(Note: Tap here to listen to the episode if the above audio player does not load)
On this version of Hot off the Wire:
» Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western countries of igniting and sustaining the war in Ukraine. He refused any blame for Moscow almost a year after the Kremlin’s invasion of its neighbor that has killed tens of thousands of people.
» President Joe Biden is set to consult with allies from NATO’s eastern flank in Poland as the Russian invasion of Ukraine edges toward an even more complicated stage.
» The Supreme Court is taking up its first case about a federal law that is credited with helping create the modern internet. The law shields Google, Twitter, Facebook and other companies from lawsuits over content posted on their sites by others.
» A severe storm is moving across the nation from the West Coast through the Great Plains and toward the Northeast.
» Home Depot says it’s investing $1 billion in wage increases for its U.S. and Canadian hourly workers.
» Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the nation’s freight railroads to immediately act to improve safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules in the wake of a fiery derailment in Ohio that forced evacuations when toxic chemicals were released and burned.
» In sports, several NBA players were on the move during the All-Star break, Kansas took out TCU in college basketball, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had a big night, and a former pro sports owner died.
From the previous version of Hot off the Wire:
» President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine. The trip was a gesture of solidarity coming days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
» Michigan State University students and faculty have returned to the East Lansing campus, one week after a gunman killed three students and injured five others.
» A new 6.4 magnitude earthquake has killed three people and injured more than 200 in parts of Turkey laid waste two weeks ago by a massive quake that killed tens of thousands.
» Nearly one year after Russia invaded Ukraine, new questions are rising over China's potential willingness to aid Moscow in the drawn-out conflict.
» Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe said in a speech posted online Monday that he has been removed as the right-wing group’s leader.
» New court filings show the prosecution in the case of a fatal New Mexico film-set shooting has made a stark turnaround that drops the possibility of a mandatory five-year sentence against Alec Baldwin.
» Well-wishes and fond remembrances for former President Jimmy Carter were pouring in a day after he entered hospice care at his home in Georgia.
» A landmark Supreme Court decision on the Second Amendment is upending gun laws across the country, dividing judges and sowing confusion over what firearm restrictions can remain on the books.
» On this week's AP Religion Roundup, a 103-year old nun reflects on her years as a college basketball fan, and ministers consider using artificial intelligence for writing sermons.
Italians battle with oranges as part of festival tradition, and more of today's top videos
An orange battle has been going on for hundreds of years in Italy, a women-only village in Kenya is a safe haven for gender-based-violence survivors, and more of today's top videos.
This tradition has been going on for hundreds of years! Yair Ben-Dor has more.
The thorny trees and dung-caked homes of Umoja village make it resemble any other in Kenya's northeastern Samburu region, except in one key de…
Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, aren’t convinced the community is safe despite assurances there wasn’t any contamination from a train derai…
The majority of search-and-rescue efforts in Turkey and Syria have ended nearly two weeks after a deadly earthquake, with officials turning th…
Hidden cameras have captured a first glimpse of two endangered Sumatran tiger cubs born at Chester Zoo in the U.K. January 7th.
Antiwar German movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” won seven prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, …
Tourism agencies are celebrating as Inca citadel Machu Picchu reopens to tourist after a month of unrest.
This is the kind of gala we should be obsessing about. Yair Ben-Dor has more.
More than 5,000 pregnant Russian women have travelled to Argentina in recent months.