The Latest Breaking News from Brittney Griner

American WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, whose appeal against a Russian jail term is due to be heard next week, sent her supporters a message of thanks on Tuesday, her 32nd birthday.

The comments come ahead of an appeal hearing for the WNBA star in Moscow

The difficulties involved in freeing Brittney Griner from her imprisonment in Russia were brought into stark relief this weekend

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday that there had been no new signals on a potential prisoner exchange with the United States, Interfax reported.

The WNBA star was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison after being convicted of smuggling drugs with criminal intent.

Russia's ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said early on Thursday he had visited Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States and linked to a possible swap for two U.S. citizens imprisoned by Moscow.

Basketball icon has been detained in Moscow for five months and counting

The United States has not had consular access to Brittney Griner, an American detained in Russia, since the beginning of August, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

President Joe Biden said he would meet with Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader was willing to discuss Griner’s case.

Biden tells CNN the Russian president ‘miscalculated’ the war in Ukraine ‘significantly’.

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution demanding that Russia reverse its annexation of four Ukrainian regions. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would supply air defence systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks, urging Russia's Vladimir Putin to "return to the table" to…