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Luigi Mangione, 26, a suspect in the New York City killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, arrives for an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. December 10, 2024.
Accused killer hailed a folk hero
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was captured while eating hashbrowns in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday after a customer recognized him, ending a six-day manhunt.
Mangione, the scion of a prosperous Maryland family who had an Ivy League education, appeared motivated to murder Thompson by frustration with the American medical system. Posts on social media show that he suffered from chronic back pain, and he had withdrawn from friends and family over the past year.
Mangione faces five felony counts in what one expert described as a “super strong” case against him.
Despite the cold-blooded nature of the murder — Thompson is survived by a widow and two children — Mangione has been hailed a folk hero by many on social media, reflecting and crystalizing widespread anger with health insurers who profit while denying care to the ill.
It remains to be seen whether this moment of anger will lead to political calls for reforms to protect patients, but it has led to increased security for CEOs.
A reward poster for information leading to the arrest of the suspect is seen on the Upper West Side, Manhattan.
Hard Numbers: Police ID Thompson murder suspect, A Ghanaian comeback, DRC’s deadly mystery, Trump gets big crypto boost
60,000: “The net is tightening,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said this weekend about the search for UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson’s suspected murderer. New images of the suspect have been released, and Adams says authorities have identified the man but are withholding his name. Meanwhile, the Big Apple’s police department is offering a $10,000 reward, and the FBI is offering $50,000, for information leading to an arrest.
53: Donald Trump isn’t the only comeback kid this year. Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama will also return to power following Sunday’s presidential election. Mahama blamed his rival, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, for policies that have left Ghana in an economic crisis. Bawumia conceded after provisional results showed Mahama securing over 53% of the vote, compared to his 45.16%.
80: Viral or bacterial? Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo still aren’t sure, but they do know that they’ve seen 376 cases of a flu-like syndrome that has killed nearly 80 people. Children with pre-existing health conditions appear to be more vulnerable to it. Epidemiologists are being sent to investigate the situation.
30,000,000: Chinese cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun — the guy who bought that pricey banana art and ate it — has invested a whopping $30 million in President-elect Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial. The investment makes Sun, who is notably being sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly defrauding investors, its largest investor. Trump’s company only launched in October, and it had been struggling — but Sun’s investment means it could soon profit more than $15 million.
An image of the individual sought in connection to the investigation of the shooting death of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance unit, is seen in this still image from a surveillance video taken outside a hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Hard Numbers: Murder in Manhattan, Prigozhin gets a statue, Namibia elects first female president, EU cracks down on Temu and Shein, Mexico hikes minimum wage
371.6 billion: New York City police are looking for the gunman responsible for the targeted shooting and murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, one of the world’s largest companies and the most significant health insurance company in the US. In 2023, UnitedHealth Group reported $371.6 billion in revenue, a 14.6% increase from the previous year.
1: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has become Namibia’s first female leader, winning 57% of the vote, according to official results. Nandi-Ndaitwah is the current vice president. Her win extends the Swapo party’s 34 years of power. Opposition parties are disputing the results, citing ballot papers shortages and other issues.
16: In 16 feet (five meters) of bronze glory, a monument to the former leader of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his right-hand man Dmitru Utki, has been erected in the Central African Republic. The two were killed in a plane crash last year after Prigozhin attempted a coup in Russia. The Wagner Group, renamed Corps Africa, has a huge security footprint throughout Africa. The statue was a thanks from the government for the group’s success in reigning in rebel groups.
4 billion: The European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is preparing to crack down on Temu and Shein by implementing a new tax on the ultra-cheap e-commerce platforms’ revenues. The tax will be part of an initiative to make them less competitive against European companies facing higher production costs to adhere to EU standards. The Asian online retailers have delivered approximately 4 billion parcels to the EU this year, triple the amount from 2022.
12: Mexico’s government announced a 12% minimum wage hike starting next year to combat poverty. In response to critics, the new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said the policy would not inflame inflation but would support a “humanist” economy. It’s also likely in anticipation of Donald Trump taking issue with low labor costs undercutting American manufacturing.