The Morning Dispatch: What’s Keeping Brittney Griner in Russia

Russia has hinted it wants a detainee swap to release the WNBA superstar, but U.S. officials are leery of the terms.

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Happy Friday! Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin made clear Thursday he won’t vote for Senate Democrats’ proposed climate and tax pl—wait, did people seriously still think that was going to happen? 

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • A Russian missile strike Thursday killed at least 23 people in a business center and residential buildings in Vinnytsia, a central Ukrainian city far from the front lines. Russia also fired at least ten missiles into the southern city of Mykolayiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the Vinnytsia strike “an audacious act of Russian terror.”

  • Sri Lankan parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena confirmed Thursday embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa—who fled the country earlier this week—officially resigned over email yesterday after months and months of public protests. Yapa Abeywardena said the country’s lawmakers will select a new president within a week. 

  • President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a declaration on Thursday that, among other measures, commits to keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Lapid pushed at a press conference to establish “a credible military threat” to stop Iran’s progress toward nuclear weapons, while Biden stressed that the U.S. will continue pursuing a nuclear agreement with Iran through diplomacy. But, he added, “we are not going to wait forever.”

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  1. Jay Rogers

    So I'll go ahead and ask the question ....Why does Brittany move to the head of the line for assistance against bogus charges in Russia?

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    Realwoodies

    Am I supposed to feel bad for Griner? She broke the law in an unfriendly country.

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    Xsearnold

    I'm a little surprised that the upheaval in Italy is not on TMD's radar, apparently.

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      C C Writer

      Or maybe they're looking into it before just saying stuff.

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  4. Brendan Bossard

    QOTD: I am all for "patching up" differences with anyone as long as the person who actually did wrong changes the wrong. Pres. Biden is in the ideal position to speak in strong terms to the crown prince.

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  5. Belinda French

    Ray, as I’ve stated before, without the small beginning there would not be a newborn baby. There is continued development our entire lives. I’m still changing.

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    Jake

    Let’s say that the govt gives a multi-decade guarantee on fossil fuel regulations, such that US oil companies feel safe to invest in more drilling.

    Why would they sell to the US market? They’d probably make a killing selling to Europe. Increased US production does not mean increased US supply. There would likely still be some downward pressure on prices, but I feel like most people just equate US production and US supply and that is not how it works.

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    BrettH

    Going to the Saudis with hat in hand to beg for more oil, even though their production is already nearly maxed out, because our own domestic energy policy is a joke is (checks notes) pathetic. In terms of real politic, they're useful insofar as a regional check on Iran. Beyond that, well, I'll go bang my head against the wall now....

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    Jean-Christophe Jouffrey

    Dear Morning Dispatchers,

    QOTD : when looking at the anwers of your readers, it looks like some of them seem to forget that the Saudi government is what it is, in great part because the USA, since WWII, allowed them and supported them to be such, with only a few gripes here and there in the otherwise unconditional relation.

    Like Trump, like Putin, they always push further to see if they can.

    I have nothing against Realpolitik, at least, the criteria are open and clear, but politics based supposedly on morals and feelings... unless it is our interest... lead to easy accusations of hypocrisy.

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  9. TJS

    Unfortunately, President Biden was too strident both on the campaign trail and now in office in his criticism of MBS and Saudi Arabia. While the criticism was certainly justifiable, it is disappointing someone with his experience in the Senate and as Vice President for eight years was so shortsighted in the geopolitical implications. Like it or not, we need a strong Saudi Arabia in the Middle East to check Iran's regional ambitions.

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    Bono Vox

    Hmmmn, “patch up relations with the foremost Arab” mass murderer and black oil producer. With all due respect to the Dispatch editors, in a real and just world Muhammad Osama bin Salman would be getting down on his knees to the POTUS, taking off his stupid Jedi cloak, turning himself into the local authorities and answering for his royal full of shitte family’s doctoral reign of terror and pseudo theocratic kleptocracy for the last 80 plus years, and for setting back an entire country’s progress and for keeping half of its population stuck in the eight fing century. In the meantime, while you waste time writing about a pothead basketball player stick in a Russian jail(instant karma if you ask me, as she should have instantly divested herself of that murderous country the instant many of her fellow countrymen started committing mass murder to the west…me thinks that is not why she wanted to get high, her having literally no problems by comparison to innocent Ukrainians). If only the United States had a President with balls and moral courage to tell the bin laden sympathizer to go to hell, and that you would be hung if I had it my way, and that we don’t want or need you black snake oil (thanks e for the link to K.D.W. column, haven’t his fellow republicans and libertarians by saying this for years while an imbecile by the name of Joe Biden could of policy that would have freed us from bad “actors”, I.e. mass murderers like Muhammad, bin laden Salman. The only difference between the House of Saud and the Romanovs is unfortunately one still exists. Just as we the people in the still free world should be aiding the Ukrainians (and not giving a flyin f about some poor pothead bball player who is suffering far less than your average Ukrainian) we should be doing everything in our power to toppling the House of Saud and stopping calling his a crowne prince. Seriously, as I don’t bother my own writings because I mean what I say, humble dispatch writer please don’t refer to a murderer with his phony titles secured by a barrel of a gun his minions have and will use on innocents yearning to breath free from an eight century Stone Age romeo. Gotta run on. Here’s hoping and praying for some so called western world leader to place a billion dollar Bitcoin bounty on Putin’s head. Oh, and hang crowne prince of darkness Muhammad Osama bin Salman. Peace through superior mental firepower

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