On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 25 at 7 a.m. CT:

Parts of the nation will experience severe weather as well as unseasonably warm weather on Thursday.

AL-MAZRA’A ASH-SHARQIYA, West Bank (AP) — The passenger in a pickup truck where an American-Palestinian was fatally shot in the occupied West Bank says the shooting was unprovoked. Sixteen-year-old Mohammed Salameh tells The Associated Press that apparent Israeli fire hit the back of the vehicle on a dirt road. Seventeen-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar was killed in Friday's shooting. Israeli police are investigating, with an initial statement citing a weapons discharge by an Israeli soldier, an off-duty law enforcement officer and a civilian targeting people “purportedly engaged” in stone-throwing. Salameh denies they were throwing stones. AP has seen at least 10 bullets in the truck, most in the back. Abdel Jabbar’s father say that even if the teens had thrown rocks, they posed no imminent threat driving through the brush.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The former leader of separatist rebels in Ukraine and a woman convicted of a bomb attack which killed a pro-war blogger were jailed by Russian courts Thursday. The Moscow City Court has convicted a former Ukraine rebel leader who called President Vladimir Putin cowardly of extremism and sentenced him to four years in prison. Igor Girkin supported launching Russia’s war in Ukraine, but sharply criticized authorities for being inept and indecisive in carrying out the fight. Darya Trepova was seen on video presenting Ta bust to blogger Vladen Tatarsky moments before the blast.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s top court is declining to weigh in on former President Donald Trump's ballot status, keeping intact a judge's decision that the U.S. Supreme Court must first rule on a similar case in Colorado. Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows concluded last month that Trump didn’t meet ballot qualifications under the insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution, but a state judge put that decision on hold pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Colorado case. Bellows was ordered to await the outcome before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her original decision to keep Trump off the ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the Colorado case on Feb. 8.

Federal officials are clearing the ways for grounded Boeing planes to resume flying. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it approved an inspection and maintenance process that the planes must go through. After that, they will be allowed to carry passengers again. Meanwhile, Congress is getting involved in examining safety at Boeing after a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner in midflight this month. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state says Boeing leadership must put safety ahead of profits. She plans Senate hearings.

ELY, Nev. (AP) — Back in the 1800s, white attackers turned a lush high desert oasis in eastern Nevada into killing fields. They massacred hundreds of Native people there — a horrific history once retold in hushed tones behind closed doors. That was until tribal members reluctantly found themselves defending the valley’s historical significance in state hearings. In the 2000s, they shared their painful past with authorities weighing whether to divert substantial amounts of groundwater that feed the valley their relatives have long considered sacred. Now they want to tell their story on their own terms. A three-tribe coalition representing about 1,500 enrolled members is lobbying the federal government to designate nearly 40 square miles as a national monument.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will attempt to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas, a never before used execution method that the state claims will be humane but critics call cruel and experimental. Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to die Thursday night for his conviction in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett. This is Alabama's second attempt to execute the 58-year-old. His 2022 lethal injection was called off at the last minute because authorities couldn’t connect the IV line. The execution will be the first attempt to use a new execution method since lethal injection was introduced in 1982.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Trump White House official who was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack is set to be sentenced. Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Peter Navarro on Thursday to six months behind bars. He was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges, after Steve Bannon. Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. Navarro has vowed to appeal the verdict, saying he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has picked up the endorsement of the United Auto Workers. The Democratic president addressed the powerful union’s political convention in Washington on Wednesday. He told a cheering crowd, “I’m honored to have your back and you have mine.” Biden is pushing to sway blue-collar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. Biden is hoping to cut into the advantage Republican former President Donald Trump has enjoyed with white voters who don't have a college degree. Labor experts say the UAW usually endorses candidates later, as it contains a mix of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis recalled the extermination of millions of Jews in calling Wednesday for the upcoming Holocaust Day of Remembrance to reaffirm that war can never be justified. At the end of his weekly general audience, Francis referred to Saturday’s commemoration, which has become fraught this year given Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and a rise in antisemitism in Europe and around the world. Italy’s Jewish community has denounced a rise in antisemitic sentiment, including what leaders call the improper use of terms like “genocide,” following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel and Israel’s military response in Gaza.

EL MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in Southern California say six people have been found dead in a remote area of the Mojave Desert. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokesperson Mara Rodriguez says deputies responding to a request for a wellness check found five of the bodies Tuesday night along a dirt road off Highway 395 near El Mirage. A sixth body was found Wednesday morning. An SUV with a blown-out passenger window was found at the crime scene. The department’s specialized investigations division is conducting the homicide investigation. The bodies have yet to be removed as they search for evidence.

A Boeing 757 jet operated by Delta Air Lines lost a nose wheel while preparing for takeoff from Atlanta. Delta Flight 982 — headed to Bogota, Colombia — was taxiing for departure at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport when the incident took place around 11:15 a.m. Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident. The plane is 32 years old and is not the same model as the 737 Max that has raised safety concerns in recent years.

Jim Harbaugh is headed back to the NFL, Doc Rivers will be the Bucks' next coach, Devin Booker scores 46 in a Suns win, and NHL scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon scores four goals for the Avalanche. Also,  the Titans hire Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as their head coach and five players from the 2018 Canada world junior team take a leave of absence from their clubs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Comedian Jon Stewart is rewinding the clock, returning to “The Daily Show” as a weekly host and executive producing through the 2024 U.S. elections cycle. Comedy Central on Wednesday said Stewart will host the topical TV show every Monday starting Feb. 12. A rotating lineup of show regulars are on tap for the rest of the week. Stewart first hosted from 1999 to 2015. Over the years, “The Daily Show” has skewered the left and right by making the media a character and playing it absolutely straight, no matter how ridiculous. The show has not had a permanent host since Trevor Noah left last year.

—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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