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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm your editor-in-chief John Bickley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe, co-hosting today.
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--:-- John Bickley: Hey, this is Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, December 8th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: WNBA star Brittany Greiner was freed from Russian captivity on Thursday in a prisoner exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer and international criminal Victor Bout known as the Merchant of Death.
--:-- John Bickley: Greiner was arrested in February at a Moscow airport after being caught with marijuana vaping materials and was sentenced in August to nine years in prison. U.S. diplomats had been working for her release since she was taken into custody.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The president addressed why other Americans, such as U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, were not part of the swap.
--:-- John Bickley: We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan. This was not a choice of which American to bring home. Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittany's. We are not giving up. We will never give up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: More than 1,000 union members at the New York Times walked off the job today in what is set to be a 24-hour strike. It's the first such union action in more than 40 years. Union members are demanding improved wages, more favorable remote work policies, as well as an updated employee evaluation system which they say currently allows for racial bias.
--:-- John Bickley: Topless sunbathing is now legal in Nantucket. The Massachusetts Attorney General approved an amendment passed in May by the residents of Nantucket legalizing topless beaches for both men and women.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A state judge has stopped a new Oregon law from taking effect that would create new barriers to purchasing firearms and ban the sale of any magazine larger than a 10-bullet clip. The judge says the new law violates Oregon's constitution.
--:-- John Bickley: Andrei Derkocz, a Russian-backed Ukrainian politician, faces up to 30 years in prison for fraudulently buying two properties in California in violation of U.S. sanctions. Derkocz was charged with seven criminal counts in an indictment unsealed this week. According to law enforcement officials in a press release, Derkocz was previously sanctioned for trying to influence the 2020 elections.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Peru's socialist president Pedro Castillo was arrested Wednesday after being impeached and removed from office for staging a coup to stay in power. During his first 16 months in office Castillo has faced six criminal investigations and three impeachment attempts including the one that removed him from power this week.
--:-- John Bickley: U prosecutors have reportedly opened a criminal investigation into whether disgraced FTX founder and major Democrat donor Sam Bankman committed financial crimes that led to the collapse of the company last month.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And iconic singer Celine Dion revealed Thursday that she is suffering from a rare disease that prevents her from currently performing. The singer says she has been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, or SPS, a progressive disease that leaves its victims as human statues who struggle to walk or talk. Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to.
--:-- John Bickley: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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