Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roran. President Trump says the U.S. military on Christmas

Day struck Islamic State targets in the West African nation of Nigeria. This after he claimed

the group had been targeting Christians in the evenly split Christian Muslim country.

The U.S. says the strikes were carried out in coordination with

Nigerian authorities and multiple ISIS targets were killed. Nigeria says the recent Islamic attacks

are targeting all of those who reject their version of Islam. The country's foreign minister

Yusuf Mai Tai Tugar, spoke with the BBC.

We agreed that the statement that would be put out was also going to emphatically clarify that,

because we understand the security threats that were facing to do with terrorist groups that are targeting innocent lives, not a matter of religion.

Residents and security experts say Nigeria in their security crisis, it's impacting both Muslims and Christians.

A fast-moving winter storm could batter New York City in the tri-state area

with up to eight inches of snow late Friday into Saturday. The National Weather Service says travel could be

difficult, especially as the snow is expected to begin falling during the Friday afternoon commute.

Meanwhile, a powerful winter storm is lashing much of California. NPR's

Joel Rose reports the storm is causing flash flooding power outages and road closures.

Southern California has seen record-setting rainfall totals with more than three inches of rain in Santa

Barbara and parts of Los Angeles County. Bursts of intense rain caused scattered mudslides,

flooded freeways, and prompted evacuation orders in parts of L.A. and San Bernardino counties.

Further north, the storm knocked out power to more than 120,000 customers in central and northern

California, according to poweroutage.U.S., while high winds delayed inbound flights to San Francisco International Airport by an average of two hours, according to power outage.US, while high winds delayed inbound flights to San Francisco

International Airport by an average of two hours, according to the FAA. The storm also dumped

several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some 317,000 federal employees could be out

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