Biden makes unannounced visit to Kyiv; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins Daytona 500; TV detective Richard Belzer dies | Hot off the Wire podcast

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On this version of Hot off the Wire:

» President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Monday’s visit was a gesture of solidarity coming days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden delivered remarks and met with Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half-billion dollars in U.S. assistance and to reassure Ukraine of American and allied support as the conflict continues.

» New Orleans police say five people were shot, including a young girl, during a Mardi Gras parade.

» About 50,000 utility customers in the east San Francisco Bay Area were without power on Sunday afternoon. Oakland fire officials say a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation caused the outages.

» 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.

» Last year saw a record number of guns intercepted at airport checkpoints across the country. The numbers have been steadily climbing and hit 6,542 last year, according to the Transportation Safety Administration.

» In sports, the Daytona 500 needed extra laps to determine a winner, a Celtics star had a big night at the NBA All-Star Game, Jon Rahm continued his winning ways, the second and third ranked teams in men’s college basketball each won as did the top ranked team in women’s college hoops, and the Wild scored late to beat the Predators as part of a six game NHL slate.

» Richard Belzer, who played one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: SVU,” has died. The long-time stand-up comic was 78.

» Phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have gotten off to a rocky start, but Ant-Man is bigger than ever at the box office. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” opened with $104 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily surpassing the box-office debuts of the previous two Ant-Man films.

» Tom Sizemore is in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm, a representative for the actor said Sunday.

» Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and ’70s comedies who is perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewis’ affection in “The Nutty Professor,” has died. She was 84.

» Ben Affleck was promoting his movie “Air” at NBA All-Star weekend. It’s the story of how Nike signed a rookie named Michael Jordan in 1984 to what became an iconic deal. Jordan is not shown in the film. “Air” will be released April 5.