AP-National

By PETER SMITH Associated Press Evangelical Christian conservatives have long had allies in top Republican leadership in Congress. But never before have they had one so thoroughly embedded in their movement as new House Speaker Mike Johnson, a longtime culture warrior in the courthouse, in the classroom and in Congress. Religious conservatives cheered Johnson’s election

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say three teenagers have been arrested as suspects in the killing in Germany of a homeless man, which one of them apparently filmed. A passer-by found the victim’s body on Thursday in a meadow in Horn-Bad Meinberg, a town in western Germany. On Friday, police and prosecutors said that a 14-year-old

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — General Motors’ Cruise says it’s suspending its driverless operations nationwide as the robotaxi service works to rebuild public trust. The announcement arrives just days after California regulators revoked Cruise’s license — after determining that its driverless cars, which recently began transporting passengers throughout San Francisco,

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The GOP presidential candidates are expected to woo donors and offer a staunch defense for Israel as they address at the annual gathering of a Republican Jewish group this weekend. The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual gathering of donors in Las Vegas kicking off Friday has

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has ended its search for three fishermen who are missing at sea nearly two weeks after their boat left the docks in Georgia. The decision was made Thursday evening after Coast Guard boats and planes spent a seventh day looking for the fishing vessel Carol Ann. Coast

By KEN SWEET and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried, testifying at his fraud trial Friday, cast himself as a bumbling cryptocurrency visionary who knew nothing about the industry when he started FTX or about marketing when he became the face of his company and not enough about his businesses to

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — One of the many impacts of Hollywood’s lengthy actors strike has been that most performers haven’t been able to promote their work. Movies have continued to flow into theaters and onto streaming services, but without their usual promotional blitzes. That’s led to some truly standout

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Struck by tragedy when one of his closest friends died in a mass shooting, Kentucky’s Democratic governor supports a proposal meant to keep firearms away from people deemed as threats to themselves or others. His Republican challenger offers condolences for his rival’s loss but opposes the

By R.J. RICO Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A lighting technician is mowing lawns. A camera assistant is teaching guitar again. An actor has thought about shifting careers. For more than a decade, work had been nonstop in Atlanta’s booming film industry thanks to Georgia’s extremely generous tax break. Dubbed the “Hollywood of the South,”

By ANDREA ROSA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Scores of protesters have gathered in the streets of Ukrainian cities to demand a cap of 18 months on mandatory military service. The protests on Friday were a new suggestion of possible Ukrainian and international fatigue with the 20-month war. Both the warring sides are striving

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve showed price increases remained elevated in September amid brisk consumer spending and strong economic growth. Prices rose 0.4% from August to September, the same as the previous month. And compared with 12 months earlier, inflation

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a multi-agency effort to encourage states and cities to convert more empty office buildings into housing units, with billions of federal dollars available to help spur such transitions. The new initiative, announced Friday morning, involves the departments of housing and transportation as

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The families of children held captive by Hamas say they are adrift in a unique agony among the tragedies of Israel’s bloodiest day. Since the Oct. 7 massacre and incursion, Hadas Kalderon says she can hear her 12-year-old son, Erez, calling for her to save him from

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The busy Shibuya shopping, business and entertainment district of Tokyo is trying hard to keep visitors at bay during Halloween weekend. Banners across town say no drinking and no Halloween events on the street. Town officials are cordoning off a landmark statue of faithful dog Hachi behind

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press Voters in Maine will be deciding a question in November about whether independent automobile repair shops should have access to the same diagnostic technology as dealerships. In Ohio, voters will be settling a pair of more personal questions — whether to create a constitutional right to abortion and legalize

By HOLLY MEYER Associated Press Thanks to a rabble-rousing, socialist priest, it’s a milestone year for direct democracy in the U.S. and not just because Ohio voters are circumventing their Republican-controlled legislature to decide for themselves if they have constitutional abortion rights. The practice of citizen-originated ballot measures began 125 years ago when South Dakota

By The Associated Press Cooper Flagg, the consensus top player in the 2024 recruiting class, says his focus is on the tragedy of a mass shooting in his home state of Maine, an indication that an announcement on where he will play college basketball could be delayed. The 6-foot-9 small forward has been deciding between

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has ordered the Vatican to reopen the case of a well-known priest-artist accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing adult women, and removed the statute of limitations that had previously prevented a church trial based on their claims. The Vatican’s announcement Friday marked a major

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — China’s chief epidemiologist, who helped drive anti-COVID-19 measures that suspended access to cities and confined millions to their homes, has died. Wu Zunyou died on Friday at age 60. An announcement from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention about Wu’s death gave no cause but said