ABC Radio – WTOP News Washington's Top News Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:41:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /wp-content/uploads/2021/05/WtopNewsLogo_500x500-150x150.png ABC Radio – WTOP News 32 32 Shrek and Donkey head out on new adventure in ‘Shrek 5’ trailer /movies/2026/06/shrek-and-donkey-head-out-on-new-adventure-in-shrek-5-trailer/ Tue, 16 Jun 2026 20:00:00 +0000 /?p=29356072&preview=true&preview_id=29356072
Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Shrek (Mike Myers) in DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Shrek 5,’ directed by Conrad Vernon and Walt Dohrn. (DreamWorks Animation)

Shrek, Fiona and Donkey are returning to the land of Far Far Away for another adventure.

The for DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 5 has been released, nearly a year ahead of its release to theaters on June 30, 2027.

“Shrek and Donkey, two stalwart friends off on another whirlwind big city adventure,” Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy, says in the clip.

Shrek (Mike Myers) reluctantly teams up with his old pal, as well as his wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their two sons Fergus and Farkle, voiced by Marcello Hernández and Skyler Gisondo. It’s unclear where the adventure is taking them, but at some point they all end up in jail.

The trailer ends with Donkey badly singing the 1977 song “Baby Come Back” to the annoyance of his ogre cellmates.

Zendaya voices Shrek and Fiona’s teenage daughter Felicia, but the character does not appear in the trailer.

The first Shrek film was released in 2001. It was the first-ever winner of the best animated feature Academy Award. Its three sequels were subsequently released in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

 

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Trump, Iran agree to memorandum of understanding opening Strait of Hormuz: What is in the 60-day deal? /world/2026/06/trump-iran-agree-to-memorandum-of-understanding-opening-strait-of-hormuz-what-is-in-the-60-day-deal/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:55:00 +0000 /?p=29353419&preview=true&preview_id=29353419 (WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance both signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, which would cease fighting on all fronts for 60 days and is expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic, a senior administration official said Monday.

The official said the signatures were done digitally and that a formal signing will happen in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday.

While the official said the details of the agreement will be released within the next 24 to 48 hours, Trump on Monday said the text of the memorandum of understanding would be released “pretty soon,” but sometime after Friday.

“This is a very powerful document, and I want it to be released. So, probably pretty soon,” Trump said during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron shortly after landing in France for the G7.

Trump said “it depends” if he will attend the signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday, but that Vance would be there.

Senior administration officials on Monday acknowledged there was still significant work to be done during the detailed nuclear negotiations to come, but asserted they now had direct relationships with “a number of people at the highest levels of Iranian government”Ի had reached “what we believe will be an understanding in the next phase.”

A senior administration official said the memorandum of understanding “provides for the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz,” which Iran closed after the war started. The official also emphasized “immediate — just to be clear here, it takes a little bit of time, because you know you have mines in the strait.”

Spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, said that, according to the MOU, Iran will be responsible to provide “the security and safe traffic of the ships,” adding that Tehran will do so in cooperation with Muscat and in consultation with stakeholders.

On Monday, the president said that “the strait is already partially opened” and that it will be fully opened by Friday. They are still working to clear the area of sea mines, he said.

“I think it will adjust very, very quickly, and I think obviously the prioritization will be on the heavy tankers, you know, the gas, the oils. I think that will actually flow very quickly,” the official said.

The U.S. blockade of Iranian naval ports will lift as well, but the U.S. Navy warns that it will remain in place until the agreement is formally completed.

On the topic of tolls, the official said that the MOU ensured the Strait of Hormuz be “toll-free for 60 days,” with the expectation that it will become part of the “final agreement as well.”

Iranian officials said that a ceasefire in Lebanon is included within the deal. However, Israel’s defense minister said after the agreement was announced that Israel does not plan to remove its forces from southern Lebanon.

When pressed about Israel’s role in the MOU, one of the senior U.S. administration officials responded, saying that Israel withdrawing from Lebanon was “not a condition of the deal.”

“The deal is a ceasefire, and it will not be a one-way ceasefire, meaning that if Iran is not able to control Hezbollah, and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend themselves and respond,” a senior administration official said.

The senior U.S. administration official said that MOU’s outline includes “verifying that [Iran is] not building a nuclear weapon and not funding radicalism and terrorism in the region.” In return, the official said it would open up the Iranian economy.

Iranian officials have long publicly maintained that the country’s nuclear program operates only for civilian purposes, although Western officials have said their uranium enrichment has gone beyond what would be needed for civilian use. Iran has also said it does not have ambitions to create nuclear weapons, a claim that American officials have disputed.

The officials also said the MOU does not reduce the U.S. force posture in the region.

The senior administration official confirmed that so far “zero dollars of unfrozen assets” have been released to Iran at this point.

The officials made clear that there are not specific things that Iran has to do to receive sanctions relief, but that it’s tied to Iran “behaving more appropriately” in general.

“Their economy is in rough shape, and they need relief badly, and so hopefully we’ll find a way to get to a deal quickly, and if not, President Trump has a lot of tools in his arsenal that he’ll be able to use,” the senior administration official said.

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2 women wanted in Maryland for murder of suspect’s mother arrested in Ohio following tip: Police /montgomery-county/2026/06/2-women-wanted-in-maryland-for-murder-of-suspects-mother-arrested-in-ohio-following-tip-police/ Fri, 12 Jun 2026 21:17:35 +0000 /?p=29345588&preview=true&preview_id=29345588

The booking photos for Samantha Raebel, left, and Vanessa Wahanganisa Tjongarero-Henderson. (Montgomery County Police Department)

(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md.) — Two women wanted in Maryland for allegedly killing the mother of one of the suspects were captured in Ohio after an individual who offered to help them realized from media coverage that they were wanted for murder, authorities said.

The arrests came nearly three weeks after the victim, 67-year-old Hilde Henderson, is believed to have been killed at her apartment at a senior living community in Silver Spring, Maryland, authorities said.

Officers conducting a welfare check on May 26 found Henderson dead from blunt force trauma, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. She is believed to have been dead for four days, police said.

The victim’s daughter, 29-year-old Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson of Clarksburg, and the daughter’s girlfriend, 36-year-old Samantha Raebel of Phoenix, were subsequently identified as suspects in the homicide, police said. Police obtained an arrest warrant charging them both with first-degree murder and  amid the search for the suspects.

Following a nationwide search, the two were ultimately arrested Wednesday in Genoa, Ohio, thanks to a local tip, police said.

A woman in Genoa unwittingly offered to help the couple, until she and her friend grew suspicious and learned of the ongoing manhunt by searching one of their names online, according to .

Adrienne Behrman told WTVG that the suspects came into her workplace and told her they were homeless, so she offered to help and invited them to stay at her apartment.

“I’ve been down and out myself — homeless, without money, you know, just not wanting to be a charity case or anything like that, and I just felt like I was led to help them,” Behrman told the station.

Behrman recounted, though, that the more questions she asked them about where they were from and where they wanted to go, “things were not adding up.”

She told her concerns to a friend, Nikki Peters, who said she noticed that the last name of one of the suspects from a Cash App payment request for cigarettes didn’t match the name she had been told, WTVG reported.

“That didn’t make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name,” Peters told WTVG.

While searching Tjongarero-Henderson’s name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.

“I almost passed out,” Peters told the station. “[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out.”

“That didn’t make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name,” Peters told WTVG.

While searching Tjongarero-Henderson’s name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.

“I almost passed out,” Peters told the station. “[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out.”

Behrman said she called 911, WTVG reported.

“That orchestrated the whole thing the way that it needed to be done in order for them to be apprehended and no one else to be hurt,” Behrman told the station.

Tjongarero-Henderson and Raebel are being held at the Ottawa County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Maryland, authorities said.

Police have not released details on what evidence led them to identify the couple as suspects in the case.

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‘Maybe we’ll never take it down’: Trump compares White House UFC arena to Eiffel Tower, says it could be permanent /white-house/2026/06/maybe-well-never-take-it-down-trump-compares-white-house-ufc-arena-to-eiffel-tower-says-it-could-be-permanent/ Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:49:00 +0000 /?p=29318320&preview=true&preview_id=29318320

Construction continues on a venue for the upcoming UFC match on the South Lawn of the White House on June 1, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is floating the possibility of keeping the UFC arena on the White House South Lawn — built for a series of fights on his birthday and Flag Day — permanently.

In a video posted to his official TikTok account Tuesday evening, Trump sat in the Oval Office and said that the Eiffel Tower in Paris was supposed to be a temporary structure, but that France kept it up — suggesting that the UFC arena is “quite attractive to a lot of people” so “maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”

“People don’t know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the world’s fair, and then they said: ‘leave it up a little bit longer, and then they said, ‘let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer,'” Trump said in the video.

“Well, they never took it down, and you know we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people. Really, it’s going to have the big UFC fight on June 14, and I’m looking at it and maybe we’ll never ever take it down,” Trump added.

The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the 1889 World Exhibition, and was only meant to stay up for 20 years — until 1909, according to the Eiffel Tower’s website. Yet the tower’s architect Gustave Eiffel fought to keep the tower intact, according to the website.

The “UFC Freedom Fights 250” will take place on June 14 and feature a lightweight title matchup between undisputed champion Ilia Topuria and interim title holder Justin Gaethje alongside four other fights.

The arena is visible from the White House North Lawn, cresting over the historic West Wing and Executive Residence.

The White House South Lawn, where the arena is located, is a place often utilized by presidents.

Trump and past presidents depart and arrive on Marine One from the lawn ahead of any travel to Joint Base Andrews — an opportunity for members of the media to shout questions to the president as he moves from the White House to his helicopter. These arrivals and departures have been closed to the press since the week of May 20, when construction on the arena began.

Other events, including the White House Easter Egg Roll and the annual Congressional Picnic, which was just held in May, are traditionally hosted on the South Lawn, too.

ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.

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‘Melrose Place,’ ‘Days of Our Lives’ star Patrick Muldoon dies at 57 /entertainment/2026/04/melrose-place-days-of-our-lives-star-patrick-muldoon-dies-at-57/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 03:55:10 +0000 /?p=29163421&preview=true&preview_id=29163421

Patrick Muldoon attends the 53rd annual Saturn Awards at Hilton Universal City Hotel on March 8, 2026, in Universal City, California. (Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

Patrick Muldoon, known for his roles on shows including Days of Our Lives and films including Starship Troopers, has died at age 57, his representative confirmed to ABC News Monday.

Muldoon rose to fame in the early 1990s with his role on Days of Our Lives, on which he originated the role of Austin Reed. He later starred on the primetime soap opera Melrose Place and had a recurring role on Saved By the Bell.

Days of Our Lives paid tribute to its former star on Monday, writing in an post, “The Days of our Lives family is saddened by the news of Patrick’s untimely passing.”

“As the original ‘Austin Reed,’ he left an indelible mark in Salem both personally and professionally. Our thoughts are with his loved ones, and he will be missed by all of us,” the soap opera posted, alongside a series of photos of Muldoon.

Allison Sweeney, who co-starred with Muldoon on Days of Our Lives, shared memories of the actor in a post on Monday, writing, “Pat was a rare kind of person—brilliantly talented, endlessly kind, and generous in spirit. I was so lucky to have worked with him when I first started at Days, he made me feel at ease right away. He brought his unique charm and humor to work every day. A truly gifted guy, and one who will be profoundly missed.”

Lisa Rinna, who also starred alongside Muldoon on Days, posted a photo of the pair together in an Instagram Story, alongside a broken heart emoji.

In addition to his TV roles, Muldoon acted on the big screen, including the 1997 movie Starship Troopers, playing the role of Zander Barcalow.

Over his decadeslong acting career, Muldoon accrued nearly 100 acting credits, as well as more than one dozen producing credits and several soundtrack credits, according to IMDb.

Just days before his death, Muldoon shared a post on Instagram promoting a new film he was working on, Kockroach, starring Chris Hemsworth, Taron Egerton and Zazie Beetz.

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Moderate geomagnetic storm forecast for tonight: What to expect /national/2026/03/moderate-geomagnetic-storm-forecast-for-tonight-what-to-expect/ Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:54:06 +0000 /?p=29058300&preview=true&preview_id=29058300
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of an X5.8 solar flare peaking at 9:23 p.m. EDT, May 10, 2024. (NASA)

(NEW YORK) — A moderate geomagnetic storm could bring northern lights displays to U.S. states further south than usual, forecasts show.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  has issued a storm watch for a G2 geomagnetic storm due to a coronal mass ejection expected to begin Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET and continue until Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

A coronal mass ejection is a massive eruption of solar material and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere.

Auroras can occur when the charged particles from the sun clash with the atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere — causing those atoms and molecules to emit a glow that appears as a spectrum of light in the night sky.

In the U.S., northern lights could be visible in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, according to the NOAA .

A G2 storm can also impact high-latitude power systems, spacecraft operation and high frequency radio propagation, according to NOAA. Fluctuations to weak power grids and minor impacts on satellite operations can occur as well.

Migratory animals could possibly be affected by geomagnetic storms, according to NOAA. A  found that inclement space weather may cause fewer birds to migrate during the disturbances — likely due to more difficulty in navigating — and  has researched whether solar storms cause an increase in marine mammal strandings, possibly due to similar navigation issues.

The  is often an active month for northern lights displays.

The weeks before and after the spring equinox on March 20 are considered “aurora season,” as geomagnetic storms are more likely due to the way solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere, according to .

The spring equinox comes as the solar maximum comes to a close. The sun’s 11-year cycle peaked around late 2024 and has continued to emit strong solar activity and geomagnetic storms, leading to an increase in aurora displays.

The best time to see the northern lights in the U.S. is generally between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. local time, and traveling to the darkest location possible is recommended for the best viewing, according to NOAA.

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Old Dominion University suspected gunman ID’d as ex-Army National Guard member convicted of ISIS support: FBI /news/2026/03/2-injured-gunman-dead-in-shooting-at-old-dominion-university-in-virginia-school-says/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:57:00 +0000 /?p=29036790&preview=true&preview_id=29036790
In this photo released by the Norfolk Police Department, first responders are shown at the scene of a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 12, 2026. (Norfolk Police Department)

(NORFOLK, Va.) — A person was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday.

The school shooting was allegedly committed by a former Army National Guardsman who was convicted of giving material support to ISIS, an FBI official told ABC News.

The gunman opened fire in Constant Hall, an academic building, around 10:43 a.m. and was found dead minutes after officers arrived, Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said during a press briefing.

The suspected gunman was identified as Mohamed Jalloh, who was previously convicted in 2016 of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic militant group.  

Two of the victims were members of the university’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, according to U.S. Army Cadet Command.

Students in the ROTC class fought the shooter, an Army official told ABC News.

Jalloh, a former member of the Army National Guard, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017 and released in December of 2024, according to Bureau of Prisons records. 

He allegedly walked into a room and asked if it was an ROTC class, and when someone answered, “yes,” he shot the instructor several times, according to sources.

When he pleaded guilty in 2016, Jalloh admitted he had communicated with a member of ISIS who was located overseas who introduced him to an individual in the U.S. who was actually an FBI confidential informant.

The ISIS member was believed to be actively plotting an attack and believed Jalloh would assist the informant in carrying it out. During one meeting with the FBI informant, Jalloh was asked about a timeline for an operation and commented that it was better to plan an attack for the month of Ramadan, court records say.

Prosecutors had recommended Jalloh serve 20 years in prison. It’s not immediately clear why he was released before the end of his 11-year sentence, though it is not unusual in the federal prison system for inmates to be released before serving their full term of imprisonment. 

A sophomore named Jennifer told that she was waiting for a midterm exam when she heard a group of people saying, “get out, get out, get out.”

“All of a sudden, we heard a commotion. A lot of people rumbling, starting to get up,” she said. “The guy next to me, we looked at each other, we started running, and that’s when we heard, you know, gunshots.” 

She commended the university’s quick communication through alerts, saying, “I’m very, very proud of how quick the situation was handled.”

Shelton told reporters that the investigation is still ongoing and they were combing through the campus for clues.

“We now have to search every single room in that facility. There were students that we found that were hiding and faculty and staff,” he said.

The police did not say how the gunman died.

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the bureau is treating the shooting as “as an act of terrorism,” and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will be working with local police in the investigation.

There’s no longer a threat, the university said, adding that classes are canceled for the rest of the day and Friday.

“Today was a tragic day for the campus of Old Dominion University,” Old Dominion President Brian Hemphill told reporters.

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Robert Cosby Jr., son of ‘Real Housewives’ star Mary Cosby, dies at 23 /entertainment/2026/02/robert-cosby-jr-son-of-real-housewives-star-mary-cosby-dies-at-23/ Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:13:14 +0000 /?p=28969338&preview=true&preview_id=28969338

Mary Cosby on ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.’ (Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)

Robert Cosby Jr., the son of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Mary Cosby, has died at 23.

Mary Cosby of her son’s death in a social media post on Wednesday.

“Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord,” she wrote. “Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace.”

She added, “We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to carry us through this time of sorrow.”

The Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed Cosby Jr.’s death to ABC News on Wednesday.

Police said they responded to a call for an overdose on Monday at an address associated with someone matching Cosby Jr.’s name and age in Salt Lake City, which turned into a death investigation.

The Police Department did not share a cause of death.

Bravo host Andy Cohen on social media, writing, “Devastatingly sad news out of SLC. This is every parent’s worst nightmare. My heart is broken for Mary, and I am sending all my love to her and Robert Sr.”

Mary Cosby had recently of her son on Instagram, prior to his death, writing in the caption, “#godfirst Love you all. My Beautiful Son.. I love him sm.”

Cosby Jr. was born to parents Mary Cosby and Robert Cosby Sr.

Mary Cosby’s Bravo cast bio states that she is “committed to supporting her son Robert Jr.’s sobriety and navigates life after the passing of her estranged mother.”

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Guardsmen ambushed in DC to be awarded the Purple Heart /government/2026/02/guardsmen-ambushed-in-dc-to-be-awarded-the-purple-heart/ Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:43:10 +0000 /?p=28893033&preview=true&preview_id=28893033
National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe. (U.S. Department of Justice)

(WASHINGTON) – -The two West Virginia National Guard members shot in November will receive the Purple Heart, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday while addressing troops at the base of the Washington Monument.

Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was shot in the head and remains in recovery, with skull reconstruction surgery scheduled for March.

“One lost, one recovering, both soon to be Purple Heart recipients,” Hegseth said, “because they were attacked by a radical.”

The suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, was  including first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors say they are seeking additional charges that would make Lakanwal eligible for the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty.

Purple Hearts are typically reserved for troops wounded or killed by clearly identified enemy combatants in war zones, with awards for attacks on American soil relatively rare.

The question of eligibility resurfaced after the 2015 shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire on a Navy Reserve center and a nearby recruiting station. Four Marines and a sailor died, Abdulazeez was killed by law enforcement. 

For months, that attack sat in a bureaucratic gray zone for the Purple Heart. FBI Director James Comey eventually determined the shootings were motivated by foreign terrorist propaganda.

The determination cleared the way for then- Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to announce Purple Hearts would be awarded to the victims of the shooting. 

The Trump administration has labeled Lakanwal a terrorist, though it has not publicly produced evidence tying him to any designated terrorist organization.

Lakanwal was among thousands of Afghans evacuated to the United States after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, and his asylum application was approved in 2025 during the Trump administration.

In Afghanistan, Lakanwal was affiliated with a so-called Zero Unit that worked closely with the CIA and elite special operations units, ABC News reported in December.

Officials with direct knowledge of the matter said he was considered a trusted member of the unit, which carried out American counterterrorism missions.

Investigators also believe Lakanwal was under financial strain after his work permit expired and may have been experiencing a mental health crisis.

“This announcement brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others,” West Virginia GOP Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who called for Purple Hearts to be awarded after the ambush, said in a statement to ABC News. 

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Inside the ‘ghost student’ scam that uses identity theft to steal college loans and financial aid /local/2026/02/inside-the-ghost-student-scam-that-uses-identity-theft-to-steal-college-loans-and-financial-aid/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:57:41 +0000 /?p=28856115&preview=true&preview_id=28856115 (NEW YORK) — Murat Mayor has no need for an associate’s degree. The 58-year-old business analyst already has a Ph.D. But when he and his son, a high school senior, attempted last fall to apply for federal student financial aid, they learned that an account associated with both of their identities already existed.

Those accounts showed applications to multiple community colleges — and much more.

“We noticed that there [was] a lot of activity” on accounts created in their names, Mayor said in an interview with ABC News. “There are a lot of applications, loan applications, grant applications … then we panicked.”

Mayor knew immediately that something was amiss. He assumed his identity had been stolen. But he had no concept of the breadth of the scheme that had ensnared his and his son’s identity, and he had certainly never heard of the army of digital fraudsters perpetrating the crime.

‘A huge issue’
They are known as “ghost students,” and for thousands of colleges across the country, these sophisticated thieves have a become a scourge. The scammers will use stolen or fake identities to enroll in classes online and sign up for Pell grants and loans, then disappear once they get the money — robbing the federal government of hundreds of millions of dollars and leaving an untold number of victims like Mayor and his son in their wake.

“It’s a huge issue,” said Jason Williams, the assistant inspector general for investigations at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General. “As they’re stealing identities … these loans are not being repaid. They’re being assigned to people [who] don’t even know they have a debt with U.S. Department of Education … [until] the Internal Revenue Service says you owe the Department of Education money.”

Fraudsters have attempted to steal student financial aid for decades, Williams said. But “when the pandemic [hit], everybody went to online learning. Well, by doing that, it really did open the door” for more widespread fraud, said Williams.

Scammers have realized that the move to remote learning at community colleges provides an opportunity to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to expand their reach and circumvent identity verification controls. Almost overnight, experts said, the fraud grew exponentially.

Over the past five years, the federal government has investigated more than $350 million in fraud perpetrated by “ghost student” schemes, Williams said. “And that’s only in the universe of what we know, and what we have adjudicated,” he added. “There’s a lot of stuff that we don’t know that’s out there.”

Williams said his office has more than 200 investigations open nationwide, with some schemes suspected of racking up more than a billion dollars in ill-gotten gains.

Open season on open enrollment
The federal government is on the hook for tuition aid lost to scammers. But it is the community colleges, which accept almost all applicants through open enrollment, that often carry the burden of sniffing out fake applications. And doing so requires the resources, technology and expertise that many institutions do not possess.

Experts say the scope of the fraud is enormous. In California alone, nearly a third of all community college applicants in 2024 were identified as fraudulent, according to the California Community Colleges, the state’s administrative body for the community college system.

Similar figures exist across the country. ABC News and its nationwide network of owned and operated stations investigated the rise of “ghost students” and found that almost no community college has been spared.

Gina Macklin, a senior administrator at Delaware County Community College, told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia that the school found more than 500 fake students enrolled in its classes in 2023, which she described as “a terrible year” for the school, not least of which because those fraudsters “had taken seats from legitimate students.”

Dr. Beatriz Chaidez, the chancellor of the San Jose Evergreen Community College District, told KGO-TV in San Francisco that at one point, a 50-person online class was booked in minutes and had 100 individuals on its waitlist. The school later learned that just six of those “students” were real people trying to get an education.

“The rest were fraudulent accounts,” she said. “Ghost students.”

Software solutions
The Trump administration last year implemented enhanced fraud controls and identity verification requirements for schools, which experts say helped schools combat fake applicants. But to help root out the fraud, many community colleges have turned to a growing marketplace of identity verification software vendors.

Maurice Simpkins, a retired NFL linebacker, operates one such business. His software is called Student Application Fraudulent Examination, or S.A.F.E.

The platform acts as a firewall for the schools, Simpkins said. “From a football term,” he likes to say, “it’s an offensive line.” He says it catches around 95% of fake applications instantaneously and refers more to the school for additional scrutiny. After just two years on the market, S.A.F.E. is in use in more than 150 schools nationwide, he said.

Administrators at more than a dozen community colleges characterized the rise of “ghost students” as a true crisis. The fraudsters, those administrators say, are taking advantage of a vulnerability created by the degree to which these schools are accessible to students.

Officials say the scammers’ schemes range from the savvy to the sloppy — and all are brazen. One school administrator at a midwestern community college who asked not to be identified shared a “business proposal” he said he received last year from an alleged scammer.

In an email, the alleged scammer, who identified themselves as “Ken from Tanzania,” offered to pay the administrator a share of the proceeds for his help in perpetrating the fraud. “I would really like us to partner and work for 3semesters [sic] and we get something good for us and our families.”

Scammers who operate from overseas present a special challenge, according to investigators. But many of the “ghost students” operate within U.S. borders.

Before their arrests in 2018 and 2019, a father and son in Arizona made off with more than $7 million from ghost student scams, and both served 12-month prison sentences after pleading guilty. And a Maryland man who used the identities of 60 people to take in more than $6.7 million in fraudulent financial aid was sentenced in 2023 to four years in prison.

Murat Mayor, the 58-year-old business analyst, believes he and his son had their identities stolen as part of a massive hack of their health care provider in 2024. After months of back-and-forth with law enforcement and administrators at community colleges in Maryland and Utah, he finally cleared himself and his son from enrollment records earlier this month.

“He’s a straight-A student, has been very successful — an honor student, so he’s doing well,” Mayor told ABC News regarding his son.

Mayor’s son has applied to study business finance in the fall. And this time, it will really be him.

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Kelly Clarkson to end her talk show after this season in order to ‘prioritize my kids’ /entertainment/2026/02/kelly-clarkson-to-end-her-talk-show-after-this-season-in-order-to-prioritize-my-kids/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:48:06 +0000 /?p=28876289&preview=true&preview_id=28876289

Kelly Clarkson on the set of ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ (Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)

A moment like this always had to end, and Kelly Clarkson is explaining why.

The Emmy and Grammy-winning star has announced that she’ll be ending The Kelly Clarkson Show after this season. She shared the news Ի explained, “Stepping away from the daily schedule will allow me to prioritize my kids, which feels necessary and right for this next chapter of our lives.”

In 2025, Kelly’s children, River and Remington Blackstock, lost their father, Kelly’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, to cancer at age 48. Blackstock’s photo was included in the “In Memoriam” segment of Sunday night’s Grammys, as Blackstock’s stepmother, Reba McEntire, performed.

“I am forever grateful and honored to have worked alongside the greatest band and crew you could hope for,” Kelly’s message continued. She went on to thank “all the talent and inspiring people who have shared their time and lives with us” and “all the fans who have supported our show.”

“This isn’t goodbye. I’ll still be making music, playing shows here and there, and you may catch me on The Voice from time to time … you never know where I might show up next,” she added.

In fact, you’ll be able to see Kelly on The Voice later this month as season 29, dubbed , launches Feb. 23.

Kelly’s message concluded, “For for now, I want to thank y’all so much for allowing our show to be a part of your lives, and for believing in us and hanging with us for .”

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New ӣƵ work requirements set to go into effect on Feb. 1 with millions at risk of losing benefits /government/2026/01/new-snap-work-requirements-set-to-go-into-effect-on-feb-1-with-millions-at-risk-of-losing-benefits/ Fri, 30 Jan 2026 21:53:40 +0000 /?p=28865992&preview=true&preview_id=28865992
An EBT sign is displayed on the window of a grocery store on October 30, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — New work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (ӣƵ) are set to go into effect on Feb. 1 and it could mean that millions of Americans lose their benefits.

Nearly 42 million Americans, including low-income families and vulnerable households, rely on the federal program to help pay for groceries or other household essentials.

However, under President Donald Trump’s megabill that was signed into law in July, work requirements were amended for most people to receive benefits for longer than three months over three years.

Under the megabill, the upper age limit for those who need to meet  was raised from age 54 through age 64 for the first time for able-bodied adults without dependents.

Additionally, exemptions were changed for parents or other family members with responsibility for a dependent under 18 years old to under 14 years old.

“Millions of people will unnecessarily be kicked off the rolls,” Joel Berg, CEO of the nonprofit Hunger Free America, told ABC News. “They will lose the food they need, and sometimes family members need. … More Americans will go hungry. Soup kitchens and food pantries and the food banks that supply them will not have the resources to meet this need.”

According to  from the Congressional Budget Office, about 1.1 million people will lose ӣƵ benefits between 2025 and 2034, including 800,000 able-bodied adults through age 64 who don’t live with dependents and 300,000 parents or caregivers up to age 64 with children aged 14 and older.

An additional 1 million people who are able‑bodied adults ages 18 to 54 — or 18 to 49 starting in 2031 — who do not live with dependents but would have received a waiver from work requirements could also lose benefits.

Exemptions were also removed for homeless individuals, veterans and young adults who were in foster care when they turned age 18 under the megabill.

Berg said it could be very difficult for these populations to not only get jobs but provide the documentation to prove to the government they are meeting work requirements.

“It will be extraordinarily difficult for them, and they are among the most vulnerable Americans already,” he said. “Some of the most vulnerable populations — homeless people, veterans and young people who just left foster care — are going to lose their food, lose their groceries and there is no plan in place to fix that.”

CBO estimates that while there will be reductions in ӣƵ participation among these groups, it will be partially offset by the increases in participation among American Indians, who received exemptions under the megabill.

Supporters of the work requirements have said they are necessary to combat waste, fraud and abuse. ӣƵ benefits are administered under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) by the Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in an interview on Fox Business on Friday that ӣƵ benefits are meant to be used temporarily and not long-term.

“The American dream is not being on [a] food stamp program,” Rollins said. “The American dream is not being on all these programs. That should be a hand up, not a handout. … As of yesterday, we have moved 1.75 million people off of ӣƵ. … A stronger economy, higher wages, I mean this is what we’re fighting for every day, not bigger programs, smaller programs. People to have real jobs, real health care, a real opportunity for their children and their grandchildren.”

FNS didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for further comment.

Data from the  shows the majority of American families receiving ӣƵ benefits had at least one family member working in the past 12 months.

However, work requirements can reduce program participation. A  found ӣƵ work requirements could lead to up to 53% of eligible adults exiting the program within 18 months.

“These work requirements aren’t really about promoting work. They’re about dehumanizing people and attacking the ‘other’,” Berg said. “Most ӣƵ recipients are pro-work, and most ӣƵ recipients are already working, or children or people with disability or older Americans. So all this is sort of a diversionary debate.”

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Struggling to keep your New Year’s resolutions? Here’s how to keep yourself on track /lifestyle/2026/01/struggling-to-keep-your-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-to-keep-yourself-on-track-2/ Sun, 11 Jan 2026 13:03:06 +0000 /?p=28790536&preview=true&preview_id=28790536 (LONDON)– It is one thing to make a New Year’s resolution. It is, however, a very different thing to be able to keep it.

Every year they are made with the best of intentions — with the hope and desire to become a better version of ourselves — so why is it that millions of people make New Year’s resolutions knowing the odds of them ever following through with them are minimal?

Jasper Rook Williams — fitness expert, online coach and owner of JRW Fitness — has made a successful career so far working with hundreds of clients around the world on improving their nutrition, training and lifestyle calibration. He has a good idea why.

“The goals, if sometimes a little ambitious, are rarely the problem and they are all set with best intentions,” Rook Williams tells ABC News. “The issue is there’s rarely enough thought put into the approach. People have high ambitions hinging on mostly unrealistic and unsustainable methods. Rather than just thinking ‘I’ll eat salads and join a gym’, people need to prioritize achievable routines, sustainability and lifestyle changes from a broader and more holistic perspective.”

According to research, Rook Williams isn’t wrong. The failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is said to be an estimated 80% with most people losing their resolve and motivation just weeks later in mid-February, according to U.S News and World Report.

“Changing your habits is very difficult, including finding the right moment to make a change,” Bas Verplanken, professor of social psychology at the University of Bath, said in a report released by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in 2017. “Changing from December 31st to January 1st is not a dramatic discontinuity. Many resolutions are made on December 31st, and go down the drain on January 2nd.”

Psychologically speaking, the beginning of a new year is often viewed as a seminal moment — a time to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the new one. But this doesn’t necessarily translate to immediate change and action just because of timing.

“Anything worthwhile is never without obstacle”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the top three New Year’s resolutions made each year are living healthier (23%), personal improvement or happiness (21%) and losing weight (20%), according to a report published by Statista in Nov. 2022.

“A great question to ask yourself when starting out is “does this feel sustainable?” Rook Williams explains to ABC News. “If you can’t keep up the routine then you definitely won’t keep the results.”

One of the things that Rook Williams has found leads to people maintaining their success is when people have — or are given — a sense of accountability.

“You have to bear in mind that creating new habits is hard and progress for anything worthwhile is never linear,” he said. “There will be times when either you want to stop or results seem to have stopped and that can be hard to deal with. That’s when having someone to guide you can keep you accountable can be invaluable in the process of change.”

Ultimately, to successfully make a change for the better, it comes down to striking the right balance, according to Rook Williams.

“In the case of fitness, it’s not just the food or training or wider lifestyle that will create the change but all three of these things working together,” he continued. “They’re not mutually exclusive. Lacking motivation is common and, in my experience, is something that comes when you don’t have a plan. Whether you hire a professional or not, just removing the guesswork and gaining a sense of direction always helps the individual on their path to success.”

“Motivation is temporary”
One of the biggest obstacles to maintaining resolutions, particularly when it comes to fitness objectives, is to choose goals that are both achievable and sustainable.

An estimated 12% of all new gym memberships per year occur in January, according to a study done by IHRSA, the fitness industry’s only global trade association that represents health clubs worldwide. Another study indicates that four out of every five people who join the gym in January will actually quit within five months.

“Motivation is temporary for everyone,” says Rook Williams. “So the best thing you can do is use that time to create the habits and routines needed to see you through once it wanes. And it will wane. It always does. The classic thing new gym starters do in the new year is go from zero to 100 mph … They want to go from not working out at all and eating what they want to training five, six, seven days a week and eating like a rabbit. This just sets them up for failure because it’s just not realistic.”

One of the biggest reasons why Rook Williams’ clients often succeed when it comes to setting goals is the focus on maintaining a healthy outlook every day and “saying no to short-termism.”

“Being new at something and hoping to be perfect straight away is a sure fire way to give up on anything very quickly,” Rook Williams explains. “Be sure to cut yourself some slack. If you planned to train three days one week but only managed two, that doesn’t make you a failure. It’s still two more than you were doing before, so just wipe the slate clean and try it again without holding on to guilt or punishing yourself.”

“Everyone falls off the horse at some point, even the pros,” Rook Williams continued. “What’s important is how quickly you dust yourself off and get back to work. Those who make it do this right away. But those who let one mistake spill over into more mistakes are the ones who are most likely to give up and start again next year.”

“Never just one solution”
No matter what resolution you may make in the New Year, for Rook Williams, success is all about perspective and making changes in incremental ways that suit your lifestyle rather than completely disrupting it.

“There is never just one solution to a problem, whatever that problem might be,” he continued. “Your goal might be set in stone, but how you achieve it shouldn’t be. Don’t get married to just one method. Finding sustainable success is all about finding the method that is easiest and most maintainable for you.”

Unrealistic expectations and the dangers of expecting to get it right the first time are one of the main things that Rook Williams warns his clients about.

“With so much conflicting information out there and each of us having our own unique goals, schedules and responsibilities, the chance of getting your nutritional approach spot on when going alone immediately is incredibly slim,” Rook Williams explains. “Even if it is working, it might not be sustainable so be prepared for a period involving a lot of trial and error.”

For Rook Williams this was a huge reason why he became a coach in the first place. “It took me ages to piece it all together and, once I had, I wanted to help others do the same and in far less time.”

Research actually backs this up. According to a 2012 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Weight and Eating Disorders Program, 65% of dieters return to their pre-diet weight within three years and only 5% of people who lose weight on a restrictive diet, such as a liquid or no-carb, manage to keep the weight off — just one out of every 20 dieters.

“Carbs are tasty, alcohol can be fun, food is for eating and going without all these things forever is, for most people, totally unrealistic. When you think about it logically like that, it’s no surprise the majority of people fail to keep off the weight they lose.”

Ultimately, making any major change in your life requires more than just the desire to do so. It requires a goal, determination and a willingness to learn all mixed with a heavy dose of reality and a well-constructed approach to change.

“If you have a day where you feel like you can’t be bothered with anything, remember you are running your own race,” Rook Williams explains. “Success isn’t made by being perfect everyday but by doing your best everyday, whatever that looks like to you. What I have learned myself — and what I have really seen leads people to success — is if you have good habits and routines in place that you have created over time, that’s what is going to get you to where you want to be.”

Said Rook Williams: “It’s not just the food or training or wider lifestyle that will create the change but all three of these things. They’re all connected.”

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Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr., known for ‘The Wire,’ ‘Veep’ and Spike Lee films, dies at 71 /entertainment/2026/01/actor-isiah-whitlock-jr-known-for-the-wire-veep-and-spike-lee-films-dies-at-71/ Fri, 02 Jan 2026 03:05:07 +0000 /?p=28754011&preview=true&preview_id=28754011

Isiah Whitlock, Jr. attends the ‘Plane’ New York Screening at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Jan. 10, 2023, in New York. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. has died, his manager confirmed to ABC News.

“It is with deep sadness that I share the passing of Isiah Whitlock Jr. He passed away today peacefully in NYC after a brave battle with a short illness,” his manager Brian Liebman said in a statement. “Isiah was a brilliant actor and even better person. He was loved by all who had the pleasure to work with or know him.”

 to the actor on Instagram, writing, “If you knew him – you loved him. May his memory forever be a blessing. Our hearts are so broken. He will be very, very missed.”

He is known for The Wire and for frequently collaborating with director Spike Lee on films like Da 5 BloodsԻ BlacKkKlansman.

Born on Sept. 13, 1954, in South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock got his start as an actor while attending college at Southwest Minnesota State University, where he had a football scholarship and studied theater. He joined the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, CA, after graduating in 1976.

In 1987, he landed a role in the TV series Cagney & Lacey, in which, according to IMDB, Whitlock played a man getting in a cab.

He went on to book a few more roles in films like Gremlins 2: The New Batch, 1990’s ҴǴǻڱ,the TV series As the World Turns and more.

From 2002 to 2008, he starred as Senator R. Clayton “Clay” Davis in The Wire. He made the role his own when he developed a catchphrase for his character: “Sheeeeee-it.”

Following The Wire, Whitlock continued to star in several TV series, including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Rubicon and Meet the Browns. He also starred in the 2011 film Cedar Rapids and the 2008 film Cadillac Records alongside DzԳé, Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright.

In 2012, he collaborated with Lee for Red Hook Summer and also starred in the TV series Smash.

He went on to star in Veep alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus from 2013 to 2015 as George Maddox.

In 2020, he starred in the TV series Your Honor as Charlie Figaro alongside Bryan Cranston. The show lasted two seasons and wrapped in 2023.

His most recent role was as Larry Dokes in the Netflix miniseries The Residence, which he starred in with Uzo Aduba, Giancarlo Esposito, Randall Park and more.

In the upcoming 2026 Disney film Hoppers, Whitlock voiced the character of Bird King. The film also stars Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep, Kathy Najimy and Dave Franco.

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Pat Finn, who appeared in ‘The Middle,’ ‘Friends’ and ‘Seinfeld,’ dead at 60 /entertainment/2025/12/pat-finn-who-appeared-in-the-middle-friends-and-seinfeld-dead-at-60-2/ Wed, 24 Dec 2025 22:17:36 +0000 /?p=28734918&preview=true&preview_id=28734918 Actor and comedian Patrick Finn, best known for his role in ABC’s The Middle, has died, according to a statement from his family.

Finn, 60, died on Dec. 22 following a three-year battle with cancer, which had been in remission but then returned.

Finn began his career as an improv comedian alongside his college pal Chris Farley. His first big break in television came on The George Wendt Show, where he played the brother of Wendt’s character, George Coleman. He went on to recurring roles in shows like Murphy Brown and 3rd Rock from the Sun, and played Bill Norwood on The Middle from 2010 to 2018.

Seinfeld fans knew Finn as Joe Mayo, a character in the episode “The Reverse Peephole,” while Friends fans would remember him as Dr. Roger, Monica’s boyfriend in the episodes “The One That Could Have Been, Part 1” and “The One That Could Have Been, Part 2.”

Finn also appeared in films like Dude, Where’s My Car and It’s Complicated, and was an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado and his alma mater, Marquette University.

He’s survived by his wife, Donna Finn, and their three children as well as his parents and siblings.

(This is an updated version of a story that was originally published Dec. 25, 2025 at 3:53 p.m.)

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