Sen. Menendez, wife indicted on bribe charges; Amazon Prime Video will soon come with ads; baseball and AM radio

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Sept. 22 at 2:30 p.m. CT: NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey has been indicted, accused of using his foreign affairs influence to help Egypt in return for bribes from the authoritarian regime. He says he’s been falsely accused and won’t be “distracted” from Senate work. Menendez was charged with his wife on Friday. A lawyer for her says she’ll ”vigorously contest these charges in court.” Prosecutors say a search of the couple’s home found $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in hidden cash. Menendez will have to step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee now that he’s been indicted. The indictment alleges Menendez provided sensitive U.S. government information and took other steps to secretly help Egypt. Auto workers have expanded their strike against major carmakers, walking out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis parts-distribution centers in 20 states. In announcing the strike's expansion Friday, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Ford was spared additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week. The union is pointing to the companies’ huge recent profits as it seeks wage increases of 36% over four years. The companies have offered a little over half that amount. The UAW has other demands, including a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay and a restoration of traditional pension plans for newer workers. WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is preparing to direct federal agencies to get ready for a shutdown after House Republicans left town for the weekend with no viable plan to keep the government funded. Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Friday the House would return next week to start voting on the latest plan. He has just five days until the Sept. 30 deadline. A hard-right flank of Republicans has essentially seized control and is demanding spending cuts. The Republican McCarthy was unable to convince his rebellious flank to approve a temporary funding measure to prevent closures. Instead, House Republicans will try Tuesday to pass some of the individual spending bills in a typically lengthy process. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian missile struck the headquarters of Russia's navy in Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry initially said one servicemember was killed in the Friday attack, but then issued a statement saying he was missing. Images posted on social media showed plumes of smoke over the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the city of Sevastopol. Russia said five missiles were shot down by its air defense systems responding to the attack. The attack comes a day after Russian missiles and artillery pounded cities across Ukraine, killing at least five people. Military experts say it is essential for Ukraine to keep up its attacks on targets in Crimea to degrade Russian morale. HANGZHOU, China (AP) — In the first Asian Games since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, two teams of athletes are arriving in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, looking very different. One, sent from Afghanistan where women are now banned by the Taliban from participating in sports, consists of about 130 all-male athletes, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Afghanistan’s Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press. Another, competing under the black, red and green flag of the elected government the Taliban toppled in 2021, is drawn from the diaspora of Afghan athletes around the world, and includes 17 women. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Another member of K-pop supergroup BTS has begun his mandatory military service in South Korea. Suga started serving on Friday as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service in the country. The 30-year-old is the group’s third member to start carrying out military service. The two others, Jin and J-Hope, are already performing active service at army bases. In South Korea, a