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On this version of Hot off the Wire:

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the collapse of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest plan to avert a federal shutdown, lawmakers have left town with no endgame in sight. The White House will tell federal agencies on Friday to prepare for a shutdown, according to an official with the Office of Management and Budget who insisted on anonymity to discuss the upcoming instructions. That’s standard seven days out from a federal disruption. A core group of Republicans refused to vote with the speaker, whose job is on the line. Afterward, McCarthy acknowledged his frustration, saying, “This is a whole new concept of individuals who just want to burn the whole place down.�

MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center says a storm off the eastern U.S. will deliver tropical storm conditions to the coast of North Carolina. The storm was forecast to make landfall in North Carolina on Friday. The center reports the storm, currently designated Potential Tropical Cyclone Sixteen, is located located about 330 miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and about 325 miles south Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It's moving north around 14 mph with top sustained winds of 50 mph. Storm surges between 3 and 5 feet are forecast for parts of North Carolina with localized rainfall up to 7 inches in some places.

TORONTO (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to speak before the Canadian Parliament on Friday as part of his campaign to shore up support from Western allies for Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy flew into Canada's capital late Thursday after meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Washington where he faced questions about the flow of American dollars has helped keep his troops in the fight against Russian forces. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted Zelenskyy at Ottawa's airport and will also speak to Parliament on Friday. It is Zelenskyy’s first visit to Canada since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Police in Albuquerque say two people have been arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting outside a baseball stadium that killed an 11-year-old boy and prompted New Mexico's governor to issue a controversial gun ban. Police say the two men were arrested Thursday over the Sept. 6 shooting after an Albuquerque Isotopes game. Froylan Villegas was killed and his cousin, Tatiana Villegas, was left partially paralyzed. On Thursday, Albuquerque's police chief said the two men had argued with people during the ball game and mistakenly opened fire on the truck carrying the boy and his family as it was leaving the parking lot because it closely resembled the truck of the intended targets.

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) — A charter bus carrying high school students to a band camp careened off a New York highway and tumbled down an embankment, killing two adults and seriously injuring several others. Gov. Kathy Hochul said a front-tire failure could have contributed to the early Thursday afternoon accident on Interstate 84 in the town of Wawayanda, about 45 miles northwest of New York City. The two adults who died were 77-year-old Beatrice Ferrari of Farmingdale and 43-year-old Gina Pellettiere of Massapequa. Five of the 44 passengers on board were critically injured. according to state police.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It’s one of the United Nations’ more obscure bodies, with no space to call its own within the riverside headquarters. And there is scant insight into how it decides a question of far-reaching impact: Who gets let through the door? With an anodyne name, the U.N. Credentials Committee has long gone unnoticed; it doesn’t even appear on the U.N.’s own organizational chart of its many councils, agencies and departments. But when it comes to countries riven by political divisions or coups, the nine-member body is the gatekeeper to the world’s stage at the U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting. Leaders of factions within divided nations know that the committee’s decision stands to withhold or bestow some much-desired legitimacy.

The 49ers rough up the Giants, Milwaukee and Philadelphia get closer to postseason berths, the Rays pad their postseason resume, and other results in baseball’s penultimate Thursday of the regular season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is delivering an upbeat message to U.S. lawmakers in a whirlwind visit to Washington. Zelenskyy briefed lawmakers on the state of the war Thursday and told them Ukrainians “are winning." Zelenskyy was facing Republicans who are now questioning the flow of American dollars that for 19 months has helped keep his troops in the fight against Russian forces. Zelenskyy will also meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. It's Zelenskyy’s second visit to Washington since Russia invaded and comes as Biden’s request to Congress for another $24 billion for Ukraine is hanging in the balance.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as leader of both Fox’s parent company and his News Corp. media holdings. Fox says he will become chairman emeritus of both corporations. His son, Lachlan, will control both companies. The 92-year-old Australian media magnate’s creation of Fox News made him a force in American politics. He built his empire from a single newspaper in Australia. He moved to England, then the United States with the invention of Fox News and the purchases of both the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. Forbes estimated the Murdoch family’s net worth at roughly $19 billion in 2020. Fox News Channel has profoundly influenced television and the nation’s politics since its start in 1996, making Murdoch a hero to some and pariah to others.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's state auditor says numerous social science and humanities degree programs are “indoctrination factories.� Auditor Shad White argues in a new report the state should defund several college majors and invest in subjects that match the state’s workforce needs. He proposed tying public investment to workforce needs instead of providing funds without regard for the degree programs offered. In numerous statements on social media leading up to the report’s publication, White said there should be no taxpayer funding for “useless degrees� in “garbage fields.� White statements and his report arrive as education, from K-12 to the university level, remains at the center of America’s culture wars.

NEW YORK (AP) — John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George R.R. Martin are among 17 authors suing OpenAI for “systematic theft on a mass scale.� Their suit was filed Tuesday in New York and is the latest in a wave of legal action by writers concerned that AI programs are using their copyrighted works without permission. The suit was organized by the Authors Guild, and also includes David Baldacci, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen and Elin Hilderbrand among others. A handful of similar suits were recently filed in California. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Silicon Valley tech giant Cisco is buying cybersecurity firm Splunk in a $28 billion deal as it looks to keep up with potential security threats that could be brought about by the increasing use of artificial intelligence. Cisco will pay $157 per Splunk Inc. share.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has pleaded guilty in federal court to financial crimes. Thursday’s court appearance is the first time the disbarred attorney has admitted responsibility for a crime before a judge. Murdaugh is serving life in prison without parole for killing his wife and son, but he adamantly denied shooting them from the witness stand at his double murder trial. In federal court, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering. He will be sentenced at a later date. The federal guilty plea likely locks in years if not decades in prison, even if the double murder conviction is overturned.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has pleaded guilty in federal court to financial crimes. Thursday’s court appearance is the first time the disbarred attorney has admitted responsibility for a crime before a judge. Murdaugh is serving life in prison without parole for killing his wife and son, but he adamantly denied shooting them from the witness stand at his double murder trial. In federal court, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering. He will be sentenced at a later date. The federal guilty plea likely locks in years if not decades in prison, even if the double murder conviction is overturned.

A coalition of 25 governors and the Biden administration are set to announce a pledge Thursday morning to quadruple the number of heat pumps in U.S. homes by 2030. Heat pumps are important because they use little electricity, yet are able to heat and cool buildings. Since they often replace oil or gas furnaces that add greenhouse gases to the air, they can meaningfully address climate change. The pledge on heat pumps is a collection of state initiatives to work toward the goal of ramping down emissions to zero by 2050.

PARIS (AP) — King Charles III has made an emotional stop in front of Paris' fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral on the second day of his state visit to France. He also met with young athletes in a working-class, multicultural suburb of the capital. Earlier, Charles made an address to French lawmakers at the Senate, praising France and the United Kingdom’s “indispensable relationship� and its capacity to meet the world’s challenges, including the war in Ukraine and climate change. Thursday's busy schedule came a day after he was greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony at Paris’ Arc de Triomphe and attended a state dinner at the Palace of Versailles.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bob Ross was known for his unpretentious approach to painting on his long-running show, “The Joy of Painting,� but now the painting he completed on his first episode in 1983 is for sale for nearly $10 million. Minneapolis gallery owner Ryan Nelson calls the painting, “A Walk in the Woods,� the “rookie card� for Ross. Nelson bought the painting last year and then priced it at $9.85 million. Ross' paintings are hard to get and are expensive, but none has sold for nearly that much. Nelson says he's in no hurry to sell and would like to display the painting so that lots of people get to see Ross' work and understand his efforts to encourage regular people to paint.