Judges allow Republican-drawn North Carolina congressional map to take effect for 2026

RALEIGH, N.C. — A panel of federal judges on Wednesday rejected an effort to prevent North Carolina’s new Republican-favoring congressional map from taking effect before the midterm elections.

The challengers had claimed the map illegally retaliated against voters in the northeastern part of the state for electing a Democrat in 2024.

The three judges — all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents — sided with Republican lawmakers in a unanimous 57-page order, writing that the plaintiffs’ claims involved political questions beyond the reach of the courts.

Any appeal of the ruling will go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last weekend temporarily ruled in Texas Republicans’ favor in a case challenging their own redistricting plan.

This year’s national redistricting wars began when Texas enacted a plan to redraw its own map to give Republicans five more seats in Congress. California then retaliated with a similar plan designed to benefit Democrats. Since then, President Donald Trump has called on Republican-led states to further gerrymander their congressional maps in his party’s favor.

North Carolina Republicans heeded that call last month, drawing a new map intended to pick up another seat for the GOP by drawing out Democratic Rep. Don Davis from his district in the northeast.

— The News & Observer

Trump says Haiti no longer meets requirements for TPS. Haitians have to leave

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced the end of temporary immigration protections for Haitians, adding them to a growing list of immigrant groups seeing their protected status revoked by the Trump administration.

The decision, which becomes effective on Feb. 3, 2026, could affect more than a half million Haitians living in the U.S. under what is known as temporary protected status. The designation was granted to Haiti after a string of natural and political disasters, starting with a catastrophic earthquake in 2010 that left the country and economy in ruins.

Barring potential legal delays from lawsuits, Haitians now will face returning to an unstable country facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as criminal gangs control all major roads in and out of the capital of Port-au-Prince, and aggressively spread their terror to other regions.

DHS in its Federal Register notice acknowledged that “certain conditions in Haiti remain concerning.” But despite that, and the escalating violence “that has ‘engulfed’ Port-au-Prince‘, Secretary Kristi Noem “has determined that there are no extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) from returning in safety,” the agency wrote.

“Moreover, even if the Department found that there existed conditions that were extraordinary and temporary that prevented Haitian nationals,” the agency added, “from returning in safety, termination of Temporary Protected Status of Haiti is still required because it is contrary to the national interest of the United States to permit Haitian nationals ... to remain temporarily in the United States.”

As of 11:59 p.m. February 3, 2026, all Haitian nationals who have been granted TPS will lose the status and must leave.

“After consulting with interagency partners, Secretary Noem concluded that Haiti no longer meets the statutory requirements for TPS,” the agency wrote in its announcement.

—Miami Herald

LA grand jury now probing mystery of dead teen stuffed in trunk of D4vd’s Tesla, sources say

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County grand jury is hearing evidence related to the death of a teenage girl whose body was discovered stuffed inside the trunk of singer D4vd’s Tesla earlier this year, two law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times.

The revelation follows the gruesome discovery of the remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in a Hollywood tow yard on Sept. 8. Although the Los Angeles Police Department has publicly declined to characterize the girl’s death as a homicide, a recent court filing by an LAPD detective referred to the case as a murder investigation.

Now, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has begun presenting evidence to what’s known as an investigative grand jury, according to one of the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case with the media.

One of the sources said the grand jury was in session for several days in mid-November, but it was unclear whether prosecutors had completed their presentation of evidence.

Prosecutors may convene an investigative grand jury to subpoena witnesses and compel other evidence, including videos. Such investigative panels may recommend charges, but cannot themselves return an indictment.

In addition to the two law enforcement sources, a court petition provided to the Times on Monday contained a “GJ number,” referencing the existence of a grand jury.

In that document, LAPD Detective Joshua Byers of the Robbery Homicide Division successfully persuaded a judge to bar the L.A. County Medical Examiner from divulging autopsy results and other details related to the girl’s death that would otherwise be public.

It was Byers who characterized the probe into the girl’s death as “an investigation into murder,” according to the document.

An attorney for the 20-year-old singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, did not respond to a request for comment.

—Los Angeles Times

At least 36 dead in major fire in Hong Kong residential blocks

SHENZHEN, China — At least 36 people have died in a major fire in several residential blocks in Hong Kong, with a further 279 people still missing, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said in the early hours of Thursday morning.

This significantly increases the number of victims following the devastating fire at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in the Tai Po district of the city, which is a special administrative region of China.

The authorities had already classified the fire as a level 5 emergency, the highest level, in the afternoon.

At least 29 injured people were treated in hospital. The cause of the fire remains unclear. The authorities have launched an investigation and intend to scrutinize the safety standards of the bamboo scaffolding and the green nets attached to the complex.

According to a report in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, three men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire.

The police said they will hold a press conference early Thursday to provide further details.

—dpa