Seven U.S. Marines and four aircrew were feared dead Wednesday after an army helicopter crashed during a night training exercise in Florida, military officials said.

The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was reported missing Tuesday around 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Wednesday) near Eglin Air Force Base. The area was under heavy fog.

Officials in Florida say someone has been attacking the state's pelicans, slashing the pouches of the oversized birds, which often die as a result.

Ten injured pelicans were found in the Florida Keys, sanctuary to a bounty of U.S. wildlife, five of which died of their injuries, said officials.

A schizophrenic Florida man decapitated his mother with an ax on New Year's Eve because he was fed up with her nagging, U.S. authorities and media said Thursday.

Christian Jose Gomez, 23, was arrested and charged with first degree murder after admitting to killing his mother, Maria Suarez-Cassagne, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Severe weather slammed the southern U.S. two days before Christmas killing at least four people and knocking out power to thousands.

In Mississippi, Gov. Phil Bryant declared an emergency for two southeastern counties where officials said four people died in the storms and several more were injured. His office said thousands were without power Tuesday night around Columbia, which is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Jackson.

A once-convicted felon killed six of his grandchildren, including an infant, his adult daughter and himself in a shooting at the man's home in a small north Florida town Thursday, a sheriff said.

Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz at a news conference identified the man as 51-year-old Don Spirit. He would not say if the woman killed was the mother of any of the two boys and four girls, some of whom spent a lot of time at the home.

Nazi swastikas and the name of the Islamist movement Hamas were spray-painted in red on the entrance to a Jewish synagogue in Miami Beach, local media reported Monday.

The vandalism, which authorities were investigating as a probable "hate crime," was discovered by a neighborhood watch patrol where the Torah V'Emunah synagogue is located.

A father was killed and his 9-year-old daughter seriously injured Sunday while walking along a Florida beach when a small plane crash landed and struck them, authorities said.

Wendy Rose, a spokeswoman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, said the pilot and his passenger weren't hurt when the Piper aircraft lost power and touched down next to the water's edge.

A dozen children were injured and a girl killed when a car slammed into a daycare center Wednesday in Florida after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, police said.

Several children suffered "very serious" injuries following the incident at the KinderCare center in Winter Park, outside Orlando, said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Wanda Diaz.

A Florida great-great grandfather has launched a campaign to run for the U.S. Congress in November, running on a record of 101 years of life experience.

In a bid to become the world's oldest freshman, Joe Newman announced on his website joenewman101.com that he will present his candidacy to the House of Representatives for the first time on a promise that "all citizens be heard."

Kennedy Space Center will be the testing site for a top-secret Air Force space plane.

Boeing is working on the spacecraft, and the company announced Friday that it will convert a former space shuttle building for the X-37B orbital test vehicle program.