Current Events

The young woman who plummeted to her death during a bungee-jumping excursion in Brazil posted on social media before the fatal jump ... and her comment is pretty creepy.

According to screenshots from the now-shuttered IG account ... Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas posted, "Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge???" The IG Story included a picture of the bridge in Limeira, a city in São Paulo state.

As TMZ reported ... video circulating online appears to show staff members escorting Freitas to the edge of the structure -- known locally as Skeleton Bridge -- before she was sent over the side. Moments later, people at the scene reportedly realized something was terribly wrong ... as the 20-year-old plummeted roughly 131 feet without the bungee cord being attached.

The body of a 5-year-old girl who was swept into the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast has been recovered ... ending a desperate search that captivated the area for nearly two days.

Authorities confirmed the child was pulled into the water near Laguna Beach, about 50 miles south of Los Angeles, during dangerous surf conditions Tuesday night. Bystanders were able to rescue her mother and her sibling, but the girl disappeared beneath the waves.

Her body was found Thursday morning, less than a day after the U.S. Coast Guard suspended a massive search operation that spanned more than 30 hours and covered over 90 square miles of ocean.

A carriage horse in NYC's famed Central Park collapsed and died ... traumatizing onlookers as efforts to revive the poor animal were unsuccessful ... and it's all on video.

Heartbreaking footage shows the horse laid out on the ground and the carriage driver in distress ... as someone rushes in to do compressions on the brown-and-white equine.

NYPD tells us ... officers responded after a 911 call came in around 7:30 PM Tuesday for a horse suffering a medical episode. Police confirmed the horse did not survive.

Karmelo Anthony was defending himself when he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf because Austin was using "deadly force" ... at least that's what Karmelo's defense is saying.

Closing arguments began in Karmelo's murder trial Tuesday, and the defense went first.

Defense attorney Mike Howard told the jury Austin "had no legal right" to put his hands on Karmelo, or use force to remove him from the tent they were under at a Texas high school track meet.

Howard described how it was raining during the event, and someone from Frisco Memorial High School allegedly told Karmelo he could come under their tent to stay dry.

Howard continued ... "Then all of the sudden Hunter Metcalf, or Austin, says 'Who are you? You need to leave.' ... These guys are much bigger than you. Do you turn your back and walk away and take a chance with these teenage boys with their raging hormones?"

The knife Karmelo Anthony allegedly used to fatally stab Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet wasn't illegal under Texas law ... according to a police detective who testified in Anthony's murder trial.

The testimony came as Anthony's defense team wrapped up its case, with jurors hearing from Detective Beau Riley -- a member of Frisco PD's Crimes Against Children unit who responded to the scene of the fatal stabbing.

One of the key moments came when Anthony's attorney had Riley confirm the knife Anthony carried that day was legal to possess in Texas ... and legal to bring into a stadium.

As Luigi Mangione awaits trial for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, his sister is making headlines in the healthcare world for a very different reason.

MariaSanta Mangione, 36, is set to begin a cardiovascular disease fellowship at Johns Hopkins University -- one of the most prestigious and competitive medical programs in the country ... according to the Daily Mail.

It's a major milestone for MariaSanta, whose selection marks the latest achievement in an already impressive medical career.

No cause of death will be released in the case of college student James "Weston" Higginbotham -- who vanished during a family trip to Japan before being found dead.

Authorities say that while they are not disclosing how the 20-year-old died, there is no indication of foul play.

As we reported ... the Auburn University junior was found by a volunteer search-and-rescue group in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, according to a Facebook post shared by his parents.

Emotional moment in Karmelo Anthony's murder trial ... tears started flowing as prosecutors played bodycam footage of paramedics trying to save Austin Metcalf from a fatal stab wound.

The gut-wrenching footage played in court Friday, showed paramedics giving Austin CPR after he was stabbed at a Texas high school track meet. He's unresponsive on the ground as they try to save his life.

It was hard for Austin's parents to watch ... they broke down in tears and were held by family members while the footage played.

An Arkansas dad accused of killing a man charged with sexually abusing his teenage daughter has scored a massive courtroom victory ... because he's off the hook in his murder case.

A judge on Thursday tossed the second-degree murder charge against Aaron Spencer, the Arkansas father who became a national headline after launching a campaign for county sheriff while awaiting trial.

The ruling stems from a lengthy fight over missing evidence. Spencer's attorneys argued investigators lost key materials during the case ... and the judge ultimately decided misconduct by law enforcement "was so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted."

Karmelo Anthony fought Austin Metcalf for four minutes under a tent at a Texas high school track meet before fatally stabbing him ... at least that's what prosecutors say the surveillance video shows.

Jurors were shown footage that appears to show one person shoving another person under the tent at the 2025 track meet where Austin was stabbed.

Prosecutors say it's Karmelo and Austin in the video ... even though you can't see their faces. They say this goes on for four minutes before a person -- who they claim is Karmelo -- is seen running from the tent, toward the exit.

Prosecutors say surveillance video will show Karmelo Anthony wasn't trying to avoid trouble at a Texas high school track meet that turned deadly ... he was looking for it.

That's the message jurors heard Thursday as opening statements got underway in Anthony's murder trial over the fatal stabbing of fellow teen Austin Metcalf.

Collin County prosecutor Bill Wirskye told the jury the case boils down to what they will see on surveillance footage from the scene, saying the "video tells the story." According to prosecutors, witnesses heard Anthony tell Metcalf, "Touch me, see what happens," after a dispute erupted inside a team tent.

2:25PM PT -- Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau detectives have posted a second update, saying they've "determined that Mr. Whiten is the biological father of Ms. Savannah Whiten and Ms. Sienna Whiten, and co-parent to Ms. Hyer."  

The statement adds ... "The investigation revealed that Mr. Whiten committed these heinous acts and then took his own life. The investigation continues."

A Florida realtor, her ex-husband, and their two young daughters are all dead ... in what police are calling a murder-suicide.

Law enforcement responded Tuesday to a welfare check at a Doral home and found Melanie Hyer, Ryan Whiten and their daughters Savannah and Sienna dead, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.

MDSO says all four had stab wounds and they believe the tragic incident is a murder-suicide ... but no word yet on who did the stabbing.

Alarming footage shows the moment a Boeing 787's nose gear collapses while the Lufthansa plane is parked at its gate ... and the incident caused several injuries.

The travel nightmare went down Thursday at Frankfurt Airport in Germany ... crew members and ground staff were on ​board the jetliner when the "nose landing gear unexpectedly retracted" ... according to the airline.

Lufthansa says several employees were injured and are receiving medical treatment, adding ... "We are currently investigating the exact circumstances in cooperation with the relevant authorities."

The biggest battle in Karmelo Anthony's murder trial so far isn't over evidence ... it's over whether jurors can put their personal feelings aside.

During jury selection this week in Collin County, Texas, several potential jurors admitted they would struggle to convict Anthony -- or send him to prison -- because of his age, with one person reportedly telling the court, "He looks like a child."

According to WFAA in Dallas, prosecutors questioned prospective jurors about whether Anthony's race, age, or resemblance to their own children could influence how they view the case. Anthony, now 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of fellow teen Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet in April 2025.

Missing government worker Melissa Casias has been found dead ... with her body "skeletonized" and a gunshot wound to her skull, a report says.

According to New Mexico State Police, a hiker found "human remains" at McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest ... who authorities have ID'ed as Melissa. They also said a gun was found "alongside the remains."

NMSP hasn't announced cause or manner of death, but investigator Thomas McNally -- who'd been looking into the case for Melissa's parents -- told DailyMail that her body was "skeletonized," sitting against a tree with a gunshot wound in her skull.

A South Carolina convenience store owner has been cleared in the shooting death of a Black 14-year-old boy back in 2023, after a jury found him not guilty of murder.

ICYMI, Asian business owner Chikei Rick Chow shot and killed Cyrus Carmack-Belton in June 2023 after he allegedly stole from his store. Prosecutors alleged Chow chased the teen 130 yards from his store and sent a bullet through his back in an act of rage after he wrongly assumed he had taken four bottles of water, according to reports.

Chow's defense lawyer said he fired at the teen because he allegedly pointed a gun at his son. Carmack-Belton was confirmed to have a semiautomatic pistol at the time of the incident, but it fell to the ground during the chase, according to prosecutors. He allegedly never threatened anyone with it.