CNN – National

By Zoe Sottile, CNN Madison Russo allegedly used social media to spread awareness about her battle with cancer and to raise almost $40,000 on GoFundMe — but the entire operation was a scam, according to Iowa police, who have charged Russo with theft. Russo, a 19-year-old TikTok content creator, raised more than $37,303 from 439

By Christina Maxouris, CNN Federal authorities made a grim and unexpected discovery in an unattended bag last week at a Detroit airport. Inside, the bag held a young dolphin’s skull, the US Customs and Border Protection said in a news release Friday. The bag was separated from its owners while traveling and when it arrived

By Celina Tebor and Emma Tucker, CNN A New York City directive allowing first responders to enforce a state law that allows them to potentially involuntarily commit people experiencing a mental health crisis can proceed after facing legal challenges by mental health advocates, a judge has ruled. The ruling, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge

By Melissa Alonso, CNN The Texas woman accused of killing Heidi Broussard and kidnapping the victim’s infant has been sentenced to 55 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2019 murder, according the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Magen Fieramusca, 37, was arrested more than a week after Broussard’s body was discovered in a

By Taylor Romine and Ralph Ellis, CNN A man wanted by police in Oregon in a bizarre incident at a house featured in “The Goonies” was the subject of a daring Coast Guard rescue when he was tossed from a stolen boat as it capsized, authorities said. On Wednesday, police in Astoria, Oregon, received a

By Justin Gamble, CNN Black children living in poverty face increased instances of stress and trauma that can alter their brain development, a new study found. The study was published this week by the American Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers at Harvard University examined MRI scans of 7,350 White and 1,786 Black children ages 9 and

By Zoe Sottile, CNN An Indiana man died after falling from a cliff in Puerto Rico while trying to make a video for TikTok, according to his family. Edgar Garay, 27, of Indiana, was on a recreational day trip to the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico on January 29 when he fell off a 70-foot coastal

By Aaron Cooper and John Miller, CNN Gunshots fired at two power substations in Moore County, North Carolina, late last year left 45,000 homes and businesses without power and more attacks just like that could already be planned by domestic extremist groups, according to experts. “All of a sudden, about 8:45 p.m., about 20 shots

By Rebekah Riess, CNN Le Le, a 24-year-old male giant panda, died at the Memphis Zoo earlier this week, according to officials. The panda died early Wednesday in his sleep after spending about 20 years at the facility, Memphis Zoo chief executive officer Matt Thompson said during a news conference Friday. “Le Le’s name translates

By Ella Nilsen, CNN Driving along county roads that are little more than dirt paths, Tim Walsh remarked that the expansive valley below the Long Mountain range used to be no more than tumbleweeds and scraggly cactuses. Now, it’s pistachio trees as far as the eye can see. Far from mature, the pistachio saplings are

By Rebekah Riess, Hannah Sarisohn and Christina Maxouris, CNN Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders remain in effect in a northeastern Ohio town after a train derailment sparked a massive fire and concerns about air quality. A Norfolk Southern train with more than 100 cars derailed in East Palestine, about 15 miles south of Youngstown, according to

By Zoe Sottile, CNN Shrek is love, Shrek is life, Shrek is… missing? Police in Hatfield, Massachusetts, have launched a search for a 200-pound statue of the cinema ogre after it was reported missing from its home. The Hatfield Police Department posted an alert about the absent ogre on Facebook on Wednesday. They included a

By Mallika Kallingal and Rob Frehse, CNN Authorities at New York’s Central Park Zoo are scrambling to recapture an Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped after its enclosure was vandalized. Officials discovered Flaco’s exhibit was vandalized and the stainless steel mesh was cut on Thursday night, the zoo said in a statement. The New York City Mayor’s

By Ray Sanchez, Dianne Gallagher and Alta Spells, CNN Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh never told the family of his late housekeeper that he collected more than $4 million in insurance settlements after she fell at his home, according to testimony at his double murder trial Friday. Outside the presence of the jury, Judge

By Cheri Mossburg, CNN Two suspects were taken into custody, one after a shootout, in a “cartel-style” massacre last month that left six people dead in central California, including a young mother and her 10-month-old son, authorities announced Friday. The suspects, identified in charging documents as Angel Uriarte, 35, and Noah Beard, 25, are known

By Nick Valencia, Emma Tucker, Paradise Afshar and Melissa Alonso, CNN Another Memphis police officer has been fired and two first responders had their licenses suspended following the violent arrest and death of Tyre Nichols last month, officials announced Friday. The former police officer, Preston Hemphill, was relieved of his duties for violating multiple departmental

By Alisha Ebrahimji and Chris Boyette, CNN A year after a 22-year-old Black man was shot dead by police serving a no-knock warrant, Amir Locke’s parents on Friday sued the city of Minneapolis and the officer who fired the fatal shot in federal court. “We all saw that horrific video where Amir Locke didn’t even

By Kyung Lah and Taylor Romine, CNN The failed GOP candidate accused of coordinating the shootings at Democratic officials’ homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, pleaded not guilty Friday. Solomon Peña entered the plea through his attorney Roberta Yurcic at an arraignment hearing. Both appeared via teleconference. Peña was indicted by a grand jury on 14