On this version of Hot off the Wire:
» President Joe Biden is in Japan for global diplomacy in a nation that has already tightened its economic and national security alliance with the U.S. He met privately with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before joining the Group of Seven gathering of major industrialized nations.
» Montana has become the first state to enact a complete ban on TikTok. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation Wednesday and it is scheduled to take effect next January.
» Rescue crews are working to reach towns and villages in northern Italy that were cut off from highways, electricity and cell phone service following heavy rains and flooding.
» Ukrainian officials say Russia has fired 30 cruise missiles against various parts of the country in the latest nighttime test of Ukrainian air defenses which shot down 29 of them.
» Authorities say a high school student who killed three women in northwestern New Mexico with an indiscriminate spray of gunfire left a cryptic note presaging βthe end of the chapterβ and wore a bulletproof vest that he discarded before being shot to death by police.
» The NBA Eastern Conference Finals begin, the Dodgers get late heroics but lose a pitcher early, the Orioles continue to play well, the Yankees have one of their pitchers suspended by the league, the NHL's Conference Final series are set to begin as is the PGA Championship.
Β» A limousine service manager has been convicted of manslaughter in a crash that killed 20 people in rural New York. The 2018 crash was one of the deadliest U.S. road wrecks in two decades.
» Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were trailed in their car by photographers as they left a New York City charity event Tuesday night, briefly taking refuge at a police station before being whisked away in a yellow taxicab.
» President Joe Biden is declaring he's confident the U.S. will avoid an unprecedented and potentially catastrophic debt default, saying talks with congressional Republicans have been productive.
» A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June.
» Florida is banning gender affirming care for minors, effective immediately. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a series of anti-LGBTQ+ bills on Wednesday. Others address drag shows and how schools handle the use of personal pronouns and bathrooms.
» Target has reported another quarterly profit decline and issued a cautious sales and profit outlook for the current period.
» Appearing at the Cannes Film Festival the day after premiering his first film in three years, Johnny Depp said Wednesday that he has βno further needβ for Hollywood. Depp made a rare public appearance to face questions from the press following the opening-night premiere of βJeanne du Barry,β in which Depp plays King Louis XV.
» Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes will remain free through the Memorial Day weekend before surrendering to authorities on May 30. That would be the start of her more than 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in a blood-testing scam.
» Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana have seen a promising turnaround in their student reading scores after passing a series of similar literacy reforms.
About this program
Host Terry Lipshetz is a senior producer for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.
Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.
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