5: 

‘We are all so devastated’: acting world pays tribute to Alan Rickman

Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Helen Mirren among those remembering the giant of movies and theatre – known best to many as Professor Snape in Harry Potter – who has died at the age of 69

The Guardian

4: 

Chomsky hits back at Erdoğan, accusing him of double standards on terrorism

The leftwing US academic Noam Chomsky has hit back at Recep Tayyip Erdoğanafter the Turkish president accused him of ignorance and sympathising with terrorists.

Hours after Tuesday’s bomb attack on a tourist area of Istanbul, Erdoğan delivered a sneering criticism of Chomsky and “so-called intellectuals” who had signed a letter calling on Turkey to lift its siege against Kurdish towns and cities in the south-east of the country.

He invited Chomsky to visit the area in a defiant televised speech to a conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara.

Chomsky has now rejected the invitation. In an email to the Guardian he said: “If I decide to go to Turkey, it will not be on his invitation, but as frequently before at the invitation of the many courageous dissidents, including Kurds who have been under severe attack for many years.”

Chomsky also claimed Erdoğan was operating double standards on terrorism.

In the open letter to Erdoğan released last month, Chomsky and hundreds of others accused him of waging war against his own people. It said: “The responsibility for the present self-inflicted crisis in the country must lie squarely with Erdoğan, who perceives the Kurds – whether it is the HDP [the pro-Kurdish, left-leaning party which gained 81 seats at the last election], the PYD in Syria or the PKK [the separatist Kurdish Workers’ Party] – as obstacles to his plan to establish supreme rule for the Turkish presidency.

The Guardian

3: 

Indonesia: Bombings and Gunfire Rock Jakarta

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a series of explosions that ripped through the Indonesian capital Jakarta today. At least seven people, including five alleged attackers, have died and 20 people were injured in the blasts and ensuing gun battles between police and militants. Four other suspects were arrested. The attack included at least five explosions in downtown Jakarta. A police traffic post and a Starbucks cafe were hit. Indonesian President Joko Widodo called it an “act of terror.”

President Joko Widodo: “We condemn these attacks that have disturbed the peace of society, and we want to spread this message to the nation and society. I ordered the authorities to catch those responsible for the attacks and even those out there that are involved in this. We, as a country, we should not be frightened by what has happened, this act of terror. We should stay calm, because everything will be under control.”

Democracy Now

2: 

TEN DETAINEES TRANSFERRED, LEAVING FEWER THAN 100 PRISONERS AT GUANTÁNAMO

TEN GUANTÁNAMO PRISONERS arrived in Oman today, a move that leaves fewer than 100 men held in the island prison.

The transfer follows President Obama’s pledge Tuesday night to “keep working to shut down the prison at Guantánamo,” a promise he has highlighted in the past three State of the Union addresses.

The move means that 14 people have left the prison in 2016. On Monday, Mohamed al Rahman al Shumrani was sent to his native Saudi Arabia, almost exactly 14 years after he first arrived in Guantánamo. Last week, one Kuwaiti man was sent home and two Yemeni men were resettled in Ghana.

The names of the men transferred to Oman are Fahed Abdullah Ahmad Ghazi, Samir Naji al-Hasan Muqbil, Adham Mohamed Ali Awad, Mukhtar Yahya Naji al-Warafi, Abu Bakr Ibn Muhammad al-Ahdal, Muhammad Salih Husayn al-Shaykh, Muhammad Said Salim Bin Salman, Said Muhammad Salih Hatim, Umar Said Salim al-Dini, and Fahmi Abdallah Ahmad Ubadi al-Tulaqi. They are all Yemeni.

Of the 93 men left in the prison, 34 have been cleared for transfer, provided the Obama administration can find countries to take them in. Seven are currently facing charges before the military commission — including the five accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks — and three have been convicted and are serving or awaiting their sentences.

The rest of the men are in limbo waiting on Periodic Review Boards, an interagency process that the Obama administration designed to evaluate the status of Guantánamo’s “forever” prisoners. These were men that the government had originally designated too dangerous to release, but could not charge with a crime. The review boards are meant to determine whether the government believes they still pose a threat to the United States.

Many advocates and lawyers for the detainees believe that the late start and slow pace of these reviews has been a major hold-up in the process of moving detainees out of the prison.

The Intercept 

1: 

Phone Hackers: Britain’s Secret Surveillance

IMSI catchers are portable surveillance tools used for spying on thousands of phones in a targeted area, tracking their location and even intercepting calls, messages, and data. They are supposed to help identify serious criminals, but cannot operate without monitoring innocent people too.

UK police have IMSI catchers, but they refuse to tell the public how and when they are used. This has privacy campaigners worried. And, even if the state is using them sparingly, what if criminals also have access to the technology?

Vice News