A Controversial Homecoming
Britney Giner Released from Russia’s Prison
American basketball player Britney Griner was released from Russia’s prison system on Thursday, December 8th. This stemmed from an agreement between the United States and Russia to facilitate a prison exchange. In exchange for Griner, the U.S. agreed to release convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout into Russia’s custody. Griner, who also played pro basketball in Russia was detained in an airport after authorities claimed she was carrying cannabis oil in a vape container. She was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison. The Biden Administration has been trying to negotiate Griner’s release since July. Griner is now back on U.S. soil with her loved ones.
Who is Viktor Bout?
Nicknamed the merchant of death, Viktor Bout is known as one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers. A former Soviet Army soldier, Bout had begun to traffic weapons and other goods to various regions throughout the world. After investigations and tracing, Bout was detained in Thailand in 2008 and expedited to the U.S. in 2010 where he was sentenced to a 25-year sentence.
Divisive reactions within the U.S.
While the consensus is happiness that Griner is home, there is division in the exchange itself. Many critics of the exchange argue that Bout was too high-value of a prisoner to give up for just Briner. The biggest outcry comes from the fact that the Biden Administration wasn’t able to include U.S Marine Paul Whelan’s release in the deal as well. The administration stated they tried to include Whelan but Russia refused to do so. Whelen’s family released a statement saying they were disappointed that Whelan was not included in the exchange but were happy that Griner was freed. President Biden spoke to Whelan’s family and assured them that they will not stop pursuing his freedom and return to the U.S.
Political Roundup
Warnock holds on in Georgia. Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock holds off Republican contender Herschel Walker to retain his senate seat. A run-off election was needed after neither candidate reached the 50% percentile during the original midterm election. With Warnock’s victory, the Democrats now hold a 51 caucus majority over the Republicans. Herschel became the last Trump-backed candidate to fall during this election cycle.
Sinema switches up on the Dems. Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced that she will be leaving the Democratic party and will register as an independent. This announcement sent shockwaves within the party as this now frames a tight senate map for the party. Sinema assured people that she has no plans to caucus with Republicans and she will be independent to reject broken party politics. Political strategists argue that this is a move to protect Sinema from having the Dems run a different candidate in a primary against her. By switching to independent, it is a bet that Dems won’t challenge her with the fear that a 3-ballot race will secure a win for the GOP. Senator Sinema has frequently faced criticism from both parties regarding her relationships with pharmaceutical companies and other corporations.
Haiti continues to fall into disarray under gang warfare. As Haiti continues to recover from natural disasters, political assassinations, and conflict with the Dominican Republic, local gangs have been able to sweep in and increase their control footprint. This comes at a time when the country is dealing with a Cholera outbreak which already killed 283 people. United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Ulrika Richardson warned that starvation is also a major issue within the region and the battle for territory with rival gangs only makes things worse and over 100,000 Haitians have been displaced.
Twitter Files: Rounds 2 - 4
After the first installment of the Twitter files via journalist Matt Taibbi, Elon hinted that journalist Bari Weiss would soon release more reporting on the ongoings of Twitter during the era of the prior regime. Author Michael Shellenberger also got in on the mix. Some takeaways from the latest Twitter files reporting:
Twitter had a “secret blacklist” and would limit the visibility and reach of certain accounts, topics, and other content. This is what many refer to as Shadow Banning. Per Weiss, Twitter had separate groups to handle certain accounts that were considered more high profile. Users were never notified if their account was indeed being suppressed.
Before ultimately removing former President Donald Trump’s account, there was several back and forths between Twitter employees on regarding the repercussions of banning a U.S President. Internal messages also showed communication between Twitter and the FBI and DHS.
There was an internal struggle between Twitter employees including former CEO Jack Dorsey on upholding policies and allowing every user opportunities to have their accounts restored.
Reporting so far has shown accounts owned by users who are considered conservative being the most affected.
As more reporting continues to come out, Elon has announced impending changes to Twitter. The company will be rolling out a function that will allow users to see if they were “shadowbanned” and why. Users will also be allowed to see how many people view their tweets similar to how you can see who watched the video you posted.
Other Headlines
Esteemed Journalist Grant Wahl dies at the World Cup. Many have called for an investigation as Wahl has criticized the operations of the event in Qatar multiple times.
Michael Avenatti has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for embezzling client money.
The FTC is suing Microsoft over its almost 70$ billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard setting up a legal showdown in 2023.
Musical artist SZA releases her highly anticipated album “SOS” released on Friday and is projected to deliver the singer her first #1 project.