TOLLAND, Conn. (AP) — Like many victims of a Connecticut sex trafficking ring that preyed on troubled young men and teenage boys for more than 20 years, Samuel Marino never told his family or police about being coerced into sexual relations with much older men.

Marino ended up carjacking ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose at a solid pace in October, though the gains were boosted by one-time factors such as hurricane recovery spending and higher gas prices.

Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent last month, following two months of slight declines, the ...

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s departure from the European Union (all times local):

1:55 p.m.

A leader of the pro-Brexit faction in Britain’s Conservative Party has confirmed that he’s filed a letter of no-confidence in British Prime Minister Theresa May and that he thinks ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to fend off a legal challenge from CNN and other outlets over the revocation of journalist Jim Acosta’s White House press credentials.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly heard arguments Wednesday afternoon from ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy on easily won an internal party election to take over the shrunken House GOP caucus, handing the seven-term Californian a familiar role of building the party back to a majority as well as protecting President Donald Trump’s agenda.

With ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge early Thursday ordered that voters in Florida be given until this weekend to fix their ballots if they haven’t been counted due to mismatched signatures.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker came just hours before a 3 p.m. deadline counties ...

MILAN (AP) — Chinese consumers will remain the driving force for the luxury goods market, according to a new study by Bain consultancy released Thursday that shows they will fuel nearly half of global high-end sales by 2025.

Chinese shoppers will account for 46 percent of global luxury ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart reported strong sales online and in its established store sales for its fiscal third quarter, and raised profit expectations for the year heading into the holiday shopping season.

The report Thursday suggests that efforts by Walmart to improve the experience of its ...

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Sosuke Genda drove in three runs with a bases-clearing triple as Japan beat the MLB All-Stars 4-1 in the final of their six-game exhibition series on Thursday.

Genda tripled down the right field line off MLB starter Brian Johnson, and Ryosuke Kikuchi made it 4-0 on a ...

CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Yemeni rights group has documented heavy damage from ground fighting and airstrikes to at least 34 archaeological sites over the past four years and urged the international community to protect Yemenis’ “collective memory.”

In a lengthy report titled “The ...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The U.N.-backed tribunal judging the criminal responsibility of former Khmer Rouge leaders for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians will issue verdicts Friday in the latest — and perhaps last — of such trials.

Nuon Chea, 92, and Khieu Samphan, 87, ...

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets mostly rose Thursday, though European indexes and the pound sagged as discord within the British government threatened a newly agreed Brexit deal.

KEEPING SCORE: German’s DAX was flat at 11,417 and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.3 percent to 5,054. London’s FTSE ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Commuters beware: New York and Washington’s clogged streets and creaky subway systems are about to feel more pain as 50,000 more people descend on the two metro areas where Amazon will open new headquarters.

An expansion of that scope in a city such as New York — where the ...

SINGAPORE (AP) — The rivalry between the U.S. and China in the Asia-Pacific is proving “awkward” for Southeast Asian nations that do not want to have to choose between their friends, Singapore’s prime minister said Thursday as he wrapped up a regional summit.

“It’s easiest not to take ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis defended the use of active duty troops on the U.S.-Mexican border, saying that in some ways it provides good training for war. He argued that it’s analogous to a 1916 deployment to counter the Mexican revolutionary Gen. Francisco “Pancho” ...

SINGAPORE (AP) — The Latest on the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which ends Thursday in Singapore (all times local):

6:40 p.m.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (LEE SEE’-yan LONG) has said the rivalry between the U.S. and China for influence in ...

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rival lawmakers exchanged blows in Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Thursday as disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed the speaker had no authority to remove him from office by voice vote.

The fighting in the chamber came a day after it passed a no-confidence ...

BEIJING (AP) — Washington and Beijing have resumed talks over their spiraling trade dispute ahead of a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday.

The two sides are “maintaining close contact” following a Nov. 1 phone call between Xi and ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen never quite clicked personally as the president chafed at her explanations of complicated immigration issues and her inability to bring about massive changes at the U.S.-Mexico border.

With Nielsen’s ...

MAGALIA, Calif. (AP) — As the scope of a deadly Northern California wildfire set in, the sheriff said more than 450 people had now been assigned to comb through the charred remains in search for more bodies. The blaze has killed at least 56 people and authorities say 130 are unaccounted ...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Time, right now, is Jimmy Butler’s best friend.

That’s all that the Philadelphia 76ers and their newest player need. They will figure things out, figure out who goes where and who does what in every situation. In time, they’ll be able to get back to their usual arsenal ...

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A new nickname for Brook Lopez started floating around Twitter after the Milwaukee Bucks 7-footer had a career night from the 3-point line.

″Splash Mountain .” How appropriate for a self-described

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zach Ertz caught the go-ahead touchdown pass in Philadelphia’s victory over New England in the Super Bowl and hasn’t stopped making receptions.

Ertz is on pace to have a record-setting season for tight ends.

Carson Wentz’s favorite target has 75 catches for 789 ...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mexican rock band Mana became the first group ever to be honored as the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year Wednesday, when its four members were recognized during a star-studded tribute concert for their creative accomplishments and philanthropic efforts.

Lead ...

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s minister in charge of cybersecurity is in the spotlight for acknowledging he has never used a computer and making comments showing he has no idea what a USB port might be.

Ruling party lawmaker Yoshitaka Sakurada, also in charge of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was replying ...

JERUSALEM (AP) — A knife-wielding Palestinian attacker sneaked into a Jerusalem police station and lightly wounded four police officers before he was shot and captured, Israeli police said Thursday.

The assault came on the heels of a fragile truce that was reached between Israel and ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A floating jumper, a foul and a free throw in the fourth quarter of a tight game.

With a gorgeous three-point play , the King jumped over the Big Dipper.

LeBron James’ inimitable presence has already ...

SYDNEY (AP) — Medical staff say that conjoined twins from Bhutan who were separated at an Australian hospital last week have been healing well, showing their cheeky side, and have become impossible to keep apart.

Joe Crameri, the head of pediatric surgery at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s ...

DETROIT (AP) — Testing by AAA shows that electronic driver assist systems on the road today may not keep vehicles in their lanes or spot stationary objects in time to avoid a crash.

The tests brought a warning from the auto club that drivers shouldn’t think that the systems make their ...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies knew him as a cop’s cop, one who would “go to the ends of the earth” to solve a crime. To family and friends, Ron Helus was a devoted husband and father who loved to go fly fishing with his son.

On Thursday, Helus will be hailed as a hero ...

BILLINGS, Montana (AP) — Creating fire buffers between housing and dry brush, burying spark-prone power lines and lighting more controlled burns to keep vegetation in check could give people a better chance of surviving wildfires, according to experts searching for ways to reduce growing death ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern Californians faced with the loss of lives and homes in a huge wildfire are also grappling with the destruction of a vast swath of public lands that are popular destinations for hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers.

The Woolsey fire has charred more than ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Sigrid Nunez’s “The Friend,” a meditative novel about grief, books and, not least, a Great Dane named Apollo, has won the National Book Award for fiction. Other winners Wednesday night included Jeffrey C. Stewart’s “The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke” for nonfiction and ...

TORONTO (AP) — Dwane Casey’s return to Toronto delivered drama right up until the final second.

Reggie Bullock made the winning shot as time expired and the Detroit Pistons rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Raptors ...

SYDNEY (AP) — It wasn’t grand theft. It was tiny.

But the snatching of a baby meerkat from a zoo has not only become a major story in the Australian city of Perth, it has led to the arrest of three people.

In September, Perth Zoo was ready to publicly show off its new month-old ...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Complete list of winners from the 2018 Country Music Association Awards, held Wednesday at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

— Entertainer of the year: Keith Urban

— Female vocalist of the year: Carrie Underwood

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — With at least 130 people still missing, National Guard troops searched Wednesday through charred debris for more victims of California’s deadliest wildfire as top federal and state officials toured the ruins of a community completely destroyed by the ...

CHICO, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the wildfires in California (all times local):

7 p.m.

Officials say there has been an outbreak of norovirus at a shelter housing people who evacuated their homes to escape the massive wildfire in Northern California.

Butte County public health ...

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Charles Matthews set the tone with a slam and celebrated by flexing to the crowd.

Quickly, the rematch turned into a rout.

Matthews scored 19 points, Ignas Brazdeikis had 18 and No. 18 Michigan beat No. 8 Villanova 73-46 Wednesday night in their first meeting ...

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.

The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander had just 10 victories, the ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Idris Elba’s daughter has been chosen as the Golden Globe Ambassador to assist with the glitzy awards ceremony.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Wednesday that 16-year-old Isan Elba will assume the ambassador title for the 76th annual Golden Globes ...

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — A body was found in a burned home Wednesday, and authorities were investigating to determine if it’s the third victim of a huge wildfire in Southern California that destroyed hundreds of homes.

Two deaths were previously linked to the weeklong blaze in Ventura and Los ...

CHICO, California (AP) — A utility accused in a lawsuit of igniting California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire said it contacted a customer about a power line on her property but that sparks were not part of the discussion.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it had been in touch ...