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On this version of Hot off the Wire:
» Brittney Griner said she’s “grateful” to be back in the United States and plans on playing basketball again next season for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
» The return of Griner to the United States in a dramatic prisoner swap with Russia is the AP Sports Story of the Year.
» Douglas Jensen, an Iowa construction worker, has been sentenced to five years in prison after being at the center of of one of the most harrowing scenes of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
» The European Union says its latest round of sanctions will hit Russia’s military-industrial complex, as well as people and groups that are attacking Ukrainian civilians or kidnapping children.
» Oberlin College has finished paying out a $25 million judgment to an Ohio bakery that won a libel lawsuit against the school after a shoplifting incident involving three Black students.
» Starbucks workers around the U.S. are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of an effort to unionize the coffee chain's stores.
» Facing massive pandemic learning loss, two communities in Virginia looked at adjusting the academic calendar, but they came away with different results.
» Gas prices have continued to fall thanks to supply and demand. Prices remain higher in the West and are lower in the South.
» One of California’s largest counties will consider whether to secede and establish a new state, a largely symbolic move driven by economic stress and frustration with state government.
» German police say a huge aquarium in the center of Berlin burst and caused a wave of devastation in and around the popular tourist attraction.
» On this week's religion roundup, Catholic immigrant workers in Qatar find a Christmas oasis.
