An F-16 fighter jet has smashed into a small plane over the US state of South Carolina, killing two and scattering plane parts and debris over a wide area.

Lawyers finally got the chance to argue on behalf of George Stinney, 70 years after the 14-year-old black boy was sent to the electric chair for killing two white girls in South Carolina.

A convicted criminal who shot dead a 12-year-old boy out trick-or-treating for Halloween told police he feared a robbery at his home.

AT least 14 people were killed yesterday as thunderstorms and at least one tornado struck central Florida, flattening homes and a church, causing power outages and lifting an articulated truck into the air.