DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ An ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee says he still remembers Ron DeSantis smiling at him from behind a fence while he was being force-fed: 'You cannot forget that'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An ex-Gitmo detainee said Ron DeSantis smiled at him as he was being force-fed, per The Daily Beast. The remarks come from an unaired documentary transcript detailing DeSantis' time as a Navy lawyer. Ron DeSantis smiled at him from behind a fence while watching him get force-fed, per the Daily Beast. This stands in stark contrast to a 2018 CBS interview, during which DeSantis told a reporter that JAG legal advisers told Guantanamo Bay commanders that people "can force-feed" and laid out the "kind of the rules for that." In the Al Jazeera piece, Adayfi said DeSantis wasn't the person who ordered that the hunger strike be broken violently — he just watched.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Mansoor Adayfi, Adayfi, DeSantis, I'm, Al Organizations: Navy, Service, Guantanamo, Florida Gov, Daily, Florida Republican, US Navy, Showtime, Hollywood, CBS, Washington Post Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida, Qaeda, Serbia, Guantanamo, Al Jazeera

☆ Opinion: In tough times, Russia turns to a Cold War comrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Opinion Jeremi Suri | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —After decades of somewhat distant relations, Russia and Cuba are working closely together again — this time, as part of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez, and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, meet in Havana on April 20, in a show of deepening ties between the countries. In addition to deepened connections with Russia, Cuba has allowed China to build a secret espionage facility on the island. Washington will respond to Russian military escalation in Cuba with its own escalating force, as it already has done with the recent deployment of a nuclear submarine. Military escalation around Cuba is a dangerous temptation for Russia and a difficult trap for the US.

Persons: Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown, America’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Jeremi Suri Korey Howell, Nikolai Patrushev, Igor Sechin, Rosneft, Sergey Lavrov, —, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Putin, Alvaro Lopéz Miera, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, ” Shoigu, ”, Gerardo Peñalver, Bruno Rodriguez, Ramon Espinosa, Miguel Diaz, Canel, Obama, White, Nikita Khrushchev, John F, Kennedy, Khrushchev, Biden, — Khrushchev Organizations: Leadership, Global Affairs, University of Texas, History Department, LBJ School, Democracy, CNN, Russian Security Council, Cuban, Russian, Cuba's, Foreign Affairs, Russian Foreign, Getty Images, year’s, Russian Navy, Caribbean Military, Trump, Biden, Soviets, Pentagon, US, USS, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, US Navy, West, Washington, Hulton, Getty, White, Republican, Russia, Ukraine, Twitter, Cuban Missile Locations: Austin, Russia, Cuba, Ukraine, Russian, Havana ., — Venezuela, Nicaragua, Moscow, Caribbean, Washington, Havana, Getty Images Cuba, America, China, Lourdes, USS Pasadena, Guantanamo, American, Soviet, West Berlin, Europe, Putin, Florida, Afghanistan, Turkey

☆ Fact Check-The Washington Post did not report Bill Gates has been arrested
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Advisory: This article includes links to photos and videos depicting death penalty scenes)The Washington Post did not publish a report earlier this month saying Bill Gates had been arrested. The Washington Post’s Public Relations Manager Savannah Stephens said in a July 13 email that no such story was published. Washington Post” (here). A search for articles related to Gates being arrested does not return any relevant results on The Washington Post site (tinyurl.com/35sucwh6). There is no evidence that The Washington Post published a report on Bill Gates being arrested for crimes against humanity.

Persons: Bill Gates, Gates, Savannah Stephens, retweets, Bill, Melinda Gates, Read Organizations: Washington Post, The Washington, Public, US Federal Marshals, Watch, . Washington Post, YouTube, Reuters Locations: The, Guantanamo, . Washington, U.S

☆ Cuba: A Russian navy ship docks in Havana as tough times bring the old friends together
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Patrick Oppmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Havana, Cuba CNN —As a series of welcoming cannon blasts rang out from a nearby colonial fort, the Russian navy’s training class ship Perekop sailed into Havana on Tuesday. “We are condemning, we are rejecting, the expansion of NATO towards Russia’s borders,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told Russian-controlled network, RT, in a rare interview in May. He also blasted US economic sanctions on Russia, while heralding Russian “projects of cooperation and collaboration” under development in Cuba. But following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost its main trading partner and entered a deep economic depression. Despite the high cost of the war in Ukraine and economic sanctions, Russian officials say they are committed to Cuba.

Persons: Perekop, “, Miguel Diaz, Canel, Patrick Oppmann, Jorge R, –, Russia –, Yamil Lage, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Biden, ”, Ric Herrero, ” Herrero, “ There’s, ” Benjamin Ziff, Chargé d’Affaires, Sergey Shoigu, Alvaro Lopez Miera, ” Shoigu Organizations: Cuba CNN, Prensa Latina, Cuban, Soviet, NATO, CNN, University of Texas, Austin Energy Institute, Russian, Getty, Trump, Cuba Study, US Naval, Russian Defense Locations: Havana, Cuba, Russian, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Cuban, Moscow, Russia’s, Russia, USSR, AFP, Trump, Spanish, Guantánamo, East, West, “ Cuba

☆ Cuba calls US nuclear submarine in Guantanamo Bay 'provocative escalation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HAVANA, July 11 (Reuters) - Cuban authorities on Tuesday said the U.S. recently had a nuclear-powered submarine at its military base at Guantanamo Bay and called the action a "provocative escalation" of tensions weeks after Washington alleged that there was a Chinese spy base on the island. Washington did not confirm that there was a submarine at the naval base. It said Cuba was looking to distract from the two-year anniversary of largest street protests seen in Cuba since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Critics have said the Guantanamo Bay prison has been used for arbitrary detention and torture of people suspected of terrorism. In June, Havana and Beijing rejected reports citing U.S. officials alleging that China was using Cuba as a spy base.

Persons: Washington, Fidel Castro's, William LeoGrande, Critics, Nelson Acosta, Sarah Morland, Matt Spetalnick, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Washington, U.S . State Department, State Department, House, U.S . Department of Defense, Washington's American University, Reuters, United, Thomson Locations: HAVANA, U.S, Guantanamo, Chinese, Cuba, Cuban, China, Washington, Havana, Beijing, United States, Caribbean

☆ The first-ever independent investigator to visit Guantánamo Bay says she arrived 'too late'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An independent UN investigator visited the Guantánamo Bay prison for the first time in February. She has since called on the US to provide torture rehabilitation and educational resources. The United States used the prison at Guantánamo Bay to detain men it believed to be connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Many of those detained were held indefinitely without trial, which led to international condemnation of the United States from human rights groups. The United States detained a total of 780 men at Guantánamo Bay.

Persons: United Nations —, Ní Aoláin, Biden Organizations: Service, United Nations, United, Associated Press, AP Locations: Wall, Silicon, Guantánamo, United States, Bay, Cuba

☆ Conditions at Guantánamo Are Cruel and Inhuman, U.N. Investigation Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The last 30 detainees at Guantánamo Bay, including the men accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, are being held by the United States under circumstances that constitute “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law,” a United Nations Human Rights investigator said on Monday. She issued the report one month before her term as rapporteur ends. She said the conditions at the prison “may also meet the legal threshold for torture.”Ms. Aolain was the first United Nations investigator to be granted access to the detention center in its two-decade history. She said in an interview that she met with a cross section of the 34 prisoners who were there in February, including former C.I.A. detainees who are facing criminal charges and others who have been approved for transfer to other nations.

Persons: ”, Fionnuala Ni, Ms, Aolain Organizations: United Nations Human, United Nations Locations: Guantánamo, United States, Minnesota

☆ US should apologize to Guantanamo Bay inmates for treatment -UN expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 26 (Reuters) - A United Nations expert said on Monday that U.S. government treatment of Guantanamo Bay inmates was cruel, inhuman and degrading under international law and called for Washington to apologize and provide reparation. "I observed that after two decades of custody, the suffering of those detained is profound, and it's ongoing," Fionnuala Ni Aolain said at the United Nations after completing the first official visit by a U.N. expert to the detention facility in Cuba. The prison was set up in 2002 by then-U.S. President George W. Bush to house foreign militant suspects following the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Its population grew to a peak of about 800 inmates before it started to shrink. The comments by the independent expert add to recent criticism from the Red Cross and another UN body.

Persons: Ni Aolain, George W, Bush, Joe Biden, Washington, Emma Farge, Idrees Ali, Chris Reese, Howard Goller Organizations: United, United Nations, Pentagon, UN, Thomson Locations: United Nations, Guantanamo, Washington, Cuba, United States

BEJUCAL, Cuba, June 14 (Reuters) - Just outside the sleepy Cuban village of Bejucal, a winding track, rutted with potholes and losing ground to the jungle, ends at a barbed wire fence. The question of Chinese spying from Cuba was renewed last week following a Wall Street Journal report. China, Washington’s top geopolitical rival, on Monday denied it was using Cuba as a spy base. [1/5] A truck passes by a sign at the entrance of Bejucal, Cuba, June 12, 2023. Onelvis Despaigne, 36, a farm worker who lives just outside the base, told Reuters on Monday he had not heard the recent foreign media reports on Chinese spying.

Persons: Biden, Bejucal, Arnaldo Perez, Dave Sherwood, Perez, motioning, Marco Rubio, Havana “, Fulton Armstrong, ”, Armstrong, Vladimir Putin, Onelvis Despaigne, Matt Spetalnick, Adam Jourdan, Don Durfee, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Reuters, Federal Communications Commission, Communist Party, FCC, Security, Commission, ARCOS, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department ., Guantanamo, Base, White House National Security Council, REUTERS, Cuban Missile, Soviet Union, U.S, Cuban, CIA, Thomson Locations: BEJUCAL, Cuba, Cuban, Bejucal, China, Beijing, States, Key West , Florida, U.S, United States, Justice Department . China, Havana, Soviet, Moscow, Marco Rubio of Florida, Caribbean, Taiwan Strait, South China, Russia, Ukraine, Lourdes, Washington

Washington CNN —China has been operating military and intelligence facilities in Cuba since at least 2019 and is continuing to expand its intelligence gathering capabilities around the world, a Biden administration official and two other sources told CNN Saturday. The administration official said China “conducted an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019” under the Trump administration and described the challenge as “inherited.”“This is well-documented in the intelligence record,” the official said. CUBA, HAVANA - AUGUST 02 : Aerial view of the city of Havana on August 02, 2017 in Havana, Cuba. Former US Ambassador to China Max Baucus said Saturday he was “surprised” the Biden administration initially denied reporting that China has operated intelligence and military facilities in Cuba and acknowledged China has long had a “presence” in Cuba. The Chinese military and intelligence sites monitor maritime traffic, the US Guantanamo naval base and communications, the source familiar with the intelligence said.

Persons: China “, Trump, “, ”, John Kirby, Frédéric Soltan, Frédéric, Bill Burns, Antony Blinken, Defense Lloyd Austin, China Max Baucus, Biden, Baucus, Obama Organizations: Washington CNN, Biden, CNN, White House, Wall Street, National Security Council, South China, Getty, Corbis, CIA, Defense, Guantanamo Locations: China, Cuba, ”, South, CUBA, HAVANA, Havana, Havana , Cuba, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

London CNN —A High Court judge in London has denied Julian Assange permission to appeal an order to extradite him to the United States, where he faces criminal charges under the Espionage Act. A London court issued a formal extradition order to send the Australian to the US in April last year; it was rubber-stamped by the UK government two months later. In January 2021, a UK judge rejected a request from the US to extradite Assange, ruling that such a move would be “oppressive” to his mental health. Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office described the latest court decision as “disappointing.” It said allowing the extradition “would set a dangerous precedent, threatening all our rights to freedom of expression” in a Twitter post. The reaction was similar from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) which said it was “deeply concerned” by the High Court decision against Assange which brings him “dangerously close” to being extradited.

Persons: Julian Assange, Justice Swift, Assange, Vanessa Baraitser, Mr, Assange’s, Stella, Julian, ”, Chelsea Manning, “, Rebecca Vincent, Biden, Dominique Pradalié Organizations: London CNN, CNN, WikiLeaks, High, U.S ., Twitter, London’s Metropolitan Police, Eastern, of, Army, Department, High Court, Amnesty, Office, International, European, of Journalists, British Locations: London, United States, Belmarsh, of Virginia, Guantanamo

☆ U.N. Body Condemns Torture of Guantánamo Prisoner Awaiting Capital Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It Matters: Criticism of Guantánamo Bay is mounting, again. The report could be presented to a sentencing jury of U.S. military officers in Mr. Nashiri’s case. In October 2021, a military jury in the case of another Guantánamo prisoner who was tortured by the C.I.A. Mr. Nashiri’s lawyers describe him as a torture survivor who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other conditions attributed to untreated physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Mr. Nashiri has more hearings this month focused on what evidence can be used at his eventual capital trial.

Persons: Biden, Cole, Abd al Rahim, Janet Hamlin, Nashiri, Katie Carmon Organizations: International Committee, Pentagon, Associated Press Locations: Guantánamo, America, U.S, Aden Harbor, United States

☆ At Guantánamo’s Court Like No Other, Progress Is Frustrated by State Secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 20 years have elapsed since the attacks in Bali and Jakarta killed more than 200 people, seven of them Americans. The three men have been in U.S. custody for nearly two decades, starting in C.I.A. But the lawyers and judge are still trying to figure out what portions of the proceedings are supposed to be secret. Secrecy permeates the proceedings like no other American court. It is enough time for prosecutors to signal to a court security officer, who is schooled in C.I.A.

☆ Not just Disney: DeSantis brings history of business battles to the presidential campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Ron DeSantis officially launched his presidential campaign Wednesday, putting his blend of pro-business conservativism and culture-war populism to the test at the national level. In the most recent legislative session, DeSantis signed a bill that stopped union dues from being automatically deducted from public employees' paychecks. Ron DeSantis, a critic of environmentally sensitive investing, didn't succeed in protecting his constituents from the ravages of Hurricane Ian, which may have been intensified by global warming. DeSantis signed a bill in early May barring state and local officials from making ESG-based investment decisions. The Disney sagaApparel promoting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sit on a table before a book tour event at the North Charleston Coliseum on April 19, 2023 in North Charleston, South Carolina.

☆ Fact Check-New York prison barge not being transported to Guam or ‘Gitmo’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A New York City prison barge is not being moved to Guam or the Guantanamo Bay detention center known as “Gitmo,” according to officials in the New York City Department of Corrections and the U.S. Southern Command. The base includes a military prison, known colloquially as Gitmo. A New York City Department of Corrections spokesperson also said in an email that the photograph shows the Vernon C. Bain Center located in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Vernon C. Bain Center is an 800-bed prison that houses inmates for the New York City Department of Corrections. The prison barge was set up in 1992, intended as a temporary facility to accommodate New York’s growing inmate population, the New York Times reported in 2019 (here).

☆ Ron DeSantis was advised to write 'LIKABLE' at the top of his notepad as a reminder to himself to not get aggressive, old 2018 debate prep video shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis was advised to write 'LIKABLE' on his notepad before a 2018 debate. An advisor told DeSantis to tone down his aggressiveness in a debate prep video obtained by ABC News. "You have to write in all caps at the top of the pad, 'LIKABLE,'" the advisor off camera said. Ron DeSantis was advised by an aide to find ways to stay "likable" and tone down his aggressiveness while speaking in debates. According to ABC News, the advisor later told DeSantis: "You want to have that likable, dismissive tone, and not condescending."

☆ Cuban police crackdown on demonstrators protesting widespread shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Patrick Oppmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Videos posted to social media show a crowd protesting in front of government buildings, before riot police arrived and forcibly arrested several demonstrators. Netblocks, an organization that tracks internet activity, said it appeared the Cuban government had taken down the internet across the entire island as news of the protests spread. Pro-Cuban government bloggers blamed the protesters uploading videos of the protests for the internet disruptions. However, the Cuban government has a history of taking down the state-provided internet during previous protests, sometimes for several days. Internet connectivity appeared to be largely restored on Sunday, and Cuban state media Cubadebate said no more protests had occurred.

☆ Isolated protest in eastern Cuba sparks dueling versions on social media
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But state-run radio journalist Mabel Pozo said on social media that the protest began when "various citizens, some in a state of drunkenness, yelled statements against the Cuban social process and regarding their dissatisfactions." Reuters could not independently verify the reports or video on social media or the official media version of events. Dissidents have accused the Cuban government of blocking internet traffic countrywide when protests flare in a bid to contain anti-government sentiment. Global web watchdog Netblocks showed a sharp drop in web traffic in Cuba on Saturday shortly after the protest was first reported. The state-run media version of events appeared to blame the lack of internet access on a spike in web traffic.

☆ Fact Check-Satirical article claims Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot ‘executed at GITMO’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

An article shared online claiming that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been executed at Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) is from a satirical website whose stories are regularly debunked by Reuters Fact Check. Posts include a link to an article by Real Raw News (archive.is/N9CLZ) published on April 17, 2023. Representatives for Lightfoot did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The claim originated from a satirical website. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

☆ Hunger Strikes Have Long Served as a Tool of Nonviolent Protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

How is force-feeding hunger strikers viewed? The authorities are typically eager to quash any potential fallout from prisoners’ dying and loathe the spectacle that hunger strikes can create. International groups like the United Nations, the International Red Cross and the World Medical Association have long recognized the right of prisoners to refuse food. And it has been labeled “a form of torture and is contrary to medical ethics,” according to the World Medical Association. Despite these objections, the U.S. military has force-fed prisoners on hunger strikes at Guantánamo Bay, saying that it had no other choice but to keep them alive, and none have starved.

☆ U.N. Body Demands Release of Guantánamo Prisoner Who Was Tortured by the C.I.A.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The body, which has no enforcement mechanism, also found that Abu Zubaydah had been denied a meaningful review of his detention and so was being unlawfully held. “The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Zubaydah immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law,” the group said in an opinion. In 2019, Abu Zubaydah drew sketches of how he was tortured. Image Abu Zubaydah. The report criticized six other nations where the United States held Abu Zubaydah — Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Poland, Morocco and Lithuania.

☆ Opinion | Biden Can Close the Legal Black Hole at Guantánamo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Last week, Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush was released from detention at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and returned to Algeria, his home country. Mr. Biden wisely avoided the kind of highly public pledges to close down the prison that President Barack Obama made and could not keep. Clearing out the remaining prisoners requires cutting through a tangle of laws, policies, procedures and bureaucratic secrecy. Mr. Biden can use his authority to order the Departments of Defense, Justice and State, the intelligence agencies and other agencies involved to coordinate their efforts and direct their resources to make it happen, as quickly as possible. As long as there are people held in detention at Guantánamo, America’s condemnations of brutal detention centers in China and Syria will ring hollow.

☆ War Court Proceedings Stream to Guantánamo From a Secret Chamber in Virginia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — For hearings in the destroyer Cole bombing case this month, the Guantánamo war court was mostly empty. Skeletal teams for the prosecution and the defense sat in the cavernous chamber, silently watching an 80-inch screen over the witness stand. On it lawyers argued and witnesses testified from a secret courtroom 1,300 miles to the north outside Washington. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the George W. Bush administration created a war crimes court at Guantánamo to be out of reach of the U.S. courts. But now, increasingly, lawyers are examining witnesses and making arguments in the remote annex — four miles from the Supreme Court and 10 miles from C.I.A.

☆ DeSantis loses his cool with a reporter after being challenged over claims he witnessed torture while working at Guantanamo Bay
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis clashed with a reporter when questioned about Guantanamo Bay. A former detainee claims DeSantis witnessed him being force fed. Ron DeSantis was involved in a tetchy exchange with a reporter after being questioned about whether he witnessed detainees being tortured in Guantanamo Bay. The UN has said that it regards the force feeding of inmates at Guantanamo as a form of torture. "So everything at that time was legal in nature one way or another," DeSantis told a CBS affiliate in 2018.

☆ Ron DeSantis, facing challenges at home, will test presidential ambitions overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Steve Contorno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

While in Israel, DeSantis will also keynote an event hosted by The Jerusalem Post and the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. The trip will spotlight DeSantis’ foreign policy credentials as he inches toward a White House bid. DeSantis’ predecessor, now-US Sen. Rick Scott, embarked on more than a dozen trade missions during his tenure as governor. Eleven Florida Republicans have endorsed Trump over DeSantis so far – including seven last week. State lawmakers have also balked at a provision in DeSantis’ immigration package that would eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented residents.

Search resuls for: "Guantanamo"

25 mentions found