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☆ 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.

☆ Paul Whelan tells CNN he is 'disappointed' that more has not been done to secure his release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Washington CNN —Detained American Paul Whelan expressed his frustration that more has not been done to secure his release in an exclusive CNN interview hours after another detained American, Brittney Griner, was freed. It was a choice between bringing home one particular American – Brittney Griner – or bringing home none,” a US senior administration official said Thursday morning. Elizabeth Whelan said she believes the Russians wanted to deny Biden a win by releasing both of the American wrongful detainees. Elizabeth Whelan also told CNN that she does not believe her brother knows the extent of the efforts to free him, noting the family has to be careful what they tell him because they assume the Russian authorities are listening. Asked if he thought he would face repercussions for speaking to CNN, Whelan said he didn’t think so.

☆ US-China meeting in Bali lays groundwork for stronger economic ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

That helps explain why expectations for Monday’s meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit were set so low. But to the surprise of many, the meeting featured televised images of smiling officials, handshakes, and a commitment to reopening lines of communication on urgent global issues. Analysts said the meeting could lay the groundwork for stronger ties between the world’s top economic powerhouses. Speaking after the three-hour meeting, Biden described it as an “open and candid” discussion, saying he planned to manage the China relationship “responsibly.”“We’re going to compete vigorously, but I’m not looking for conflict,” Biden told reporters. “The meeting met or exceeded the low expectations set by the Biden administration and was a mild positive for global stability,” he said.

CNN —The United States is in “deep” talks with India over its reliance on Russian arms and energy, a US State Department official said Tuesday, in a development that could further isolate Moscow on the international stage. “India is heavily, heavily dependent on Russia, and that’s something that they did to themselves over some 40 years: first their military and then their energy dependence,” the official said. The State Department official’s comments came hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an escalation of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, calling for the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens. Annual India-US trade is more than $110 billion, compared to about $8 billion for India’s trade with Russia. India is also a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue alongside the US, Japan and Australia.

☆ Suellen Tennyson: American nun held hostage in Burkina Faso is released with help of US forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-01 | by ( Barbara Starr Jennifer Hansler Katie Bo Lillis Ellie Kaufman | Barbara Starr | Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —An 83-year-old American nun from Louisiana who was held hostage by terrorists in Burkina Faso for almost five months was released on Monday. Sister Suellen Tennyson was released from the custody of terrorists to Nigeriens (Niger borders Burkina Faso) then turned over to US officials, a US official with knowledge of the situation said. US Africa Command personnel “facilitated the safe turnover,” of the American citizen from the terrorists, Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Pietrack, US Africa Command spokesperson told CNN in a statement. US Africa Command worked with “African and international partners” in order to secure Tennyson’s release, Pietrack said in the statement.

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