Griner’s Appeal Rejected by Russian Court – A Russian court has rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year jail term for drug charges. The court near Moscow upheld the sentence, with the state prosecutor calling it “fair”. The double Olympic winner apologized for her “honest mistake” in the appeal hearing via video link, saying it had been “very, very stressful”. Griner, 32, was convicted in August of smuggling and possessing cannabis oil. It was not immediately clear whether all her legal routes had been exhausted. She is due to serve her sentence in a penal colony. The WNBA star’s lawyer, Alexander Boykov, said his team hoped that a prisoner exchange would be possible. Read more at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63387888 (Merlyn Thomas/BBC News)
