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The deadly hornets nest discovered in Washington is no more -- because some badass wildlife experts suited up and got rid of the damn thing ... with some crazy equipment in hand.

A group of scientists and entomologists working for the Washington State Department of Agriculture's Pest Program got up early Saturday morning and headed out to where the nest was recently found at a residential area in Blaine, WA -- right near the Canadian border.

The team was up and at 'em before the sun was even out, and it was all strategic ... they wanted to sneak up on the tree where the murder hornets had burrowed themselves inside and suck them out using some sort of a vacuum, catching the hive by surprise.

There was more to it than just that though -- apparently, they flooded the trunk of the tree with a paralyzing foam, wrapped a good portion of it in plastic to contain them even further ... and then got to the business of sucking them down and in different tubes, which they later showed off to the cameras that were standing by for the mission. It's pretty neat.

The hornets that were killed are said to be going "on ice" for further study -- but rest assured, they're not active anymore and pose no threat. The WSDA deemed the task a success, so it sounds like they got all of those buggers in one shot. Remember, there were dozens spotted entering and exiting the tree ... a hornets nest is said to be able to house up to 200 at a time. That explains the abundance of protective gear ... definitely necessary.

The nest sighting comes a few months after reports of the first Asian murder hornets here in the U.S. sent folks into a panic ... this as coronavirus pandemic was just getting underway. Since then, scientists have done a great job at tracking them -- and now, killing them too.

Sure, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is alive and well, but the same can't be said right now for his wife ... who hasn't been seen in public since January.

Ri Sol-ju was last with Kim for a public event at the Samjiyon Theatre in Pyongyang during a Lunar New Year celebration, but after she missed a military parade she usually attends on October 10 ... speculation's swirling about why, and where in the hell she is now.

Along with the darkest guess that immediately comes to mind, there are 3 main theories that are less disturbing -- but also maybe less believable.

One is that she's taking care of Kim's aunt who is ill. Another, from experts in South Korea, is that she's afraid of getting sick herself amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to lack of social distancing and masks at events.

And finally, there are reports she stepped out of the public eye to take care of her daughter, who's believed to have been born in 2013.

It should be noted -- about a year ago there was similar concern for Ri after she wasn't seen in public for 4 months, but then she was ... and people speculated she may have given birth.

Of course, it's hard to know what to believe when it comes to North Korea ... as we learned this past summer about her husband.

Asian murder hornets have made their way to Washington State ... authorities just found a nest, the first one discovered in the U.S., and now humans wanna kill the deadly insects ASAP!!!

The Washington State Dept. of Agriculture says they've located an Asian giant hornet nest on a private property in Blaine ... and as you can see, the murder hornets set up shop inside a tree.

The WSDA says they're gonna try and destroy the nest Saturday, after plans to wipe it out Friday were dashed due to inclement weather. It's 2020, did you really think murder hornets would go out that easy?!?

Entomologists from the WSDA found the nest after a trapper caught two live murder hornets Wednesday using a new type of trap. Two more hornets, also living, were found in another trap Thursday and entomologists attached radio trackers to the big buggers, which led them to the nest.

It's pretty scary ... the nest is inside a tree near an area cleared for a residential home, and authorities counted dozens of hornets entering and exiting the tree. These murder hornets usually nest in the ground, but sometimes they pick a dead tree for their home base.

As we've reported ... the WSDA has been on the hunt for murder hornet nests since the first insect was caught earlier this year, and authorities had to navigate a ton of false reports.

The hope here -- eradicating murder hornets before they decimate our bee population, not to mention any human casualties along the way.

Sacha Baron Cohen says it's pretty clear to him what was on Rudy Giuliani's mind during his notorious scene in the 'Borat' sequel ... but urges everyone to judge for themselves.

Borat himself, along with Maria Bakalova -- who plays his daughter, Tutar, in "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" -- addressed Rudy's compromising appearance in the movie ... in which he puts a hand in his pants after being duped into a fake interview by Bakalova's character.

Giuliani denies any inappropriate behavior and claims he was simply tucking in his shirt after taking off recording equipment ... but Cohen calls BS.

The actor tells "Good Morning America" ... "If the president’s lawyer found what he did there appropriate behavior then heaven knows what he’s done with other female journalists in hotel rooms."

The movie was released Thursday night, so everyone can judge for themselves.

Bakalova says she's thankful Cohen busted in to save her when things started getting dicey, and he claims he was "quite concerned" during the scene ... and felt the need to protect her.

President Trump just released video of his failed "60 Minutes" interview where he just walked out and never came back, and when Lesley Stahl challenged Mike Pence as to why the Prez walked out and didn't get an answer, she said they insulted her show.

Mike Pence tried to steamroll through Lesley's questions over Trump's abrupt departure, but she wasn't getting answers. As she put it, she got a bunch of campaign speeches from Trump and Pence, and that clearly frustrated her.

As you probably know by now, Trump felt the interview was an ambush, and he walked out in the middle. He accused Stahl of bias, claiming all Joe Biden gets are "softball questions."

President Trump might be having a change of heart -- he's acknowledging systemic racism exists in police forces ... or, at least, he guesses it's there.

The President, who has repeatedly denied racism is a problem in America's policing, was asked about the topic during a town hall taped for Sinclair TV stations. The moderator, Eric Bolling, said, "Is there systemic racism within police departments and is there any sort of retraining they need?"

Well, ya really gotta see how POTUS hemmed and hawed -- "Is there? I guess there probably is, and that's very sad. There is, and I think there's not much. Hopefully there's not much."

He went on like that for a bit before finally settling on this statement ... "I guess there always is, and it's a shame."

Now, it's really interesting because what's glaringly obvious is while he danced around his answer, Trump never actually said the words "systemic racism."

On the other hand, he did -- in the end -- say it does exist. That's a shift from everything Trump has said since George Floyd was killed, sparking anti-police brutality marches around the world. He's also denied it when questioned about Breonna Taylor's death.

Just last month in Kenosha, Wisconsin -- in the wake of police shooting Jacob Blake -- the President said, "I don't believe that," when a reporter asked if racism is an inherent issue in policing.

The question ... is Trump truly changing his view on racism in policing, or pandering to Black voters 12 days before Election Day?

Rudy Giuliani might have some 'splaining to do about an apparently compromising scene in Sacha Baron Cohen's new 'Borat' installment.

President Trump's adviser admits he got duped into shooting the scene back in July -- he'd agreed to be interviewed in NYC by a conservative news outlet, which was really just a setup for "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm." Well, now we know what happened in the scene and it's jaw-dropping.

According to Vanity Fair -- which has seen the movie in advance -- Giuliani meets up with Borat's daughter, who's posing as a journalist, for an interview in a hotel room. At one point, he holds her hands, compliments her looks and she suggests they go to the bedroom for a drink.

Then she "elaborately" takes off their microphones, Rudy lies down on the bed, and puts his hand in his pants ... according to VF.

That's when Cohen, as Borat, busts in to the room to interrupt. To be clear, Giuliani's not seen doing anything illegal -- but the report about the scene sounds embarrassing, at the least.

We knew Rudy was in the movie because he made a big deal about it when it was filmed. You might recall, he called NYPD on Cohen at the time ... claiming the actor busted in the room wearing "a pink transgender outfit."

Rudy boasted to reporters afterward, "I thought about all the people he previously fooled, and I felt good about myself because he didn’t get me." He also stated he was a fan of Borat and didn't hold a grudge over the prank.

Let's see if that holds up when Amazon Prime releases 'Borat 2' on Friday.

Jeff Bridges is battling cancer ... he just revealed he's been diagnosed with lymphoma.

The 'Big Lebowski' star just announced his cancer diagnosis on Twitter, telling fans ... "As the Dude would say.. New S**T has come to light. I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma."

Jeff is keeping a positive attitude despite the seriousness of the disease, adding ... "I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good."

Jeff's already undergoing treatment ... he doesn't specify which kind of cancer treatment, but promises to keep his fans updated on his recovery.

Tons of folks, including lots of celebs, are already reaching out to Jeff ... and he says he's "profoundly grateful for the love and support from my family and friends."

The Oscar-winning actor also says he's thankful for everyone's prayers and well-wishes and he ended his announcement with a message to remember to go vote.

France's premiere soccer league -- Ligue 1 -- will pay tribute to the teacher who was killed last week in a terror attack in Paris, officials say.

47-year-old Samuel Paty -- a history teacher at Collège du Bois d'Aulne -- was attacked and beheaded on Friday while walking home from work.

Officials say the killer is 18-year-old Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch -- who was upset Paty used caricatures of the prophet Muhammad during recent lessons.

Cops tracked down the suspect after the killing -- but when they approached, he allegedly opened fire with an airgun.

Officers fired back -- striking Abouyezidovitch 9 times, killing him. Cops say Abouyezidovitch confessed to the murder before his death.

The story has been headline news in France (and around the world) for the past few days.

Now, Ligue 1 -- home of legendary teams like Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and more -- says the entire league will honor Paty's memory this upcoming weekend with moments of silence, armbands and more. Ligue 2 will also participate in the tributes.

"Before the matches kick off, a minute's silence will be observed in tribute to the history and geography professor beheaded on Friday in the Conflans-Sainte-Honorine attack and his portrait will be shown on giant screens in the stadiums," league officials said in a statement.

"During the match, all the players in the game (players, coaches, referees) will wear a black armband to pay tribute to him."

UFC fighter Edmen Shahbazyan says the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has a California connection -- with several of his Armenian friends in Glendale flying back to fight in the war.

... and he's praying they all make it out alive.

FYI, Glendale reportedly has the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia. It's also where Edmen lives and trains.

The 22-year-old prodigy -- who's 11-1 as an MMA pro -- points out the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has already claimed many lives. According to reports, between 300 and 500 people have been killed over the past month.

"I'm just praying every day for the best for my Armenian soldiers," Shahbazyan says.

"A lot of young kids, a lot of young soldiers are dying, younger than me. They're like 18, 19 years old! They're going to war and they're not coming back."

Shahbazyan says he's been participating in protests and demonstrations in Glendale -- hoping the world will support his people and help to achieve peace.

Amy Coney Barrett claims she has too much integrity to allow herself to be used as a pawn to get President Trump re-elected ... and she'll consider recusal if an election dispute ends up at SCOTUS.

Judge Barrett just answered some hard-hitting questions from Sen. Chris Coons during Tuesday's confirmation hearing, specifically if she was willing to sit things out if Trump brings a disputed election result to the highest court in the land.

Barrett says she's not being used by Trump -- some say he's rushing her confirmation to get an edge should the election hang in the balance of a Supreme Court ruling -- but she stopped short of a full-on commitment to recuse herself due to appearance of bias.

Judge Barrett would only go as far as to say she would consider all factors relevant to recusal and its statutes... and she even invoked Ruth Bader Ginsburg's name to make her point.

Portland protesters marked the eve of Columbus Day by toppling 2 statues of American presidents, claiming they represent America's racist history.

The statues were on the route of a march titled, Indigenous People's Day of Rage. Some of the signs read, "Stop honoring racist colonizer murderers." A Lewis and Clark mural was also vandalized with red paint.

The toppled statues were spraypainted and unceremoniously left on the ground. The words "stolen land" were painted at the base of Lincoln's statue.

The police tweeted shortly after the statues were taken down, "To those marching downtown: this has been declared a RIOT.” They continued, “All persons must immediately disperse to the NORTH. Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to tear gas and impact weapons.”

As far as we can tell, no arrests were made for taking the statues down.

The Wanted's Tom Parker has been diagnosed with brain cancer ... and doctors say he has an inoperable tumor.

The boy band singer made the revelation over the weekend, saying doctors confirmed he had a brain tumor known as a grade four glioblastoma -- which is terminal and beyond a cure. He says doctors characterized it as "the worst case scenario."

Parker addressed fans directly -- after breaking the news in an OK interview -- taking to IG to express his dismay, but to also ask for positivity rather than sadness. He writes, "There’s no easy way to say this but I’ve sadly been diagnosed with a Brain Tumour and I’m already undergoing treatment. We decided, after a lot of thought, that rather than hiding away and trying to keep it a secret, we would do one interview where we could lay out all the details and let everyone know the facts in our own way."

TP adds, "We are all absolutely devastated but we are gonna fight this all the way. We don’t want your sadness, we just want love and positivity and together we will raise awareness of this terrible disease and look for all available treatment options. It’s gonna be a tough battle but with everyone’s love and support we are going to beat this. Tom and Kelsey."

Tom and his wife, Kelsey, have a daughter ... and are currently expecting a second child. As for how long doctors estimate he has left, Kelsey says she asked them not to disclose it ... because she feared it would put a clock on things and only depress them.

A protester was killed by a security guard Saturday and now the guard has been arrested.

It went down in Denver, where there were 2 rallies going on at the same time ... a patriots rally and a Black Lives Matter rally. A guy wearing a "Black Guns Matter" t-shirt began arguing with several men, including the man in the camo bucket hat who ended up getting shot.

You see the argument get heated as the man in the camo hat walks out of frame. He encounters a security guard and according to reports, the guy may have maced the guard. That's when you hear a shot and see the man in the hat go down. He later died at a hospital.

It appears the victim was part of the Patriot's group. His t-shirt read, "BLM You're f***ing Right Bikers Lives Matter."

Turns out the guard works for a company that was hired by a local TV station that had been using security to protect its reporters who were covering the various protests.

Kim Kardashian is putting her money where her mouth is on the conflict in Armenia -- she just announced she's dropping a fortune to aid in efforts on the ground ... part of an even larger investment on behalf of the entire family, TMZ has learned.

Kim, Khloe and Kourtney all just posted videos to raise awareness about an org they've partnered with called the Armenia Fund -- which aims to raise money for aid to help innocent people on the ground who are caught in the middle of the recent escalation.

Funds raised go directly to people in need of food, shelter, medical attention and other resources that are hard to come by at the moment. Clearly, the Kardashians are all in on the effort.

While Kim, Khloe and Kourtney's videos were all pretty similar ... Kim's was especially noteworthy because she said she herself was ponying up a million dollars for the fund, encouraging others to donate what they could and to spread the word about the cause in general. Our sources tell us other OG Kardashian siblings -- Kourtney, Khloe and Rob --  also made sizable donations ... so a heck of a lot of money is going to be sent over for aid from them.

Khloe also made mention of the fact even if one feels removed from the conflict going on over there ... it doesn't take much to empathize with families who are suffering. She says now that she's a mother, she feels especially bad for the kids caught up in it.

If you're unfamiliar, Armenia's decades-long dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan over a mountainous territory in between both countries has recently reignited. The conflict dates back to the '80s, and until this past summer ... there had been a ceasefire over the region.

Frickin' raccoons, man ... they're feisty little beasts -- especially the ones in DC -- as CNN reporter Joe Johns learned while trying to report on President Trump's schedule.

The hilarious moment of levity went down early Wednesday morning on one of the White House lawns as a pesky raccoon interrupted Joe setting up for a live shot.

Joe stood his ground and yelled, "Get!!! AHHHHHH!!!!" ... trying to scare off the furry photobomber. He even threw a large object in its direction, but the raccoon kept coming.

JJ inched closer to losing his cool, and had some harsh words ... but we'll give him credit for not cursing while wearing a hot mic.

Apparently, this is an ongoing problem at 1600 Pennsylvania -- Joe later tweeted it's the second time in 2 weeks a raccoon's shown up during his morning show shift. He also dropped an important fact ... "No animals were harmed. I threw something to scare it off."