On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Feb. 9 at 6:30 a.m. CT:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A special counsel report has found evidence that President Joe Biden “willfully” retained and shared highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan. The Justice Department report nonetheless says no criminal charges are warranted for Biden or anyone else. In remarks at the White House Thursday evening, Biden denied that he improperly shared classified information and angrily lashed out at special counsel Robert Hur for questioning his mental acuity. The report from Hur, released earlier Thursday, represents a harshly critical assessment of Biden’s handling of sensitive government materials and includes unflattering characterizations of his memory.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Donald Trump has won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses after he was the only major candidate to participate. The former president handily won Thursday’s contest run by the state Republican Party and wins Nevada’s 26 delegates as he seeks to accrue enough to become the party nominee. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley skipped the caucuses, blaming what she considered an unfair process that favored Trump.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has bombed targets in Rafah, after U.S. officials warned Israel against expanding its Gaza ground offensive to the southern city where more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has used an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to urge Washington to recognize Moscow’s interests and persuade Ukraine to sit down for talks.

A new poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds most Americans believe air travel is generally safe in the U.S.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate edged higher this week, reflecting a recent uptick in the 10-year Treasury yield. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.64% from 6.63% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The Biden administration is announcing an investment of $5 billion in a public-private consortium aimed at supporting research and development in advanced computer chips.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems poised to reject attempts to kick former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot. A definitive ruling for the leading Republican candidate for president would largely end efforts in Colorado, Maine and elsewhere to prevent his name from appearing on the ballot. In more than two hours of arguments Thursday, both conservative and liberal justices raised questions of whether Trump can be disqualified from being president again because of his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

A federal judge has denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro’s bid to remain out of prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Navarro was sentenced last month to four months in prison after being found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission is outlawing robocalls that contain voices generated by artificial intelligence. The decision sends a clear message that exploiting the technology to scam people and mislead voters won’t be tolerated. Thursday’s unanimous ruling targets robocalls made with AI voice-cloning tools under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Usher says it was a challenge to fit a 30-year musical career into a 13-minute halftime show as he'll have to do at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas Sunday. But when he addressed the media on Thursday he said he's been focusing on how to represent his past, his present and future within the show.

It was a big night for current and past NFL players, trades galore in the NBA, a wild game in college basketball, another big signing in major league baseball and a historic day on the links.

In other headlines:

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom 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 former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

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