Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Obama releases 15 detainees from Guatánamo Bay



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Obama releases 15 detainees from Guatánamo Bay

Gays Against Guns protest against firearms manufacturers, Trump proposes 'extreme vetting' for immigrants, homeless children learn at Oregon school

guantanamo
Barbed wire outside Guantánamo Bay prison. Photograph: Simon Leigh for the Guardian

Edward Helmore in New York


Obama administration speeds Guantánamo prisoner exit

Just 61 detainees remain at the US facility after the largest single transfer was announced on Monday, in the final months of Obama's presidency. The United Arab Emirates, a close US ally which has accepted Guantánamo detainees in the past, took the 12 Yemenis and three Afghan nationals, some of whom the US has held for 14 years. Six of the men had first received clearances for transfer in 2010.

US transfers 15 Guantánamo detainees in largest single release under Obama

After Louisiana, scientists warn of the floods to come

The historic and devastating flooding in Louisiana is the latest in a series of heavy deluges that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration classifies as a once-in-every-500-year event. It is the eighth such flood to occur in a little over 12 months. The extreme events have occurred in Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland – but in Louisiana storm conditions are considered to have been a once-every-1,000-year event.

Disasters like Louisiana floods will worsen as planet warms, scientists warn

Gays Against Guns activists begin campaign in New York

The protest group formed in wake of Orlando nightclub shooting occupied the lobby of one of the largest corporate shareholders of gun company stock yesterday. Dozens of protesters staged a "die-in" at the headquarters of BlackRock, accusing the company of being part of a "corporate machine profiting from gun death" and demanding that the investment firm divest from gun stocks. BlackRock held $8.4m worth of Smith & Wesson shares and $7.7m worth of Sturm, Ruger & Co stock, according to the latest annual report of its Aerospace & Defence ETF.

Gays Against Guns activists begin campaign with 'die-in' at BlackRock HQ

Trump proposes 'extreme vetting' of immigrants and visitors

The Republican nominee Donald Trump has proposed an ideological purity test to screen out immigrants with sympathies toward radical Islam, in a sharp escalation of what he claimed is a religious war with the west. As part of a foreign policy speech, Trump asserted the US should only accept immigrants who "share our values and respect our people", adding that "we cannot let this evil continue."

Trump proposes 'extreme vetting' for immigrants who may support Isis

In a new Long Read, Timothy Shenk explores how Trump, or Trumpism, is embedded in postwar conservative ideology. "Most conservative thinkers have forgotten or repressed this part of their history, which is why they are undergoing a collective nervous breakdown today. Like addicts the morning after a bender, they are baffled at the face they see in the mirror."

The dark history of Donald Trump's rightwing revolt

Milwaukee mayor declares curfew

Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett has declared a citywide 10pm curfew in an effort to quell violent unrest in the wake of a police shooting over the weekend. Unrest in the city began after a Milwaukee officer shot and killed 23-year-old Sylville Smith, a black man, after he allegedly pointed a stolen semi-automatic handgun at police. On Saturday night, six businesses were torched. Four officers were injured in the unrest Sunday.

Milwaukee mayor declares curfew to help ease unrest after police shooting

Running, jumping and ... diving

Bahamian runner Shaunae Miller dived over the line in the women's 400m final in Rio to deny Allyson Felix gold. Miller later said she dived across the hard, blue Olympic Stadium track without really knowing why she had done so. "I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, I am lying on the ground right now'," she said. It was instinct, a reaction, a response to seeing Felix in her peripheral vision. "But, hey, I got a medal out of it," she said. In another spell-binding night of track and field, Kenya's David Rudisha, the world's greatest middle distance runner, blasted through to take gold in the 800m final. Meanwhile, British race walker Tom Bosworth and boyfriend Harry Dinley become the third couple to get engaged at the Games, as debate rages over the ethics of public proposals.

Here is our daily round-up in Rio; and a schedule of the day's action.

Shaunae Miller's dive denies Allyson Felix 400m gold in dramatic final

Hundreds gather to remember New York cleric

New York City police have charged a 35-year-old Hispanic man from Brooklyn with the murder of imam Maulama Akonjee and his friend outside a mosque in Queens. Oscar Morel was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin were shot at point-blank range Sunday night. A search of the suspect's home turned up a revolver and clothing similar to the clothes worn by the gunman, a police spokesperson said.

Hundreds gather to remember Muslim cleric as suspect charged in shooting

Oregon's school for homeless children

Some students live in shelters on the edge of the city. Others move between church basements, other people's couches and cheap motels where entire families cram into a single room. But however itinerant the students' homes lives may be, principal Cheryl Bickle's Community Transitional School in Portland offer a sense of continuity. "Our kids are pretty hardcore homeless – well their families are – and so this is a stable place," Bickle says.

A school that offers a place to learn, even if the kids have nowhere to live

Goebbels secretary: 'I knew nothing'

Brunhilde Pomsel, 105, worked at the heart of the Nazis' propaganda machine in an elegant carefree office environment as one of Joseph Goebbels' six secretaries. As a film about her life is released, she discusses her lack of remorse and the private side of Hitler's monstrous propaganda chief. "'Everyone thinks we knew everything. We knew nothing. It was all kept secret," she says.

Joseph Goebbels' 105-year-old secretary: 'No one believes me now, but I knew nothing'

In case you missed it …

Jesse Newton's Roomba vacuum cleaner is programmed to vacuum the house at night. But earlier this month, it picked up dog feces left by the family puppy and spreading the mess over every conceivable surface. "Quite honestly, we see this a lot," said a spokesman from iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba. "Our engineers are always trying to figure out ways to help people with their problems, and we've known this is an issue people deal with."

Roomba creator responds to reports of 'poopocalypse': 'We see this a lot'

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