Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Category: Wires

  • Indiana lawmakers in state House to convene session with redistricting top of mind

    Indiana lawmakers in state House to convene session with redistricting top of mind

    Indiana House members are expected to press forward Monday with redrawing the state’s congressional districts in Republicans’ favor, increasing pressure on their defiant counterparts in the GOP-led Senate to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.

    Republicans who control the House have said there’s no doubt that redistricting will pass that chamber. But the fate of any proposal remains uncertain in the Senate. Republicans control that chamber, but caucus members have resisted pressure to redistrict for months.

    Senate leadership recently backed off its previous intentions not to meet at all, agreeing to convene next Monday. However, it’s still unclear whether enough senators will support a new map.

    Republicans hold seven of Indiana’s nine U.S. House seats. Trump and other Republicans want to make the map 9-0 in the GOP’s favor, seeking to give the party two extra seats in the 2026 elections that will determine control of the U.S. House. Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to overcome the Republicans’ current margin.

    Indiana House Republicans published a draft of a map Monday morning still featuring nine congressional districts, but with new boundaries designed to oust the state’s two Democratic U.S. House members.

    The city of Indianapolis would be split among four congressional districts, a major change to the current map where the city makes up the entirety of the 7th District, which reliably backs Democrats.

    “It’s clear these orders are coming from Washington, and they clearly don’t know the first thing about our community,” longtime U.S. Rep. André Carson, a Democrat who represents Indianapolis, said in a statement.

    Indiana’s other current Democratic district is in the state’s northwest corner near Chicago. The new map would instead group a large portion of Republican counties in northern Indiana with the cities of East Chicago and Gary to make a new 1st Congressional District.

    The state House will meet Monday afternoon to begin the legislative process to advance the new map.

    Indiana lawmakers have been under mounting pressure from the White House to redistrict, as Republicans in Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina have done. To offset the GOP gains, Democrats in California and Virginia have moved to do the same.

    But some Indiana Republicans have been far more resistant. Republicans in the state Senate rebelled against Republican Gov. Mike Braun in November and said they would not attend a special session he ordered on redistricting.

    The chamber’s top Republican, President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, at the time said the Senate did not have the votes. A spokesperson for Bray’s office did not respond Friday when asked if that is still the case.

    Meanwhile, Trump attacked Indiana senators on social media, particularly Bray. He swore to endorse primary opponents of defecting senators. A spree of threats and swatting attempts were subsequently made against lawmakers who either said they do not support redistricting or have not taken a stance. At least one lawmaker in favor of redistricting and Braun were also threatened.

    Last week, the House announced plans to convene in Indianapolis on Monday.

    “All legislative business will be considered beginning next week, including redrawing the state’s congressional map,” House Speaker Todd Huston said in a statement last week.

    The Indiana Senate, where several lawmakers objected to leadership’s refusal to hold a vote, then said members would reconvene Dec. 8.

    “The issue of redrawing Indiana’s congressional maps mid-cycle has received a lot of attention and is causing strife here in our state,” Bray said in a statement Tuesday. He said the Senate will finally decide the matter this month.

    Mid-cycle redistricting so far has resulted in nine more congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six more congressional seats that Democrats think they can win, putting the GOP up by three. However, redistricting is being litigated in several states, and there’s no guarantee that the parties will win the seats they’ve redrawn.

  • Luigi Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his trial over the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO

    Luigi Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his trial over the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO

    NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione appeared in court Monday seeking to bar evidence from his state trial over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, including the gun that authorities say matches the one used in the brazen New York City attack.

    Among the evidence Mangione’s lawyers want to prevent the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from presenting to jurors are a 9 mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing and a handwritten notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.

    After getting state terrorism charges thrown out in September, the defense lawyers are zeroing in on what they say was unconstitutional conduct that tainted his arrest and threatens his right to a fair trial.

    They contend that the gun and other items should be excluded because police lacked a warrant to search the backpack in which they were found. They also want to suppress some of Mangione’s statements to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers started asking questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.

    Eliminating the gun and notebook would be critical wins for Mangione’s defense and a major setback for prosecutors, depriving them a possible murder weapon and evidence they say points to motive. Prosecutors have quoted extensively from Mangione’s diary in court filings, including his praise for Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

    In it, prosecutors say, Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and said killing an industry executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.”

    Court officials say the hearings could last more than a week, meaning they would extend through Thursday’s anniversary of the attack.

    Mangione was allowed to wear normal clothing to the hearings instead of a jail uniform. He entered the courtroom Monday in a gray suit and a button-down shirt with a checkered or tattersall pattern. Court officers removed his handcuffs to allow him to take notes.

    The prosecution’s first witness, Sgt. Chris McLaughlin of the New York City Police Department’s public affairs office, testified about efforts to disseminate surveillance images of the suspect to the news media and on social media in the hours and days after the shooting.

    To illustrate the breadth of news coverage during the five-day search for the shooter, prosecutors played a surveillance video of the shooting that aired on Fox News Digital, footage from the network of police divers searching a pond in Central Park and clips from the network that included images of the suspected shooter that were distributed by police.

    Mangione looked up at a courtroom monitor as video of the shooting played, but he didn’t appear to have any reaction.

    A few dozen Mangione supporters watched the hearing from the back of the courtroom. One wore a green T-shirt that said: “Without a warrant, it’s not a search, it’s a violation.” Another woman held a doll of the Luigi video game character and had a smaller figurine of him clipped to her purse.

    Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Neither trial has been scheduled yet.

    Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases, but this week’s hearings pertain only to the state case. The next hearing in the federal case is scheduled for Jan. 9.

    Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo told a judge in an unrelated matter last week that Manhattan prosecutors could call more than two dozen witnesses.

    Thompson was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

    Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., about 230 miles west of Manhattan.

    Prosecutors in the state case have not responded to the defense’s written arguments.

    An officer searching a backpack found with Mangione was heard on a body camera recording saying she was checking to make sure there “wasn’t a bomb” in the bag. His lawyers argue that was an excuse “designed to cover up an illegal warrantless search of the backpack.”

    Federal prosecutors, fighting similar claims in their case, have said in court filings that police were justified in searching the backpack to make sure there were no dangerous items. His statements to officers, federal prosecutors said, were made voluntarily and before he was taken into police custody.

  • Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba has been disqualified as New Jersey’s top prosecutor, a U.S. appeals court ruled

    Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba has been disqualified as New Jersey’s top prosecutor, a U.S. appeals court ruled

    PHILADELPHIA — The Trump administration’s maneuvers to keep the president’s former lawyer Alina Habba in place as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor were illegal and she is disqualified, a federal appeals court said Monday.

    A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower court judge’s ruling after hearing oral arguments at which Habba herself was present on Oct. 20.

    The ruling comes amid the push by President Donald Trump’s Republican administration to keep Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a powerful post charged with enforcing federal criminal and civil law. It also comes after the judges questioned the government’s moves to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and without her getting Senate confirmation.

    From July: What’s going on with Alina Habba? What to know about the drama in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey

    Habba said after that hearing in a statement posted to X that she was fighting on behalf of other candidates to be federal prosecutors who have been denied a chance for a Senate hearing.

    Messages were left Monday seeking comment from the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey, Habba’s personal staffer and the Justice Department.

    Habba is hardly the only Trump administration prosecutor whose appointment has been challenged by defense lawyers.

    Last week, a federal judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after concluding that the hastily installed prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed to the position of interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Justice Department has said it intends to appeal the rulings.

    The judges on the panel were two appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, D. Brooks Smith and D. Michael Fisher as well as one named by Demcoratic President Barack Obama: Luis Felipe Restrepo.

    A lower court judge said in August Habba’s appointment was done with a “novel series of legal and personnel moves” and that she was not lawfully serving as U.S attorney for New Jersey.

    That order said her actions since July could be invalidated, but he stayed the order pending appeal.

    The government argued Habba is validly serving in the role under a federal statute allowing the first assistant attorney, a post she was appointed to by the Trump administration.

    A similar dynamic is playing out in Nevada, where a federal judge disqualified the Trump administration’s pick to be U.S. attorney there.

    The Habba case comes after several people charged with federal crimes in New Jersey challenged the legality of Habba’s tenure. They sought to block the charges, arguing she didn’t have the authority to prosecute their cases after her 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired.

    Habba was Trump’s attorney in criminal and civil proceedings before he was elected to a second term. She served as a White House adviser briefly before Trump named her as a federal prosecutor in March.

    Shortly after her appointment, she said in an interview with a right-wing influence that she hoped to help “turn New Jersey red,” a rare overt political expression from a prosecutor.

    She then brought a trespassing charge, eventually dropped, against Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka stemming from his visit to a federal immigration detention center.

    Habba later charged Democratic U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault stemming from the same incident, a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress other than for corruption. McIver denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. The case is pending.

    Questions about whether Habba would continue in the job arose in July when her temporary appointment was ending and it became clear New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, would not back her appointment.

    Earlier this year as her appointment was expiring, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their power under the law to replace Habba with a career prosecutor who had served as her second-in-command.

    Bondi then fired the prosecutor installed by the judges and renamed Habba as acting U.S. attorney. The Justice Department said the judges acted prematurely and said Trump had the authority to appoint his preferred candidate to enforce federal laws in the state.

    Brann’s ruling said the president’s appointments are still subject to the time limits and power-sharing rules laid out in federal law.

  • Hong Kong arrests more suspects in fire probe as the death toll hits 151

    Hong Kong arrests more suspects in fire probe as the death toll hits 151

    HONG KONG – Hong Kong authorities said on Monday they had arrested 13 people for suspected manslaughter in a probe into the city’s deadliest fire in decades, pointing to substandard renovation materials for fueling a blaze that has claimed at least 151 lives. Police continued to sweep the seven burnt-out towers engulfed in Wednesday’s disaster at the Wang Fuk Court estate, finding bodies of residents in stairwells and on rooftops, trapped as they tried to flee the flames.

    More than 40 people are still missing.

    “Some of the bodies have turned into ash, therefore we might not be able to locate all missing individuals,” police official Tsang Shuk-yin told reporters, choking up with emotion.

    Hong Kong fire poses test for China’s grip on the city

    Tests on several samples of a green mesh that was wrapped around bamboo scaffolding on the buildings at the time of the blaze did not match fire retardant standards, officials overseeing the investigations told a news conference.

    Contractors working on the renovations used these substandard materials in hard-to-reach areas, effectively hiding them from inspectors, said Chief Secretary Eric Chan.

    Foam insulation used by contractors also fanned the flames and fire alarms at the complex were not working properly, officials have said.

    Thousands have turned out to pay tribute to the victims, who include at least nine domestic helpers from Indonesia and one from the Philippines, with lines of mourners stretching more than a kilometer (a half-mile) along a canal next to the estate.

    Vigils are also due to take place this week in Tokyo, London and Taipei, authorities said.

    Amid pockets of public anger over missed fire risk warnings, Beijing has warned it would crack down on any “anti-China” protests.

    At least one person involved in a petition calling for an independent probe and a review of construction oversight among other demands was detained for around two days, sources familiar with the matter said.

    Police have declined to comment on the case.

    Hong Kong Security Chief Chris Tang also declined to comment on specific operations at a press conference on Monday.

    “I’ve noticed that some people with malicious intent, aiming to harm Hong Kong and national security, have taken advantage of this painful moment for society,” he said.

    “Therefore, we must take appropriate action, including enforcement measures.”

    Hong Kong inferno puts a spotlight on the risks of bamboo scaffolding

    Search moves to worst affect buildings

    The buildings being scoured for remains are the worst damaged and the search may take weeks, authorities have said.

    Images shared by police showed officers clad in hazmat suits, face masks and helmets, inspecting rooms with blackened walls and furniture reduced to ashes, and wading through water used to douse fires that raged for days.

    Throngs of officers arrived at the site early on Monday morning to continue their search of the burnt-out buildings.

    Members of the Disaster Victim Identification Unit work in an apartment in the aftermath of a deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in Hong Kong.

    The apartment blocks were home to more than 4,000 people, according to census data, and those that escaped must now try to get their lives back on track.

    More than 1,100 people have been moved out of evacuation centers into temporary housing, with a further 680 put up in youth hostels and hotels, authorities said.

    With many residents leaving behind belongings as they fled, authorities have offered emergency funds of HK$10,000 ($1,284) to each household and provided special assistance for issuing new identity cards, passports and marriage certificates.

    Deadliest blaze since 1948

    Residents of Wang Fuk Court were told by authorities last year they faced “relatively low fire risks” after complaining about fire hazards posed by the renovations, the city’s Labour Department said.

    The residents raised concerns in September, 2024, including about the potential flammability of the mesh contractors used to cover the scaffolding, a department spokesperson said.

    Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, has stunned the city, where legislative elections are due to be held this weekend.

    Flowers are placed near the site of the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong.

    On Saturday, police detained Miles Kwan, 24, part of a group that launched a petition demanding an independent probe into possible corruption and a review of construction oversight, two people familiar with the matter said. Reuters could not establish whether he had been arrested.

    Kwan left a police station in a taxi on Monday afternoon, according to a Reuters witness.

    Two others have also since been arrested on suspicion of seditious intent, the South China Morning Post said. The police declined to comment on those reported arrests.

    China’s national security office warned individuals on Saturday against using the disaster to “plunge Hong Kong back into the chaos” of 2019, when massive pro-democracy protests challenged Beijing and triggered a political crisis.

    “We sternly warn the anti-China disruptors who attempt to ‘disrupt Hong Kong through disaster’,” the office said in a statement. “No matter what methods you use, you will certainly be held accountable and strictly punished.”

  • Trump says he’ll release MRI results but doesn’t know what part of his body was scanned

    Trump says he’ll release MRI results but doesn’t know what part of his body was scanned

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he’ll release the results of his MRI test that he received in October.

    “If you want to have it released, I’ll release it,” the Republican president said Sunday during an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida.

    He said the results of the MRI were “perfect.”

    The White House has declined to detail why Trump had an MRI during his physical in October or on what part of his body.

    The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has said that the president received “advanced imaging” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center “as part of his routine physical examination” and that the results showed Trump remains in “exceptional physical health.”

    Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.

    “It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”

  • WNBA and players union extend CBA deadline to Jan. 9

    WNBA and players union extend CBA deadline to Jan. 9

    NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and players union agreed to an extension of the current collective bargaining agreement to Jan. 9 just before their current deadline ran out Sunday night.

    Just like the previous extension, both sides have the option to terminate the extension with 48 hours advanced notice.

    The two sides had announced a 30-day extension to the original Oct. 31 deadline. That extension was set to expire Sunday night just before midnight. They met over the holiday weekend hoping to come an agreement.

    With nothing urgent on the immediate horizon except for the expansion draft for Portland and Toronto, it would be unlikely that either side would exercise terminate the extension.

    Last season’s expansion draft for Golden State was held in December.

    Free agency would be the next big thing for both sides to deal. That usually is done in late January. This is an unprecedented offseason with all but two of the league’s veterans free agents. Players signed one-year deals last season knowing there would be huge salary bumps when a new CBA is agreed upon.

    When the previous CBA deal expired in 2019, both sides agreed upon a 60-day extension and a new one was eventually ratified in January 2020.

  • Chargers QB Justin Herbert breaks bone in non-throwing hand vs. Raiders; status for Eagles game uncertain

    Chargers QB Justin Herbert breaks bone in non-throwing hand vs. Raiders; status for Eagles game uncertain

    Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert broke a bone in his left, non-throwing hand and will undergo a procedure on Monday, coach Jim Harbaugh said after Sunday’s 31-14 home win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

    Herbert was injured in the first quarter on a 1-yard scramble, then threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston on the next play for a 7-0 lead after the Chargers’ first possession.

    Trey Lance replaced Herbert for eight plays before the starter returned to finish the game. Herbert was 15 of 20 for 151 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Lance completed his lone pass for 9 yards. Herbert, 27, also rushed three times for 8 yards.

    Harbaugh was uncertain if Herbert will miss any games. Herbert wore a glove on his left hand and what appeared to be a splint on his middle fingers after re- entering the game.

    “I know that he’s as tough as they come,” Harbaugh said. “You know, taped it up, (wore a) glove and played a great game.”

    The Chargers (8-4) host the Eagles (8-4) in Week 14 with Herbert having an extra day to recover as the game is next Monday night.

    “I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,” Herbert said. “I think they’re very hopeful for that. So, I think that’s just something that we’ll see tomorrow and get a feel for.”

  • A career day from Kaytron Allen helps Penn State rally to beat Rutgers and become bowl eligible

    A career day from Kaytron Allen helps Penn State rally to beat Rutgers and become bowl eligible

    Kaytron Allen ran for a career-high 226 yards and a touchdown as Penn State beat Rutgers 40-36 for the 18th straight time to become bowl eligible after a tumultuous season.

    The Nittany Lions (6-6, 3-6 Big Ten) retook the lead for good when linebacker Amare Campbell raced 61 yards with a fumble with 7 minutes, 27 seconds to play. Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis lost the ball without being touched.

    Rutgers (5-7, 2-7 Big Ten) had moved ahead 36-33 early in the fourth quarter on a 46-yard TD pass from Kaliakmanis to Antwan Raymond. Raymond ran for 189 yards, and Kaliakmanis passed for 338 yards and three TDs. With the loss, the Scarlet Knights will miss the postseason for the first time since 2022.

    There were four lead changes in the second half.

    Penn State hasn’t missed a bowl game since 2020 when the non-College Football Playoff bowl games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Nicholas Singleton broke ties with Saquon Barkley to claim the school career rushing TD record with his 44th and 45th, career total touchdowns at 55 and all-purpose yards with 5,586.

    After losing to Notre Dame in the semifinals of the CFP last season, the expectations for Penn State were high. The Nittany Lions began the season ranked No. 2 and were led by quarterback Drew Allar, who was headed for a Heisman-caliber season before a season-ending leg injury in Week Six against Northwestern.

    The following day coach James Franklin was fired after Penn State lost its first three Big Ten games, including back-to-back games in which the Nittany Lions were favored by 20-plus points.

    Penn State would lose five straight before turning its season around by winning its last three games.

  • TJ Power’s big performance at the Cathedral Classic pushes Penn past La Salle

    TJ Power’s big performance at the Cathedral Classic pushes Penn past La Salle

    A 29-point night from Penn’s TJ Power pushed the Quakers past Big Five foe La Salle in a 73-71 win in the Cathedral Classic on Saturday.

    Power scored 19 of his total in the second half and had six rebounds for the Quakers (5-2). Ethan Roberts shot 3 of 14 from the field, including 1 for 4 from three-point range, and went 5-for-9 from the line to add 12 points. Jay Jones had 7 points and shot 2-of-2 from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line.

    Justin Archer finished with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals for the Explorers (3-5). La Salle also got 12 points and four assists from Ashton Walker. Jaeden Marshall had 12 points.

    Power scored 10 points in the first half and Penn went into halftime trailing 44-38. Penn trailed by 15 points early in the second half then took the lead on a three-pointer from Ethan Roberts with 4 minutes left.

    Both teams are back in action on Sunday in the final day of the Classic with La Salle taking on Merrimack at noon, while Penn closes out with Hofstra at 2:30 p.m.

  • Tyrese Maxey’s 22 points leads Sixers to 115-103 win over Brooklyn

    Tyrese Maxey’s 22 points leads Sixers to 115-103 win over Brooklyn

    NEW YORK — Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points, Jared McCain had 20 off the bench and the 76ers beat the Brooklyn Nets 115-103 on Friday night in an NBA Cup game.

    Quentin Grimes added 19 points, and Paul George had 14 to help the short-handed Sixers snap a two-game losing streak.

    The Sixers (10-8) played without starting center Joel Embiid (right knee management) and VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness), and then lost backup center Andre Drummond (sprained right knee) midway through the second quarter.

    Sixers’ Andre Drummond leaves Nets game with a knee sprain and will not return

    Drummond attempted to block Tyrese Martin’s floater and then tried to grab the rebound with his left hand, but fell on the court and immediately reached for his knee.

    Egor Demin scored a career-high 23 points, and Martin had 16 for Brooklyn. The Nets (3-15) have lost three consecutive games and fell to 0-9 at home this season. They are the only team without a home win this season, with their last one at Barclays Center on April 8 against New Orleans.

    The Sixers led by as many as 21 points in the first half and saw their lead cut to nine after Brooklyn went on an 11-2 run, capped by Denim’s 3-pointer that made it 74-65 with 4 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter.

    Brooklyn Nets’ Drake Powell (center) is defended by Sixers center Adem Bona, left, and Jared McCain during Friday night’s game.

    Denim cut it to nine again with a three-pointer with 4:35 to play. Demin’s layup made it 112-103 with 1:13 left in regulation before Grimes found an open Adem Bona, whose three-pointer extended the lead for good.

    Both teams were 1-3 in NBA Cup play.

    The Sixers will host the Atlanta Hawks at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday (6 p.m., NBCSP).