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    • Lawyers appeal Russian prison sentence of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner

    Brittney Griner, background centre, listens to the verdict in a courtroom in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina / Pool Photo via AP) Brittney Griner, background centre, listens to the verdict in a courtroom in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina / Pool Photo via AP)
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    Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal of her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported Monday, amid talks between the U.S. and Russia that could lead to a high-profile prisoner swap.

    Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

    Griner admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage, but said she had inadvertently packed them in haste and that she had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements that she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.

    Her February arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner, recognized as one of the greatest players in WNBA history, was returning to Russia, where she plays during the U.S. league's offseason.

    Lawyer Maria Blagovolina was quoted by Russian news agencies on Monday as saying the appeal was filed, as was expected, but the grounds for it weren't immediately clear.

    The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Blagovolina and co-counsel Alexander Boykov said after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said that in similar cases defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.

    Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be "wrongfully detained" -- a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.

    Reflecting the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a "substantial proposal" to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

    Blinken didn't elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to free Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the "Merchant of Death."

    On Sunday, a senior Russian diplomat said talks about an exchange have been conducted.

    "This quite sensitive issue of the swap of convicted Russian and U.S. citizens is being discussed through the channels defined by our presidents," Alexander Darchiev, head of the Foreign Ministry's North America department, told state news agency Tass. "These individuals are, indeed, being discussed. The Russian side has long been seeking the release of Viktor Bout. The details should be left to professionals."

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    BREAKING

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    Three men were injured after a man armed with a knife entered a Montreal-area Islamic cultural centre Friday afternoon.

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    Canada

    • BREAKING

      BREAKING

      Three men were injured after a man armed with a knife entered a Montreal-area Islamic cultural centre Friday afternoon.

    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

    • The parents of a teenager who died after allegedly consuming the poisonous products of a Mississauga man are now suing him, as well as several doctors involved in her care.

    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    • Relatives of a 60-year-old man who took his own life in a Nova Scotia jail after long periods of confinement in his cell have launched a lawsuit against the province.

    • A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

    World

    Politics

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    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes 'indescribable' pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

    Sci-Tech

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    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

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    Autos

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    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

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    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

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    • Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek is urging the Alberta government to preserve pieces of the massive Green Line transit project now being dissolved.

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    • Ottawa Fire Services says a driver has been safely extricated after being trapped following a two-vehicle collision near a high school in the city’s south end.

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      BREAKING

      Three men were injured after a man armed with a knife entered a Montreal-area Islamic cultural centre Friday afternoon.

    • A new garden and microforest, years in the making, have been inaugurated at John Abbott College in Montreal.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • Mounties say there was an increased police presence in the Emerald Hills area of Sherwood Park on Friday morning as officers searched for a man who is wanted by police.

    • There are plenty of fun happenings in Edmonton this weekend. It's time to savour that last little bit of the summer season before the leaves really start coming down.

    • Alberta Health Services says an E. coli outbreak at a daycare in Blackfalds has ended.

    • A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

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    • A Manitoba veterinary clinic has two new ways of figuring out what’s causing a horse to be lame.

    • Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

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      A large police presence can be seen outside Regina’s Miller High School on Friday afternoon.

    • A 21-year-old man from Codette, Sask. is facing numerous charges in connection to a fatal crash near Wapella, Sask. Wednesday night that claimed the life of a 22-year-old Alberta woman.

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    • Levels of hydrogen sulfide gas are being monitored at Brantford Collegiate Institute after a leak in their geothermal system.

    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

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    • A 69-year-old woman from Outlook, Saskatchewan is dead and three people are injured after a truck and SUV collided on Highway 15 on Thursday.

    • A garage fire in Saskatoon’s Willows neighbourhood on Friday narrowly missed igniting an attached home, according to the fire department.

    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

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    • The Old Man Lake wildfire near Sooke is the only one currently burning on Vancouver Island. It’s a region of the province that this year saw a drastic drop in blazes in the backcountry.

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    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.

    • A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.

    • Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.

    • A 26-year-old driver from Surrey, B.C., has been charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm in a crash that killed two youths in northern Ontario last year.

    • Ontario Provincial Police say three suspects from southern Ontario have been charged and drugs worth $300,000 have been seized following a traffic stop Sept. 16.

    • A Brampton driver, 27, was charged this week when northern Ontario police stopped the SUV he was driving on Highway 17 after a reported shooting and found more than $100,000 in cash.

    N.L.

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