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☆ Paul Whelan's continued detention in Russia a 'catastrophe,' family says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia June 15, 2020. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release, we are not giving up. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, is serving 16 years in the Russian region of Mordovia on charges of espionage, which he denies. "So a basketball star is released, we can celebrate, but what about Paul Whelan? "We'll keep negotiating in good faith for Paul's release.

☆ 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.

☆ U.S. ex-Marine Whelan still in Russian custody, swap talks continue - lawyer, cited by Interfax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is still in Russian custody, his lawyer said on Thursday, adding that dialogue on a possible prisoner swap was continuing, the Interfax news agency reported. Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner had been traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a long-anticipated prisoner swap. Whelan was convicted in 2020 of spying, and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security jail. He denied all the charges. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on June 27, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty ImagesWNBA 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. Maxim Shemetov | ReutersGriner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner, will meet her there, 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.

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.

☆ Factbox: Paul Whelan, ex-U.S. Marine jailed in Russia on spying charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Here are some facts about Whelan:- Whelan was detained by agents from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room in Moscow's Metropol Hotel, near the Kremlin, on Dec. 28, 2018. - Whelan said he had been in Russia for a friend's wedding and had been given the drive in a sting by a Russian friend. - Whelan served with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003-2008, much of the time as an administrative clerk in Iraq. - At the time of his arrest, Whelan was head of global security for BorgWarner, a Michigan car parts supplier. - Last November, a Russian court rejected his request to be allowed to serve his sentence in the United States.

☆ U.S. detainee Whelan phones family after week of silence in Russia -statement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - American detainee Paul Whelan phoned his parents from Russia early on Friday, his brother said, the first contact since last week that occurred after the White House expressed deep concern. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia since 2018 and convicted on espionage charges in 2020, had been transferred to the hospital prison, his brother, David Whelan, said in a statement. On Wednesdsay, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the United States was "deeply concerned" about why they had not been able to get information on Whelan's whereabouts or condition from Moscow. Kirby addressed the issue after Whelan's family said this week that they had not heard from Paul since Nov. 23, but had seen reports he had been moved to the prison hospital. Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Georgia man arrested for shooting boy campaigning for Sen. Warnock in runoff election against Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A former U.S. Marine was arrested in Georgia for allegedly shooting a 15-year-old boy who was at his front door campaigning for Sen. Raphael Warnock in his runoff election with Republican challenger Herschel Walker. "At this point, there is no indication the shooting was politically motivated," Savannah Police said in a statement. Thursday's shooting of the boy, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries to his leg, came five days before the runoff between the Democratic incumbent Warnock and the former football star Walker. The accused shooter, Jimmy Paiz, 43, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery, both of which are felonies, police said. Officers found the 15-year-old boy, who had been shot in his leg.

☆ Family concerned about whereabouts of Whelan, American jailed in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The brother of Paul Whelan, an American jailed in Russia, said on Tuesday his family is concerned about his whereabouts after not hearing from him for days and unclear messages from the prison staff that he was moved to the prison hospital. David Whelan, the brother of Paul, said that the family does not definitely know where Paul is. David Whelan added that when transferred to the prison's hospital in the past, Paul had always mentioned the move in his phone calls. David Whelan said in an emailed statement, adding that Paul appeared healthy and well to the diplomats. David Whelan said that the family has not been in contact with the White House, just with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the State Department.

☆ 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.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Brittney Griner taken to penal colony in Russia's Mordovia region - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Filipp Lebedev | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoNov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia, a source familiar with the case told Reuters on Thursday. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony on drugs charges following her arrest at a Moscow airport in February with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She was moved from a detention centre near Moscow on Nov. 4 to be taken to an undisclosed prison location. Russian authorities have given no information on her whereabouts for nearly two weeks, but the source said she had been taken to Female Penal Colony IK-2 in Yavas, about 500 km (300 miles) southeast of Moscow. Inmates of Russian penal colonies are required to work long hours for meagre pay on tedious manual tasks such as sewing.

☆ Before his epic fall, Sam Bankman-Fried was hailed as a crypto genius. Some clients saw smoke and mirrors.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Gretchen Morgenson | Gretchen Morgenson Is The Senior Financial Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. A Former Stockbroker | She Won The Pulitzer Prize In For Her | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Until a few days ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was the king of crypto. “I’m sorry I didn’t do better,” Bankman-Fried said Tuesday in a message to investors reviewed by NBC News. The contentions of the people who spoke with NBC News are echoed in a 2019 lawsuit brought in federal court against FTX Alameda, Bankman-Fried and other executives. But the crypto market does not have the protections or price transparency found in listed stock markets, for example. FTX and Alameda, as a major crypto exchange and market maker, attracted crypto developers to list their projects for trading.

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was transferred last week from a detention center outside the Russian capital and is on her way to a penal colony, her legal team said on Wednesday. She was sentenced on Aug. 4 to nine years in a penal colony on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs. Griner had pleaded guilty but said she had made an "honest mistake" and had not meant to break the law. The souring of ties between Russia and the West has complicated the talks to secure Griner's release. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan, in an earlier statement, described Griner's conditions as "intolerable" and the trial she had to go through as "another sham judicial proceeding."

[1/2] A destroyed Russian T-72 tank is seen near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday announced an additional $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, including refurbishing T-72 tanks and missiles for HAWK air defense systems for Kyiv. Deputy Czech Defense Minister Tomas Kopecny told Reuters that in total 90 tanks from third parties and private stocks would be modernized. In October, Reuters first wrote about the initiative to furnish HAWK interceptor missiles to Ukraine. The Army replaced it with the MIM-104 Patriot, and the Marines shifted entirely to using smaller, more portable air defense systems.

Summary Griner faces penal colony after losing drugs appealIn Russian system, inmates made to work long hours for scant payThreat of harsh punishment for breaking trivial rulesLanguage barrier makes ordeal even harder for foreignersLONDON, Nov 3, (Reuters) - Tedious manual work, poor hygiene and lack of access to medical care - such are the conditions awaiting U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in a Russian penal colony after she lost her appeal last week against a nine-year drug sentence. The first thing to understand, Alyokhina said in an interview, is that a penal colony is no ordinary prison. The quite cynical thing about this work is that prisoners usually sew police uniforms and uniforms for the Russian army, almost without salary." A more recent penal colony detainee, Yelena, described a similar regime to that experienced by Alyokhina a decade ago. LANGUAGE BARRIERFor a foreigner with little or no Russian, it's harder to navigate the system and deal with the isolation.

☆ Former U.S. military pilot who worked in China arrested in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A former U.S. military pilot and flight instructor who ran an aviation consultancy in China is in custody in Australia awaiting an extradition request from his homeland on an undisclosed charge, officials said Wednesday. Australian Federal Police arrested him that day “pursuant to a request from the United States,” a police statement said. His move followed a report that up to 30 former British military pilots had been hired to train members of China’s People’s Liberation Army. He became an AV-8B Harrier fighter pilot and an instructor pilot during his service. It is not clear whether he continues to live in China or what he was doing in Orange when he was arrested.

☆ U.S. basketball star Griner's Russian appeal hearing adjourned until 1000 GMT
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner appears on a creen via video link from the detention centre before a court hearing to consider an appeal against her prison sentence, in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, Russia October 25, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaKRASNOGORSK, Russia, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Tuesday began hearing an appeal by U.S. WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner against her conviction and nine-year jail sentence for possession and smuggling of drugs, but promptly adjourned for two hours at her lawyers' request. They had previously said they expected a decision on Griner's appeal to be issued later on Tuesday, shortly after the hearing. Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. chargee d’affaires in Moscow, was present at Tuesday's appeal hearing. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Filipp Lebedev and Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Mark TrevelyanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoMOSCOW, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner "does not expect miracles" at her appeal hearing on Tuesday against a nine-year Russian jail term for having cannabis oil in her luggage, her lawyers said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the term," they said. Griner pleaded guilty at her trial but said she had made an "honest mistake" and not meant to break the law. Washington says Griner was wrongfully detained and has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (Reuters) - American WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, whose appeal against a Russian jail term is due to be heard next week, sent her supporters a message of thanks on Tuesday, her 32nd birthday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterGriner pleaded guilty at her trial but said she had made an "honest mistake" and not meant to break the law. "Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney," said Blagovolina, who is representing Griner in court. Washington says Griner was wrongfully detained and has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Filipp Lebedev; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. says it's raised concerns with Saudis over detention of U.S. citizen
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department confirmed that a Saudi-American citizen has been detained in Saudi Arabia, and said that Washington has repeatedly raised its concerns. Saudi Arabia in early October handed a 16-year prison sentence to Saudi-American Saad Ibrahim Almadi, the Washington Post reported late on Monday, over his tweets critical of the Saudi government. Almadi was charged with "harboring a terrorist ideology, trying to destabilise the Kingdom, as well as supporting and funding terrorism," the Post reported. The news come at a time when the Biden administration is looking to reevaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia, after OPEC+ oil producers announced oil production cuts over U.S. objections. Washington had not previously disclosed Almadi's detention, even though the Post reported that he was first detained last November when he was visiting Riyadh.

The family of a retired U.S. Marine believe he is on life support in a separatist-controlled hospital in Ukraine after he went to fight back the Russian invasion alongside the Ukrainian military. Grady Kurpasi, 50, traveled to Ukraine shortly after the war began in February to help with evacuations and train Ukrainian soldiers. Courtesy Don TurnerA State Department spokesperson said the agency was “aware of unconfirmed reports regarding a missing U.S. citizen in Ukraine. The center has brought up the retired Marine in recent discussions with the Russian government, a spokesperson confirmed. A retired Marine Corps officer, Kurpasi was adopted by an American couple from South Korea as a young child.

☆ Once a dystopian fantasy, manipulating sunlight to cool the earth is now on the White House research agenda
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

"The stratosphere is calm, and things stay up there for a long time," Parson told CNBC. That sulfur dioxide goes through other chemical reactions and eventually falls to the earth as sulfuric acid in rain. Known risks to people and the environmentThere are significant and well-known risks to some of these techniques — sulfur dioxide aerosol injection in particular. And spraying sulfur in the stratosphere would contribute in the bad direction to all of those effects," Parson told CNBC. His goal is "simply that we learn more and develop better mechanism[s] for governance," he told CNBC.

☆ 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.

☆ SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and Russian
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

A high-ranking official of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said shortly after the launch that the flight marked “a new phase of our cooperation” with the U.S. space agency NASA. The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Endurance, lifted off into clear skies at noon EDT (1600 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. As the spacecraft entered Earth orbit, Kikina radioed her thanks to NASA, Roscosmos and their International Space Station (ISS) partners for “giving us this great opportunity.”“We’re so glad to do it together,” Kikina said. The mission, designated Crew-5, marks the fifth full-fledged ISS crew NASA has flown aboard a SpaceX vehicle since the private rocket venture founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk began sending U.S. astronauts aloft in May 2020. Rounding out the crew from Japan’s space agency JAXA was veteran astronaut Koichi Wakata, 59, a robotics expert making his fifth voyage to space.

☆ North Korean missile launch raises alarm in Washington
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This latest North Korean missile test — the 23rd year to date — was different because it marked the first time in five years that a North Korean missile had been fired directly over Japan. The missile was fired late Monday, flying over Japan early on Tuesday morning before landing in the Pacific Ocean. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration responded on multiple levels Tuesday to North Korea's latest long-range ballistic missile launch, reaching out to allies in the region on diplomatic and military fronts, and at the leader level by U.S. President Joe Biden . In airspace over the Yellow Sea off the Korean peninsula, the U.S. and South Korea conducted joint aerial flight and precision targeting exercises on Tuesday in response to the missile launch. While the exercises Tuesday were held specifically in response to the latest missile launch, they also served to strengthen trilateral coordination in the face of a threat that keeps growing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

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