On the updated version of Hot off the Wire (posted Dec. 21 at 6:08 a.m. CT):

• A day ahead of the onset of winter, a large swath of the U.S. is bracing for a potentially deadly weather trifecta — dangerously cold temperatures, howling winds and a significant winter storm.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is headed to Washington for a summit with President Joe Biden and to address Congress.

• A congressional panel says the IRS failed to pursue mandatory audits of Donald Trump on a timely basis during his presidency. The finding raises questions about statements by the former president and leading members of his administration who claimed he could not release his tax filings because of the ongoing reviews.

• Elon Musk says he plays on remaining as Twitter’s CEO until he can find someone willing to replace him in the job.

• Two train employees were injured in Tennessee when a train hit a semi-truck that was sitting on the tracks waiting for a traffic light to change.

• Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a one-day strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk.

• In sports, the top two teams in the NBA's Western Conference battled, the Knicks won again, the NHL's Metropolitan leaders met and the Suns were sold.

On the original version of Hot off the Wire (posted Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. CT):

• The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee is meeting to vote on whether to publicly release years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
• Former Texas police officer Aaron Dean, who was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home in 2019, has been sentenced to 11 years and 10 months in prison.
• A day ahead of the onset of winter, a large swath of the U.S. is bracing for a potentially deadly weather trifecta — dangerously cold temperatures, howling winds and a significant winter storm.
• A California judge has rejected a new murder trial for Scott Peterson. The decision Tuesday comes nearly 20 years after Peterson was charged with dumping the bodies of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the unborn child they planned to name Conner into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002.
• Two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the San Francisco Giants postponed a news conference Tuesday to introduce Carlos Correa after a medical concern arose during the All-Star shortstop’s physical.
• A German court has convicted a 97-year-old woman of being an accessory to murder for her role as a secretary to the SS commander of the Nazis' Stutthof concentration camp during World War II.
• A series of lawsuits beginning in South Carolina detail the alleged sexual abuse of at least 20 cheerleaders across six states.
• The Postal Service says it will sharply increase the number of electric-powered delivery trucks in its fleet and will go all-electric for new purchases starting in 2026.
• A Planned Parenthood affiliate says it has started teleconferences with off-site doctors for patients seeking medication abortions at one of its Kansas clinics.
• A judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by the defeated Republican candidate for Arizona governor, Kari Lake, but will allow her to call witnesses in an attempt to prove that she lost because of misconduct by election officials.

—The Associated Press