Americans kidnapped in Mexico; Biden’s bid faces some Democratic resistance; nations agree to protect marine life | Hot off the Wire podcast

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On this version of Hot off the Wire:

» The FBI says four U.S. citizens have been kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros.

» A flight to Florida from Cuba was forced to turn back Sunday after it struck birds that caused an engine to catch fire and filled the cabin with smoke.

» The Great Lakes region and parts of Pennsylvania will get hit by more snow today. Meanwhile, it will be 86 in Palm Springs, Florida.

» Authorities in Ohio say there is no indication of any risk to public health from the derailment of a Norfolk Southern cargo train between Dayton and Columbus, the second derailment of a company train in the state in a month.

» Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says he ordered police to crack down on illegal firearms and private armies and described as “terrifying” the weekend shootings that killed a provincial governor and eight others.

» Bulgarian health authorities say that 2.8 million of expired COVID-19 doses will be destroyed this year in addition to 2.3 million doses that have already been scrapped.

» Democrats across New Hampshire are upset with President Joe Biden for undermining their state’s status as home to the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. But their concerns about Biden run much deeper, in line with a majority of Democratic voters nationwide, who oppose the 80-year-old president’s plans to launch his reelection campaign.

» In sports, top-ranked Houston won a close one in men’s college basketball while the fifth ranked team also post a win, the South Carolina women’s basketball team earned some hardware, the Knicks won again while the Bucks improved on their NBA-best record, the Golden Knights recently acquired goaltender had a successful debut, Kurt Kitayama earned his first PGA tour win, NASCAR raced in Las Vegas, and a Big 12 conference head men’s basketball coach was suspended. 

» Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a fierce critic of Donald Trump, says he won’t run for the White House in 2024, after long positioning himself as a possible alternative to the ex-president.

» For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas, concluding two weeks of talks in New York.

» In entertainment news, actor Tim Sizemore died, Chris Rock had a live standup special on Netflix, John Mellancamp will donate his memorabilia to Indiana University and “Creed III” topped the box office this weekend.