Lawyers

• Barack Obama, Raul Castro spar on human rights violations in Cuba

  U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro aired their differences on the existence of political prisonsers in Cuba and other human rights violations during Obama's visit to Cuba.

• Obama to submit Guantanamo prison closure plan; Proposal is illegal according to opposing lawmakers

  The Pentagon will submitt its proposal regarding the shut down of the Guantanamo prison facility. Most lawmakers see this move as illegal and unconstitutional.

• At U.N., Castro says U.S. must end embargo to have normal Cuba ties

  Cuban President Raul Castro told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday that normal relations with the United States would only be possible if Washington ended its trade embargo on his country, returned the military base at Guantanamo and ended anti-communist broadcasts beamed into the island.

• U.S. government blocks release of new CIA torture details

  U.S. government officials have blocked the release of 116 pages of defense lawyers' notes detailing the torture that Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah says he experienced in CIA custody, defense lawyers said on Thursday.

• Some Guantanamo inmates would go to U.S. under new plan: Obama aide

  A plan being drafted for closing the Guantanamo military jail will call for the transfer to U.S. prisons of possibly dozens of inmates deemed too dangerous to release, President Barack Obama’s counter terrorism adviser said, setting up a fight with congressional opponents.

• White House says it is drafting plan to close Guantanamo

  The White House said on Wednesday it was in the final stage of drafting a plan for closing the Guantanamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects, racing against time to resolve one of President Barack Obama's most intractable problems.

• Cuba opens Washington embassy, urges end to embargo

  The Cuban flag was raised over Havana’s embassy in Washington on Monday for the first time in 54 years as the United States and Cuba formally restored relations, opening a new chapter of engagement between the former Cold War foes.

• U.S. sends six Yemeni prisoners from Guantanamo to Oman for resettlement

  Six Yemenis held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo have been flown to Oman for resettlement, the Pentagon said on Saturday, the latest step in President Barack Obama's slow push to close the facility.

• U.S. top court blocks suit by Syrian former Guantanamo detainee

  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up an appeal filed by a Syrian former detainee at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba, leaving intact a lower-court ruling prohibiting him from suing the United States for damages stemming from his treatment during seven years of detention.

• Lawyer for former Australian Guantanamo detainee says U.S. agrees he is innocent

  The United States has agreed that Australian David Hicks, jailed on terrorism charges for five years at Guantanamo, is innocent, his lawyer said on Friday.

• Five Yemenis transferred from U.S. custody at Guantanamo: Pentagon

  The Pentagon transferred five Yemenis held at Guantanamo prison to foreign custody on Wednesday in the first handover of detainees in 2015, sending four to Oman and one to Estonia despite Republican calls for a moratorium on the resettlements.

• U.S. sends five Guantanamo prisoners to Kazakhstan for resettlement

  Three Yemenis and two Tunisians held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo have been flown to Kazakhstan for resettlement, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, the latest in a series of prisoner transfers aimed at closing the facility.

• Obama signs nearly $578 billion defense bill for fiscal 2015

  President Barack Obama signed an annual defense policy bill on Friday that authorizes U.S. training for Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting Islamic State rebels and sets overall defense spending at nearly $578 billion, including about $64 billion for wars abroad.

• U.S. sends four Guantanamo prisoners home to Afghanistan

  Four Afghans held for over a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent home, the Pentagon said on Saturday, the latest step in a gradual push by the Obama administration to close the jail.

• Did torture really help U.S. find al Qaeda chief Hambali?

  Hailed as a major success in the U.S. "war on terror," the capture of Indonesian cleric Hambali if often touted by the U.S. intelligence community as evidence that harsh interrogation produces results.

• U.S. releases five Guantanamo detainees to Georgia, Slovakia

  The United States has released five detainees from its detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including the first Yemeni detainee to be resettled since 2010, officials said on Thursday.

• Libyan al Qaeda suspect seeks to toss statements in U.S. case

  Suspected al Qaeda figure Abu Anas al-Liby told a U.S. judge on Wednesday that statements he made to U.S. interrogators should not be allowed at trial because he felt he had no choice but to talk.