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☆ Video shows Brittney Griner touching down on US soil after being released from Russian custody
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russia on Thursday after nine months in custody. Griner was released from Russian custody in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyA video shows the moment WNBA star Brittney Griner touched down on US soil after nine months in Russian custody. US officials who met Griner upon her arrival told CNN that she was "in good spirits and incredibly gracious." Roger Carstens, a State Department official who was traveling with Griner, tweeted on Friday morning: "So happy to have Brittney back on US soil.

☆ Biden chose humanity over geopolitics with Griner release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But President Joe Biden’s decision to exchange WNBA star Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout goes beyond the exchange’s bottom line. And it prompted top Republicans to charge that he had prioritized a basketball superstar over an ex-marine who benefited from a vocal political pressure campaign on Biden. This adds another layer of complication for Biden as he seeks to get Whelan free, since it involves another government and would require German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to potentially agree to supersede his country’s own legal system. While Biden is being castigated by some political opponents in Washington for doing a bad deal, administration officials insisted that he got the best one on offer. It was a choice between bringing home one particular American, Brittney Griner, or bringing home none,” a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Thursday's release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in exchange for a convicted Russian arms dealer has resurfaced an old question: Do prisoner swaps do more harm than good? The details of Griner's release highlight the painful trade-offs confronting the Biden administration. In one such case in 2016, North Korea detained American college student Otto Warmbier during a dispute with the international community over that country's missile launches. Many of the families argue that the U.S. should be willing negotiate and discount the argument that prisoner swaps lead more countries to grab Americans. Those hard choices meant Washington could either leave Whelan in Russian custody or else return empty-handed after months of negotiations.

☆ Senior officials argued that Viktor Bout's release in exchange for Brittney Griner would be a mistake, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

WNBA star Brittney Griner was swapped for arms dealer Viktor Bout on Thursday. Her release marked the end of prolonged and agonizing negotiations for Biden, CNN reported. Some senior officials told Biden they thought Russia was getting the better deal, the outlet said. But some senior law enforcement officials told Biden prior to his decision that Bout was too notorious of a figure to release in exchange for Griner, whose offense was only minor, one official told CNN. Her release marked the end of prolonged and agonizing negotiations for Biden, CNN reported.

☆ Viktor Bout, Russian Traded for Brittney Griner, Was Notorious Arms Trafficker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Georgi Kantchev | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” was released to Russia in a swap for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday, capping his decadeslong path from being one of the most notorious arms traffickers to spending years behind bars in the U.S.“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a post on Telegram as other Russian officials cheered his release.

"Grateful for the long-overdue release of Brittney Griner today from Russian custody. "Thank you to every single person that kept Brittney Griner’s name alive #WEAREBG," tweeted one of her Phoenix Mercury teammates, Brianna Turner. The Biden administration wasn't able to secure Whelan's release because the Russian government is treating his case differently than Griner's, Biden said. “While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said. Share this -Link copiedWho is Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer that the U.S. exchanged for Brittney Griner?

☆ WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap between the U.S. and Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | Andrea Mitchell | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

WASHINGTON — WNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return. The entrance to the Russian penal colony IK-2 on Nov. 19, 2022, where Griner began serving her sentence. The Biden administration has faced tremendous pressure to help bring home the 6-foot-9 Houston native. Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP fileGriner’s release is the second publicly known U.S. prisoner swap with Russia since the war in Ukraine started.

In the 2005 Nicolas Cage movie “Lord of War,” the character loosely based on Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout evades his American law enforcement pursuers, apparently saved by the CIA. Now he is on his way back to Russia after a high-profile prisoner exchange that saw WNBA star Brittney Griner free early Thursday. Under federal sentencing rules, Bout could have been released from prison in five years. Bout, a former Soviet military officer who became rich as an arms dealer, has always maintained his innocence. His U.S. lawyer, Steve Zissou, says the whole operation was unfair, because Bout had been retired and living in Moscow.

☆ Who Is Viktor Bout? The ‘Merchant of Death’ Russian Arms Dealer Swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( James Hookway | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A former Soviet air-force officer, Viktor Bout had been regarded as one of the world’s leading arms traffickers when U.S. agents helped arrest him in a sting operation in Bangkok in 2008. Critics called him one of the world’s most effective arms traders and he was rumored to have been the inspiration for the Hollywood movie “Lord of War.” Suspected clients included Liberia’s Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi . He has spent more than a decade in a U.S. prison, to which he had been sentenced after being convicted of trying to sell weapons to Colombian rebels. Russian authorities had long tried to secure his release, finally achieving their goal in a prisoner exchange with Brittney Griner , the WNBA star who had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool//File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, ending what he called months of "hell." The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer. The swap took place at the Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies said. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, along with Griner's wife, Cherelle. For experts on the Russian security services, Moscow's lasting interest in Bout hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties.

With winter approaching at the penal colony where Griner was being held, Biden faced a singularly presidential decision. Griner’s wife, who arrived in Washington on Wednesday, was invited to an early morning meeting at the White House set for Thursday. Cherelle Griner waited at the White House for a short period of time before it became clear the planned meeting with Sullivan had shifted. The White House described her suffering “intolerable circumstances” during her detention. At the White House, Biden met with Griner’s wife for the first time to show her the letter he was sending in response.

☆ Biden administration brings WNBA star Brittany Griner home for the holidays after 10 months in Russian custody
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration is bringing WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for 10 months, home for the holidays after months of negotiation. "She is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home," U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday. Cherelle Griner was present and able to speak with Brittney when Biden made the call from the Oval Office. Notably absent from the swap was another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, who has been in Russian custody since 2018. "We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan," Biden said.

☆ Viktor Bout: The Russian arms dealer swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Brittney Griner’s freedom ultimately hinged on the release of a convicted Russian arms dealer whose life story inspired a Hollywood film. On Thursday, a source told CNN that the US basketball star had been released from Russian detention in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” by his accuser. Viktor Bout is pictured in a temporary cell ahead of a hearing at a court in Bangkok in August 2010. Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images“His early days are a mystery,” Douglas Farah, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center who co-authored a book on Bout, told CNN in 2010. He said that Bout graduated from the Military Institute on Foreign Languages, a well-known feeder school for Russian military intelligence.

On the surface, Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout are accused of ludicrously different crimes. Bout’s outsized importance to Russia has always been the bigger puzzle. I have seen videos of Bout in the Congo and across Africa, where he was pretty close to the conflicts there. There were suggestions too that he had served alongside senior Russians who are now close to President Vladimir Putin. This is a man who many ordinary Russians may have heard of, and he certainly is of mythological importance to the Russian elite.

Griner arrived in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi by private plane from Moscow as Bout was flown in on a private plane from Washington. Bout, nicknamed the "merchant of death," embraced a Russian official who greeted him and smiled broadly as he was led away. A joint UAE-Saudi statement said the UAE president and Saudi crown prince led mediation efforts that secured Griner's release. Griner was exchanged for Bout, a onetime Russian weapons dealer who had been convicted in the United States and imprisoned for 10 years. During the prisoner swap, Griner was met on the tarmac in UAE by chief U.S. hostage negotiator Roger Carstens.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. Russia got the jailed arms dealer back from the United States on Thursday after exchanging imprisoned U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for him at Abu Dhabi airport. His notoriety was such that his life helped inspire a Hollywood film, 2005’s Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Viktor Bout, the arms dealer Russia has swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was freed from jail in Russia on Thursday in exchange for the release of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States, according to U.S. and Russian officials. He became notorious for his willingness to arm almost anyone, from militias in Sierra Leone, to Charles Taylor's brutal Liberian regime, to the Taliban. He has said he attended a Moscow language institute that serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. - In 2012, he was given a 25-year prison sentence by a U.S. court on multiple charges related to his arms dealing career. Russia has always proclaimed his innocence, describing his case as a glaring injustice and attempting to secure his release.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who could be swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Russia wants the jailed arms dealer back in Moscow and is discussing a prisoner swap with the United States that could see him exchanged for Americans imprisoned in Russia including basketball star Brittney Griner. Reed was ultimately freed in return for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States on drug trafficking charges. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. In interviews, Bout has said he attended Moscow's Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Russia hopes it can make a prisoner swap with the United States that would include convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death", a deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying on Friday. Amid the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Russia and the United States are exploring a prisoner swap that would see imprisoned Americans including basketball star Brittney Griner return to the United States in exchange for Bout. "The Americans are showing some external activity, we are working professionally through a special channel designed for this," Ryabkov said. "Viktor Bout is among those who are being discussed, and we certainly count on a positive result." The possible swap includes Griner, facing nine years behind bars in Russia after being convicted on drug charges, and Paul Whelan who is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia after being convicted of espionage charges that he denies.

☆ Christian monastery possibly pre-dating Islam found in UAE
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

An ancient Christian monastery possibly dating as far back as the years before Islam spread across the Arabian Peninsula has been discovered on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, officials announced Thursday. The monastery on Siniyah Island, part of the sand-dune sheikhdom of Umm al-Quwain, sheds new light on the history of early Christianity along the shores of the Persian Gulf. On one, to the island’s northeast, archaeologists discovered the monastery. Viewed from above, the monastery on Siniyah Island’s floor plan suggests early Christian worshippers prayed within a single-aisle church at the monastery. Power said that development spurred the archaeological work that discovered the monastery.

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☆ Russian envoy to U.S. says he visited convicted arms dealer Bout in prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks during a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim ZmeyevOct 13 (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said early on Thursday he had visited Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States and linked to a possible swap for two U.S. citizens imprisoned by Moscow. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said the United States had consular access to Griner since early August. He said that he even began to forget some Russian words a bit, because there is no one to talk to," RIA cited Antonov as saying. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Block's Cash App Pay expands to outside retailers and payment processors as company targets 'superapp' status
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Ann Gehan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Cash App has expanded its Cash App Pay feature beyond the Square network for the first time. Cash App has taken another step toward becoming a "superapp" by extending its Cash App Pay feature to more e-commerce merchants and an additional payments processor, the company told Insider. With Cash App Pay, users can make online purchases using their Cash App balance by selecting the payment option at checkout on a retailer's website. Retailers including American Eagle, Aerie, and JD Sports will now adopt Cash App Pay as an option for e-commerce payments. There's upside for Cash App as well — by expanding Cash App Pay's availability, Cash App can reach more users, as well as strengthen engagement with existing ones.

☆ Petal 1 Visa credit card review: You don't need a credit history to qualify, and it earns 2% to 10% cash back at select merchants
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-09 | by ( Tessa Campbell | Personal Finance Reviews Fellow | Read More | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card issued by WebBank, is an option for those looking to build their credit history. Read our review Read Our Review A looong arrow, pointing rightReview: Is the Petal 1 Visa credit card the best card for you? The Petal 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card, is designed for those with bad, limited, or even no credit history. Read our review Read Our Review A looong arrow, pointing rightPetal 1 credit card fees and costsThe Petal 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card has no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. You also can't withdraw cash at ATMs using the Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card.

☆ Elon Musk says US should 'free some people in jail for weed here too' after Biden, reports say, offered to swap a Russian arms dealer for imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-31 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk responded to reports of a US-Russia prisoner exchange to free WNBA player Brittney Griner. "Maybe free some people in jail for weed here too?" Musk tweeted alongside a meme on Sunday. "Maybe free some people in jail for weed here too?" Musk wrote in Sunday's tweet, alongside a meme captioned, "People in the US in jail for weed while the government trades a Russian war criminal to free a woman's basketball player in jail for weed."

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