Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AFTER MCCARTHY ABANDONS SPEAKER SEAT QUEST

The California Republican's stunning move throws Congress' leadership more deeply into chaos.

2. TRUE NUMBER OF HAJJ VICTIMS IN SAUDI ARABIA

The stampede and crush last month outside the holy city of Mecca killed 1,399 people, at least 600 more people than the kingdom's official toll.

3. WHY STUDY ABROAD SEXUAL ASSAULT DATA HARD TO TALLY

Federal reporting requirements for college study abroad sexual assault is murky, making it hard to get a handle on how common the problem is.

4. VW CEO APOLOGIZES

Volkswagen's top U.S. executive apologizes for a deepening emissions-rigging scandal, but says the company's leaders are not to blame.

5. BELARUSSIAN AUTHOR WINS NOBEL FOR LITERATURE

With a reporter's eye and an artist's heart, Svetlana Alexievich writes of the catastrophes, upheaval and personal woes that have afflicted the Soviet Union and the troubled countries that succeeded it.

6. NATO ADDRESSES MIDEAST CONFLICTS

NATO talks tough about Moscow's expanding military activity in Syria, but its sole direct response is a public pledge to help reinforce the defenses of member nation Turkey.

7. AGENCY APPROVES WHALE TANKS EXTENSION

The California Coastal Commission approves a $100 million expansion of the tanks SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego — but it also bans the park from breeding captive orcas.

8. NETFLIX RAISES PRICES

Netflix is raising the price of its Internet video service by $1 for new customers in the U.S., Canada and some Latin America countries to help cover escalating costs for shows such as "House of Cards" and other original programming.

9. CAJUN COOKING LOSES A GIANT

Paul Prudhomme, who popularized spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant chefs to achieve worldwide fame, dies at 75.

10. WINDY CITY GETS BEHIND CUBS

Long-suffering fans in Chicago can't help themselves now that their team is in the playoffs: They are excited about a team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908 — one of the longest championship droughts in American sports history.