Kazakhstan takes Guantanamo inmates

31 December 2014 Last updated at 09:13

Five men held at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for more than a decade have been sent to Kazakhstan for resettlement, the Pentagon says.

The three Yemenis and two Tunisians had been captured in Pakistan as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda.

US officials say the men, who were never charged, no longer pose a threat.

Officials say 28 inmates have been released from the facility this year, the largest number since US President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

It comes as part of the president's push to close the controversial prison, which was opened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US.

Earlier this month, four Afghan detainees were repatriated while another six prisoners were flown to Uruguay.

Latest detainees transferred

• Asim Thabit Abdullah Al-Khalaqi, 46, Yemeni
• Muhammad Ali Husayn Khanayna, 36, Yemeni
• Sabri Mohammad al Qurash, 44, Yemeni
• Adel Al-Hakeemy, 49, Tunisian
• Abdallah Bin Ali al Lufti, 48, Tunisian

The latest release brings the Guantanamo prison population down to 127, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday.

The five men were "unanimously approved for transfer" after a review of their cases by an inter-agency task force, it added.

It marks the first time Kazakhstan has taken in Guantanamo Bay prisoners, which senior US officials say followed extensive negotiations.

No reason was given for why the men were not sent to their home countries. However, many detainees cannot be repatriated because their countries of origin are considered unstable or unsafe.

Guantanamo Bay in numbers

• 127 detainees remaining
• 59 approved for transfer
• 15 believed to be classified as "high value"
• 15 freed in December - six sent to Uruguay (pictured), four to Afghanistan and five to Kazakhstan

About half of the remaining 127 inmates at Guantanamo Bay have been cleared for transfer.

Correspondents say President Obama's efforts to shut the facility have been slowed in part by resistance in Congress.

The detention centre was opened in 2002 to hold "enemy combatants" in what the US termed its war on terror.

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Eight killed in Canadian 'mass murder'

31 December 2014 Last updated at 05:15

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Police say the handgun was legally owned, but reported stolen

Six adults and two children have been shot dead in the Canadian city of Edmonton as a man carried out what police called a "senseless mass murder" linked to "extreme domestic violence".

The gunman is also believed to have killed himself. Police are not looking for any other suspects.

The incident unfolded in three different locations in Edmonton, in the western province of Alberta.

Seven bodies were found in the same house, police chief Rod Knecht said.

Two "very young" children are among the dead, Mr Knecht said.

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Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht: "It is a tragic day for Edmonton... as we all come to terms with the senseless mass murder of eight people''

He said it was the worst mass killing in Edmonton since six people were killed in 1956.

"It appears to be an extreme case of domestic violence gone awry," he told a press conference, describing the killings as "planned and deliberate".

"This series of events are not believed to be random acts, and there is no risk to the broader public. These events do not appear to be gang-related, but rather tragic incidents of domestic violence."

Police say that the gunman used a stolen 9mm handgun and later killed himself at a restaurant north of Edmonton. They have only released the names of one of the victims and have not detailed the relationship between the gunman and his victims.

Mr Knecht said that the man who committed suicide had a criminal record going back to 1987.

'Depressed man'

Police discovered the body of a woman, Cyndi Duong, 37, at a house in south Edmonton at 18:00 local time on Monday (01:00 GMT Tuesday), he said.

They later responded to reports of a despondent and depressed man at an address in north Edmonton at around 20:30 but were unable to find him.

But when they returned at about midnight after receiving new information they found seven bodies - three women, two men and two children.

Mr Knecht said that the house where the seven bodies were discovered presented his officers with a "horrific and chaotic" scene - the worst crime he had dealt with in 39 years of policing.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, they found a body matching the description of the suicidal male at a restaurant 25 miles (40km) north-east of Edmonton.

He said police would not be releasing the names of all the victims or the killer yet.

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New York City arrests drop by 66%

30 December 2014 Last updated at 22:24

Arrests in New York City are down 66% amid increasing tensions between police unions and the mayor since two officers were shot and killed on duty.

Citations for low-level and traffic offences have dropped by more than 90% compared with the same week a year ago.

The BBC has confirmed the figures, first reported in the New York Post.

On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio met the city's police unions who have criticised him for what they see as anti-police rhetoric.

Demonstrators in New York City and across the US have focused on what critics say are brutal police actions against unarmed African Americans this year.

Two particular cases highlighted by the protesters were that of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, killed in police encounters in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City respectively. Grand juries chose not to charge officers in both cases.

The mayor lost police backing when he expressed some sympathy with the protests and said he had to train his mixed-race son in how to deal with police officers.

Unnamed sources told the Post the sharp drop in arrests in the past week was in part because of fears for officer safety but also in part due to a deliberate slowdown.

One union president reportedly told officers to use "extreme discretion" in making arrests, saying "the rules are made by them to hurt you. Well now we'll use those rules to protect us," according to a recording obtained by Capital New York.

A spokesman for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association denied union leader Pat Lynch was encouraging a slowdown in arrests.

Meanwhile, an annual report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund found that 50 officers were killed by guns in 2014, a sharp increase from 32 deaths in 2013.

But police deaths by guns remain far below the all-time high of 156 in 1973.

The 2014 figure included 15 ambush deaths, like Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were killed last week in New York.

The gunman - who subsequently killed himself - had posted anti-police messages online, referring to Garner and Brown.

The deaths of Ramos and Liu have brought to the fore simmering tensions between police unions representing the rank-and-file officers and the mayor's office.

One union leader suggested Mr de Blasio had "blood on his hands" over the deaths of Liu and Ramos, and some officers turned their backs on de Blasio as spoke at Ramos' funeral.

After Tuesday's meeting, the mayor said the focus of talks were on "building a productive dialogue and identifying ways to move forward together".

Mr Lynch told reporters that officers' safety was his main concern.

"Our thought here tonight is actions speak louder than words and time will tell," he said.

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George Bush Sr home from hospital

30 December 2014 Last updated at 17:53

Former US President George Bush Sr has been released from hospital in Texas more than a week after being admitted suffering from a shortness of breath.

Mr Bush, 90, was released from the Houston Methodist Hospital and continues his recovery at home, his spokesman said.

Two years ago, Mr Bush was treated in the same hospital for more than two months for bronchitis and other issues.

He was president from 1989 to 1993, and heads a famous political dynasty.

His son George W Bush served as president from 2001 to 2009.

Another son, Jeb, said this month he would "actively explore the possibility of running for president" in 2016.

A statement from George Bush Sr's spokesman, Jim McGrath, confirmed the former president had been discharged.

"He is now resting at home, grateful to the doctors and nurses for their superb care."

Mr Bush is the oldest living former US president and a World War Two veteran.

He can no longer use his legs, but in June celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump.

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US 'concerned' about Cuba arrests

31 December 2014 Last updated at 23:09

The United States has said it is deeply concerned about reports that several high-profile Cuban dissidents were detained on Tuesday.

Activists say police made the arrests hours ahead of a planned protest in Havana's Revolution Square.

Organisers said the protest was aimed at testing the tolerance of Cuba's communist government.

On 17 December, the US and Cuba announced they would normalise relations.

Despite the historic announcement, Washington said earlier today that it would "continue to press the Cuban government to uphold its international obligations".

"We strongly condemn the Cuban government's continued harassment and repeated use of arbitrary detention, at times with violence, to silence critics," read the statement.

Open microphone protest

The crackdown was flagged up by Cuba's best-known dissident blogger, Yoani Sanchez, on Tuesday.

She posted on Twitter that her husband, Reinaldo Escobar, and another dissident, Eliecer Avila, had been detained.

Ms Sanchez, founder of opposition website Catorce y Medio, said she was briefly put under house arrest.

Mr Escobar, a senior editor at the website, was released after several hours in police custody.

They had been supporting an "open microphone" protest organised by performance artist Tania Bruguera.

Ms Bruguera was also detained on Tuesday, hours before the unauthorised event at Havana's Revolution Square.

She was briefly released earlier today, but rearrested after trying to hold a press conference in Havana's seaside avenue, the Malecon, according to the AFP news agency.

'Rigid outdated policy'

Opposition activist Elizardo Sanchez told AFP that 51 dissidents had been detained and that 15 remained in jail.

The arrests have not been confirmed by the Cuban authorities or reported by state media.

US-Cuban ties have been frozen since the early 1960s.

On 17 December President Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, made simultaneous announcements stating that they planned to normalise relations.

President Obama said the "rigid and outdated policy" of isolating Cuba since then had clearly failed and that it was time for a new approach.

Mr Castro, meanwhile, urged the US to ends its trade embargo, which has been in place since the Cuba turned to communism more than 50 years ago.

But the proposals to end the embargo still need to be approved by the US Congress, where they face strong opposition.

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Travel firms sue cheap airfare site

30 December 2014 Last updated at 14:14

United Airlines and travel firm Orbitz have launched legal action against a site that seeks out cheap "hidden city" airfares.

The site finds cheap fares by looking for flights that have a stopover at the city someone wants to travel to.

The two firms allege the site is engaged in "unfair competition" and seeks to recoup lost revenue.

The developer behind the site said he was doing nothing wrong by exposing the "inefficiencies" in airline ticketing.

The legal action has been filed in Illinois.

No luggage

The Skiplagged website works by looking for longer flights that include a stop in a big city en route to another destination. One example might be flying from New York to Lake Tahoe that has a stopover in San Francisco.

If someone wanted to travel to San Francisco they might spend less on the fare by booking the stopover flight and not travelling to Tahoe than they would simply booking a flight to San Francisco from New York. In some cases, the site suggests, travellers can save 40% or more on ticket fares.

The trick only works with one-way flights. Travellers cannot check in any luggage as that would then travel on to the flight's final destination.

Twenty-two-year-old developer Aktarer Zaman, who created the site, told CNNMoney that he had made no profit from Skiplagged. He declined to comment specifically on the case to CNN.

Mr Zaman has launched a fundraising campaign to gather cash to fight the legal battle against United and Orbitz. So far he has raised $10,538 (£6,776) of the $15,000 needed.

In its legal filing, United and Orbitz said the site was "intentionally and maliciously" interfering with the travel firms' business and was making it breach its contracts with its partners.

The documents added that "logistical and public safety concerns" meant using "hidden city" tickets was prohibited and, as a result, using Skiplagged broke these rules.

The two firms are seeking damages of at least $75,000 in revenue they claim they have lost as a result of Skiplagged operating.

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New York Congressman Grimm resigns

30 December 2014 Last updated at 17:33

Representative Michael Grimm has said he will resign from Congress, after pleading guilty to a tax fraud charge.

In a statement, Grimm said he could not "be 100% effective in the next Congress" and will quit next week. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

The New York Republican had won re-election in November despite being charged for underreporting $1m (£644,000) in wages and receipts

He pleaded guilty last week, saying he would fight to keep his seat.

"As long as I'm able to serve, I'm going to serve," Grimm had told reporters.

But a change of heart came and Grimm spoke to House Speaker John Boehner before making his latest statement.

Mr Boehner has not publicly called for his resignation, but has said his party would not tolerate wrongdoing.

"The congressman fully embraces and accepts his responsibility for his actions," said lawyer Stuart Kaplan, adding Mr Grimm "shows great humility" in resigning.

Grimm said he had made the decision with a "heavy heart, as I have enjoyed a very special relationship and closeness with my constituents, whom I care about deeply".

Prosecutors have said they want Grimm to be sentenced to 24-30 months in prison, while defence lawyers said 12 to 18 months would be appropriate.

A former marine and FBI agent, Grimm was first elected to Congress in 2010. The tax fraud charges came shortly after he threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony in the US Capitol building. He later apologised.

Prosecutors said Grimm deliberately underreported wages and receipts to avoid payroll and sales taxes at Healthalicious, a health food cafe he invested in after retiring from the FBI.

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Michael Grimm threatens reporter Michael Scotto

Grimm was also accused of lying under oath about his business practices. He pleaded guilty to one count of aiding in the filing of a false tax return.

He will resign on 5 January, a day before the new Congress is seated - with Republican majorities in both chambers.

A special election will be held for his seat, which covers the New York City borough of Staten Island and part of Brooklyn.

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US woman killed by two-year-old son

31 December 2014 Last updated at 01:48

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The BBC's Peter Bowes reports on the "tragic series of events"

A woman in the US state of Idaho has been killed after her two-year-old son accidentally shot her with a gun he found when reaching into her handbag.

The woman, named by the local sheriff's office as Veronica J Rutledge, 29, was shot in a Wal-Mart in Hayden, a town in Idaho's northern panhandle.

She had been shopping with several children at the time, a spokesman for the office said.

Officials said Ms Rutledge had had a concealed weapons permit.

She and her children had been in the rear of the store near the electronics area when the shooting occurred, they said.

The Wal-Mart closed after the shooting and is not expected to reopen until Wednesday.

Witnesses and video surveillance from the store helped officials determine the shooting was accidental, said broadcaster KREM.

The victim came from Blackfoot, a town in the south of Idaho, the sheriff's office said in a statement on Facebook.

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US state spares four on death row

31 December 2014 Last updated at 16:57

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has commuted the sentence of the state's four remaining death row inmates to life in prison.

The state's legislature ended the death penalty in 2012, making the highest sentence life in prison without parole.

Mr O'Malley said executing the remaining inmates "does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland".

He added he had spoken to many of the relatives of those killed by the inmates before making the decision.

The state's outgoing attorney general recently argued during an appeals hearing on one of the cases that it would be illegal for Maryland to carry out death sentences previously handed down because there is no law that allows capital punishment.

"The question at hand is whether any public good is served by allowing these essentially un-executable sentences to stand," Mr O'Malley said.

Failing to act would "needlessly and callously subject survivors, and the people of Maryland, to the ordeal of an endless appeals process".

Capital punishment in the US is at a 20-year low, with 35 people killed by execution across in the US in 2014, down from a high of 98 in 1999.

Of the seven states that performed executions, three of them - Missouri, Texas and Florida - are responsible for the vast majority of executions.

In some states, fewer prosecutors are seeking the death penalty during trial.

Many executions have been put on hold amid difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs and several botched executions.

US execution by numbers

• Currently, 35 US states use lethal injection as the primary method of execution - this includes three states which have stopped handing down the death penalty but still have prisoners on death row

• In some states a person sentenced to death may choose an alternative form of execution

• Eight US states allow electrocution, three allow the gas chamber, another three allow hanging, two allow the firing squad

• The last time an inmate was executed by a means other than lethal injection was in January 2013, when a 42-year-old man was electrocuted in Virginia

Source: The Death Penalty Information Center

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US strike 'killed al-Shabab chief'

31 December 2014 Last updated at 16:57

A leader of the al-Shabab Islamist group was killed by a US air strike on Monday, US and Somali officials say.

The intelligence chief, named as Tahlil Abdishakur, was part of a unit responsible for suicide attacks, security officials said.

US defence chiefs have confirmed that the al-Shabab leader died.

Washington has supported an African Union (AU) force, which has driven the fundamentalist group from strongholds across Somalia since 2011.

The Pentagon said US forces conducted the strike using an unmanned aircraft, or drone, in the area of Saakow, about 320km (200 miles) west of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

In a statement, US officials said the death of Tahlil would "significantly impact" al-Shabab's ability to conduct attacks "against the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Somali people, and US allies and interests in the region".

Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency said that two other al-Shabab members had also died in the operation.

The agency said Tahlil had just replaced al-Shabab's former intelligence chief, who was arrested a few days ago.

Zakariya Ahmed Ismail Hersi gave himself up to the Somali government three days earlier.

Mr Hersi, a leading figure in the militant group's intelligence wing, surrendered to police in the Gedo region.

In June 2012, the US state department offered $3m (£1.9m; 2.5m euros) for information leading to his capture.

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