Shownotes
The West and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War on Thursday, releasing 26 individuals from seven countries. Russia released three U.S. citizens, including Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.
A New York state appeals court rejected former President Donald Trump's challenge to a gag order in his New York criminal case. This means Trump cannot comment publicly about individual prosecutors and others in the case until Justice Juan Merchan sentences him on Sept. 18.
The Israeli military said the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on July 13. Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.