AP National News

Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s top law enforcement official says authorities took down two human trafficking rings, including one that was forcing children as young as 13 to have sex with adults for money. Attorney General Matt Platkin said Tuesday that seven people have been charged as a result of the operations.

Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut residents, past and present dignitaries, and state Capitol insiders are paying tribute to former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who died in late November. On Tuesday, she lay in state inside the Connecticut Capitol building, with her casket covered in the state’s blue flag. A funeral service was

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Searchers have recovered the body of a Wisconsin woman who vanished more than four years ago. The state Department of Justice says Cassandra Ayon’s remains were found on private property in the town of Brighton in Marathon County on Saturday. Ayon was 27 when she was last seen driving away from

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The partner of former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries who was indicted on sex trafficking charges along with Jeffries and another man has been released on $10 million bond. Matthew Smith pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and prostitution in federal court in Central Islip on Tuesday. Smith was

AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about

AP Film Writer Forty years ago, on Dec. 8, 1984, one of the largest manhunts in FBI history came to an explosive end on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. The person they were after was Robert Jay Mathews, the leader of a white supremacist group. The dramatic episode is chronicled in the new film “The

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that a United Nations watchdog has been selected to lead an external probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The move is likely to generate conflict of interest complaints owing to the prosecutor’s wife’s past work for

Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A military police officer in Sao Paulo has been seen on video footage throwing a man off a bridge and into a river, prompting a backlash. Footage shown on local television stations showed several police officers seen on a bridge beside motorcycles. At one point, one of them

Associated Press Ohio’s top elections official has rejected a Republican challenge over the legal residency of one of the state’s Democratic members of Congress. Secretary of State Frank LaRose made the decision late last week. LaRose says the complainant brought by a political activist did not provide “clear and convincing” proof that Rep. Emilia Sykes

Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina House opened its newest session with an unsuccessful long shot challenge of the Speaker that could be a preview of fighting among Republicans over which group truly deserves to identify as conservative. House Speaker Murrell Smith was elected to a second two-year term by a 102-17

Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate’s new majority floor leader says lawmakers seem ready to resume work on a bill dealing with diversity, equity and inclusion practices at public universities. Republican state Sen. Max Wise says the outcome could be different next year since they have had months to try to work

DENVER (AP) — Misdemeanor charges have been dropped against two Colorado law enforcement officers in the fatal 2022 shooting of Christian Glass, a 22-year-old man undergoing a mental health crisis. The two officers, Christa Lloyd and Mary Harris, who work for the state’s gaming division, were among six officers charged last year with failing to

Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A federal appeals court says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can continue using a Seattle airport for chartered deportation flights. In 2019, King County, which includes Seattle, expressed concern that the deportations under then-President Donald Trump could constitute human rights abuses and announced that future leases at the county airport

Associated Press A grandmother looking for her lost cat apparently fell into a sinkhole that had recently opened above an abandoned western Pennsylvania coal mine and rescuers worked late into the night Tuesday to try and find her. Bright lights illuminated snow flurries and various equipment at the site while crews worked above and below

Associated Press A trial has begun for a man charged in the killing of a University of Mississippi student who was well-known in the local LGBTQ+ community. Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in the death of Jimmy “Jay” Lee. The 20-year-old Lee was last seen July 8, 2022,

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California man has been charged with illegally shipping weapons and ammunition to North Korea. Federal authorities in Los Angeles say 41-year-old Shenghua Wen is charged with conspiring to violate federal law barring the shipments. Wen is expected to appear in court later on Tuesday. Authorities say Wen came

NEW YORK (AP) — Brady Corbet’s 3 1/2-hour postwar epic “The Brutalist” won best film from the New York Film Critics Circle on Tuesday, while its lead, Adrien Brody, also won best actor. The win notches an early awards-season victory for one of the fall’s most-talked about films. “The Brutalist”  Brody as László Toth, a

Associated Press QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — As global warming fills the plankton-rich waters of New England with death traps for sea turtles, the number of stranded reptiles has multiplied over the last 20 years, filling one specialized animal hospital with the endangered creatures. The animals enter areas such as Cape Cod Bay when it is