New report will fuel debate about closing Guantanamo prison
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report about Guantanamo detainees tells the stories of former al-Qaida bomb makers and bodyguards as well as low-level militant cooks and medics who have been transferred or cleared for release — despite fears they are at risk of returning to battle.
Many of the detainees have been held without charge for more than 14 years at the military prison President Barack Obama wants to close.
The Pentagon gave the unclassified report to Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who has been pushing the Obama administration for years to be more transparent about who is being transferred out of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She shared it with The Associated Press and posted it online Wednesday.
“By clearly detailing some of the disturbing terrorist activities and affiliations of detainees at Guantanamo, the report demonstrates why these terrorists should not be released — they pose a serious risk to our national security,” Ayotte said in an email response to questions.
The remaining detainees “will no doubt” return to the fight once released, she said, noting that the Defense Department told her that 93 percent of the detainees still at Guantanamo as of late last year were high risk for re-engagement in terrorism.
US-backed Libyan forces takeover IS headquarters in Sirte
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — U.S.-backed Libyan forces said on Wednesday they have taken over the Islamic State group’s headquarters in Sirte, the militants’ final bastion in Libya, breaking a weeks-long stalemate with the help of U.S. airstrikes.
The fighters said that they had seized control of the sprawling convention center that was used as IS’s headquarters in the coastal city. The fighters, who are mainly from the nearby city of Misrata, launched their offensive against IS in June. They also said that they had seized the city’s main hospital of Ibn Sina from IS militants.
A statement posted on the forces’ Facebook page declared that “Sirte is returning to Libya.”
The government-supported operation, known as al-Bonyan al-Marsous, also said that it lost contact with one of its warplanes and the pilot. In an online statement, IS claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane and killing the pilot.
Mohammed Shamia, a spokesman for the operation, posted on his Facebook page a list of 14 anti-IS fighters who have been killed in the past 24 hours.
Source: Boy was decapitated on waterslide at Kansas park
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The 10-year-old boy killed during a ride on the world’s tallest waterslide was decapitated in the accident, a person familiar with the investigation said Wednesday.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly, gave no other details of how Caleb Schwab died Sunday on the raft ride at the Schlitterbahn WaterPark in Kansas City, Kansas. Authorities have yet to explain how it happened.
Two women who are not family members were in the raft at the time with the boy and were treated for facial injuries. The boy’s parents — Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife, Michele — have requested privacy and have not spoken publicly since the death. His funeral is scheduled for Friday.
A spokeswoman for the waterpark on Wednesday declined to discuss the circumstances of the boy’s death on the ride called “Verruckt” — or German for “insane.”
Verruckt featured multi-person rafts that make a 168-foot drop at speeds of up to 70 mph, followed by a surge up a hump and a 50-foot descent to a finishing pool. Since the accident, investigators have removed the netting above the 50-foot section from the hump to the finishing pool.
Delta struggles through third day of computer problems
NEW YORK (AP) — Delta fliers faced delays, cancellations and more headaches Wednesday as the Atlanta-based airline struggled with its computer systems for the third straight day.
More than 300 flights were canceled by the afternoon, in addition to the 800 scrapped Tuesday and 1,000 canceled Monday. Hundreds of other flights were delayed Wednesday.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian once again apologized for the meltdown.
He told The Associated Press that while he knew the airline needed to make technological investments — an updated mobile app for instance — “we did not believe, by any means, that we had this type of vulnerability.”
Bastian said that by late afternoon Wednesday, the airline was “largely back to normal.”
Twice lucky: Dubai crash-landing survivor wins $1 million
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — After he escaped unharmed from the burning wreckage of an Emirates airplane that had crash-landed in Dubai, Mohamed Basheer already considered himself lucky.
Then came the call telling him he had won $1 million.
“I said, ‘Don’t joke!’” the 62-year-old Indian recounted, laughing inside the auto-body repair shop where he works in Dubai. “They said, ‘Yes, you are the winner!’ I said, ‘No!’”
Basheer won Dubai Duty Free’s Millennium Millionaire sweepstakes Tuesday with a ticket he purchased July 6, just before he boarded an Emirates flight to head to India’s Kerala state and his hometown of Pallickal.
He believes the 1,000-dirham ($270) ticket, No. 845 in Series M222, was his 17th attempt to win the sweepstake.
