A makeshift memorial of flowers and American flags stands outside the Farragut West Metro station on Dec. 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members, killing one, in Washington, D.C., has been formally charged with murder.
Lakanwal, of Bellingham, Washington, appeared before a judge remotely on Tuesday from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered when another National Guard member shot him during the incident.
Lakanwal was wearing a hospital gown and was lying in a hospital bed, covered in a blanket, during the remote court appearance.
Through a Pashtu interpreter, Lakanwal was charged with one count of murder, two counts of assault with the intent to kill, and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to the charges through a court-appointed attorney.
At one point during the hearing, Lakanwal, speaking in Pashtu, said through the interpreter, “I cannot open my eyes, I have pain in my ear.”
Lakanwal is charged with shooting Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, members of the West Virginia National Guard, who were “ambushed” while conducting “high visibility patrols” on Nov. 25 just blocks from the White House, authorities said.
Beckstrom was killed and Wolfe was critically injured, authorities said.
New details of the attack emerged on Tuesday when authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against Lakanwal, a married father of five children.
Lakanwal, according to the complaint, shot Beckstrom from behind and was trying to reload after he was shot and just before he was subdued. An autopsy by the Washington, D.C., Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Beckstrom was shot once in the back of the head, according to the complaint.
Wolfe also was shot in the head during the attack, according to the complaint.
Witnesses told investigators that as Beckstrom and Wolfe fell to the ground after being shot, Lakanwal was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great,” according to the complaint.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez is escorted, April 21, 2022, by members of the Police Special Forces in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to be extradited to United States after being indicted on drug traffickers charges. (Photo by Jorge Cabrera/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted in 2024 of trafficking drugs into the United States, has been freed from prison after he was granted a pardon by President Donald Trump, officials said.
The 57-year-old Hernandez was released from a federal prison in West Virginia, where he had been serving a 45-year sentence, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Hernandez’s attorney.
“After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernandez RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump,” Hernandez’s wife, Ana Garcia de Hernandez, said in a social media post.
Hernandez’s wife added, “Today we give thanks to God, because he is just and His timing is perfect. Thank you, Mr. President, for restoring our hope and for recognizing a truth that we always knew.”
Trump formally granted Hernandez a full pardon on Monday evening, Hernandez’s attorney, Renato Stabile, told ABC News.
“True to his word, I can confirm that President Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez,” Stabile said.
Stabile said Hernandez, a two-term president of Honduras, was released early Tuesday morning from the U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, a high-security prison in West Virginia.
“On behalf of President Hernandez and his family, I would like to thank President Trump for correcting this injustice,” Stabile said. “President Hernandez is glad this ordeal is over and is looking forward to regaining his life after almost four years in prison.”
Trump’s pardon of Hernandez came as a surprise to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, who said the decision appears to contradict the Trump administration’s crackdown on drug trafficking from the Caribbean.
“Why would we pardon this guy then go after [Venezuelan president Nicolas] Maduro for running drugs into the United States? Lock up every drug runner! Don’t understand why he is being pardoned,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said in a social media post over the weekend.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called Trump’s decision to pardon Hernandez “shocking.”
“He was the leader of one of the largest criminal enterprises that has ever been subject to a conviction in U.S. courts, and less than one year into his sentence, President Trump is pardoning him, suggesting that President Trump cares nothing about narco-trafficking,” Kaine said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Hernandez was extradited to the United States in April 2022 under the Biden administration after he was indicted on charges of conspiring to import cocaine, using and carrying machine guns in furtherance of cocaine importation, and conspiring to use and carry machine guns in furtherance of cocaine importation.
Following Hernandez’s conviction in March 2024 in federal court in New York City, federal prosecutors said Hernandez helped drug cartels “move mountains of cocaine” into the United States and was “at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
One of the prosecutors on the case was Emil Bove, who later defended Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for which Trump was convicted of in 2024. Bove now sits on the bench as a judge for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a social media post on Friday, Trump announced, “I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated harshly and unfairly.”
In a follow-up social media post on Saturday, Trump said, “The people of Honduras really thought he was set up.”
A one-time ally in the U.S. war on drugs, Hernandez was accused by U.S. federal prosecutors of taking bribes from drug cartels and helping them smuggle an estimated 400 tons of cocaine from Honduras to the United States.
Hernandez, prosecutors alleged, used his power to tip off his brother and other drug traffickers by alerting them to possible interdictions. Hernandez knew where the checkpoints were set up and advised the cartels how to avoid them, according to testimony at his trial.
Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York also alleged that Hernandez accepted $1 million in bribes to protect Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the notorious boss of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
During his trial, a federal prosecutor alleged Hernandez once boasted at a meeting with narco-traffickers that “together they were going to shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.”
Sabrina Carpenter attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Sabrina Carpenter is speaking out after one of her songs was used in a video depicting ICE raids that was posted by the White House.
The clip, posted on the White House’s X account, is soundtracked to Sabrina’s song “Juno.” The singer responded to the video, saying she did not authorize use of her song.
“[T]his video is evil and disgusting,” she wrote. “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
This isn’t the first time Donald Trump’s White House has used a pop song without permission from the artist. Kenny Loggins spoke out in October about the “unauthorized” use of his song “Danger Zone” in an AI- generated video shared by Trump on Truth Social.
And over the summer, British singer Jess Glynne decried the White House’s use of the Jet2holidays meme — which features her song “Hold My Hand” — to promote ICE raids.
‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026′ performers (Courtesy DCP)
There are always a lot of musical performances on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, but this year’s edition of the ABC special is especially stacked.
The live special starts at 8 p.m. ET and will feature countdowns from New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Puerto Rico and beyond. All in all, more than 85 songs will be performed before the show wraps up at 4 a.m. ET.
Country performers include Jordan Davis, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Tucker Wetmore and Russell Dickerson.
The lineup also includes Mariah Carey, Goo Goo Dolls, Jessie Murph, BigXthaPlug, 4 Non Blondes and Chappell Roan, with the Times Square performances yet to be announced.
Kendrick Lamar performs with SZA during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
“All the Stars” have aligned for Kendrick Lamar and SZA, as they have topped several of Billboard‘s year-end lists. Their song “Luther,” off K. Dot’s GNX album, leads the year-end Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
It entered both charts at #3 on Dec. 7, 2024. It made its way to the top position two weeks later, where it stayed for the remainder of the 2025 chart year (Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025).
Other tracks to make the top 10 Hot Rap Songs of the year include Kendrick’s “TV Off” featuring Lefty Gunplay, “Not Like Us,” “Squabble Up” and “Peekaboo” featuring AzChiki. Drake‘s “Nokia,” Doechii‘s “Anxiety” and Tyler, The Creator‘s “Sticky” with Lil Wayne, GloRilla and Sexyy Red were among those that also made the cut.
As for the songs that made the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, they include SZA and Kendrick’s “30 for 30,” Leon Thomas‘ “Mutt,” and The Weeknd and Playboi Carti‘s “Timeless,” which dominates the year-end Hot R&B Songs chart.
That list also features Mariah the Scientist‘s “Burning Blue,” Summer Walker‘s “Heart of a Woman,” Chris Brown‘s “Residuals” and Kehlani‘s “Folded.”
SZA’s solo album SOS ends the year atop the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums year-end list and is followed by Kendrick’s GNX. His album good kid, m.A.A.dcity is also on the list, as areTyler’s Chromakopia, and PartyNextDoor and Drake‘s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U.
Ashley McBryde on ABC’s ‘CMA Fest presented by SoFi’ (Disney/Larry McCormack)
Ashley McBryde is switching on a new charity initiative.
The Light On Fund, named after her hit “Light on in the Kitchen,” will support causes close to Ashley’s heart, including mental health care for veterans, children in foster care, ASL interpretation at live music events and rehab resources for creatives.
Notably, Ashley is launching the initiative on Dec. 2, which is her mother Martha Wilkins‘ birthday. Martha recently auctioned off one of Ashley’s childhood dresses to raise money for the foster care system in Ashley’s home state of Arkansas. Now the singer is personally matching the amount of money raised from that sale to kick off the initiative.
“Leaving the light on for someone is the same as telling them you love them where I’m from,” Ashley says in a statement. “Folks are suffering in ways we’ll never see or know about, and the same way I want someone to come to my show and know that for 90 minutes, they’ve got a safe haven, we hope the Light On Fund will be a place of support, care, and nurturing for causes that have touched my life and my history.”
“The women in my family have led by generous and humble example, living out that the most important gestures are the ones from one heart to another,” she continues.
“With the establishment of the Light On Fund, I hope that we’re letting people know that we see them and we care. Wherever they may be or may end up on life’s journey, we’ll leave a light on for them.”
One way to be a supporter is to buy the official Ashley McBryde’s Light On Fund hat from her online store, with all proceeds going directly to the initiative.
Ronnie James Dio of Heaven and Hell performs during the Metal Masters tour at Shoreline Amphitheatre on August 31, 2008 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
The 2025 edition of Bowl for Ronnie, the annual charity celebrity bowling tournament held in honor of the late rocker Ronnie James Dio, raised over $85,000 for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.
The event took place Nov. 13 at PINZ Bowling Center in Studio City, California, and featured bowling teams made up of musicians, including Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt.
Other rockers who attended Bowl for Ronnie include Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach and his bandmate Frederico Delfino, Foreigner’s Jeff Pilson, George Thorogood and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clark.
Dio died of stomach cancer in 2010 at age 67. The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund has since raised over $2 million for cancer research and education.
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers in ‘Stranger Things’ season 5. (Netflix)
We now know the runtime of the Stranger Things series finale.
Netflix has confirmed that the official length of the final episode of the hit sci-fi series is two hours and five minutes.
To celebrate the announcement, the streaming service also revealed the full list of cities and movie theaters participating in fan screenings of the season 5 finale.
The screenings take place in over 500 cinemas across the U.S. and Canada starting on Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. PT, timed exactly to the episode’s global premiere on Netflix. They’ll run through Jan. 1, 2026. A full list of the locations and information on how to RSVP can be found at www.st5finale.com.
When the theatrical release was announced in October, Stranger Things co-creators Matt Duffer and RossDuffer expressed excitement over the opportunity.
“We’re beyond excited that fans will have the chance to experience the final episode of Stranger Things in theaters — it’s something we’ve dreamed about for years, and we’re so grateful to Ted [Sarandos], Bela [Bajaria], and everyone at Netflix for making it happen,” they said in a press release. “Getting to see it on the big screen, with incredible sound, picture, and a room full of fans, feels like the perfect — dare we say b******’ — way to celebrate the end of this adventure.”
The fifth season of Stranger Things finds the gang united for the same mission: defeat the villainous Vecna once and for all.
“The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”
The first volume of the three-part drop of Stranger Things season 5 was released on Nov. 26. Volume II drops on Dec. 25.
Drummer Clem Burke of Blondie performs onstage at 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 21, 2023 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella)
Blondie recently paid tribute to their late drummer Clem Burke on what would have been his 71st birthday, and they are continuing their tribute by telling fans about a cause that was important to him.
“In honor of Clem’s birthday this past week, we are highlighting the Clem Burke Drumming Project, which explores how drumming enhances physical, cognitive, emotional, and mental health,” they wrote on Instagram. The post explains that the organization’s goal is “to focus on initiatives that use drumming to support developmental and behavioral therapy, coping skills, and emotional expression for individuals of all ages.”
“Clem’s mission was to bring drums off the stage and into the lives of those who need them most,” the post continued. “If his lifelong work has inspired you, consider donating to fund research, outreach and programs that promote emotional expression, coping skills, and developmental growth.”
Posted on Giving Tuesday, the band also shared a link where fans can donate to the organization.
The Clem Burke Drumming Project was founded in 2008. Burke passed away on April 6 following a private battle with cancer.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his press conference after the Summit of Collective Security Treaty Organization, on November 27, 2025 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Contributor/Getty Images
(LONDON) — President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia is ready to fight a war if Europe seeks one and claimed European countries are trying to make changes in President Donald Trump’s proposal on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, ahead of his high-stakes meeting with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Tuesday.
“We can clearly see that these changes are aimed at only one thing: to block the entire peace process,” Putin said in remarks to reporters while accusing Europe of being “on the side of war.”
“We are not going to fight Europe, I have said this a hundred times. But if Europe suddenly wants to fight and starts, we are ready right now,” Putin said.
Russia would allow Europe to return to negotiations on Ukraine if it takes into account the realities on the ground, Putin said.
Putin’s meeting with Witkoff is underway, Russian state media TASS reported Tuesday night local time. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is also taking part.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the meeting had no time limit and would go on for “as long as necessary.”
Ahead of the meeting, the White House said it was “very optimistic,” as U.S. officials continue their push to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The sit-down follows a series of meetings between top U.S. and Ukrainian officials, during which the parties sought to revise the original peace-plan proposal presented by the Trump administration to Ukraine last month.
Witkoff and other top U.S. officials — including Kushner and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — met on Sunday in Florida with a Ukrainian delegation to attempt to find a deal that Ukraine and Russia might both accept to end the war.
“I think the administration feels very optimistic,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday, following the Florida meeting. “They had very good talks with the Ukrainians in Florida. And now, of course, Special Envoy Witkoff is on his way to Russia.”
The top Ukrainian official at the Florida talks said there had been progress, but, he added, “some issues still require further refinement.”
The Kremlin on Monday said a meeting between Witkoff and Putin was scheduled for Tuesday. Putin prepared in recent days by holding meetings with military commanders and a governor of a frontline territory, according to Russian officials.
“We have no doubt that this will be a very important step towards peace and a peaceful settlement,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday.
There was little expectation Putin would agree to a deal. The Russian leader signaled last week he would not compromise, repeating in hardline remarks his demand that Ukraine withdraw from territory he claims as Russian soil and saying it was “pointless” to negotiate with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin then on Monday claimed without evidence that Russian forces had taken control of two Ukrainian cities where intense fighting has been happening for weeks in the eastern part of the country, a move intended perhaps to burnish the perception of Russia’s leading position on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy, who, along with Trump, was not directly involved with the talks in Florida, met on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The meetings in France were “substantive and important — above all, focused on the steps that bring a just peace closer,” he said on social media. Zelenskyy landed on Tuesday in Dublin, where he’s expected to meet with Taoiseach Micheal Martin, the Irish prime minister.
As Zelenskyy pushed for European unity against Russian aggression, members of his delegation in Florida were sending updates on what was being discussed. He said on Monday that there were still several “tough issues” to work through in the negotiations, but did not elaborate. Ukraine’s potential relinquishment of some of its territory to Russia was thought to be part of the talks.
Zelenskyy on Monday also said he, Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had again been briefed by Witkoff and the head of the Kyiv delegation, Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
“Over two very productive days in the United States, we held many hours of meetings and negotiations,” Umerov said in a separate social media update on Monday. “We achieved significant progress, although some issues still require further refinement.”
Umerov and the rest of the negotiating team met with Zelenskyy in person on Tuesday, with the president saying they discussed “the matters that cannot be addressed over the phone.” He praised Ukrainian allies for their partnership. And he also accused Russia of beginning new disinformation campaigns prior to Putin’s meeting with Witkoff.
“Ukraine approaches all diplomatic efforts with utmost seriousness — we are committed to achieving a real peace and guaranteed security,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “This is exactly the level of commitment that must be compelled from the Russian side, and this task can be accomplished only together with our partners.”
The meeting in Moscow would be the sixth such Witkoff-Putin sit-down this year and it comes amid a redoubled effort by the White House to produce a peace deal in the almost 4-year-old conflict.
The meeting on Sunday included discussions of a revised 19-point peace plan that was developed a week ago during another round of American-Ukrainian talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Those talks reworked an earlier 28-point plan that the Trump administration had presented and that had alarmed Kyiv and European allies as heavily favoring Russia. Details about whether further revisions may have been made over the weekend had not been released as of Tuesday morning.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Leavitt did not detail what the U.S. expected to happen during the negotiations in Moscow, instead deferring to those who would be at the meeting.
“We’ve put points on paper. Those points have been very much refined,” she said. “But as for the details, I will let the negotiators negotiate. But we do feel quite good, and we’re hopeful that this work can finally come to an end.”
ABC News’ Emily Chang and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
