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Trump says ‘nobody has asked’ him to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell – but he has ‘right to do it’

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Trump says 'nobody has asked' him to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell - but he has 'right to do it'

Donald Trump has said “nobody has asked” him to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, but insisted he has “the right to do it” as US president.

Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of helping the paedophile financier traffic and sexually abuse underage girls in 2021.

Prosecutors have said Epstein’s sex crimes could not have been done without Maxwell, but her lawyers have maintained that she was wrongly prosecuted and denied a fair trial, and have floated the idea of a pardon from Mr Trump.

Last week, they asked the US Supreme Court to take up her case.

When pressed on the possibility of pardoning Maxwell, Mr Trump told reporters: “I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it.”

He continued: “I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it. I have the right to give pardons, I’ve given pardons to people before, but nobody’s even asked me to do it.”

Mr Trump also said he would not pardon Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was convicted in July on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

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Trump ‘never visited Espstein island’

His comments came shortly after the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said Maxwell has been moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

She was being held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, that housed men and women, but has now been transferred to a prison camp in Bryan, Texas.

When asked why Maxwell was transferred, BOP spokesperson Donald Murphy said he could not comment on the specifics, but that the BOP determines where inmates are sent based on such factors as “the level of security and supervision the inmate requires”.

Maxwell’s lawyer confirmed the move but also declined to discuss the specific reasons for it.

The Texas camp houses solely female prisoners, the majority of whom are serving time for nonviolent offences and white-collar crimes, Sky’s US partner NBC News reports.

Trump and Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News
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Trump and Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News

Minimum-security federal prison camps house inmates considered to be the lowest security risk and some facilities do not even have fences.

A senior administration official told NBC: “Any false assertion this individual was given preferential treatment is absurd.

“Prisoners are routinely moved in some instances due to significant safety and danger concerns.”

Read more:
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Analysis: Trump hopes to escape Epstein controversy

Maxwell has received renewed attention in recent weeks, after the US Justice Department said it would not be releasing the so-called ‘Epstein files’.

The department said a review of the Epstein case had found “no incriminating ‘client list'” and “no credible evidence” the jailed financier – who killed himself in prison in 2019 – had blackmailed famous men.

Officials from the Trump administration have since tried to cast themselves as promoting transparency in the case.

Last month, they lodged a request to unseal grand jury transcripts – which was denied – and Maxwell was last week interviewed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Epstein survivor’s family criticises move

Maxwell’s move to a lower security facility has been criticised by the family of Epstein abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, and accusers Annie and Maria Farmer.

They said in a statement: “It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received.

“Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency.

“Yet, without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum security luxury prison in Texas.”

The statement concluded: “This move smacks of a cover up. The victims deserve better.”

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