Eight Dead as Tornadoes Surge Across Central US

A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)
A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Eight Dead as Tornadoes Surge Across Central US

A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)
A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)

Tornadoes tore through the central United States in a series of storms that continued into Saturday, leaving eight people dead and at least a dozen others injured, authorities said.

Four people were reported killed in Oklahoma, where the twisters gained strength, and four others died further north in the Midwestern state of Michigan.

The Branch County Sheriff's Office said a tornado touched down near Union City in southern Michigan on Friday, killing three people and injuring 12.

About 50 miles (80 kilometers) west, officials in Cass County said one person was killed and "several injuries" were reported after a tornado hit the area.

"Our thoughts are with those who have lost family, friends, and property during this incident," the Branch County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Authorities in Cass County said a number of trees had fallen onto roads and buildings, and more than 500 people were reported to be without power.

"Emergency Management personnel will be conducting damage assessments in the affected area as required by the State of Michigan," the local sheriff's office said.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Friday evening she was activating a state emergency operations center "to coordinate an all-hands-on-deck response to severe weather in southwestern Michigan."

In Oklahoma, the extreme weather led to fourth deaths late Thursday and Friday, and people were waking up Saturday to scenes of destruction and loss in several towns across the state.

"Severe weather struck Major County last night and tragically claimed the lives of a mother and daughter," Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt posted on X.

Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said in a statement that two people died in a tornado that hit the town of Beggs on Friday night.



Trump Tells Britain he Does Not Need its Help to Win Iran War

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Trump Tells Britain he Does Not Need its Help to Win Iran War

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

President Donald Trump said on Saturday Britain was giving "serious thought" to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East, but added that the US does not need them to win the war with Iran, in the latest clash between the military allies.

Trump has repeatedly criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggesting this week that he helped "ruin" the countries' historically close relationship after London blocked initial US use of British bases to attack Iran.

In a post ⁠on Truth Social, ⁠Trump said he "will remember" the lack of British support during the conflict with Iran.

"The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," Reuters quoted Trump as saying.

"That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need ⁠people that join Wars after we’ve already won!"

The social media post comes after Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday it was preparing the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier for possible deployment.

But no final decision has been taken about whether to send it to the Middle East, a British official said.

Starmer has defended his decision not to allow US forces to use British bases to support initial strikes on Iran, saying he needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal and well planned.

He later granted US forces permission to use British ⁠bases for what ⁠he called defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.

Asked about Trump's comments, British foreign minister Yvette Cooper told Sky News on Sunday: "The thing I've learned doing this job is that you have to focus on substance and not on social media posts."

"We're not going to do things in terms of the rhetoric or hyperbole. We're going to do things on really practical, calm, steady decision making. Because I think that actually the British character more widely is to do things in a serious and steady way."

Starmer earlier this year criticized Trump's desire to buy Greenland and said his comments that European troops avoided frontline combat in the war in Afghanistan were "frankly appalling."


Police Investigate Potential Explosion Outside US Embassy in Oslo

Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN
Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN
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Police Investigate Potential Explosion Outside US Embassy in Oslo

Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN
Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN

Norwegian police are investigating a potential explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo early Sunday, officials said.

No injuries were reported. Police received reports of a “loud bang” or explosion around 1 a.m., Oslo police said in a news release.

PST, the Norwegian police security service, called in additional personnel following the incident but has not changed the country's terror threat level, according to communication adviser Martin Bernsen.

The US Embassy in Oslo referred media queries to the US State Department, which did not immediately return a request for comment. Nor did Oslo police. Other details were not available.


Israel Says it Will Pursue Every Successor of Iran's Khamenei

FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)
FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)
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Israel Says it Will Pursue Every Successor of Iran's Khamenei

FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)
FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)

The Israeli military warned it would continue pursuing every successor of Iran's next supreme leader.

In a post ⁠on X in ⁠Farsi, the Israeli military also warned it would ⁠pursue every person who seeks to appoint a successor for Ali Khamenei, referring to the clerical body ⁠charged with ⁠choosing the country’s supreme leader.

The clerical body that will choose Iran's next supreme leader has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said on Sunday.

The Mehr news agency quoted him as saying "some obstacles" still needed to be resolved regarding the process.

On ⁠Saturday, a senior ⁠cleric in the Assembly of Experts said its members would meet "within one day" to choose the leader.

Iranian media said the group had a minor disagreement over whether their final ⁠decision must follow an in-person meeting or instead be issued without adhering to this formality.

Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member of the Assembly of Experts, said in a video released by Nournews on Sunday that an in-person meeting by the assembly for a final vote was not possible under current conditions.

He ⁠said ⁠a candidate had been picked, based on the late supreme leader's advice that Iran's top leader should "be hated by the enemy" instead of praised by it.

"Even the Great Satan (US) has mentioned his name," Heidari Alekasir said of the chosen successor, days after US President Donald Trump said that Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, was an "unacceptable" choice for him.