Freed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner lands in Texas; Russia likely receiving more Iranian drones - CNBC

A level carrying freed U.S. hoops prima Brittney Griner has landed successful her location authorities of Texas, astir 10 months aft she was arrested successful Russia connected cause charges.

President Joe Biden said Griner was "in bully spirits" but needed "time and abstraction to recover." She landed successful San Antonio wherever she volition beryllium offered aesculapian attraction and counselling.

Griner was released arsenic portion of a captive swap betwixt Washington and Moscow. In speech for her release, the U.S. returned the notorious Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, who had been arrested successful Thailand successful 2008 arsenic portion of a U.S.-led sting cognition and detained successful the U.S. since 2010.

Griner is simply a two-time Olympic golden medal victor and plays for the WNBA squad Phoenix Mercury.

She was primitively detained successful Russia aft cannabis oil was recovered successful her bag, which she says was packed by accident. Her lawyers accidental the cannabis was prescribed to her arsenic a symptom treatment. Drug possession carries a punishment of up to 10 years' imprisonment successful Russia, but the timing of her apprehension — conscionable days earlier Russia's penetration of Ukraine successful precocious February — and the animosity betwixt Washington and Moscow added a governmental dynamic to the story.

Griner being openly cheery and African American besides spurred interest for her information successful Russia's penal system, a state with a mediocre grounds connected the attraction of the LGBTQ+ assemblage and radical minorities.

The merchandise is thing the Biden medication has been pursuing for months, though it failed to unafraid the merchandise of different American successful Russian detention — erstwhile U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been successful situation connected espionage charges since 2018. The U.S. says those charges are false. Whelan's household successful a connection celebrated Griner's return, but expressed disappointment that Whelan's merchandise was not achieved.

—Natasha Turak

The U.S. is acceptable to spot much sanctions connected Russia for its usage of Iranian drones successful Ukraine, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing aggregate unnamed sources with cognition of the matter.

The sanctions are aimed astatine some Russia and China — arsenic regards China, the penalties are related to quality rights abuses and Beijing's engagement successful amerciable sportfishing successful the Pacific ocean, the Journal wrote.

Most of the sanctions volition travel nether the Global Magnitsky Act, which was designed to spell aft quality rights abusers and is named aft a Russian lawyer who died successful situation determination portion moving to uncover crimes of corruption by high-ranking Russian officials.

— Natasha Turak

Renewed reports of Russian attacks connected Ukraine by Iranian drones are surfacing aft a fewer weeks, suggesting Russian forces ran retired of the weapons but person been resupplied, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.

"For the archetypal clip successful 3 weeks, determination person been reports of attacks by Iranian-provided one-way onslaught (OWA) uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs)," the ministry wrote successful its regular quality update connected Twitter.

"These events stay to beryllium verified, but it is apt that Russia exhausted its erstwhile banal of respective 100 Shahed-131s and 136s and has present received a resupply."

Ukraine's subject has reported shooting down respective of these drones successful the past fewer days, portion the past specified study earlier that was successful mid-November.

"If verified," the ministry wrote, "it is apt that Russia has recommenced attacks with recently delivered OWA UAV systems."

— Natasha Turak

Russian forces person installed aggregate rocket launchers astatine Ukraine's shut-down Zaporizhzhia atomic powerfulness plant, Ukrainian officials claimed, raising fears Europe's largest atomic powerfulness presumption could beryllium utilized arsenic a basal to occurrence connected Ukrainian territory and heightening radiation dangers.

Ukraine's atomic institution Energoatom said successful a connection that Russian forces occupying the works person placed respective Grad aggregate rocket launchers adjacent 1 of its six atomic reactors. It said the violative systems are located astatine caller "protective structures" the Russians secretly built, "violating each conditions for atomic and radiation safety."

The assertion could not beryllium independently verified.

The Soviet-built aggregate rocket launchers are susceptible of firing rockets astatine ranges of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles), and Energoatom said they could alteration Russian forces to deed the other slope of the Dnieper River, wherever each broadside blames the different for astir regular shelling successful the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets. The works is successful a confederate Ukrainian portion the Kremlin has illegally annexed.

— Associated Press

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his state aims to bolster sanctions connected Russia arsenic Moscow shows nary signs of ending its brutal war.

"We are actively moving to enactment and fortify the adjacent sanctions against Russia – by European, American and different partners," helium said, according to a translation of his nightly code posted to messaging level Telegram.

He noted that a projected ninth European Union sanctions bundle is "in progress."

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine is awaiting much steps its allies tin instrumentality to ace down connected efforts to circumvent sanctions successful the fiscal and vigor sectors.

— Jacob Pramuk