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North Korea is tinkering with an experimental nuclear reactor that could produce weapons-grade plutonium as a potential bargaining chip in its upcoming denuclearization talks with the U.S., analysts said.

A state police civilian dispatcher will remain on administrative leave without pay during an internal affairs investigation into her alleged social media posts.Dispatcher Carla Grant was placed on administrative leave when state police opened the internal investigation last week into her alleged statements on a Brockton community Facebook page, according to state police spokesman David Procopio.Procopio called the alleged statements "inappropriate and unacceptable."

A motorist who had stopped to help another driver spotted human remains off Interstate 95 in Canton today, officials report.The discovery in the southbound lane near the 95/93 interchange has police investigating, with the Norfolk District Attorney's Office saying "the remains will be removed to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston for autopsy – likely to be conducted tomorrow."The remains were spotted "a modest distance off the roadway," officials added.The case remains under investigation.Developing ...

RICHMOND, Va. — A young law student's story of being racially profiled by campus police at the University of Virginia in 2011 drew outrage in Charlottesville, a liberal college enclave that boasts of its inclusiveness.When he recanted weeks later, he was branded a liar and an example of what's wrong with affirmative action. One editorial writer called him a "race hoax hustler."

BOSTON — A Massachusetts electricity supplier has agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations of using deceptive marketing and sales tactics to lure residents into costly contracts with high electricity rates.Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey said Wednesday that the tactics used by Viridian Energy included door-to-door sales, direct mail, and family-and-friend-based "network marketing."Healey also alleged that consumers who switched to Viridian ultimately paid more for electricity than if they had stayed with their utility.

WORCESTER, Mass. — A former nurse at a Massachusetts hospital says a doctor intentionally sprayed her with fluid from a contaminated device in a "twisted hazing ritual."Kirsten Maxfield says a surgeon at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester sprayed her with a surgical irrigation device that had just been inside a patient's body. She says the hospital conducted a "sham" investigation when she reported it.

BOSTON — A group of Christian leaders and advocates are fasting to bring attention to immigration issues impacting members of their congregations.Advocacy and legal services group Agencia ALPHA is working with the group of Hispanic churches to start a 40-day period of fasting, when the pastors will abstain from meat and subside mostly on fruit, nuts, and occasional fish.Pastor Yoli Reyes of Eternal Covenant Church in Brookline says they're hoping to 'move gods hand," in favor of immigrants with fasting efforts.

Hazmat teams responded to Chelsea District Court this morning on a report of a prisoner overdosing, possibly on fentanyl, city fire officials said.Wayne Ulwick, a deputy fire chief with the Chelsea Fire Department, said Chelsea firefighters responded to the courthouse at 9:30 a.m. because of a report of an “overdose inside the prison cell.”Ulwick explained the courthouse has a prison cells underneath it, where inmates are held prior to court hearings.

State Sen. Michael D. Brady is entering an alcohol rehabilitation facility following his drunken driving arrest in Weymouth.“Today I will be admitting myself for professional treatment and counseling for alcohol use,” the Brockton Democrat said today in a statement. “The course of treatment requires my full attention over the next few days. I look forward to returning to work next week.”

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Democratic mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, is criticizing a city church providing sanctuary to a Peruvian woman facing deportation.Mayor Domenic Sarno on Tuesday ordered an inspection of the South Congregational Church for possible housing code violations and is seeking to have the church's tax-exempt status stripped.Sarno previously said he was disappointed the church would "exploit this family for their own causes."