In another victory for survivors of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a New York federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release of thousands of pages of grand jury and other sealed investigative materials from the criminal case against Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislane Maxwell.

The trove of records are part of the voluminous files collected by the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Imprisoned former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has become the latest high-profile state Democrat to officially ask President Donald Trump for clemency on a corruption conviction.

Madigan, who was convicted in February on a range of corruption counts, recently filed a clemency petition with Office of the Pardon Attorney ...Read more

At least 50 rounds were fired by multiple masked gunmen during an attack at a crowded banquet hall that left three children and an adult dead in Stockton, California, San Joaquin Sheriff Patrick Withrow said Tuesday during an update to the investigation of the deadly mass shooting.

The shell casings littered across the floor of what had been a ...Read more

A former true crime television producer who pretended to be an aerospace heiress to scam banks out of $30 million has been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

Mary Carole McDonnell, 73, is wanted for the massive fraud scheme in Southern California, according to the FBI’s press release. She’s believed to be hiding in Dubai.

McDonnell ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — One person died and another was seriously injured in a shooting on the campus of Kentucky State University Tuesday afternoon.

The person who was hurt was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition, the Frankfort Police Department said in an update shared on social media at 4:35 p.m.

A suspect was in custody, Gov. ...Read more

BOSTON — A Salem doll maker known for her gruesome creations pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the interstate transportation of stolen goods — in this case, human remains — in federal court Monday.

Katrina Maclean admitted that she sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School to a person in Pennsylvania. Her North Shore ...Read more

The head of D4vd’s record label and touring company allegedly admitted Monday that he “didn’t call police” after Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s decomposing body was found in the trunk of the musician’s car because he “just wanted to continue with the tour.”

A handful of people gathered in the hallway where a Los Angeles grand jury ...Read more

New Jersey is parched top to bottom.

In some regions, rainfall has plunged as much as eight inches below average for the past year, straining reservoirs, streams, and aquifers enough that the state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a drought warning — a notch shy of an emergency.

As a result, officials are asking residents to...Read more

DETROIT — The father of a female high school athlete in Michigan has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging two local school districts violated Title IX rules and failed to protect female students who competed twice against a volleyball team with an alleged transgender athlete on its roster.

Sean Lechner, whose ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A passenger who died on a Royal Caribbean cruise was doused with pepper spray and physically restrained by staff members after he was served 33 alcoholic drinks and became violent, according to a lawsuit the man's family filed against the company.

Video from aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruises ship showed Michael Virgil at times ...Read more

ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will testify about her conduct before a state Senate committee next week, her lawyer told the Georgia Supreme Court.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes said Tuesday that Willis will comply with a witness subpoena issued earlier this year by the Georgia Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations, ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met Tuesday morning with a real estate and finance leaders to talk through how to move forward on his ambitious housing agenda amid controversy over his opposition to the current administration’s policy of clearing homeless encampments from the streets.

Elected largely on a platform of making ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri Republican lawmaker last week blasted out-of-state influence amid an ongoing redistricting fight, writing on social media that “Missouri’s elections aren’t decided in California.”

But the post that U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner criticized was not about the state of California. It was an article from the California...Read more

President Donald Trump accused a reporter of being “dramatic” when pressed on concerns Americans have amid the holiday season as prices continue to climb and increased health care costs could loom for many.

During a 45-minute interview with Politico, Trump was asked if people doing their holiday shopping should take into account the ...Read more

BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey is demanding congressional Republicans vote to extend a set of tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to prevent what she calls skyrocketing health care costs across the country, as well as here in Massachusetts.

Healey held a press conference Tuesday at the State House demanding the extension and ...Read more

CHICAGO — President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a blistering order for the city and state to come up with a safety plan to boost police on the Chicago Transit Authority and take other steps or once again risk vital federal funding.

In letters Monday to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Trump’s ...Read more

In a rare high-profile case, Cuba’s former vice prime minister and minister of economy, Alejandro Gil, was sentenced to life in prison on charges of espionage, the People’s Supreme Court announced in a harshly worded statement on Monday.

In a first trial that took place Nov. 11-13, Gil was found guilty of several crimes including espionage,...Read more

CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a ban on federal agents making certain arrests near courthouses and easing a path for individuals to sue if they think their rights were violated during civil immigration arrests, capping off months of resistance to the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent enforcement crackdown in ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court gave a mixed reception during oral arguments Tuesday to an effort to overturn a limit on how much political parties can spend in coordination with federal candidates.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, as well as Vice President JD Vance from when he was a senator, and former Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio,...Read more

SpaceX sent up its second launch in less than 24 hours on the Space Coast on Tuesday afternoon, while also bringing home its booster for the last time on a landing zone it has been leasing for the last 10 years.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on the NROL-77 mission with a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape ...Read more