Guantanamo Bay: US in largest detainee transfer under Obama
The US says it has sent 15 Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United Arab Emirates - the largest single transfer during President Barack Obama's administration.
The Pentagon says the transfer of 12 Yemeni nationals and three Afghans brings the total number of prisoners down to 61 at the US facility in Cuba.
The released inmates had been held without charge, some for over 14 years.
President Obama wants to close the prison before he leaves office.
The White House also wants to transfer the remaining inmates to the US - but has been blocked by Congress.
Mr Obama believes Guantanamo Bay fuels the recruitment of jihadists and creates stronger anti-US feelings.
Trump's pledge
In a statement on Monday, the Pentagon said: "The United States is grateful to the government of the United Arab Emirates for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility."
Crystal meth epidemic forces Basra's police to pick battles with smugglers
Consumption is doubling year on year, but the Iraqi city’s anti-narcotics force operates on a shoestring budget
Each Saturday a long line of women dressed in black snakes around the cracked concrete facade of the decrepit Basra police station where the city’s anti-narcotics force has its home. Two police officers are posted to maintain order, but the women – who shelter from the stifling sun in the walls’ narrow shade – are silent and subdued. They patiently wait to visit their sons, husbands and brothers jailed inside.
The inmates range from petty dealers to gang members pushing drugs in bulk. Three hundred people are crammed into three cells where metal bunks overflow and the floor is strewn with half-naked bodies lined head to toe like sardines. The stench from an adjacent sewage lagoon mixes with sweat and hangs heavy in the air.
The West's total failure
The situation in Aleppo appears increasingly hopeless. This civil war is on the brink of its greatest humanitarian disaster. But there's not much the West can do on its own, writes DW's Loay Mudhoon.
When the siege around eastern Aleppo was surprisingly broken two weeks ago, there was no notable improvement for the civilian population. The insurgents may have defeated the Assad regime and its Russian protecting power, but in fact up to 300,000 people are still trapped in Aleppo.
The supply situation is dire: 1.5 million people have no electricity, no clean drinking water. The biggest humanitarian catastrophe of the Syrian civil war looms.
It's highly appreciated that German Development Minister Gerd Müller has sounded the alarm, demanding more aid from the EU for the victims of the war. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says it might even become neccssary to set up an "air bridge" to supply the people of Aleppo.
Saudi tribes refuse to leave Yemen border zone
OBSERVERS
A Saudi activist filmed arguments between members of tribes living in southern Saudi Arabia and a guard at a checkpoint in Jizan, a village near the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Saudi authorities deem the zone around Jizan dangerous and want to evacuate the village. However, the residents are refusing to budge. An activist from Jizane told us why.
The video below shows men from the village of Jizane being stopped at a roadblock manned by border guards. An older man from Jizan steps forward. He tells the border police that it is the locals’ right to return to their village and stay there if they so desire.
Kashmir unrest: Five protesters killed in fresh clashes with security forces
With the fresh five killings of Tuesday morning, the toll of people killed has risen to 65.
Written by Bashaarat Masood | Srinagar | Updated: August 16, 2016 12:23 pm
Five civilians were killed when Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and army fired on protestors in two separate incidents in south and Central Kashmir on Tuesday taking the toll of people killed to 65.
Four civilians were killed by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel when they opened fire on protestors at Aripanthan village in Central Kashmir’s Beerwah village.
On Tuesday morning, CRPF personnel opened indiscriminate fire when protestors threw stones at their convoy in Aripanthan village of Beerwah. The CRPF personnel were on way for deployment in the area.
Artwork made from AK-47s banned from entering the US
The contemporary artwork was seized by airport officials at Houston
Contemporary art made from decommissioned AK-47s has been seized by airport customs officials in Texas.
The artworks, bound for an exhibition in Houston, were made by British artist and military veteran Bran Symondson.
"Spoils of War" - a gun covered in $1 bills - "Beat of a Wing" and "Virtue of the Vicious" - guns covered in butterflies - have all been banned from entering the US, although the state of Texas has an "open carry" law, which allows people to carry shotguns and rifles in a non-theatening manner.
South Korea bristles at Japan's honors for the dead on WWII anniversary
As Japan marks the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe avoided visiting a controversial shrine that honors Japanese war dead, including war criminals.
Relations between Japan and South Korea simmered Monday on the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II.
Dozens of Japanese lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors all who died for the Japanese Empire, including more than 1,000 World War II-era war criminals. Meanwhile, a group of South Korean lawmakers also deliberately chose Monday to land on an island in the Sea of Japan, celebrating the country’s liberation from 35 years of Japanese colonization in the first half of the 20th century. South Korea controls the islands, although Japan lays claim to them.
The controversies on the war anniversary underscore the continuous tension over Japan’s reluctance to apologize for or acknowledge 20th century history the way South Korea or China insist they should.
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