Guantanamo releases 5 to Arab Emirates
MIAMI — Five men who have been held for more than 13 years at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been released and sent to the United Arab Emirates, the Pentagon said.
The five Yemeni men were accepted for resettlement in the Persian Gulf nation after U.S. authorities determined they no longer posed a threat, the Defense Department said in a statement Sunday. Their release brings the Guantanamo prison population to 107.
The released men, who arrived in the UAE on Saturday, were identified as Ali Ahmad Muhammad al-Razihi, Khalid Abd-al-Jabbar Muhammad Uthman al-Qadasi, Adil Said al-Hajj Ubayd al-Busays, Sulayman Awad Bin Uqayl al-Nahdi, and Fahmi Salem Said al-Asani.
All were arrested fleeing the U.S. invasion of Afghaniafter five men are described as low-level fighters in American military assessments. Al-Razihi, however, was suspected of being a possible bodyguard to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
None of the men had been charged with a crime but had been detained as enemy combatants.
Search for sunken cargo ship called off
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Search crews have ended their search of a cargo ship’s wreckage deep in the Atlantic without finding the vessel’s “black box.”
On Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board said that investigators are disappointed the El Faro’s voyage data recorder was not found.
Board Chairman Christopher Hart said in a statement that the agency is still hopeful investigators can determine a probable cause for the ship’s sinking.
The 790-foot freighter sank on Oct. 1 after it lost engine power and got stuck in a Category 4 hurricane on its way from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico.
The board said recently that it had located the ship and its bridge, which had separated, in 15,000 feet of water. The safety board says a Navy submarine searching the area could not find the ship’s mast, where the recorder was mounted.
Court rejects Planned Parenthood case
A divided U.S. Supreme Court refused to be drawn into the debate over Planned Parenthood, rejecting an appeal by abortion opponents who said they had a right to see some of the group’s internal documents, including its medical- standards manual.
The appeal by New Hampshire Right to Life sought the disclosure of information related to a 2011 federal grant made to the Planned Parenthood chapter in northern New England. In rejecting the request, a Boston-based federal appeals court pointed to a provision that shields commercially sensitive information from disclosure.
A Supreme Court review would have put the justices in the middle of the debate over federal funding for the reproductive-services provider. The dispute stems from secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the use of tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research.
New Hampshire Right to Life was pressing its case under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The group also sought details about Planned Parenthood’s fee schedule. The Obama administration opposed the Supreme Court review.
On Monday, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, dissented, saying disagreements in the lower courts over the scope of the open records law, the Freedom of Information Act, warranted Supreme Court review.
Judge withdraws from case on gay pair
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah judge who had ordered a baby girl taken away from her lesbian foster parents and placed with a heterosexual couple has removed himself from the case as criticism mounted into calls for his impeachment.
Last week, Judge Scott Johansen reversed his order to remove the 9-month-old baby from the home of April Hoagland and Beckie Pierce and allowed the girl to stay with the married couple. But there were concerns he could still have the baby removed from their home in Price, about 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, during a custody hearing set for Dec.
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The couple asked that the judge be disqualified. In an order released Monday, Johansen wrote that while the couple do not have legal standing, he is nevertheless stepping aside.
Utah officials are pleased the child will stay in a nurturing home with the “very capable” parents, said Ashley Sumner, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
Johansen removed himself from the case after widespread criticism from national gay rights groups, the Republican governor and others.
A Section on 11/17/2015