PAUL WHELAN

Viktor Bout, whose wild exploits once inspired a Hollywood film starring Nicolas Cage, is serving a 25-year sentence in a U.S. prison.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has gone on trial in a Russian court on charges of possessing cannabis oil.

WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in a court near Moscow that ordered her trial on cannabis possession charges to begin Friday, about 4 1/2 months after she was arrested at an airport while returning to play for a Russian team.

Brittney Griner will have a place at the WNBA All-Star Game.

State Department officials have met with representatives of Brittney Griner’s WNBA team about the Phoenix Mercury star’s monthslong detention in Russia and the Biden administration’s efforts to secure her release.

Penny Taylor used her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame to call for the release of her former WNBA Phoenix Mercury teammate Brittney Griner, noting it’s been 114 days since the seven-time WNBA All-Star was detained.

WNBA star Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American locked up by a foreign country.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed 10 gun-related bills on Monday, making the state one of the first to enact legislation amid a wave of deadly mass shootings in the U.S. (June 6)

Brittney Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players to an account Griner’s agent set up to allow them to communicate with her.

UMM AL-QUWAIN, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The hulking, Soviet-era cargo plane has sat for decades under the blazing sun in a remote corner of the United Arab Emirates, its four jet engines silent after years in the employ of a Russian gunrunner known as the “Merchant of Death.” The emirate of Umm al-Quwain plans a $675 million development on a island just across a lagoon from the deactivated airport where Bout's plane sits.

The State Department said Tuesday that it still pushing to have regular contact with WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for nearly three months.

Relatives of American hostages and wrongful detainees are trying to get the Biden administration's attention in hopes of getting their loved ones home.

A series of factors helped pave the way for Trevor Reed's release from a Russian prison this week as part of a prisoner exchange.

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, who was detained at a Moscow airport after agents accused her of having of cannabis oil, remains in Russian custody.

Brittney Griner remains detained in Russia and it’s unclear how an unexpected prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia that freed marine veteran Trevor Reed will affect the status of the WNBA star.

Russia and the United States have exchanged prisoners.

WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American citizen known to be jailed by a foreign government.

The Phoenix Mercury are preparing for their WNBA season without teammate Brittney Griner.

A’ja Wilson wishes that she and her USA Basketball teammates could do more to help Brittney Griner right now.

Serhyi Malyshenkon displays medals awarded to him by the USSR for his military service – all now charred after his house in Yasnohorodka, Ukraine, was destroyed by Russian shelling. "This house never did anything wrong to anyone."

Two of Brittney Griner’s USA Basketball teammates have broken their silence on the star player’s imprisonment in Russia.

The U.S. State Department says a U.S. Embassy official has visited with WNBA star Brittney Griner, who remains detained near Moscow, to check on her condition.

The United States has demanded consular access to WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is faring well behind bars in Russia, according to a member of a Russian state-backed prison monitoring group.

The already challenging path to bringing home Americans jailed in Russia and Ukraine is even more complicated now with a war overwhelming the region and increasingly hostile relations between the United States and the Kremlin.

Families of American hostages and detainees say they're frustrated with the Justice Department over what they see as the agency's refusal to consider prisoner exchanges that could get their loved ones home.

The two-year case against Calvey further tainted Russia’s reputation for foreign investment and divided Moscow’s business community.

A Moscow court has rejected an imprisoned American’s appeal against his nine-year sentence for assaulting police officers.

Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed are imprisoned in Russia.

Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin of Russia spent more than three hours discussing issues Wednesday at their summit in Geneva.

Both families are calling on President Biden to help secure the release of Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.

Both families are calling on President Biden to help secure the release of Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.

There are growing concerns about one American who risks being left behind as the U.S. moves to withdraw its military from Afghanistan.

The Biden administration must determine how to handle that commitment. Frerichs' supporters are concerned that a drawdown of military personnel from Afghanistan leaves the U.S. without the leverage it needs to demand his release. AdThe State Department is offering $5 million for information leading to Frerichs' return. We will not stop working until we secure his safe return home,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. “You don’t leave Americans behind, and I just really want to make sure that he’s home safe.”AdBlinken told reporters Wednesday that the Biden administration wanted to take a detailed look at that deal, saying.

This image provided by Joey Reed, shows Trevor Reed and his mom Paula Reed in 2014 in Arlington, Texas. The parents of Trevor Reed spoke Monday to The Associated Press as a Russian court sentenced another American man to more than a decade in prison in an unrelated espionage case. They spoke out as a Russian court sentenced another American to more than a decade in prison in an unrelated espionage case. But instead of taking him for medical care, as the family says is standard protocol in Moscow, officers drove him to the police station. We would hope that Russian law is followed and due process is used in my sons case, Joey Reed said.

MOSCOW A Russian court on Monday sentenced an American businessman to 16 years in prison on spying charges, a sentence that he and his brother rejected as being political. The Moscow City Court read out the conviction of Paul Whelan on charges of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security prison colony. Whelan, who was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, has insisted on his innocence, saying he was set up. Whelan, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, denies the charges of spying for the U.S. that his lawyers said stem from a sting operation. Whelan has publicly complained of poor prison conditions in Russia and has said his life is in danger.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan speaks from inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, June 20, 2019. REUTERSMoscow A Russian court has upheld an earlier ruling allowing the extended detention of a former U.S. Marine jailed in Moscow on espionage charges. Moscow's appellate court rejected Paul Whelan's appeal Tuesday against the ruling last year that granted Russian authorities permission to keep him in custody until March 29, pending a trial. Paul Whelan, American accused of spying in Russia, to remain in prisonDays after he arrived in Russia, new U.S. Whelan's Russian lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said he and his team were almost done going over the case files with their client, all of which remain classified.

MOSCOW (CNN) - The US Embassy in Moscow on Friday formally requested "immediate" consular access to detained American citizen Paul Whelan over his allegations that he has been injured while in custody, according to embassy spokesperson Andrea Kalan. Whelan was detained in Russia late last year on espionage charges, an allegation he denies. At the end of the hearing at Moscow's Lefortovo court, the judge overseeing the case extended Whelan's detention until October 29. Friday's developments are the latest wrinkle in a case that has drawn international attention as questions persist over Whelan's treatment and the grounds of his arrest. The US Embassy first publicly protested Whelan's treatment in early July, and his family has said he needs more extensive medical care.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, speaks inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing to consider an appeal to extend his detention in Moscow, Russia June 20, 2019. REUTERSMoscow -- The U.S. Embassy in Moscow says the condition of an American man held on spying charges in Russia has worsened. The Embassy said on Twitter Monday that Russian authorities had rejected a request to send a doctor to examine Paul Whelan. U.S. intelligence sources say American jailed in Russia not a spyU.S. intelligence and State Department sources have told CBS News they're confident Whelan is not a spy. At the hearing in May during which his detention was extended, Whelan complained to reporters of alleged abuse in custody.