By JAIMIE DING

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man accused of sparking the deadly wildfire that ripped through a Los Angeles neighborhood in January must remain jailed while he awaits trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

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Federal officials have said Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, started a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground before reigniting nearly a week later and roaring through coastal Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many of Los Angeles’ rich and famous. The fire, which left 12 dead in the hillside neighborhoods, was one of two blazes that broke out on Jan. 7, killing more than 30 people in all and destroying over 17,000 homes and buildings while burning for days in Los Angeles County.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver denied his bond, saying he must be kept in custody due to his mental health and distress he caused his sister and her family. Rinderknecht’s father testified in support of his release, denying that his son had mental health issues.

Rinderknecht was arrested Oct. 7 in Florida, where he staying at his sister’s house in Orlando. A judge ordered that he remain jailed after a prosecutor said he had traits of an arsonist and his family had worried about his declining mental state. Prosecutors also argued Rinderknecht was a flight risk because he had family in France and spoke French.

He was brought to Los Angeles about two weeks later and pleaded not guilty in court.

FILE – This undated photo provided by the US Attorney’s Office shows Jonathan Rinderknecht. (US Attorney’s Office via AP, file)

Rinderknecht was indicted on one charge of malicious destruction by means of a fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and one count of timber set afire. If convicted, he would face up to 20 years in federal prison.

His trial is scheduled for April 21, 2026.

Federal officials called the Palisades blaze a “holdover fire” from the Jan. 1 fire that Rinderknecht is accused of starting, which was not fully extinguished by firefighters. LA’s interim fire chief said such fires linger in root systems and can reach depths of 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 meters), making them undetectable by thermal imaging cameras.

Rinderknecht’s attorney Steve Haney said that even if Rinderknecht was the cause of the initial smaller fire on New Year’s Day, there were several “intervening factors” in the week between that day and when the Palisades Fire ignited, mainly the Los Angeles Fire Department’s response to the fire.

By TRISHA THOMAS

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday strongly backed U.S. bishops who condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, as he urged the American people to listen to them and treat migrants humanely.

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History’s first American pope was asked about the “special message” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted during the bishops’ general assembly last week. The text criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation of migrants and the “vilification” of them in the current migration debate. It lamented the fear and anxiety immigration raids have sown in communities, and the denial of pastoral care to migrants in detention centers.

Leo, who has previously urged local bishops to take the lead on speaking out on matters of social justice, said he appreciated the U.S. bishops’ statement and urged Catholics and all people of goodwill to listen to what they said.

“I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have,” said the Chicago-born Leo. “If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice.”

Speaking to reporters as he left the papal country house south of Rome, Leo acknowledged there are problems in the U.S. migration system. But he stressed that no one has said the U.S. should have open borders, and that every country has the right to determine who can enter and how.

“But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful to say the least — and there’s been some violence unfortunately — I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they said,” he said.

“I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them.”

Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful before presiding over special mass for the Jubilee of the poor, in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Sunday, Nov.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The bishops’ “special message” was rare, the first time since 2013 the bishops had penned such a single-issue statement at one of their meetings. It was accompanied by an Instagram video of individual bishops reading the text on camera, to hammer home its message.

Upcoming travel plans

Leo spoke to reporters gathered outside his villa in Castel Gandolfo, where he usually spends Monday afternoons and Tuesdays relaxing, playing tennis and swimming in the estate’s indoor pool.

He suggested that he is planning more travel starting in 2026, after his Rome commitments ease up with the end of the Holy Year.

Asked if he would return to Peru, where he spent some 20 years as a missionary, Leo said “of course.”

But he also hinted at other possible destinations, including the Fatima shrine in Portugal, the Guadalupe shrine in Mexico, and visits to Argentina and Uruguay.

“I love to travel, the problem is scheduling with all the commitments,” he said.

Leo next week will embark on his first foreign trip as pope, to Turkey and Lebanon.

Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

To Minnesota Wild fans, the sight of Yakov Trenin playing center might look odd. To the 28-year-old Russian now in his seventh NHL season — most of them spent on the wing — skating at center during Tuesday’s practice was a return to his roots.

Asked if he felt out of place with Marcus Foligno and Vinnie Hinostroza on his wings for the morning skate, Trenin scoffed and noted that from around the age of 2 or 3 to age 20 in his native Russia, he played center.

With a late game versus the Carolina Hurricanes on tap Wednesday night at Grand Casino Arena, Trenin may find himself back in the position of his youth as the Wild are down two of their top three centers. Marco Rossi we knew about. Ryan Hartman’s absence on Tuesday was new, but not totally unexpected after he left Sunday’s overtime win versus Vegas with an apparent lower body injury.

Wild coach John Hynes on Tuesday classified Hartman as week-to-week, but sounded like he could be pleasantly surprised by an earlier return.

“It’s not like a surgical thing or anything, but the diagnosis right now, that’s the timeframe,” Hynes said of Hartman, who centered the Wild’s top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello on Sunday. “It could be quicker, or it could be that timeframe.”

Another potential Wild center, Nico Sturm, was on the ice for practice as well on Tuesday, but Hynes said the faceoff specialist remains week to week, and they are hopeful he could crack the Minnesota lineup in early December if not sooner.

That leaves rookie Danila Yurov and Trenin — who scored his first goal of the season versus Vegas — as the likely first- and third-line centers, respectively. Hynes coached Trenin previously in Nashville, and did not use him as a center there, but Trenin played some in the middle during a 26-game stint with the Avalanche in 2024, so he would not be a fish completely out of water.

“He played center in Colorado and he played center before he was in Nashville,” Hynes said. “He’s good at faceoffs, but he does have a history of playing center.”

The coach admitted that he is hopeful Trenin’s time in the middle is a short-term fix.

Briefly

Wild winger Vladimir Tarasenko, who has missed the past two games with a lower body injury, skated in practice on Tuesday but left early and his status versus Carolina is unclear.

“He tried it today. Obviously, he looked pretty good in practice, but I didn’t get any feedback,” Hynes said. “He did leave early, that’s why I don’t know how he’s feeling.”

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By MATT BROWN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Tuesday to reprimand Illinois Rep. Chuy Garcia over an eyebrow-raising succession plan for his congressional seat, a move that divided Democrats who were furious with a member of their own caucus for triggering the vote.

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The House voted 236-186 for the measure, with 10 members not voting and four voting present. More than two dozen House Democrats voted for the resolution, along with all Republicans.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., defied her party by introducing the resolution on the House floor to rebuke Garcia, who represents parts of western Chicago and its suburbs. She said the vote disapproving of Garcia’s conduct was necessary because it’s important to call out “election subversion” by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Garcia announced he was not seeking reelection earlier this month just before the deadline to file paperwork for the seat. By then, his chief of staff was the only candidate who had submitted the needed paperwork.

“My responsibility as an elected representative of my community is to say loudly and consistently, humbly and with love that no one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives,” Perez said during a Monday evening floor speech.

Blowback from Democratic lawmakers was swift.

A Tuesday statement before the vote from House Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, defended Garcia as a “progressive champion” and a “good man.”

“We unequivocally oppose this misguided resolution and urge our colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus to reject it,” the statement said.

Multiple Democratic lawmakers rallied to Garcia’s defense ahead of the vote and attested to his character and history as an advocate on issues like immigrant rights. Others jeered and booed at Perez as she spoke during a debate on the House floor.

Democratic leaders had urged their colleagues to oppose the measure and many in the party argued it was a distraction that did not merit a vote.

“This is why the Ethics Committee exists,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on social media. She warned about a precedent where the House “will be forced to vote on a slew of individual member indiscretions determined by political convenience of whoever is in the majority.”

Nearly every Democrat in the House except Perez voted to quash a vote on the petition Monday night, but the effort advanced with the backing of all Republicans.

After Tuesday’s full resolution prevailed, some Democrats sought to explain their vote against the measure.

“My vote should not be viewed as an endorsement of the actions that created this situation,” Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., said in a statement, adding that she had spoken with Garcia about his situation.

Perez thanked the House members who voted for the resolution. She commended Garcia for a career of public service and called his familial reasons for retiring from the House “honorable.” But she was also frank about the tension surrounding the vote.

“It shouldn’t have caused as much friction as it did to speak honestly and consistently about election subversion,” Perez said in a statement. “Congress is a legislative body, not a social club, and the American people will not accept blind calls to party loyalty in defense of an effort to deny them the right to a free and fair election.”