News

The horrific killing of a Ukrainian refugee riding a North Carolina train last month has enraged and shocked the nation ... and now President Trump has vowed to "handle" evil people.

Here's the deal ... Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed to death while minding her own business, riding a subway in Charlotte on August 22 ... and a suspect has been apprehended.

The attack is now making national headlines after right-wing commentators criticized mainstream media for not giving the deadly attack more attention once surveillance footage was released -- and now even Trump is weighing in.

2:31 PM PT -- University of Kentucky's Public Relations and Strategic Communications Director Jay Blanton tells us Snelling "has withdrawn as a student and as a result is no longer on the team.”

Laken Snelling has dropped out of the University of Kentucky after she was charged in connection with an infant's death ... according to a local newspaper.

The 21-year-old -- who was a cheerleader at UK -- withdrew from the school, a spokesperson for the school told the Lexington Herald Leader.

No further information was provided ... though it's not exactly surprising given the criminal charges Snelling's facing.

Donald Trump only interacted with Jeffrey Epstein 'cause he was informing on him to the FBI ... so says the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Speaker Mike Johnson defended the President's association with the convicted sex offender when speaking to reporters Friday ... explaining the President isn't calling Epstein's crimes a hoax -- he's saying Democrats have blown his involvement with the guy out of proportion.

Johnson then said, "When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.”

J.D. Vance says he's not worried if other people refer to the administration's military force as war crimes ... 'cause he doesn't "give a s***" about the label.

The Vice President took to X to defend the U.S. military recently killing 11 people on a boat from Venezuela, which they allege carried illegal narcotics. President Donald Trump told reporters earlier this week the ship was "a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat."

Worth noting ... the administration hasn't provided any evidence to corroborate the claims, and the strike caused outrage online ... with many calling it an attack on civilians. Gang members in this situation are not technically enemy combatants under international law, many argue.

Luigi Mangione has gone from getting his master's degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania to working as an orderly in an NYC federal lockup ... TMZ has learned.

According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ ... Luigi says he's working in his janitorial role at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center as he awaits federal and state trials for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. Luigi was arrested and charged by the feds and New York state prosecutors with a slew of crimes, including murder and stalking.

In his latest federal court filing, Luigi claims he's been a model prisoner with no disciplinary record since he landed in the Big House around Christmastime last year. Luigi is asking federal prosecutors why they think his crimes are so awful that he deserves the death penalty.

The dead guy found at this year's Burning Man had a large wound to his throat ... the slash was from a knife, and the blade was recovered at the scene.

Our sources tell us the knife is being forensically examined ... and law enforcement is also going through a phone that was found near the body.

We're told Vadim Kruglov's dead body was found inside a tent pavilion structure near a makeshift bar Saturday night ... lying in a pool of blood.

Charlie Sheen is opening up about his past sexual encounters with other men ... and he says it's "liberating" to tell his story.

In an upcoming Netflix documentary about his life, Charlie says he decided to try something new and he started having sex with men after years of banging women.

According to People, Charlie explains it like this in the doc ... "I flipped the menu over." The interviewer then asks Charlie how it feels to talk publicly about having sex with men for the first time, and he responds, "Liberating. It's f***ing liberating."

Donald Trump's clearly in good spirits despite recent gossip of his impending death ... cracking jokes about the unfounded rumors during a recent tech dinner.

POTUS and First Lady Melania Trump held a dinner at the White House on Thursday for a group of tech giants, including Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, tech investor David Sacks, Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Before the dinner kicked off, the prez said a few words ... complimenting the press on how nice they've been lately before adding "although I'm still here" -- which earned a few chuckles from his honored guests.

Turns out the gun that sent a Massachusetts college campus into full lockdown mode wasn't real at all -- cops say it was an airsoft replica carried by a juvenile, sparking hours of chaos and fear across campus.

The scare erupted Wednesday on the campus of UMass Lowell when video circulated on social media of a person near a dorm holding what looked like a firearm. Students immediately barricaded themselves inside classrooms and residence halls while heavily armed cops swarmed the university.

On Thursday, Lowell Police confirmed the weapon had been recovered and it was nothing more than an airsoft gun. The suspect, a juvenile, has since been identified.

Bryan Kohberger says he was diagnosed with a slew of mental health disorders before he entered his guilty plea ... including autism.

The convicted mass killer revealed in a handwritten court filing from June that he had been diagnosed with autism level 1, OCD, ADHD and ARFID, an eating disorder.

Kohberger noted all four mental health disorders were diagnosed in February 2025 ... when he was in custody awaiting his murder trial.

3:31 PM -- Law enforcement sources connected to the search for Travis Decker tell TMZ ... the belief is he probably killed himself and is lying dead somewhere.

Our sources say it's hard to find someone in a forest when they're not mobile ... because there's no trail for authorities to pick up on ... and if Travis is dead, it's going to be hard to find his body.

Still, we're told the investigation remains open and the possibility still exists that Decker is alive somewhere.

Our sources say sometimes people can be gone and stay gone, but it's hard to stay gone in this day and age, especially for months ... as has been the case here.

False alarm in the ongoing manhunt for suspected killer Travis Decker ... the feds say bones found near where his dead daughters' bodies were discovered turned out to be from an animal.

The FBI says Central Washington University examined the bones and determined they are not from a human.

As we reported ... the FBI said last week they found bones near the Leavenworth, WA campground where Decker's daughters -- Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia, 5 -- were found dead.

Bryan Kohberger's mom flagged the news of the University of Idaho murders to her son ... weeks before he became the main suspect in the killing spree, new evidence shows.

Forensic experts spoke with NewsNation's Banfield about the shocking update, breaking down how uncovered cell phone data shows Bryan and his mother, MaryAnn Kohberger, discussed the murders ... a mere 4 days after they took place. Take that in!!!

Specifically, on Nov. 17, 2022, MaryAnn texted her son an article about the case ... which described the grisly injuries sustained by one of the victims, Xana Kernodle.

Robin Westman -- the school shooter who killed two kids at a Minneapolis Catholic school last week -- went to a gun store days before the shooting ... and handled multiple weapons, security video from the shop shows.

New footage, obtained by KSTP in Minnesota, shows Westman walking into the store around 12:30 PM on Saturday, August 23 ... four days before the shooting at Annunciation Catholic school.

Westman walks around the store ... interacting with staff members and looking down the sight of a pistol and a rifle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had one hell of a conversation during their meeting today ... the world leaders were caught on a hot mic discussing the possibility of living to 150 -- and beyond!!!

Watch the video ... Putin and Xi are seen walking side by side and having a passionate conversation while heading to watch Beijing's military parade -- which commemorates the 80 years since World War II ended.

A hot mic then picks up the pair's conversation, with Putin's translator shedding light on the topic at hand ... bio-technology, and how it can lead to a longer life.

President Trump says the U.S. military conducted a missile strike against alleged Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists ... and the attack is on video!

The White House just released wild footage from the mission ... and you see a speed boat suddenly burst into flames.

Trump said the strike occurred while the alleged Venezuelan gang members were at sea in International waters.

A competitive cheerleader at the University of Kentucky is facing criminal charges after cops say they found a dead infant wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag in a closet ... and police say she's the child's mother.

The Lexington Police Department says 21-year-old Laken Snelling was arrested Sunday and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.

Police say they were dispatched last Wednesday morning to a residence near the UK campus when a call came in for a "deceased infant located inside of a closet."