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Brittney Griner got to Phoenix right when Diana Taurasi was ready for her. By the time Griner met her in 2013, Taurasi had been the brash, bucket-getting face of the WNBA for nearly a decade, winning two championships and putting the Phoenix Mercury on the map…
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Brendon Kleen
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WNBA star Brittney Griner is expecting a child with her wife Cherelle.
The US Sun reports the couple is only three months away from welcoming their newborn.
On Saturday, April 3, the pair took to Instagram to announce that they are expecting a bundle of joy. Their due date is only a few months away.
Their shared caption read, “Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being #BabyGrinercomingSoon #July2024.”
This will be Brittney’s third child. She shares twins with her ex-wife and WNBA player, Glory Johnson. They were birthed in 2015. However, the athletes ended their marriage the following year.
The 33-year-old married Cherelle four years later in 2019.
Their supporters were excited to hear the news.
@liljo09 commented under their announcement, “Congrats! Amazing! Mini Griner homie.”
“Congrats ! We pray we are blessed with a little one this year !! Blessings to yu both to a pair of some of the greatest parents to be,” @transmission.detailing added.
@joyannreed wrote, “Such an amazing blessing.”
The Phoenix Mercury is entering her 11th WNBA season. The baller has never played for another team and just signed a contract for another season. This is for good reason. Brittney is predicted to enter the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, per The Sun.
Not only is Griner a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, but she has also been an All-Star eight times. She made a powerful return to the WNBA after she was imprisoned in Russia. Brittney was detained for smuggling drugs from February to December 2022. Less than a gram of hash oil was in her vape cartridge.
After re-entering the women’s league, she averaged 17.5 points and 2.2 assists per game. Additionally, she brought in 6.5 rebounds each match-up.
Looks like things continue to get brighter for Britt. Congrats to the happy couple!
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Carmen Jones
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CNN
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Here’s a look at some recent cases of foreign governments detaining US citizens. For information about missing Americans, see Robert Levinson Fast Facts or POW/MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts.
Afghanistan
Ryan Corbett
August 2022 – Corbett, a businessman whose family lived in Afghanistan for more than a decade prior to the collapse of the Afghan government, returns to Afghanistan on a 10 day trip. Roughly one week into his visit, he was asked to come in for questioning by the local police. Corbett, his German colleague, and two local staff members were all detained. All but Corbett are eventually released. The Taliban has acknowledged holding Corbett, and he has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.
China
Mark Swidan
November 13, 2012 – Swidan, a businessman from Texas, is arrested on drug related charges by Chinese Police while in his hotel room in Dongguan.
2013 – Swidan is tried and pleads not guilty.
2019 – Convicted of manufacturing and trafficking drugs by the Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court in southern Guangdong province and given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.
April 13, 2023 – The Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court denies Swidan’s appeal and upholds his death penalty.
Kai Li
September 2016 – Kai Li, a naturalized US citizen born in China, is detained while visiting relatives in Shanghai.
July 2018 – He is sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage following a secret trial held in August 2017.
Iran
Karan Vafadari
December 2016 – Karan Vafadari’s family announces that Karan and his wife, Afarin Niasari, were detained at Tehran airport in July. Vafadari, an Iranian-American, and Niasari, a green-card holder, ran an art gallery in Tehran.
March 2017 – New charges of “attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic and recruiting spies through foreign embassies” are brought against Vafadari and Niasari.
January 2018 – Vafadari is sentenced to 27 years in prison. Niasari is sentenced to 16 years.
July 2018 – Vafadari and Niasari are reportedly released from prison on bail while they await their appeals court rulings.
Russia
Paul Whelan
December 28, 2018 – Paul Whelan, from Michigan, a retired Marine and corporate security director, is arrested on accusations of spying. His family says he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.
January 3, 2019 – His lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, tells CNN Whalen has been formally charged with espionage.
January 22, 2019 – At his pretrial hearing, Whelan is denied bail. Whelan’s attorney Zherebenkov tells CNN that Whelan was found in possession of classified material when he was arrested in Moscow.
June 15, 2020 – Whelan is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
August 8, 2021 – State news agency TASS reports that Whelan has been released from solitary confinement in the Mordovian penal colony where he is being held.
Evan Gershkovich
March 30, 2023 – Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. The Wall Street Journal rejects the spying allegations.
April 3, 2023 – The Russian state news agency TASS reports Gershkovich has filed an appeal against his arrest.
April 7, 2023 – Gershkovich is formally charged with espionage.
April 10, 2023 – The US State Department officially designates Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia.
April 18, 2023 – The Moscow City Court denies his appeal to change the terms of his detention. Gershkovich will continue to be held in a pre-trial detention center at the notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29.
Saudi Arabia
Walid Fitaihi
November 2017 – Dual US-Saudi citizen Dr. Walid Fitaihi is detained at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh along with other prominent Saudis, according to his lawyer Howard Cooper. Fitaihi is then transferred to prison.
July 2019 – Fitaihi is released on bond.
December 8, 2020 – Fitaihi is sentenced to six years in prison for charges including obtaining US citizenship without permission.
January 14, 2021 – A Saudi appeals court upholds Fitaihi’s conviction but reduces his sentence to 3.2 years and suspends his remaining prison term. Fitaihi still faces a travel ban and frozen assets.
Syria
Austin Tice
August 2012 – Tice disappears while reporting near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged that they have Tice in their custody.
September 2012 – A 43-second video emerges online that shows Tice in the captivity of what his family describe as an “unusual group of apparent jihadists.”
Majd Kamalmaz
February 2017 – Kamalmaz is detained at a checkpoint in Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged Kamalmaz is in its custody.
Cuba
Alan Gross
December 2009 – Alan Gross is jailed while working as a subcontractor on a US Agency for International Development project aimed at spreading democracy. His actions are deemed illegal by Cuban authorities. He is accused of trying to set up illegal internet connections on the island. Gross says he was trying to help connect the Jewish community to the internet and was not a threat to the government.
March 12, 2011 – Gross is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the Cuban state.
April 11, 2014 – Ends a hunger strike that he launched the previous week in an effort to get the United States and Cuba to resolve his case.
December 17, 2014 – Gross is released as part of a deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in US policy toward the island.
Egypt
16 American NGO Employees
December 2011 – Egyptian authorities carry out 17 raids on the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations. The Egyptian general prosecutor’s office claims the raids were part of an investigation into allegations the groups had received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a proper license.
February 5, 2012 – Forty-three people face prosecution in an Egyptian criminal court on charges of illegal foreign funding as part of an ongoing crackdown on NGOs. Among the American defendants is Sam LaHood, International Republican Institute country director and the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
February 15, 2012 – The US State Department confirms there are 16 Americans being held, not 19 as the Egyptian government announced.
February 20, 2012 – South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Arizona Senator John McCain meet with top Egyptian military and political leaders in Cairo.
March 1, 2012 – Some of the 43 detainees including American, Norwegian, German, Serbian and Palestinian activists leave Cairo after each post two-million Egyptian pounds bail.
April 20, 2012 – CNN is told Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans involved in the NGO trial.
June 4, 2013 – An Egyptian court sentences the NGO workers: 27 workers in absentia to five-year sentences, 11 to one-year suspended jail sentences, and five others to two-year sentences that were not suspended, according to state-run newspaper Al Ahram. Only one American has remained in Egypt to fight the charges, but he also left after the court announced his conviction.
Iran
UC-Berkeley Grads
July 31, 2009 – Three graduates from the University of California at Berkeley, Sarah Shourd of Oakland, California, Shane Bauer, of Emeryville, California, and Joshua Fattal, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, are detained in Iran after hiking along the unmarked Iran-Iraq border in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.
August 11, 2009 – Iran sends formal notification to the Swiss ambassador that the three American hikers have been detained. Switzerland represents the United States diplomatic interests in Iran since the United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations.
October 2009 – The Iranian government allows a Swiss diplomat to visit the hikers at Evin Prison.
November 9, 2009 – Iran charges the three with espionage.
March 9, 2010 – The families of the three detained hikers speak by phone to the hikers for the first time since they were jailed.
May 20, 2010 – The detainees’ mothers are allowed to visit their children.
May 21, 2010 – The mothers are allowed a second visit, and the detained hikers speak publicly for the first time at a government-controlled news conference.
August 5, 2010 – Reports surface that Shourd is being denied medical treatment.
September 14, 2010 – Shourd is released on humanitarian grounds on $500,000 bail.
September 19, 2010 – Shourd speaks publicly to the press in New York.
November 27, 2010 – Two days after Thanksgiving, Fattal and Bauer are allowed to call home for the second time. Each call lasts about five minutes.
February 6, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer’s trial begins. Shourd has not responded to a court summons to return to stand trial.
May 4, 2011 – Shourd announces she will not return to Tehran to face espionage charges.
August 20, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer each receive five years for spying and three years for illegal entry, according to state-run TV. They have 20 days to appeal.
September 14, 2011 – A Western diplomat tells CNN an Omani official is en route to Tehran to help negotiate the release of Fattal and Bauer. Oman helped secure the release of Shourd in 2010.
September 21, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer are released from prison on bail of $500,000 each and their sentences are commuted. On September 25, they arrive back in the United States.
Saeed Abedini
September 26, 2012 – According to the American Center for Law and Justice, Saeed Abedini, an American Christian pastor who was born in Iran and lives in Idaho, is detained in Iran. The group says that Abedini’s charges stem from his conversion to Christianity from Islam 13 years ago and his activities with home churches in Iran.
January 2013 – Abedini is sentenced to eight years in prison, on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.
January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Abedini, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.
Amir Mirzaei Hekmati
August 2011 – Amir Mirzaei Hekmati travels to Iran to visit relatives and gets detained by authorities, according to his family. His arrest isn’t made public for months.
December 17, 2011 – Iran’s Intelligence Ministry claims to have arrested an Iranian-American working as a CIA agent, according to state-run Press TV.
December 18, 2011 – Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency broadcasts a video in which a young man says his name is Hekmati, and that he joined the US Marine Corps and worked with Iraqi officers.
December 19, 2011 – The US State Department confirms the identity of the man detained in Iran and calls for his immediate release.
December 20, 2011 – Hekmati’s family says that he was arrested in August while visiting relatives in Iran. The family asserts that they remained quiet about the arrest at the urging of Iranian officials who promised his release.
December 27, 2011 – Hekmati’s trial begins in Iran. Prosecutors accuse Hekmati of entering Iran with the intention of infiltrating the country’s intelligence system in order to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorist activities, according to the Fars news agency.
January 9, 2012 – An Iranian news agency reports that Hekmati is convicted of “working for an enemy country,” as well as membership in the CIA and “efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism.” He is sentenced to death.
March 5, 2012 – An Iranian court dismisses a lower court’s death sentence for Hekmati and orders a retrial. He remains in prison.
September 2013 – In a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, Hekmati says that his confession was obtained under duress.
April 11, 2014 – Hekmati’s sister tells CNN that Hekmati has been convicted in Iran by a secret court of “practical collaboration with the US government” and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Hekmati, Abedini, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.
Jason Rezaian
July 24, 2014 – The Washington Post reports that its Tehran correspondent and Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two freelance journalists were detained on July 22, 2014. An Iranian official confirmed to CNN that the group is being held by authorities.
July 29, 2014 – Iran releases one of three people detained alongside Rezaian, a source close to the family of the released detainee tells CNN. The released detainee is the husband of an Iranian-American photojournalist who remains in custody with Rezaian and his wife, according to the source.
August 20, 2014 – The Washington Post reports the photojournalist detained with Rezaian in July has been released. At her family’s request, the Post declines to publish her name.
October 6, 2014 – According to the Washington Post, Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, has been released on bail.
December 6, 2014 – During a 10-hour court session in Tehran, Rezaian is officially charged with unspecified crimes, according to the newspaper.
April 20, 2015 – According the Washington Post, Rezaian is being charged with espionage and other serious crimes including “collaborating with a hostile government” and “propaganda against the establishment.”
October 11, 2015 – Iran’s state media reports that Rezaian has been found guilty, but no details are provided about his conviction or his sentence. His trial reportedly took place between May and August.
November 22, 2015 – An Iranian court sentences Rezaian to prison. The length of the sentence is not specified.
January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Rezaian, Hekmati, and Abedini, in exchange for the clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.
May 1, 2018 – Joins CNN as a global affairs analyst.
Reza “Robin” Shahini
July 11, 2016 – San Diego resident Reza “Robin” Shahini is arrested while visiting family in Gorgan, Iran. Shahini is a dual US-Iranian citizen.
October 2016 – Shahini is sentenced to 18 years in prison.
February 15, 2017 – Goes on a hunger strike to protest his sentence.
April 3, 2017 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran says Shahini has been released on bail while he awaits the ruling of the appeals court.
July 2018 – A civil lawsuit filed against the Iranian government on Shahini’s behalf indicates that Shahini has returned to the United States.
Xiyue Wang
July 16, 2017 – The semi-official news agency Fars News, citing a video statement from Iranian judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejheie, reports that a US citizen has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of spying. Princeton University identifies the man as Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, an American citizen and graduate student in history. According to a university statement, Wang was arrested in Iran last summer while doing scholarly research in connection with his Ph.D. dissertation.
December 7, 2019 – The White House announces that Wang has been released and is returning to the United States. Iran released Wang in a prisoner swap, in coordination with the United States freeing an Iranian scientist named Massoud Soleimani.
Michael White
January 8, 2019 – Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, tells CNN she reported him missing when he failed to return to work in California in July, after traveling to Iran to visit his girlfriend.
January 9, 2019 – Bahram Ghasemi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, says White “was arrested in the city of Mashhad a while ago, and within a few days after his arrest the US government was informed of the arrest through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.” Ghasemi denies allegations that White, a US Navy veteran, has been mistreated in prison.
March 2019 – White is handed a 13-year prison sentence on charges of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and for publicly posting private images, according to his attorney Mark Zaid.
March 19, 2020 – White is released into the custody of the Swiss Embassy on medical furlough. One condition of his release is that he must stay in Iran.
June 4, 2020 – White is released, according to White’s mother and a person familiar with the negotiations.
Baquer and Siamak Namazi
October 2015 – Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual US and Iranian citizenship, is detained while visiting relatives in Tehran.
February 2016 – Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official and father of Siamak Namazi, is detained, his wife Effie Namazi says on Facebook. He is an Iranian-American.
October 2016 – The men are sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $4.8 million, according to Iran’s official news channel IRINN. Iran officials say five people were convicted and sentenced for “cooperating with Iran’s enemies,” a government euphemism that usually implies cooperating with the United States.
January 28, 2018 – Baquer Namazi is granted a four-day leave by the Iranian government, after being discharged from an Iranian hospital. Namazi’s family say the 81-year-old was rushed to the hospital on January 15 after a severe drop in his blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat and serious depletion of energy. This was the fourth time Namazi had been transferred to a hospital in the last year. In September, he underwent emergency heart surgery to install a pacemaker.
February 2018 – Baquer Namazi is released on temporary medical furlough.
February 2020 – Iran’s Revolutionary Court commutes Baquer Namazi’s sentence to time served and the travel ban on him is lifted.
May 2020 – According to the family, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) places a new travel ban on Baquer Namazi, preventing him from leaving the country.
October 26, 2021 – Baquer Namazi undergoes surgery to clear a “life-threatening blockage in one of the main arteries to his brain, which was discovered late last month,” his lawyer says in a statement.
October 1, 2022 – Baquer Namazi is released from detention and is permitted to leave Iran “to seek medical treatment abroad,” according to a statement from UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
March 9, 2023 – Siamak Namazi makes a plea to President Joe Biden to put the “liberty of innocent Americans above politics” and ramp up efforts to secure his release, in an interview with CNN from inside Iran’s Evin prison.
September 18, 2023 – Siamak Namazi is freed, along with four other Americans as part of a wider deal that includes the United States unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds.
North Korea
Kenneth Bae
December 11, 2012 – US officials confirm that American citizen Kenneth Bae has been detained in North Korea for over a month.
April 30, 2013 – North Korea’s Supreme Court sentences Bae to 15 years of hard labor for “hostile acts” against the country.
October 11, 2013 – Bae meets with his mother in North Korea.
January 20, 2014 – A statement is released in which Bae says that he had committed a “serious crime” against North Korea. Any statement made by Bae in captivity is sanctioned by the North Korean government. The country has a long history of forcing false confessions.
February 7, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae has been moved from a hospital to a labor camp.
November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae and Matthew Miller have been released and are on their way home.
Jeffrey Fowle
June 6, 2014 – North Korea announces it has detained US citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who entered the country as a tourist in April. Fowle was part of a tour group and was detained in mid-May after leaving a bible in a restaurant.
June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Fowle and another detained American tourist, Matthew Miller, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”
October 21, 2014 – A senior State Department official tells CNN that Fowle has been released and is on his way home.
Aijalon Gomes
January 25, 2010 – Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, is detained in North Korea after crossing into the country illegally from China.
April 7, 2010 – He is sentenced to eight years of hard labor and ordered to pay a fine of 70 million North Korean won or approximately $600,000.
July 10, 2010 – Gomes is hospitalized after attempting to commit suicide.
August 25-27, 2010 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in North Korea, with hopes of negotiating for Gomes’ release.
August 27, 2010 – Carter and Gomes leave Pyongyang after Gomes is granted amnesty for humanitarian purposes.
Kim Dong Chul
October 2015 – Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized American citizen, is taken into custody after allegedly meeting a source to obtain a USB stick and camera used to gather military secrets. In January 2016, Kim is given permission to speak with CNN by North Korean officials and asks that the United States or South Korea rescue him.
March 25, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has confessed to espionage charges.
April 29, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for subversion and espionage.
May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Kim Hak-song
May 7, 2017 – The state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that US citizen Kim Hak-song was detained in North Korea on May 6 on suspicion of “hostile acts” against the regime. The regime describes Kim as “a man who was doing business in relation to the operation of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.”
May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Hak-song, Kim Dong Chul and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Kim Sang Duk
April 22, 2017 – US citizen Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, is detained by authorities at Pyongyang International Airport for unknown reasons. Kim taught for several weeks at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
May 3, 2017 – State-run Korean Central News Agency reports that Kim is accused of attempting to overthrow the government.
May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong Chul appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Euna Lee and Laura Ling
March 2009 – Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling are arrested while reporting from the border between North Korea and China for California-based Current Media.
June 4, 2009 – They are sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.
August 4, 2009 – Former US President Bill Clinton travels to Pyongyang on a private humanitarian mission to help secure their release.
August 5, 2009 – Lee and Ling are pardoned and released.
Matthew Miller
April 25, 2014 – North Korea’s news agency reports that Matthew Todd Miller was taken into custody on April 10. According to KCNA, Miller entered North Korea seeking asylum and tour up his tourist visa.
June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Miller and another detained American tourist, Jeffrey Fowle, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”
September 14, 2014 – According to state-run media, Miller is convicted of committing “acts hostile” to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor.
November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces Miller and Kenneth Bae have been released and are on their way home.
Merrill Newman
October 26, 2013 – Merrill Newman of Palo Alto, California, is detained in North Korea, according to his family. Just minutes before his plane is to depart, Newman is removed from the flight by North Korean authorities, his family says.
November 22, 2013 – The US State Department says North Korea has confirmed to Swedish diplomats that it is holding an American citizen. The State Department has declined to confirm the identity of the citizen, citing privacy issues, but the family of Newman says the Korean War veteran and retired financial consultant has been detained since October.
November 30, 2013 – KCNA reports Newman issued an apology to the people of North Korea, “After I killed so many civilians and (North Korean) soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people.” His statement ends: “If I go back to (the) USA, I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading.”
December 7, 2013 – Newman returns to the United States, arriving at San Francisco International Airport. North Korea’s state news agency reports Newman was released for “humanitarian” reasons.
Eddie Yong Su Jun
April 14, 2011 – The KCNA reports that US citizen Eddie Yong Su Jun was arrested in November 2010 and has been under investigation for committing a crime against North Korea. No details are provided on the alleged crime.
May 27, 2011 – Following a visit from the US delegation which includes the special envoy for North Korean human rights, Robert King, and the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Jon Brause, to North Korea, Yong Su Jun is released.
Otto Frederick Warmbier
January 2, 2016 – Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia college student, is detained in North Korea after being accused of a “hostile act” against the government.
February 29, 2016 – The North Korean government releases a video of Warmbier apologizing for committing, in his own words, “the crime of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel.” It is not known if Warmbier was forced to speak.
March 16, 2016 – Warmbier is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state, a North Korean official tells CNN.
June 13, 2017 – Warmbier is transported back to the United States via medevac flight to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. There, doctors say that he has suffered severe brain damage. Doctors say Warmbier shows no current signs of botulism, which North Korean officials claim he contracted after his trial.
June 19, 2017 – Warmbier’s family issues a statement that he has died.
April 26, 2018 – Warmbier’s parents file a wrongful death lawsuit against the North Korean government charging that the country’s regime tortured and killed their son, according to lawyers for the family.
December 24, 2018 – A federal judge in Washington awards Warmbier’s parents more than half a billion dollars in the wrongful death suit against the North Korean government. North Korea did not respond to the lawsuit – the opinion was rendered as a so-called “default judgment” – and the country has no free assets in the US for which the family could make a claim.
Russia
Trevor Reed
2019 – While visiting a longtime girlfriend, Trevor Reed is taken into custody after a night of heavy drinking according to state-run news agency TASS and Reed’s family. Police tell state-run news agency RIA-Novosti that Reed was involved in an altercation with two women and a police unit that arrived at the scene following complaints of a disturbance. Police allege Reed resisted arrest, attacked the driver, hit another policeman, caused the car to swerve by grabbing the wheel and created a hazardous situation on the road, RIA stated.
July 30, 2020 – Reed is sentenced to nine years in prison for endangering “life and health” of Russian police officers.
April 1, 2021 – The parents of Reed reveal that their son served as a Marine presidential guard under the Obama administration – a fact they believe led Russia to target him.
April 27, 2022 – Reed is released in a prisoner swap.
June 14, 2022 – Reed tells CNN that he has filed a petition with the United Nations (UN), declaring that Russia violated international law with his detention and poor treatment.
Brittney Griner
February 17, 2022 – Two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and WBNA star Brittney Griner is taken into custody following a customs screening at Sheremetyevo Airport. Russian authorities said Griner had cannabis oil in her luggage and accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance, an offense the Russian government says is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
July 7, 2022 – Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in a Russian court.
August 4, 2022 – Griner is found guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent and sentenced by a Russian court to 9 years of jail time with a fine of one million rubles (roughly $16,400).
October 25, 2022 – At an appeal hearing, a Russian judge leaves Griner’s verdict in place, upholding her conviction on drug smuggling charges and reducing only slightly her nine-year prison sentence.
November 9, 2022 – Griner’s attorney tells CNN she is being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of her sentence.
December 8, 2022 – US President Biden announces that Griner has been released from Russian detention and is on her way home.
Turkey
Serkan Golge
July 2016 – While on vacation in Turkey, Serkan Golge is arrested and accused of having links to the Gulenist movement. Golge is a 37-year-old NASA physicist who holds dual Turkish-US citizenship.
February 8, 2018 – Golge is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
September 2018 – A Turkish court reduces Golge’s prison sentence to five years.
May 29, 2019 – The State Department announces that Golge has been released.
Andrew Brunson
October 2016 – Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native, is arrested in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, where he is pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson, an evangelical Presbyterian pastor, is later charged with plotting to overthrow the Turkish government, disrupting the constitutional order and espionage.
March 2018 – A formal indictment charges Brunson with espionage and having links to terrorist organizations.
October 12, 2018 – Brunson is sentenced to three years and one month in prison but is released based on time served.
Venezuela
Timothy Hallett Tracy
April 24, 2013 – Timothy Hallett Tracy, of Los Angeles, is arrested at the Caracas airport, according to Reporters Without Borders. Tracy traveled to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country.
April 25, 2013 – In a televised address, newly elected President Nicolas Maduro says he ordered the arrest of Tracy for “financing violent groups.”
April 27, 2013 – Tracy is formally charged with conspiracy, association for criminal purposes and use of a false document.
June 5, 2013 – Tracy is released from prison and expelled from Venezuela.
Joshua Holt
May 26, 2018 – Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife, Thamara Holt, are released by Venezuela. The two had been imprisoned there since 2016. The American traveled to Venezuela to marry Thamara in 2016, and shortly afterward was accused by the Venezuelan government of stockpiling weapons and attempting to destabilize the government. He was held for almost two years with no trial.
“Citgo 6”
November 2017 – After arriving in Caracas, Venezuela, for an impromptu business meeting, Tomeu Vadell and five other Citgo executives – Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira – are arrested and detained on embezzlement and corruption charges. Citgo is the US subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil and natural gas company PDVSA. Five of the six men are US citizens; one is a US legal permanent resident.
December 2019 – The “Citgo 6” are transferred from the detention facility, where they have been held without trial for more than two years, to house arrest.
February 5, 2020 – They are moved from house arrest into prison, hours after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met with US President Donald Trump
July 30, 2020 – Two of the men – Cárdenas and Toledo – are released on house arrest after a humanitarian visit to Caracas by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and a team of non-government negotiators.
November 27, 2020 – The six oil executives are found guilty and are given sentences between 8 to 13 years in prison.
April 30, 2021 – The men are released from prison to house arrest.
October 16, 2021 – The “Citgo 6,” all under house arrest, are picked up by the country’s intelligence service SEBIN, just hours after the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian financier close to Maduro.
March 8, 2022 – Cardenas is one of two detainees released from prison. The other, Jorge Alberto Fernandez, a Cuban-US dual citizen detained in Venezuela since February 2021, was accused of terrorism for carrying a small domestic drone. The releases take place after a quiet trip to Caracas by a US government delegation.
October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Toledo, Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, and Pereira.
Matthew Heath
September 2020 – Is arrested and charged with terrorism in Venezuela.
June 20, 2022 – Family of Heath state that he has attempted suicide. “We are aware of reports that a US citizen was hospitalized in Venezuela,” a State Department spokesperson says. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”
October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Heath.
Airan Berry and Luke Denman
May 4, 2020 – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove him. Madura identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. On state television, Maduro brandishes what he claims are the US passports and driver’s licenses of the two men, along with what he says are their ID cards for Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company.
May 5, 2020 – Denman appears on Venezuelan state TV. He is shown looking directly at the camera recounting his role in “helping Venezuelans take back control of their country.”
August 7, 2020 – Prosecutors announce that Berry and Denman have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
December 20, 2023 – It is announced that the US has reached an agreement to secure the release of 10 Americans, including Berry and Denman, held in Venezuela.
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American Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges that he and the U.S. government have long dismissed as spurious, has made a rare appearance in a video broadcast by Russian state media. In a piece aired Monday by the Kremlin-backed Russia Today (RT) network, Whelan is seen in black overalls and a black hat in a penal colony in the Mordovia region.
The former U.S. Marine was arrested in Russia in 2018 and convicted in 2020 on espionage charges, which he denies. He’s served nearly five years of his 16-year sentence.
Russian state media
Sitting at a sewing machine, the bespectacled U.S. national is approached by an RT reporter for an interview:
“Sir, you understand when I say that I can’t do an interview, which means that I can’t answer any questions,” Whelan tells the reporter. He is later pictured in the prison yard talking to fellow inmates and eating in the cafeteria.
“Today was the first time I’ve seen what he really looks like since June 2020,” Whelan’s brother David Whelan said in a statement seen by CBS News. “So thank you, Russia Today, because although your reporting is the worst sort of propaganda and you are the mouthpiece for war criminals, at least I could see what Paul looks like after all of these years.”
David said in the emailed statement that when his brother declined a previous interview request from RT in May, “prison staff retaliated against him after he didn’t participate.”
“I wish I could see Paul under better circumstances. But it was good to see him again and to see the fight remains in his eyes,” wrote his brother. “It is good to know Paul remains unbowed.”
The Biden administration has classified Whelan as being “wrongfully detained” by Russia.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with the imprisoned Whelan in mid-August, telling him to “keep the faith” and promising that the U.S. government was “doing everything we can to bring you home as soon as possible,” according to a source familiar with the call who spoke with CBS News.
The call came after U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was allowed to meet with another American detained in Russia, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, at Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison. Tracy said Gershkovich “continues to appear in good health and remains strong, despite his circumstances,” according to a State Department spokesperson.
The ambassador last visited Gershkovich, who was arrested on unsubstantiated espionage charges, in July, after months of protests by the U.S. that diplomatic officials were being denied access to him. Gershkovich, his employer and U.S. officials have dismissed the charges against him as baseless, too.
The U.S. has been trying to negotiate the release of Whelan and Gershkovich, whom the U.S. has also designated as being wrongfully detained, but national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in July that the discussions “have not produced a clear pathway to a resolution.”
President Biden said last month that he was “serious” about pursuing a prisoner exchange when asked about Gershkovich’s detention in Russia.
“I’m serious about doing all we can to free Americans being illegally held in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter, and that process is underway,” Mr. Biden told reporters during a news conference in Helsinki, Finland.
The U.S. carried out prisoner swaps with Russia in 2022 to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who were both wrongfully detained in Russia after Whelan’s arrest.
Whelan and his family have voiced concern that he could be left behind again as the U.S. also seeks the release of Gershkovich.
Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the U.S. State Department, said in June that a phone call from Whelan after Griner’s release was “one of the toughest phone calls” he has ever had.
“At 9:30 in the morning, Paul Whelan called me from Russia. He was allowed to make a phone call and I had to spend 30 minutes on the phone telling him what happened and why we were unable to get him out at that time,” Carstens said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.
“And I said, ‘Paul, the Russians gave us one deal. It was Brittney, or no one,’” Carstens said. “‘There was no opportunity to get you out. And we’re not going to stop. My foot is on the gas pedal. We’re going 110 miles an hour. We will not relent until we bring you home.’”
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Washington — The top hostage negotiator for the United States described a conversation he had with Paul Whelan, who the U.S. says is wrongfully detained in Russia, as “one of the toughest phone calls” he has ever had.
Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department, said Wednesday that Whelan called him hours after WNBA star Brittney Griner was released in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia.
“At 9:30 in the morning, Paul Whelan called me from Russia. He was allowed to make a phone call and I had to spend 30 minutes on the phone telling him what happened and why we were unable to get him out at that time,” Carstens told NBC News’ Tom Llamas at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.
“And I said, ‘Paul, the Russians gave us one deal. It was Brittney, or no one. There was no opportunity to get you out. And we’re not going to stop. My foot is on the gas pedal. We’re going 110 miles an hour. We will not relent until we bring you home,’” Carstens said. “And Paul said something that really struck me, he said, ‘This is a great day for Brittney Griner, this is a great day for Brittney’s family and it’s a great day for the United States of America.’ And I’ve always been moved by his strength and resilience. We’re going to find a way to get Paul home and I regret that it’s taking this long.”
Whelan has been detained in Russia since December 2018 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage charges, which the U.S. and Whelan’s family vehemently deny.
He has watched as the U.S. has made prisoner swaps for the release of Griner and Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who were both wrongfully detained in Russia after Whelan’s arrest.
As the U.S. now seeks the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is also designated as wrongfully detained, Whelan and his family have voiced concern that he could be left behind again.
“I have been told that I won’t be left behind, and I have been told that although Evan’s case is a priority, mine is also a priority, and people are cognizant of the fact that this is having an extremely negative impact on me and my family,” Whelan told CNN in May.
In an email update last week, his brother David Whelan said he worries about Paul’s “morale and his ability to survive” until the end of his prison sentence. The email noted that Flora, the family’s elderly golden retriever who “meant so much to Paul” and was “important to Paul’s morale,” had died.
“It is another hard blow for him to have to absorb, another part of his life stolen from him by the Kremlin, which has already taken his job, his home and his freedom,” he said.
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NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA is working with Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury on travel options including charter flights going forward.
Griner’s travel was back in the spotlight last week when the team took a flight to Texas and then Indiana, requiring Griner and her Mercury teammates to go through commercial airports. While going through a Dallas airport last Saturday, the All-Star center who had been detained in Russia for nearly 10 months was harassed by what the WNBA called a “provocateur.”
The league doesn’t allow teams to use charter flights except for when they have back-to-back games.
Many teams have been using public charter airline JSX. Those flights are allowed by the WNBA with certain protocols in place, including that teams fly on the 30-seat planes using preset routes and times.
The Mercury flew to their first road game in Los Angeles on JSX and took the airline to Dallas. There wasn’t a standard flight available on the airline from Dallas to Indianapolis, which was why Griner was on the commercial flight.
Questions remain about who would pay for it if the WNBA allows Griner to fly privately. And also if the league allows Phoenix to use JSX to fly to any of the other 11 cities that teams play in by creating their own flights, how other teams would view that since it would give the Mercury a potential competitive advantage.
The league said Griner’s security has been an ongoing concern since before the season began. League officials were talking with Mercury officials and the seven-time All-Star’s representatives about how to protect Griner and her teammates following the highly publicized legal case, during which she was jailed in Russia on drug charges before being freed in December in a prisoner exchange.
The league granted Griner permission to book her own charter flights before the season started.
“We’re just working with Phoenix to make sure we have a good plan going forward,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Friday on ESPN, “certainly for Brittney and for the rest of the Phoenix Mercury.”
The executive director of the WNBA players’ union talked to Griner on Thursday and said she was frustrated.
“She said, ‘We knew this was going to happen,’” Terri Jackson said. “She said: ‘Terri, I read the mail that comes to my locker. It’s fan mail, but it’s also a lot of hate mail.’”
The Mercury currently are on a two-game road trip to Washington and New York. Griner didn’t play in Friday’s loss to the Mystics because of a hip injury.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
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An “inappropriate and unfortunate” incident took place at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday involving Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and her teammates, the WBNA said in a statement.
“As we gather additional information about today’s incident at the Dallas Airport, it has come to our attention that this was orchestrated by a social media figure and provocateur. His actions were inappropriate and unfortunate,” the WBNA said, without elaborating upon the identity of the social media personality.
Phoenix Mercury confirmed that an “incident took place” at the airport.
The details of the incident were not immediately clear, although far-right activist Alex Stein posted a video on Twitter in response to the WBNA’s statement that showed him accosting Griner at an airport.
“She hates America,” the video showed Stein saying loudly as the WBNA All-Star walked by.
Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, retweeted the video, writing, “One of the saddest, most pathetic ironies here is this man, threatening women in an airport for clicks, is in fact, doing his best Putin impression by trying to sow racial and political divide between Americans.”
The incident came a little over one year after Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport and detained for 10 months on drug-related charges. She was freed in December during a prisoner swap in the United Arab Emirates.
Phoenix Mercury forward Brianna Turner on Saturday alleged there had been “excessive harassment” during the team’s travel.
“Player safety while traveling should be at the forefront. People following with cameras saying wild remarks is never acceptable,” Turner wrote on Twitter, adding, “Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about.”
Colas blamed the incident on Griner and WBNA players’ advocacy for a “better, more inclusive and less divided America.”
The situation at the airport was a “calculated confrontation” that left Griner and her teammates feeling “very unsafe,” the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, the union for WBNA players, said in a statement.
The solution to such threats is to allow teams to fly on chartered planes, the WNBPA said, emphasizing that “the matter of charter travel is NOT a ‘competitive advantage’ issue.”
The Bring Our Families Home campaign, an advocacy group that supports American hostages and detainees, tweeted its support for Griner.
“What happened today is unacceptable and especially when targeted towards a former hostage and wrongful detainee,” the campaign wrote.
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DALLAS (AP) — Brittney Griner and her Phoenix Mercury teammates were confronted by a “provocateur” at a Dallas airport on Saturday.
The WNBA said in a statement it was looking into the team’s run-in with a “social media figure” whose “actions were inappropriate and unfortunate.”
“The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority,” the league said, without specifying what exactly happened.
Before the season started, the league had discussed with Griner’s representatives and the Mercury security concerns when the All-Star center traveled for road games after she returned from detainment in Russia. The thought was that the highly publicized case compromised her and others’ safety. The league granted Griner permission to book her own charter flights.
The WNBA added charter flights for the playoffs this season, but only a handful of back-to-back regular-season games were scheduled for such flights.
WNBA teams have flown commercially during the regular season since the league’s inception in 1997. The league typically doesn’t allow teams to charter because it could create a competitive advantage for teams who can afford to pay for them.
“Prior to the season, the WNBA worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG’s team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times,” the league’s statement reads. “We remain steadfastly committed to the highest standards of security for players.”
Mercury player Brianna Turner said in a tweet people at the airport followed the team with cameras “saying wild remarks.”
“Excessive harassment,” Turner tweeted. “Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.”
A Twitter user posted a video that appears to show a part of the confrontation where the individual asks questions of Griner about “why she hates America?”
The Bring Our Families Home Campaign, an advocacy group that works to bring home Americans who are held hostage or detained in foreign countries, issued a statement condemning the incident.
“Accosting a recently returned hostage like this is unacceptable, and we urge social media companies to prohibit the monetization of any resulting content. Our Campaign stands with Brittney, her teammates, and the Phoenix Mercury,” the organization said.
Griner has been warmly received by crowds at home in Phoenix and on the road. This past week, she played two games in her home state of Texas and the team was headed to Indianapolis to face the Fever on Sunday.
Michael Gonzales via Getty Images
Still, Saturday’s incident left many calling for change in flights for the Mercury and teams around the league.
Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, said on social media, after the incident, that she feels that all teams need to charter flights.
“Brittney Griner and the WNBA players are leaders who inspire hope for a better, more inclusive and less divided America,” Kagawa Colas said. “They are celebrated for the ways their activism inspires positive change. In doing that, they also become targets for hate, threats and violence. And today’s incident is a clear reminder of that. We cannot celebrate these women and their leadership without also protecting them. It’s past time for charters and enhanced security measures for all players.”
The WNBA players’ union issued a statement Saturday, saying the situation at the airport makes it “quite clear that the matter of charter travel is NOT a ‘competitive advantage’ issue.”
“What BG and all of her PHX teammates experienced today was a calculated confrontation that left them feeling very unsafe,” the WNBPA statement reads. “Everyone who was paying attention knew this would happen.”
The Mercury released a statement saying the team will be working with the league on next steps.
“We are committed to our support of BG and advocating for all American hostages abroad,” the team statement reads. “We will continue our support of marginalized communities and fighting the kind of hate that targeted us today. No one, regardless of identity, should ever fear for their safety.”
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brittney Griner had 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots Friday night in her first WNBA regular-season game since being jailed in Russia. Her Phoenix Mercury lost to the Los Angeles Sparks 94-71 in the teams’ opener.
“Not good enough, didn’t get the dub,” Griner said afterward.
She made an immediate impact. She fired a pass to Moriah Jefferson, who hit a 3-pointer for Phoenix’s first basket. Griner grabbed a couple of rebounds and scored twice in helping the Mercury to an early lead.
“How good did she just look? Unbelievable,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at halftime, when the Sparks led 45-39.
Griner played 25 minutes and spent the last several on the bench with the Mercury getting routed.
For the first time since last season, Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard opened her pregame comments without announcing how many days Griner had been jailed.
Griner has been free since December when she was part of a high-profile prisoner swap.
“Until the day we got the news in the morning that she was on her way home, no one thought that it was going to happen,” Nygaard said. “We did our jobs probably with less joy than professional athletes do. It was heavy every day.”
“Today is a day of joy,” Nygaard said. “An amazing, amazing thing has happened.”
Griner and the Mercury were greeted with a standing ovation when they came on court for pregame warmups, although the biggest cheers were reserved for the Sparks.
“Just taking it in but staying focused because at the end of the day I’m at work,” Griner said. “Can’t get caught up in the moment. Kind of feel it, but put it to the side and feel it a little bit later.”
Griner hugged Vice President Kamala Harris and first gentleman Doug Emhoff as they left the court after Harris was presented with a No. 49 Sparks jersey. Earlier, Harris posed for photos in the Mercury’s locker room.
“It was nice to be able to see her face-to-face and thank her for everything,” Griner said.
She patted her heart and applauded in return during a brief video welcoming her back to the WNBA.
“It was nice to be back on the court for a real game,” she said. “The love from the fans when we came out was amazing. I definitely feel it.”
Griner scored 10 points in 17 minutes in an exhibition loss to the Sparks last week. It was the 32-year-old center’s first game action since she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
“We brought back this Black, gay woman from a Russian jail and America did that because they valued her and she’s a female athlete and they valued her,” Nygaard said.
“Just to be part of a group that values people at that level, it makes me very proud to be an American. Maybe there’s other people that that doesn’t make them proud, but for me, I see BG and I see hope and I see the future and I have young children and it makes me really hopeful about our country,” the coach said.
Fans arriving early to Crypto.com Arena wore T-shirts with Griner’s name and jersey number on them. The 6-foot-9 Griner stopped to photo-bomb a group of young girls posing courtside before the game.
Billie Jean King and wife Ilana Kloss, who are part-owners of the Sparks, were on hand for the opener, as was Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, Byron Scott, Robert Horry, Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham and South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley.
Since her release, Griner has used her platform to advocate for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013.
“She stands for so many people, so many different kind of people who can be undervalued in our society,” Nygaard said. “She stands with pride and confidence and has never once has shied away from who she is.”
Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.
“She’s an amazing person on and off the court,” Phoenix guard Moriah Jefferson said. “I think her energy just inspires everybody every single day to show up and be the best version of themselves.”
With all that has happened off the court, it’s easy to forget Griner had arguably her best season in 2021. She finished second in the MVP voting after averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game. She was a major reason the Mercury reached the WNBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Sky.
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Griner shined her way down the red carpet in a champagne suit and matching turtleneck, both custom-designed by Calvin Klein. At her side, wife Cherelle wore a chic white column dress with diamond accessories.
The event marked a major moment for the couple, who wed in 2019.
Cherelle Griner told Vogue she felt beyond blessed to be with her spouse, saying, “This time last year, I was missing my wife, so to have her right here, to be in this moment—breathtaking.”
Griner was returned to the U.S. in a prisoner swap late last year, nearly 10 months after she was arrested at the Moscow airport for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
The WNBA pro spoke to reporters about her extended detention for the first time in late April.
“I’m no stranger to hard times,” an emotional Griner told the press. “Just digging deep. You’re going to be faced with adversities in life. This was a pretty big one. I just relied on my hard work to get through it.”
The star is currently writing a memoir about what she called her “unfathomable” experience that is set to be published by Alfred A. Knopf in the spring of 2024.
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CNN
—
Brittney Griner said during a press conference on Thursday that she’ll “never go overseas again” to play basketball unless it’s for the Olympics after being detained in Russia.
The two-time Olympic gold-medalist spent nearly 300 days in Russian custody following her detention in February 2022 and was sentenced to nine years in prison under drug-smuggling charges after authorities in the country found cannabis oil in her luggage.
She was released in December last year in a prisoner exchange with Russia.
Griner had for years played on a Russian women’s basketball team during the WNBA off-season and was detained in a Moscow airport as she traveled back to the US.
The 32-year-old said many women’s players go overseas for the pay and that she wouldn’t criticize anyone for doing that, though Griner hopes the WNBA will continue to grow and that there will be change.
“If I make that (US) team, that would be the only time I’ll leave the US soil and that’s just to represent the USA,” Griner said. “The whole reason a lot of us go over is the pay gap.
“A lot of us go over there to make an income, to support out families, to support ourselves. So I don’t knock any player that wants to go overseas and want to make a little bit extra money.
“But I’m hoping that our league continues to grow and with as many people in here now covering this I hope you continue to cover our league and bring exposure to us.”
Griner began her press conference by thanking the media for its coverage while she was detained in Russia and for the exposure it provided to help her get back to the US.
The Phoenix Mercury star was moved to tears by the opening question, but quickly composed herself.
“I’m not stranger to hard times,” Griner told reporters with a crack in her voice. “Just digging deep, honestly.
“You’re going to be faced with adversities throughout your life, this was a pretty big one, but I just kind of relied on my hard work, getting through it.
“I know this sounds so small but dying in practice and just hard workouts, you find a way to just grind it out, just put your head down and keep going and keep moving forward.
“You can never stand still and that was my thing; just never be still, never get too focused on the now and looking forward to what’s to come.”
Griner said that during her detention there was sometimes a little bit of a delay in getting news but that she was aware of what was going on.
The knowledge that people were fighting for her “definitely made me a little bit more comfortable” and gave Griner “hope.” She urged those who remain wrongfully detained to “stay strong.”
Griner said that she had no doubt about whether or not she would return to the WNBA this season. She signed a one year deal with the Mercury in February.
“I believe in me,” Griner said. “I believe in what I can do. I know if I put my mind to it I can achieve any goal.
“I’m not trying to sound big-headed, but I bet on me. I have all the resources here to help me get to that point where I can play, and it was no question to be back in the WNBA, back in Phoenix playing.”
The Mercury play their first preseason game on May 9 with the WNBA season beginning on May 19.
Phoenix play their first game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Griner explained that during the times where she had almost lost hope all together, pictures of her family helped get her through.
“Just being able to see their faces, that did it for me. … You know what you’re waiting on,” Griner said. “You’re waiting to be back with your family.”
Griner said the mental health assistance she had received before she was detained in Russia “helped a lot.”
“I’ve always promoted speaking to a counselor, seeking therapy, any tool that will help you get to a good center place. And I’m still doing that as of right now.
“That’ll never change. So much goes on in this world, we exposed to so much on social media that is just a lot.”
Griner was asked if she felt a burden for coming home before others who have been wrongfully detained.
“If I could have went and got them out or any of that, of course, I would have,” Griner said.
“It hurts, because no one should be in those conditions,” she added. “Hands down, no one should be in any of the conditions I went though or they’re going through.”
Griner last played with the Mercury in 2021, helping the team to the WNBA Finals, which they lost to the Chicago Sky.
Before that, the seven-time All-Star had played all nine seasons with the franchise since being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft.
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Just days after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on accusations of spying, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his counterpart in Moscow to express his “grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist” and demand his “immediate release,” according to a State Department summary of the call.
Eight days later, the State Department formally declared that Gershkovich was being “wrongfully detained,” a rare designation that puts the full force of the U.S. government behind securing his release.
The speed with which the U.S. determined Gershkovich was being wrongfully held was a reflection of the brazen nature of his arrest, the first of a U.S. journalist on espionage charges in Russia in decades. Yet it has also highlighted the process by which Americans overseas are deemed to be wrongfully detained, one that advocates for detainees’ families say can still be frustratingly opaque.
Here’s what it means for an American held overseas to be “wrongfully detained,” and what that designation means for Gershkovich:
The vast majority of Americans who are arrested or detained abroad are not found to be wrongfully detained. According to the State Department, “most cases of U.S. nationals arrested or detained overseas arise out of legitimate law enforcement and judicial processes.” These Americans get consular support from the State Department, but the government does not actively seek their release.
But in some instances, the State Department determines the American’s detention is illegitimate because they are being held as a bargaining chip by a hostile regime, were denied due process in the foreign country’s legal system or are innocent of the charges against them, among other reasons.
In addition to Gershkovich, several other Americans imprisoned in Russia in recent years — including WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marines Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan — have been deemed to be wrongfully detained, while others have not.
In assessing whether an American is being wrongfully detained by a foreign government, the State Department considers the criteria outlined in the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, which became law in 2020. The act is named for a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and is believed to have died while in captivity.
The law created a framework for the State Department to use to determine whether a foreign government has wrongfully detained someone. It has 11 criteria, only one of which must be met in order to earn the designation, according to Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign for relatives of wrongfully detained Americans.
Someone can be deemed to be wrongfully detained if the U.S. has credible information indicating they are innocent; the person was detained because they’re an American, to influence U.S. policy or to secure concessions from the U.S. government; they have been denied due process; or they were promoting freedom of the press, religion or assembly, among other reasons.
The secretary of state makes the final call. The State Department declined to be more specific about the process that goes into making a determination one way or another, with a spokesperson saying each review “assesses the facts of the case against numerous criteria.” Citing “privacy or operational reasons,” the spokesperson said the department does “not always make wrongful detention determinations public.”
Once the secretary of state designates someone as wrongfully detained, the law requires the U.S. government to work to earn their release. If a person is not designated, their case remains with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which essentially conducts wellness checks and cannot negotiate for a person’s freedom.
But if they are deemed to be wrongfully detained, the case is transferred from Consular Affairs to a division known as the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, or SPEHA, which is solely focused on negotiating for the release of detainees and hostages around the world. The designation also allows the U.S. to put more resources toward securing the person’s release and to impose sanctions against the country holding them.
“It’s so critical, because otherwise your case is being handled in Consular Affairs. And it’s not Consular Affairs’ remit to work towards the release of Americans,” said Cynthia Loertscher, director of research, hostage advocacy and government affairs at the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. “[SPEHA] become the advocates and they work towards coming up with solutions and resolutions.”
Negotiations over a detainee’s release are often not made public, and the designation does not guarantee that a person will be released. Whelan is still imprisoned in Russia, while Griner and Reed were released in prisoner swaps in 2022.
The State Department did not make a formal announcement when it determined Reed and Whelan to be wrongfully detained.
David Whelan said his brother Paul was officially designated as wrongfully detained on April 7, 2022, more than three years after he was arrested on espionage charges. There was no official announcement. The family received notice via a letter from the U.S. government, he said.
“Before the Levinson Act, the determination didn’t exist,” David Whelan said in an email, referring to the 2020 law. “It took huge amounts of advocacy and lobbying by our sister, Elizabeth.”
A presidential policy directive issued by then-President Barack Obama in 2015 established the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and laid out how to handle cases of Americans held hostage by non-state actors, but it didn’t address wrongful detainees. The Levinson Act codified the directive and spelled out the 11 criteria for determining when someone is wrongfully detained.
Reed’s family was told on July 30, 2020, the day he was sentenced to nine years in prison, that he was designated as wrongfully detained, Franks said. He had been arrested a year earlier.
The U.S. declared Griner was wrongfully detained within 3 months, while Gershkovich received the designation in less than two weeks. The high-profile nature of the arrests of Griner and Gershkovich — an internationally renowned basketball star and a reporter at one of the world’s most prestigious publications — meant they had the power of media attention and public pressure behind securing their release.
“The [U.S. government] got Evan’s case right, but the fact remains that non-famous cases never get handled with the same urgency,” Franks said, referring to Gershkovich.
According to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, there are at least 54 Americans being held abroad as hostages or wrongfully detained. The foundation does not rely on the State Department to make an official determination about a prisoner’s status, instead using the criteria from the Levinson Act to make its own determinations.
The State Department would not confirm how many Americans are wrongfully detained abroad, with a spokesperson saying the “numbers are fluid” and citing “privacy concerns and the sensitivity of ongoing efforts to secure the release of all U.S. nationals.”
Roger Carstens, the current Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, will now handle Gershkovich’s case and work to secure his release.
“Now that he is wrongfully detained, we start to work on negotiating strategies and working with the Russians to find Evan’s release, and not only Evan, but Paul Whelan as well,” Carstens told “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday.
He said the U.S. does not “have a sense” of how the Wall Street Journal reporter is being treated, since officials have not been given access to him. Carstens declined to say more about what was being done to secure his freedom.
President Biden said he spoke to Gershkovich’s family members before leaving on an overseas trip on Tuesday.
“We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening, and we declared it so,” he told reporters. “It changes the dynamic.”
While families of other detainees are happy to see movement in his case, Franks said, they have felt the cases of their loved ones have been ignored.
“Many of our families have been waiting for a determination of wrongful designation and a phone call or meeting with the President for years,” Franks said in a statement Wednesday. “It was heartbreaking to see once again that an Administration that talks a lot about equity chose to neglect our non-famous hostages.”
Franks said Bring Our Families Home has requested several meetings with the president.
“We call upon the Administration to make good on their promises of equity by doing what they have for Evan’s case for us ALL,” the statement said. “That’s what equity means to us.”
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Washington — Brittney Griner will share more about her “unfathomable” experience behind bars in Russia in a memoir set to be released next year, she said Tuesday.
The WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist spent nearly 10 months imprisoned on drug charges in Russia, where she played during the WNBA off-season. Her arrest coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, further complicating negotiations for her release. She was freed in December in a prisoner swap for notorious international arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“That day was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Griner said in a news release announcing her yet-to-be-titled memoir from publisher Alfred A. Knopf.
“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud,” she said. “After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”
Griner said she hopes her book also brings awareness to the cases of other Americans who are wrongfully detained abroad, including Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years on espionage charges; Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was recently arrested in Russia; and journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared more than a decade ago in Syria.
“Griner discloses in vivid detail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment (as classified by the State Department) and the difficulty of navigating the byzantine Russian legal system in a language she did not speak,” Knopf said in Tuesday’s statement. “Griner also describes her stark and surreal time living in a foreign prison and the terrifying aspects of day-to-day life in a women’s penal colony.”
After her return to the U.S., Griner re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury on a one-year contract.
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Griner, who was imprisoned for months on drug charges in Russia last year, made the powerful call alongside her wife Cherelle Griner in an appearance that made NBA icon Dwyane Wade emotional in the audience on Saturday.
“It feels so good to be here, especially with my beautiful, amazing wife and with all of y’all here today,” the WNBA star said.
“I want to thank everyone and let’s keep fighting to bring home every American still detained overseas.”
Moments before the WNBA star’s address, Cherelle Griner thanked Black women and Black-led organizations “who fought so hard” for Griner’s release in December.
The ceremony’s host Queen Latifah introduced Griner and her wife prior to their brief appearance and said she was “back here with us where she belongs.”
She later hugged Latifah and bumped her first following the exchange.
“I hope you’ll join me in writing to Paul Whelan and continuing to advocate for other Americans to be rescued and returned to their families,” she wrote on Instagram days before Christmas.
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Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was detained in Russia for nearly ten months, will be re-signing with the Phoenix Mercury for a one-year contract, a source confirmed to CBS News on Sunday.
The 32-year-old spent nearly 300 days in Russia, after she was arrested for marijuana possession while traveling to the country to play basketball during the WNBA off-season. The Biden administration considered her detention and trial as politically motivated. Moscow released the athlete in a swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
After Griner’s release in December, she took to Instagram to say she intended to once again play for the Mercury, where she has been a center since 2013. She had been a free agent until her re-signing.
“I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” Griner wrote at the time.
Garner last played for the Mercury in 2021, when she helped the team make it to the WNBA finals.
Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, has also re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury in a multiyear contract, the team announced on Saturday.
A formal announcement of Griner’s re-signing is expected on Tuesday.
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Brittney Griner is headed back to the Phoenix Mercury.
Griner, who was a free agent, re-signed with the Mercury on a one-year contract according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Saturday because no announcement has been made.
The 32-year-old Griner had said she would return to Phoenix in a social media post in December, after she returned home from her 10-month ordeal in Russia that included time in a Russian jail. Griner had been arrested at an airport just outside of Moscow on drug possession charges a year ago and was brought home in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange in December.
The 6-foot-9 center last played for the Mercury in 2021 and helped the team reach the WNBA Finals. She averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds that season.
The website “Her Hoops Stats” was the first to report Griner’s signing.
Griner, who was drafted No. 1 in 2013 by the Mercury, was listed Saturday on Phoenix’s roster on the WNBA website.
Since returning home from Russia, Griner has been out of the public spotlight, with the exception of appearances at the Super Bowl, the Phoenix Open and an MLK Day event in Phoenix, where she lives.
She skipped a USA Basketball training camp earlier this month, but the organization made it clear she could take all the time she needed to decide if she wanted to play for the U.S. again.
The WNBA has said it will address getting Griner special travel accommodations, such as charter flights, after she signed.
“We are very cognizant of BG’s unique situation,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told the AP earlier this month. “We’ve been planning and we’ve been thinking it through with security experts, BG’s side, our side. We’ll find the right time to comment on it when she signs with a team.”
Earlier Saturday, the Mercury signed Diana Taurasi to a multiyear contract. The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer has only played with the Mercury since being drafted No. 1 by the team in 2004.
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CNN
—
After spending nearly 10 months imprisoned in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner is making her return to basketball in the upcoming season, signing a one-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury, according to ESPN and The Athletic, who cited multiple unnamed sources.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was released in December – after spending nearly 300 days in Russian custody – in a prisoner exchange with Russia.
And as soon as she was back home, she vowed to play in the WNBA again.
“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn,” she wrote in a December post on Instagram. “I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”
“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” Griner said.
Griner – who for years had played in the WNBA off-season for a Russian women’s basketball team – was arrested on drug smuggling charges at an airport in the Moscow region in February 2022. Her detention, which became an international cause during a tense time in relations between the US and Russia, was deemed wrongful by American officials.
And despite her testimony that she had inadvertently packed the cannabis oil that was found in her luggage, she was sentenced to nine years in prison in early August and was moved to a penal colony in the Mordovia republic in mid-November after losing her appeal.
The 32-year-old last played with the Mercury in 2021, helping lead the team to the WNBA Finals, which they lost to the Chicago Sky.
Before that, the seven-time All-Star had played all nine seasons with the franchise since being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft.
Phoenix are scheduled to open the season on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19. The team will play their first home game against the Sky on May 21.
CNN has reached out to Griner’s representatives and the Phoenix Mercury but did not immediately hear back.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner attended the WM Phoenix Open golf tournament Saturday in her second public appearance since her release from a Russian prison.
Griner was part of a crowd of about 200,000 fans at the tournament, watching the action from the stadium 16th hole.
Last month in her first appearance, the Griner was at the Martin Luther King Jr. march in downtown Phoenix.
Griner is skipping the USA Basketball training camp in Minnesota so she can be with her wife and recover from her time in jail in Russia. She was traded in a dramatic prisoner swap in December.
Griner has said she’ll play for the Phoenix Mercury again this season, although she’s still an unsigned free agent. She hasn’t talked about her international future and potentially playing in the Olympics next year in Paris.
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The unspoken deal between sports fans and their favorite teams and players has been, in theory: Sure, there are billions of dollars being thrown around, but at the core, sports are supposed to be fun and games, a never-ending menu of two- or three-hour escapes into a land of winners and losers where nobody really gets hurt.
For all but the most starry-eyed fanatics, that worldview unraveled in 2022 — much as it did the year before, the year before that, and the year before that, and so on. A more accurate assessment might be that sports are not so much an escape from the world’s problems as simply another window into them.
Hardly a day passed in 2022 when a headline running across the ticker on ESPN would’ve been every bit as fitting on CNN or Fox Business or, in some cases, on NBC’s “Dateline.” The intersection between sports and real life ranged from toxic workplace environments, alleged sexual misconduct, sportswashing, cryptocurrency, transgender sports and the COVID-19 pandemic — plus a sprinkling of doping, geopolitics, hypocrisy and corruption.
The AP Sports Story of the Year was about a basketball player, Brittney Griner, whose plan to travel to Russia to play in the offseason ended up as a high-stakes diplomatic battle between the United States and Russia.
Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison for possessing a small amount of hashish oil, which is illegal in Russia. Months of tense negotiations ensued. Ultimately, Griner was released, and the sign-off for both countries’ negotiating teams came from none other than Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
Putin, who, as much as any world leader, has tried to use sports to project his country’s strength, began the year front-and-center with Chinese premier Xi Jinping, as the autocrats used the start of the Beijing Olympics to highlight their partnership on the world stage.
Shortly after those Games, Russia invaded Ukraine, leaving the global sports community to wrestle with whether Russian athletes should be able to compete in international events, sometimes head-to-head against athletes from the country under siege.
“I think it’s fairly simple,” said Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics, when asked in November what it would take to see a Russian in a track meet anytime soon. “Get out of Ukraine.”
As the year closed and the war remained far from a conclusion, Coe was hardly in the majority among world sports leaders.
Many of those leaders, meanwhile, had brought their athletes home safely from China, where the government shuffled all 2,800 competitors and thousands more officials and media in and out of the country for the Beijing Games without suffering a major COVID-19 outbreak.
It happened thanks to the country’s draconian, opaque testing procedures and cordoned-off Olympic venues, all of which served to tamp down any notion of dissent or free speech in a land that doesn’t view any of that kindly. The COVID restrictions helped China ultimately prove that it could pull off a major worldwide event in the midst of the pandemic — even if the festivities fell short of the global outpouring of peace and love that the Olympics so desperately wants to be.
“It’s kinda like sports prison,” Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris said.
China was hardly the only country hoping to use sports for air of legitimacy — or to whitewash its own perceived sins.
The creation of the breakaway LIV Golf tour took up virtually all the oxygen in that sport, as much for disrupting the status quo as for being bankrolled by a wealth fund backed by Saudi Arabian leaders who detractors said had blood on their hands. For a time, the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi citizenship of the 9/11 terrorist attackers drowned out birdies, bogeys and Tiger Woods’ health as the biggest talking points in golf.
Later in the year, misgivings about holding soccer’s World Cup in Qatar were placed under a similar microscope. The country’s poor treatment of migrant workers and members of the LGBTQ community, to say nothing of the alleged corruption involved in awarding the tournament to a kingdom with no soccer roots, overshadowed the run-up to a tournament that nevertheless concluded with Argentina winning one of the most thrilling soccer matches ever.
While the World Cup was unfolding, the cryptocurrency world was melting down. The bankruptcy of multibillion-dollar crypto exchange firm FTX and the arrest of its owner, Sam Bankman-Fried, had sports connections everywhere. Tom Brady and Steph Curry were pitchmen for the company, and FTX’s name quickly came off the arena where the Miami Heat played.
Despite that, 2022 was the year that crypto officially became entrenched in sports, for better or worse, via sponsorships of leagues, endorsement deals by athletes and, of course, crypto-backed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are becoming a new status symbol of sports stars, who have, for decades, had a knack for inducing fans to buy what they buy and wear what they wear.
“It would make sense for these (crypto) companies to work with a sports team or a sports celebrity because there’s an emotional attachment that goes along with that partnership,” said Brandon Brown, who teaches sports and business at New York University’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport.
In basketball, Griner’s was hardly the only story that strayed far outside the lines. The year was filled with reports about the rot that infiltrated the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, whose owner, Robert Sarver, was pressured into selling the team after the details emerged. Employees documented years of abuse and toxic workplace culture that included frequent disrespect of women and use of racially inappropriate language.
Another owner behaving badly: Daniel Snyder of the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
Snyder found himself accused by a congressional committee of standing in the way of investigations about sexual harassment and misconduct that had allegedly been prevalent throughout the organization for two decades. Part of the investigation suggested the franchise was receiving help from the NFL itself in slowing down investigations. It’s a claim the NFL has denied, while pointing to its own outside probes into conditions that existed on Snyder’s team.
In many corners, the saga reflected poorly on a league that has long been trying to grow its female fan base. Not helping was the ongoing story of one of the league’s best quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson, who, in 2022, reached settlements with 23 women who accused him of sexual misconduct while he was getting massages. He served an 11-game suspension that ended just in time for the holidays. He has not admitted guilt.
But perhaps the single issue that underscored the inseparable bond between sports and all it touches was the furor over the future of transgender athletes.
It is among society’s most complex topics, one steeped in a mix of physiological science, common sense, human decency and, yes, politics — and one that has left different sides of the debate at seemingly intractable loggerheads.
The international swimming federation, in the wake of Penn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’ title at the NCAA championships, was among a number of global sports entities that wrote, or updated, guidelines in 2022 in an attempt to bring clarity. So did legislatures in no fewer than 18 states across the U.S.
One goal, said Olympic swimming champion Donna de Varona, an outspoken advocate in the transgender debate, should be to find some nuance in both the debate and the policymaking.
“But nobody wants nuances,” she conceded.
Such is the bottom line in sports, the place where fans go not for shades of grey, but, rather, to see wins and losses neatly summed up in black and white.
What became clear as ever in 2022 is how far past the scoreboard we have to look to see the true outcomes of the games.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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