Vox Sentences - Brittney Griner is coming home

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Russia releases Brittney Griner in exchange for an arms dealer; Peru impeaches, arrests, and replaces its president.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Russia frees Brittney Griner in prison swap

Evgenia Novozhenina/AFP via Getty Images

• Russia released WNBA star Brittney Griner from prison Thursday in a prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout. [CBS News]
• To secure Griner’s return, President Joe Biden freed Bout, nicknamed the “merchant of death,” from a 25-year sentence for conspiring to kill Americans. [NBC News / Andrea Mitchell, Zoë Richards, and Yuliya Talmazan]
• Griner has been imprisoned since Russian authorities found cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage in February. She’d traveled to the country to play for a Russian team. [Washington Post]
• The deal does not include the release of American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who’s serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for spying charges the US denies. [Associated Press / Eric Tucker, Matthew Lee, and Zeke Miller]
• However, the Griner-Bout exchange could be a small step toward improving diplomatic ties between Russia and the US, which have soured over the invasion of Ukraine. [Vox / Jonathan Guyer]

Peru gets its first female president

• Dina Boluarte became Peru’s first female president on Wednesday after her predecessor Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested for violating the constitution. [CNN]
• Lawmakers voted 101 to 6 to impeach Castillo after he attempted to dissolve Congress and install an emergency government on the day they were set to weigh corruption allegations against him. [Washington Post / Kelsey Ables, Kim Bellware, and Adela Suliman]
• Leftist Castillo, a former school teacher, won a close election in 2021 on promises to nationalize Peru’s mining industry and rewrite the constitution, but has struggled to govern amid scandal and disagreements with Congress. [AP / Franklin Briceño and Joshua Goodman]
• Boluarte, the former vice president, will be the sixth person to lead the South American country in less than five years. [New York Times / Mitra Taj]

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The House of Representatives passed federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages on Thursday, sending the measure to President Biden for final approval. [Vox / Li Zhou]

• Disruptions in care related to the coronavirus pandemic resulted in an estimated additional 63,000 malaria deaths and 13 million infections worldwide in two years. [AP / Maria Cheng]
• Singer Celine Dion has postponed upcoming concerts due to stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes painful spasms. [CNN / Lisa Respers France]
• A Texas jury found ex-Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz guilty of capital murder for killing four women with gunshots to the head in 2018. [USA Today / Rick Jervis]

“She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home.” 

[President Joe Biden on Brittney Griner’s release / AP]

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