UNITED STATES

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is asking the state Democratic Party to reimburse taxpayers after he used $12,000 in state funds at a Taylor Swift concert and other stadium events. Murphy’s expenditures, first reported by Politico, were all for food and drinks at MetLife Stadium. When confronted with the spending, Murphy’s office reportedly said it was asking the state Democratic Party to pay back the state. Murphy’s office says it had always expected the state party to cover the costs, but noticed it had failed to do so. The governor’s office then dipped into a $95,000 personal expense account set up for the office. That account is set up to pay for “Official Receptions, Official Residence, and Other Official Expenses,” and cannot be used for “personal purposes,” according to Politico. “Once it was clear that there were outstanding bills that had not been paid, the state stepped up to meet this responsibility,” Murphy spokeswoman Jennifer Sciortino told the outlet in a statement. “We are pursuing reimbursement from the state party for costs incurred at MetLife Stadium.” PATRICK MAHOMES WANTS TO ‘ONE-UP’ TAYLOR SWIFT AND HIS WIFE’S HANDSHAKE WITH TRAVIS KELCE Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, ran into a similar issue when he served as governor. Christie, however, had the state Republican Party reimburse roughly $82,000 spent at MetLife Stadium. MSNBC’S ALICIA MENENDEZ ADDRESSES FATHER’S INDICTMENT: COLLEAGUES HAVE ‘AGGRESSIVELY’ COVERED Public records show Murphy’s office spent $936 on food and drinks at a Taylor Swift concert in 2018; $2,095 at a Sept. 2018 USA vs. Brazil soccer game; $2,068 at a Nov. 2018 Jets vs. Patriots game; $1,413 at the Hot 97’s Summer Jam in June 2019; $2,856 for the Sept. 2019 USA vs. Mexico soccer game, and $2,479 for the Oct. 2019 Jets vs. Cowboys game, according to Politico. Murphy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. NEW POLL REVEALS HUGE GAP IN CONCERN OVER BIDEN’S AGE VS. TRUMP’S IN HYPOTHETICAL 2024 MATCHUP Murphy is not the only prominent New Jersey Democrat facing increased scrutiny into his finances, however. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has been charged with acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to benefit the Egyptian government. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The longtime senator has pleaded not guilty in the case, and he has resisted calls from his fellow Democrats to resign.



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Publish date : 2023-10-31 12:44:01

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Lionel Messi has won the men’s Ballon d’Or, soccer’s biggest individual prize, for a record-extending eighth time. After missing out on the trophy in 2022, Messi, who is widely regarded as the best soccer player ever, reclaimed the title as the current best in the world on Monday, adding to his storied career. “Tonight I’m enjoying myself. It’s a pleasure that will never leave me, and I hope to be able to enjoy it for many years to come,” Messi said in his acceptance speech through a translator. Messi won the trophy in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now 2023. OWEN WILSON LIKENS LIONEL MESSI MANIA TO PELÉ’S SHOCKING ARRIVAL TO US IN 1975: ‘MAYBE EVEN BIGGER’ The 36-year-old Messi won ahead of Manchester City forward Erling Haaland, a 23-year-old Norwegian star who is dominating the English Premier League, England’s top soccer competition. Haaland, who is called a goal-scoring machine, has averaged more than one goal per game in his 45 matches this season. He also scored 36 goals in 35 appearances during 2022, his debut year, setting a league record. Other contenders for the top title included Messi’s former teammate at Paris Saint-Germain, the 24-year-old French sensation Kylian Mbappé, who helped carry France to the 2022 World Cup finals. Messi tipped his proverbial cap to both rising stars, saying they deserve the title and will win it too “one day.” “Haaland and Mbappe will win the Ballon d’Or one day,” Messi said. “Erling deserved it very much too, he has won the Premier League, and Champions League while being the top scorer of everything. This award could have been yours today too. I’m sure in the next years you will win it.” Messi’s historic eighth Ballon d’Or comes he after captured his first World Cup title in Qatar last year after leading Argentina to a victory over France. Since moving to Inter Miami in the United States, Messi has already picked up his first silverware after inspiring the team to victory in the U.S. Leagues Cup. Messi’s latest win marked the first time a Major League Soccer-based player got such recognition. Messi received the trophy from former Manchester United star David Beckham, who is one of the owners of his new club. “I’m very happy with the decisions I’ve made and to be with Miami,” Messi said. LIONEL MESSI SCORES INCREDIBLE GOAL FROM 20 YARDS OUT AS MIAMI TOPS PHILADELPHIA IN LEAGUES CUP SEMIS During Monday’s acceptance speech, Messi thanked his Argentina coach, teammates and staff for making his victory possible. “Becoming world champion was the title we were missing. I’d like to thank everyone who helped make Argentina the world champion team, the soccer star said. He won the sport’s biggest individual prize due to his tremendous World Cup performance, where he scored seven goals for Argentina and assisted in three. He scored twice in the final against France. Messi also paid tribute to the late Diego Maradona, who also helped Argentina win the World Cup back in 1986. “This title and this trophy,” Messi said, “I share them with you and all our Argentina comrades.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Aitana Bonmati won the women’s award for guiding Spain to victory at the Women’s World Cup in August. She also helped Barcelona win the Women’s Champions League and Spanish league. As far as the Ballon d’Or goes, no other player has ever won more than five times. Cristiano Ronaldo, the famed Portuguese striker who is often included in the greatest-of-all-time conversation, has won the trophy five times while Michel Platin, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten each won it three times. In other awards, the best under-21 player was Jude Bellingham, an English player on La Liga club Real Madrid, and Haaland won the Gerd Müller award for the best striker of the year. Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’Or in 2022. The Lev Yashin award for best goalkeeper went to Emiliano Martinez, an Argentinian who plays for the Premier League club Aston Villa and the Argentina national team. The humanitarian prize named after the late Brazil midfielder Socrates went to Vinicius Junior, a Real Madrid player, for his involvement in the foundation he set up for underprivileged children. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Publish date : 2023-10-31 08:15:23

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Corey Seager’s two-run home run gave the Texas Rangers the lead they needed to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1, in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night.  Seager, the man who gave his Rangers the opportunity to walk it off in Game 1 with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth down two, continues to swing a hot bat.  Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt hung an 87-mph changeup that was supposed to be on the outside corner, but ended up right in Seager’s wheelhouse inside. The sweet-swinging lefty turned his hands in quickly and launched the ball 114-mph off his bat and 421 feet down the right field line for a two-run homer.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The Rangers already got on the scoreboard first in the inning thanks to Marcus Semien’s RBI single that scored Nathaniel Lowe. But Seager’s bomb was all the insurance the Rangers needed to take down the team that scored nine runs two nights ago.  The Rangers saw 39-year-old Max Scherzer get the start on Monday night, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to go as long as he wanted to due to injury.  In the bottom of the second inning, Scherzer took a comebacker off his lower bat when Alek Thomas hit a grounder right back up the middle. Josh Jung would pick it up bare-handed and throw out Thomas to end the inning, but Scherzer appeared to have some back issues when he went out to pitch in the fourth inning.  RANGERS’ MAX SCHERZER EXITS WORLD SERIES GAME 3 START WITH APPARENT BACK INJURY  While the third inning ended with Scherzer being just fine, he was noticeably grimacing when he tried to throw warmup pitches before that fourth frame. He ended his night allowing no runs, two hits, two walks and striking out one over three innings.  Texas needed the bullpen to pick up their starter, and Jon Gray was just the man for the job. Gray was rock solid coming out of the ‘pen after Scherzer had to end his night, delivering three innings of no-run ball, allowing just one hit and striking out three.  Josh Sborz pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but the D-Backs finally got on the board against Aroldis Chapman in the eighth.  Geraldo Perdomo was able to smack a ball to left field, which scored Emmanuel Rivera from second base to make it a 3-1 game. However, that was all they could muster in this one.  Jose Leclerc finished things in the bottom of the ninth, getting Gabriel Moreno to ground out to Jung and striking out Christian Walker as well as Tommy Pham for a perfect 1-2-3 frame.  The Rangers and Diamondbacks will get back out on the field on Halloween night for Game 4, with pitching matchups still to be determined. 



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Publish date : 2023-10-31 03:01:50

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Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has walked back his statement after another loss Sunday that Josh Dobbs would remain the team’s quarterback.  Gannon said Dobbs will be benched after reviewing tape of the 31-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which pushed the Cardinals to 1-7 on the season – the worst mark in the NFL. So, who’s next up at quarterback? It all depends on how Kyler Murray, the team’s No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, looks in practice this week. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Murray has been rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered late last season, but his 21-day practice window opened last week. He has been on the practice field, fully participating with the Cardinals in their team workouts, though Arizona never activated him off the physically unable to play list. If Murray is deemed healthy enough for game action, he would likely make his season debut on Sunday. The Cardinals have until Saturday to put him on their 53-man roster. RAVENS WIN OVER CARDINALS BEHIND GUS EDWARD’S 3 TOUCHDOWNS It’s also worth noting that, with the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, Murray will reportedly not be shopped by the Cardinals despite rumors they wanted his contract off the books.  If Murray can’t go, rookie Clayton Tune, the fifth-round pick out of Houston, would make his NFL debut against the Cleveland Browns – the top defense in the league that gives up just 260 yards of total offense per game.  Tune looked to be the starter for the Cardinals in Week 1 until they signed Dobbs, who took over as the starter after just a week with the team. Tune spent all five collegiate seasons with Houston and had his best season in 2022 with 4,074 yards, 40 touchdowns and 544 yards rushing. Many pegged Arizona to be the worst team in the league this season due to Murray’s absence to start the year and not a consistent starter in place. Veteran Colt McCoy, who had backed up Murray last season, appeared to be the starter until the Cardinals cut him before the year began. When Dobbs took over, the Cardinals did lose their first two games of the season, but they were certainly competing. In Week 3, heads turned when the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Cardinals in Glendale, leading to some believing that Dobbs could definitely hold it down until Murray got healthy. But the Cardinals have not won since Week 3, leading Gannon to make the change now. Dobbs threw for 1,569 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions as well as 258 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground in eight games this season. Dobbs threw two touchdowns and two interceptions with 208 yards on 25 of 37 as well as a rushing touchdown in the loss to the Ravens on Sunday.



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Publish date : 2023-10-30 23:03:54

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A Los Angeles-based freelance model was found dead in her refrigerator with her ankles and wrists bound last month, a new report revealed. An autopsy report released Friday indicated Maleesa Mooney, 31, was found severely beaten, bound and gagged, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.  Mooney, who also worked as a real estate agent, was found dead in her apartment on Sept. 12. She was last seen alive on surveillance footage in the apartment complex on Sept. 6, per a medical examiner report reviewed by FOX 11. An unidentified man was reportedly seen using her key fob to activate the building’s elevator and carrying plastic bags into her apartment.  REAL ESTATE AGENT FOUND MURDERED AFTER SUSPICIOUS PHONE ACTIVITY Mooney’s family called on the Los Angeles Police Department to perform a welfare check on Sept. 10 after they were uncharacteristically unable to reach her for more than 24 hours.  Although an officer did respond to her residence at the Bunker Hill Towers Apartments, officers could not make contact with her and “left a card at her door,” sister Jourdin Pauline told Fox News Digital. That day, previously blue iPhone text messages from Mooney’s phone suddenly turned green, Pauline said, indicating that a thief may have changed her phone settings.  When building management let police into her apartment on Sept. 12, she was found “wedged inside a refrigerator” with blood outside it, FOX 11 reported. A gag made of clothing was reportedly stuffed into her mouth and other items covered her head. Electrical cords and clothing were used to bind her extremities, ABC 7 reported.  The night before the family lost contact with Mooney, Pauline said, she was having friends over at her new apartment, where she had just moved a month earlier. LOS ANGELES MODEL FOUND DEAD IN APARTMENT DIED FROM ‘HOMICIDAL VIOLENCE,’ MEDICAL EXAMINER RULES Mooney died from blunt force trauma, per the report, evidenced by abrasions, lacerations and contusions concentrated around her head and emanating to her body and extremities. Additionally, one of her ribs was fractured.  Though none of her injuries “are generally considered acutely life-threatening on their own,” the examiner wrote that “based on the circumstances of how Ms. Mooney was found… she was likely involved in [a] violent physical altercation prior to her death.” Suffocation may have played a role in her death, per the report, and the role of drugs is “uncertain” – cocaine was reportedly found in her system post-mortem. No direct marks from strangulation were observed on Mooney’s body, per the report.  Mooney’s manner of death was listed as “homicidal violence.” But no arrests have been made and no suspects in Mooney’s death have been publicly identified.  SAN FRANCISCO MAN ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTS PARISHONER AT CHURCH, TOSSES ‘IMPROVISED DEVICE’ AT POLICE DURING CHASE Fox News Digital could not reach the LAPD at press time for further details.  Pauline described Mooney as the “most amazing girl ever.” “She loved to cook, she was very nice, very sweet genuine person,” she said on Friday. “She would ask a stranger how their day was going – just a very sweet, open-hearted person. She was very funny, very goofy. She could make a whole room laugh. And smart, and was very, very smart.” Although she dabbled in freelance modeling, Mooney primarily worked as a real estate agent with Nest Seekers International.  “She was showing million-dollar homes and was in the process of closing a few,” Pauline said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In an Instagram post featuring the hashtag #JUSTICEFORMALEESA, Pauline pleaded for answers and mourned her beloved sister.  “Never in a million years did I think I’d have to make this post and get justice for my one & only sister… my heart is crushed I can’t believe you won’t be here with us anymore,” she wrote. “This is so sick I can’t believe my big baby sister is gone… we will get justice for you my sister I promise you won’t be gone in vain!”



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Publish date : 2023-10-30 17:44:06

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