(Note: Tap here to listen to the episode if the above audio player does not load)
On this version of Hot off the Wire:
» The Biden administration says the China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial spy program that has targeted more than 40 countries.
» Congress is hearing about the December meltdown at Southwest Airlines.
» A Delaware man who threatened a Black police officer with a pole attached to a Confederate battle flag as he stormed the U.S. Capitol has been sentenced to three years in prison.
» A man repeatedly caught trying to smuggle finches from Guyana into New York for birdsong competitions has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
» Rihanna is putting in the work ahead of her Super Bowl halftime show, focusing on what she promises will be “a jam-packed show.”
» Popular composer Burt Bacharach has died at 94. Working with lyricist Hal David, Bacharach penned a long run of hit songs.
» President Joe Biden is taking direct aim at Republicans who have floated cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He told an audience in Florida on Thursday that he would create a “nightmare” for anyone who tried to do so.
» An estimated 27.3 million people watched President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on television Tuesday night.
» Disney is working on sequels for its “Toy Story,” “Frozen” and “Zootopia” franchises as the company concentrates more on brands that have continued to perform well.
Rare red sprites captured over Hawaii, and more of today's top videos
A camera perched atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii captured a rare sighting of red sprites hovering above a distant thunderstorm, watch as a dog is rescued from earthquake rubble in Turkey, and more of today's top videos.
Rescuers in Turkey saved the life of a dog that was trapped underneath rubbles after the deadly quakes that struck Turkey and Syria. Veuer’s M…
Amid the efforts to rescue any remaining survivors, communities in Turkey and Syria hit by Monday's earthquakes are also dealing with the chal…
It wasn’t just Kim Jong Un’s nuclear missiles on display that caught the world’s attention, it was his daughter.
Drug-sniffing squirrels are the new addition to a police brigade in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing. Veuer’s Chloe Hurst has the story!
The Chinese balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for “severa…
Engineers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have developed a helpful new stick for people who are blind or visually impaired - one that…
The first UN aid convoy has made its way through the only open humanitarian corridor to reach Syria's rebel-held northwest, bringing much-need…
With incessant fighting in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine still ongoing, exhausted Ukrainian soldiers have turned to taking refuge in …