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Paul Whelan was given the opportunity to speak with White House staffers on Wednesday. The phone call was arranged by Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of Paul Whelan, after Whelan criticized the White House's handling of her case against her brother. Elizabeth Whelan's comments to CNN came after the White House released a readout of a phone call Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held with Cherelle Griner, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, the American basketball star who is also being held in Russia. Whelan said she was angry that her brother's case was not receiving the same level of attention from the White House. A National Security Council spokesman said Thursday that her concerns are being addressed through ongoing efforts. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national secur...

For less than a fortnight, Maxym and his friends have been sleeping in earthen dugouts, eating food heated over campfires, and hearing the news of the Russians advancing in the vicinity of just one mile. "Of course they are going to come," he says. "They are far more numerous than we are." They are dug deep into this dense eastern Ukrainian forest, near Slovyansk, and are part of Ukraine's territorial defense -- non-professional soldiers who signed up in the opening days of Russia's February invasion. So far, they have avoided contact with the enemy by hiding beneath camouflage nets next to giant pyramids of bottled water. But every moment of every day they live with the thud of artillery and are showered with cluster munitions. Their wooded encampment is regularly struck by anti-tank w...