UPDATED: 'Carmageddon' sequel begins for LA freeway

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Construction crews are on schedule and traffic tie-ups are minimal in Los Angeles, making for a smooth start to Carmageddon II, the sequel to last year's shutdown of one of the nation's busiest freeways.

Electoral College math: Not all votes are equal

WASHINGTON (AP) - When it comes to choosing a president, not all votes are created equal. Chances are yours will count less than a select few.

Prosecutors: Shooting suspect threatened professor

DENVER (AP) - The suspect in a deadly movie theater attack was barred from the University of Colorado campus for threatening a professor, weeks before he opened fire at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie, prosecutors said in court documents released Friday.

Netanyahu's bomb steals the show in his UN speech

JERUSALEM (AP) - When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a cartoon-like drawing of a bomb during his speech at the U.N., he set off an explosion of jokes and mockery - but it also got plenty of attention.

Apple CEO apologizes for error-ridden new map app

NEW YORK (AP) - Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized Friday for the company's error-ridden new mobile mapping service, pledging to improve the application installed on tens of millions of smartphones and, in an unusual mea culpa, inviting frustrated consumers to turn to the competition.

No tax, no blessing: German church insists on levy

No tax, no blessing: German church insists on levy

BERLIN (AP) - The road to heaven is paved with more than good intentions for Germany's 24 million Catholics. If they don't pay their religious taxes, they will be denied sacraments, including weddings, baptisms and funerals.

Who's watching? 3-D TV is no hit with viewers

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Phil Orlins knows everything about producing TV in three dimensions. The ESPN producer has captured the undulating greens of Augusta National and the flying motor bikes of the X-Games for ESPN's 3-D channel. But he can only guess how well his shows resonate with viewers. That's because 3-D audiences are so small they can't be measured by Nielsen's rating system.

No sign of remains in new Mich. search for Hoffa

ROSEVILLE, Mich. (AP) - Authorities drilled through concrete and removed wet soil samples in a modest Detroit-area neighborhood Friday in the latest effort to find the remains of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975.

Kodak plans to end consumer inkjet printer sales

NEW YORK (AP) - Kodak said Friday that it plans to stop selling consumer inkjet printers and will eliminate 200 more jobs than previously projected as it requested more time to submit its framework for emerging from bankruptcy protection.

Higher gas costs push US consumer spending up

WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans boosted their spending in August even though their income barely grew. Much of the spending increase went to pay higher gas prices, which may have forced consumers to cut back elsewhere.

3rd Calif. officer charged in homeless man's death

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A third former Fullerton police officer has been charged in the beating death of a mentally ill homeless man after a violent confrontation with police last year, prosecutors said Thursday.

US consumers more confident in September

WASHINGTON (AP) - Higher stock prices and rising home values boosted a measure of consumer confidence in September to its second-highest level in nearly five years.

Intel previews tablets powered by its new chip

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Intel previewed a wave of tablet computers powered by a microprocessor that the company redesigned to make a bigger dent in the rapidly growing mobile market.

2 arrested in art heist at Calif. financier's home

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - Two suspects are under arrest after Santa Monica police say they recovered about $10 million worth of art stolen from the home of a Southern California financier by following up on a tip.

US moves to salvage Syrian opposition talks

LONDON (AP) - The U.S. is frantically trying to salvage a Syrian opposition conference that John Kerry plans to attend this week during his first official overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state.

Prisoner's death stokes fears of third uprising

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - The mysterious death of a 30-year-old Palestinian gas station attendant in Israeli custody stoked new West Bank clashes Sunday, along with Israeli fears of a third Palestinian uprising.

Cruz's tactics boil Washington, but impress Texas

HOUSTON (AP) - Ted Cruz glanced at his black cowboy boots, beneath a silver Texas belt buckle, waiting for the admirers to stop clapping.

Prime suspect named in Las Vegas shooting, crash

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A 26-year-old man was being sought Sunday as the prime suspect in a pre-dawn shooting on the Las Vegas Strip last week which led to a fiery crash that left three people dead and several others injured.

Feedlots, meatpackers closing with fewer US cows

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Years of drought are reshaping the U.S. beef industry with feedlots and a major meatpacking plant closing because there are too few cattle left in the United States to support them.

Defense: NY cop a cannibal only in online fantasy

NEW YORK (AP) - Gilberto Valle's mind is full of sick thoughts - and he wants a jury to know it.

'Argo' wins Best Picture Oscar

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ben Affleck's "Argo," a film about a fake movie, has earned a very real prize: best picture at the Academy Awards.

Suspect fatally shot by gang task force in Stockton

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) - Authorities have shot and killed a robbery suspect they say tried to run over two members of gang task force when they pulled the suspect over in Stockton Saturday night.

Wall Street holds its nerve as spending cuts near

NEW YORK (AP) - With barely a week to go before $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts kick in, Wall Street is holding its nerve.

McCarthy's 'Identity Thief' tops box office again

NEW YORK (AP) - Hollywood's latest films performed tepidly at the box-office on Oscar weekend, with Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" returning to the top spot in its third week of release.

Afghanistan: US special forces must leave province

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's president on Sunday ordered all U.S. special forces to leave a strategically important eastern province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.

Jeter about 2 weeks away from games

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Yankees captain Derek Jeter is about two weeks away from playing in a game for the first time since breaking his ankle last fall.

Dozens of stars spend Saturday at Oscar rehearsals

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Some dressed down in jeans and hoodies. Others looked camera-ready in suits or chic dresses and spiky stilettos.

US scrambles to salvage Syrian opposition talks

LONDON (AP) - The U.S. is frantically trying to salvage a Syrian opposition conference set for this coming week that John Kerry plans to attend during his first official overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state.

Can escape clause save voting rights provision?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration and civil rights groups are defending a key section of the landmark voting rights law at the Supreme Court by pointing reformed state, county and local governments to an escape hatch from the law's strictest provision.