Two of America’s biggest country music stars have distanced themselves from the National Rifle Association.

It’s after Stephen Paddock killed 58 and injured hundreds of country music fans when he opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas.

Traditionally country music and gun culture have had a strong friendship.

With the genre even having its own division of the rifle association called NRA Country which sponsors tours and artists.

But now platinum-selling duo Florida Georgia Line and chart topper Thomas Rhett both have disappeared from the NRA Country website this week.

Both FGL and Thomas Rhett had previously been featured as the NRA’s country artist of the month.

Other country musicians are also speaking out about gun control.

And it’s left many fans wondering if this could be the start of a movement.

Caleb Keeter, the guitarist for the Josh Abbott band, who performed at the festival that Stephen Paddock targeted, said he was “wrong” about gun laws.

He’d always been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment – the part of the US constitution that protects the right to have weapons.

But in an open letter to fans on Twitter he said, “Until the events of last night, I cannot express how wrong I was.”

The Director of NRA Country said in 2015, “It’s no secret, if you poll our members, they love country music.”

According to Rolling Stone magazine, several of the NRA’s artists have decided to clarify their relationship with the organisation.

They claim country star Blake Shelton, partner of Gwen Stefani, has also cut ties with the NRA.

The last time NRA Country faced any degree of scrutiny came after Sandy Hook elementary-school shooting in Conneticut back in 2012.

Superstar Luke Bryan was removed from NRA Country’s website after that.

Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat

Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS

A jihadist plot to attack New York City including Times Square and the subway system was foiled with the help of an undercover FBI agent, officials say.

One man in the US and two others in Pakistan and the Philippines are under arrest and face charges of plotting the attacks which they hoped to carry out in the name of the Islamic State group.

One of the suspects allegedly said he wanted to create “the next 9/11”.

The trio allegedly used chat apps to plan their attack.

It was prevented last year with the help of an undercover FBI agent – posing as an IS supporter – who communicated with the three plotters. Details of the alleged plot were released on Friday as prosecutors revealed the charges.

Police on Friday announced charges against Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 19, a Canadian citizen detained in New York; Talha Haroon, also 19, a US citizen based in Pakistan and Russell Salic, 37, from the Philippines.

El Bahnasawy was arrested in May 2016 and pleaded guilty last October to seven terror-related charges. He is awaiting his sentence.

Who is behind the jihadist attacks on Europe and North America?

Haroon was arrested in Pakistan in September 2016, while Salic was arrested in the Philippines the following April. Both men are due to be extradited to the US.

“The planned attacks included detonating bombs in Times Square and the New York City subway system and shooting civilians at specific concert venues,” a Department of Justice statement said.

The trio hoped to carry out the attacks during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in 2016, inspired by an attack the previous year on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris and by an attack on the metro in Belgium.

• Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy: is alleged to have sent the undercover FBI agent an image of Times Square, saying that “we seriously need a car bomb” to attack it. He allegedly wanted to “create the next 9/11”

• Talha Haroon: is alleged to have told the agent that the subway would be a “perfect” target, and that suicide vests could be detonated after their ammunition was used up

• Russell Salic: known as “the doctor”, he is accused of sending “approximately $423” to finance the attacks with the promise to supply more cash

New York was the target of the 11 September 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and led to President George W Bush’s “war on terror”- which included the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS

Image copyright Reuters

US states in the Gulf of Mexico are again on a state of alert as Hurricane Nate barrels towards them.

Parts of the city of New Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina 12 years ago, are being evacuated.

Nate killed at least 23 people as it passed through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras as a tropical storm.

It has since strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane which, though not as strong as last month’s Maria and Irma, will still bring strong winds and surges.

A hurricane warning has been issued for parts of the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama, amid warnings of life-threatening storm surge flooding.

• How to stay safe in a hurricane
• Do ‘Pray for…’ messages make disaster relief harder?

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency ahead of the hurricane, which is due to make landfall on Saturday night local time.

He said more than 1,000 National Guard troops had been mobilised with a number sent to New Orleans to monitor the drainage pumps there. “Anyone in low-lying areas… we are urging them to prepare now,” he said.

A mandatory curfew from 18:00 (23:00 GMT) is in place in New Orleans.

“Our greatest threat… is not necessarily rain, but strong winds and storm surge,” the city’s Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.

Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula – home to the popular beach resorts of Cancun and Plana del Carmen – was braced for the storm on Friday night.

The governor, Carlos Joaquin, said that although the worst of the storm was expected to pass just east of the peninsula it could still bring torrential rains and flooding.

Oil companies were evacuating staff from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that lie along the predicted path of the storm.

Nate caused heavy rains, landslides and floods which blocked roads, destroyed bridges and damaged houses as it tore through central America.

At least 11 people died in Nicaragua, eight in Costa Rica, three in Honduras and one in El Salvador.

Thousands have been forced to sleep in shelters and some 400,000 people in Costa Rica were reported to be without running water.

Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS