Latest Paul Whelan News
Kremlin says Griner swap must be discussed without publicity
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Friday that it's open to talking about a possible prisoner exchange involving American basketball star Brittney Griner but strongly warned Washington against publicizing the issue. Griner, a two-time U.S. Olympic champion and an eight-time all-star...
Blinken: China military drills are 'significant escalation'
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that China's military exercises aimed at Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan's exclusive economic zone, represent a “significant escalation” and that he has urged Beijing to back down. China...
WNBA's Griner convicted at drug trial, sentenced to 9 years
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted Thursday in Russia of drug possession and smuggling and was sentenced to nine years behind bars in a politically charged case that could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow. ...
EXPLAINER: What will it take to get Brittney Griner home?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that WNBA star Brittney Griner has been convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison, attention turns to the prospect of a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia that could get her home. Secretary of State Antony Blinken went...
Reactions to Brittney Griner's conviction, 9-year sentence
WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling Thursday. Here are reactions from around the basketball and political realms: ___ “Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence...
Myanmar violence, Ukraine war loom over ASEAN meetings
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers are gathering in the Cambodian capital for meetings addressing persisting violence in Myanmar and other issues, joined by top diplomats from the United States, China, Russia and other world powers amid tensions over the invasion of...
Brittney Griner back in Russian court on cannabis charge
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner was back in court on Tuesday for her trial for cannabis possession amid U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure her release. During the hearing, prosecutors called a state narcotics expert who analyzed cannabis found in...
Brittney Griner's trial resumes amid intensified diplomacy
MOSCOW (AP) — Since Brittney Griner last appeared in her trial for cannabis possession, the question of her fate has expanded from a tiny, cramped courtroom on Moscow's outskirts to the highest level of Russia-U.S. diplomacy. The WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist returns...
Russia, Ukraine trade blame for deadly attack on POW prison
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war captured after the fall of Mariupol, the city where troops famously held out against a monthslong...
Isolation complication? US finds it's hard to shun Russia
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration likes to say Russia has become isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet Moscow's top officials have hardly been cloistered in the Kremlin. And now, even the U.S. Is talking to them. Russian President Vladimir Putin...
