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Police in the US hunting for the man who shot dead United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York street have found money from the Monopoly board game inside a backpack they believe the gunman used.

Two knowledgeable sources told NBC News, Sky News’ US partner, that the fake bank notes were discovered in the bag, which police found in Central Park after Mr Thompson was killed on Wednesday.

Police still have no idea of the gunman’s name or whereabouts or his motive for the killing but believe the man likely took a bus out of New York soon after the brazen ambush.

Top CEO shot dead outside hotel in New York City
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Brian Thompson was shot dead in New York City. Pic: AP

On Friday, detectives found the backpack in the park, but no weapon has been recovered from it or from other searches carried out by officers, two senior law enforcement officials close to the investigation told NBC News.

Their enquiries, though, remain very much ongoing and fluid, they said.

Other sources familiar with the case told NBC a jacket was found inside the bag, but it is unclear if it is the one worn at time of the shooting.

A New York City Police officer walks through brush and foliage in Central Park near 64th Street and Central Park West, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in New York, while searching for a backpack police believe was dropped in the park by the person suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
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A New York City Police officer searches in Central Park. Pic: AP

NYPD officers have returned to Central Park to search near where the backpack was found and also in wooded sections and fountain areas for other evidence, according to three sources who spoke to NBC.

Atlanta, from where the gunman travelled to New York by bus, is one focus of the investigation, with detectives searching for video from that bus station and others along the Greyhound Bus route, three sources close to the investigation told NBC.

Mr Thompson, head of the US’s largest health insurer, was gunned down outside his company’s annual investor meeting at a hotel near to Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller Centre in midtown Manhattan.

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Healthcare boss gunned down

The attacker was then filmed walking up slowly behind Mr Thompson and opening fire outside the Hilton hotel.
Image:
The attacker was filmed walking up behind Mr Thompson and opening fire outside the Hilton hotel. Pic: NYPD


Video found by detectives shows the man riding a bicycle into the park and later taking a taxi to a bus station from where he could travel to New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC, according to the city’s chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny.

Read more:
New clues in hunt for gunman
Backpack found in search for New York shooter
Gunman filmed moments before shooting

Otherwise, the gunman hid his identity with a mask during almost all of his time in the city, including during the attack and even while he ate.

On Friday, the FBI announced it was offering a $50,000 (£39,100) reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

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Bodycam footage shows ICE agents arrest Newark mayor Ras Baraka

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Bodycam footage shows ICE agents arrest Newark mayor Ras Baraka

Bodycam footage has captured the arrest of a US city mayor during a protest at a federal immigration detention centre.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was released from custody hours after he was detained on Friday, has denied trespassing during a confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

He was at the facility, which opened in the New Jersey city last week, with three members of Congress and witnesses said his arrest came after he tried to join them in entering the centre.

Ras Baraka has been released from custody. Pic: REuters
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Ras Baraka (centre) has been released from custody. Pic: Reuters

In bodycam footage released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an agent can be heard telling him: “Listen, congressmen are different, congresswomen are different.

“Mr Mayor, anyone that is not a congresswoman or man, step back… It’s your last warning. You will be placed under arrest.”

A heated argument broke out after Mr Baraka’s entry was blocked and he left the secure area to rejoin protesters on the other side of the gate.

Minutes later, several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side.

Mr Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs, as protesters shouted: “Shame.”

Protesters shout 'let him out' after mayor's arrest. Pic: AP
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Protesters shout ‘let him out’ after mayor’s arrest. Pic: AP

Alina Habba, interim US attorney for New Jersey, said on X that Mr Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group, adding he had “chosen to disregard the law”.

The DHS said in a statement that the politicians had not asked for a tour of the Delaney Hall centre, which the agency said it would have facilitated.

The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon “a group of protestors, including two members of the US House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility”.

After his release on Friday night, the mayor told waiting supporters: “The reality is this: I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mr Baraka, a Democrat running to succeed term-limited Governor Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with Donald Trump‘s administration over illegal immigration.

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He has been a vocal critic against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention centre, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.

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UK-US trade deal ‘isn’t worth the paper it’s written on’, Nobel Prize-winning economist tells Sky News

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UK-US trade deal 'isn't worth the paper it's written on', Nobel Prize-winning economist tells Sky News

A Nobel Prize-winning economist has told Sky News the recently announced UK-US trade deal “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump announced the “first-of-a-kind” agreement with a live, televised phone call earlier this week – and the British prime minister hailed the deal as one that will save thousands of jobs in the UK.

Politics latest: Tories criticise proposals to tackle immigration

But leading economist Joseph Stiglitz has told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he “wouldn’t view [the deal] as a great achievement”.

“Any agreement with Trump isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” he said, pointing out the president signed deals with Canada and Mexico during his first term – only to slap them with hiked tariffs within days of returning to the White House this year.

“I would view it as playing into Trump’s strategy,” he said.

“His strategy is divide and conquer, go after the weakest countries, and sort of put the stronger countries in the back.”

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How good is the UK-US deal?

The scramble to secure a UK-US trade deal was sparked by Mr Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement last month, which saw the president hike import tariffs for multiple countries and subsequently send global markets crashing.

China initially faced tariffs of 34% and when Beijing hit the US with retaliatory rates, a trade war quickly ensued.

The US and China now impose tariffs of above 100% on each other, but representatives from the two countries have this weekend met for high-stakes negotiations.

Read more:
Key details in the UK-US deal
Analysis – the challenge Starmer faces

President Donald Trump, center, with from l-r., Vice President JD Vance, and Britian's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, making remarks on a trade deal between U.S. and U.K. in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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Donald Trump, with US vice president JD Vance and Britain’s ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, announcing the deal. Pic: AP

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks on the phone to US President Donald Trump at a car factory in the West Midlands, Thursday, May 8, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)
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Sir Keir Starmer dialled in for the deal announcement. Pic: AP

With its response to Mr Trump, Beijing “made it very clear that the US is very dependent on China in so many ways,” Mr Stiglitz said.

“So they’re beginning now to negotiate, but from a position of strength.”

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Asked if he thinks the UK should have focused on its relationship with the EU instead of the US, Mr Stiglitz said: “Very much so.

“My view is that if you had worked with the EU to get a good deal, you could have done better than what you’ve done.

“If it turns out, in the end, when you work it all out, Trump is unhappy, he’ll run. If he’s unhappy, I pray for you.”

Among the terms in the UK-US trade deal are reduced tariffs on British car and steel exports to the US, while the UK has agreed to remove a tariff on ethanol, used to produce beer.

The agreement also opens a new agricultural exchange, with US farmers being given access to the UK for the first time – though UK food standards on imports have not been weakened.

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Trump’s tariffs hit the West’s busiest port – with traffic down by nearly a third

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Trump's tariffs hit the West's busiest port - with traffic down by nearly a third

Driving south from Los Angeles along the coast, you can’t miss the San Pedro port complex. Dozens of red cranes pop up from behind the freeway.

The sound of industry whirs as containers are unloaded from hulking ocean liners on to waiting lorries and freight trains that seem to never end.

The port of Long Beach combines with the port of Los Angeles to make the busiest port in the western hemisphere.

San Pedro port complex
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The San Pedro port complex

The colourful metal containers contain anything and everything, from clothes and car parts to fridges and furniture. Around $300bn of cargo passes through here every year and 60% of it is from China.

But at the moment, it’s far less busy than usual. Traffic is down by a third, compared with this time last year.

In the closest part of the mainland United States to China, this is Donald Trump‘s new tariffs policy in action, the direct result of frozen trade between the two countries.

“For the month of May, we expect that we’ll be down about 30% from where we were in May of 2024,” Noel Hacegaba, the port of Long Beach chief operating officer, tells Sky News.

More on China

“What that translates into is fewer ships and fewer containers. It means fewer trucks will be needed to transport those containers from the port terminal to the warehouses. It means fewer jobs.”

Noel Hacegaba, COO of the port of Long Beach
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Noel Hacegaba, chief operating officer of the port of Long Beach

‘We’re barely surviving’

Helen Andrade knows all about that. She and her husband, Javier, are both lorry drivers. Helen only got her license in the last few years, so when work dries up, she is likely to be impacted first.

“I’m lying awake at night worrying about this,” she says.

“We’re barely surviving and we’re already seeing work slowing down. In my case, there are two incomes that are not going to come in. How are we going to survive?”

Helen adds: “I’m scared for the next two weeks, because over the next two weeks, I’m going to see where this is going, whether I have saved up enough money, which I know that I have not.”

Helen Andrade
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Lorry driver Helen Andrade

In Long Beach, one in five jobs is connected to the port. But what happens in the port doesn’t stay here.

The shipments reach every part of the country and already, a shortage of certain items imported from China and price hikes are taking hold.

A short drive away is downtown LA’s toy district, a multicultural area consisting of a dozen streets of pastel-coloured buildings, home to importers and wholesalers of toys, much of which is imported from China.

Colourful balloons line windows in LA's toy district
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Colourful balloons line windows in LA’s toy district

Read more about tariffs:
Trump floats China tariff cut ahead of trade talks

China moves to ease tariff pain ahead of US talks
Federal Reserve warns of impact of Trump tariffs

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US port workers regret voting Trump

One woman in a toy warehouse is reading a Chinese newspaper. She points to a headline about the 145% tariffs.

“I can’t afford this, I can’t afford this, I’m going to have to put prices up,” she says, exasperated.

Empty shelves

Around the corner is a party shop, selling gift bags and wrapping paper. There are empty shelves which would otherwise have been full.

“These empty spaces are where we stopped importing from China because the tariffs are too high,” says the owner, Jacob Mok.

Party shop owner Jacob Mok
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Party shop owner Jacob Mok

Empty shelves in a party shop
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Empty shelves in Mr Mok’s party shop

He tells Sky News: “I’ll keep watching China and America negotiations. I hope as soon as possible they reach a deal because this is very hard for us.”

Jacob is not alone. The impact is being felt throughout the supply chain.

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US trade secretary Scott Bessent will meet his Chinese counterpart in Switzerland this weekend.

Pressure is growing on Mr Trump’s team to strike a deal with China and do it quickly.

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