Former Guantanamo prisoner claims frontrunner DeSantis watched him being tortured

The Independent's Morning Headlines email [View online]( March 17, 2023 [Morning Headlines]( 1 / [Former Guantanamo prisoner: Ron DeSantis watched me being tortured]( A former detainee of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp has claimed that Florida governor and 2024 presidential contender Ron DeSantis witnessed him being tortured during the time he was stationed there. Mansoor Adayfi, a Yemeni citizen who was held for 14 years on the US Naval base in Cuba, told The Independent in an extraordinary interview that he was brutally force-fed by camp staff during a hunger strike in 2006, and that Mr DeSantis was present for at least one of those sessions. The United Nations has characterised the force-feeding of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay as torture. The US government has denied that the practice amounts to torture, and it has been used against prisoners over successive administrations during hunger strikes.   2 / [NHS strikes: Major step as government and unions agree pay offer]( Final offer reached after weeks of negotiations and months of strikes 3 / [The chilling text message killer stepmother sent as three year-old boy lay dying]( Leila Borrington was sentenced to 15 years over death of ‘beautiful little boy’ Harvey. The boy’s birth mother says no sentence would be long enough 4 / [Suella Braverman takes taxpayer-funded trip to Rwanda as asylum agreement remains stalled]( Home secretary previously visited country on programme teaching Rwandan government lawyers 5 / [‘Back to work’ pensions reform risks costing Treasury £100,000 a job, think tank warns]( IFS says policy is ‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’   The Big Question Why is migration to the UK on the rise? Net [migration]( to the UK is set to surge to around 245,000 annually over the next few years, despite Rishi Sunak’s vow to drive down the number of new arrivals. The [Office for Budget Responsibility](‘s forecast on Wednesday was revised up from 205,000 in its November forecast and nearly double the number projected in March, which was 129,000. The increase comes after migration to the UK in 2020 and 2021 was affected by the global Covid pandemic, when people were largely unable to travel as countries tried to tackle the spread of the virus. At the same time, the number of EU nationals coming to the UK has fallen dramatically since Brexit. So what’s driving the rise? [For the full story click here >](   Enjoying this newsletter? Unlock unlimited, ad-free reading on the website and in The Independent app when you subscribe – plus, benefit from our [welcome offer when you join today](. Watch/ [Raging driver nearly hit by lorry after sticking head out window to yell](   NUMBER OF THE DAY 100,000 – Jeremy Hunt’s multi-billion pound pensions giveaway in the [Budget]( may not increase the number of people in work and could open an inheritance tax loophole for the wealthy, experts have warned. The highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said the policy risked costing £100,000 per job, as it warned households will feel “continuing pain over the “next year as wages fail to catch up with prices during a "lost decade" of living standards. [Read more here](   QUOTE OF THE DAY “I believe she was just trying to get people to listen to her.” – Allison Johnston, the mother of a young woman who [falsely claimed to have been the victim of an Asian grooming gang,]( has spoken out after her daughter was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail. [Read more here](     Other stories you might like   [Putin mocks Britons being offered turnips to eat as Western sanctions on Russia ‘fail’](   [Grant Shapps stays on TikTok and cites ‘I’m not f***ing leaving’ meme](   [UK weather: Temperatures expected to turn milder as Britain again faces rainy weather](       Articles available exclusively to subscribers [Mary Dejevsky]( - [Why China is trying to mediate in the Ukraine invasion](   Other newsletters you might like [The Race Report]( The Race Report Fortnightly, 6pm (UK time) Written by Nadine White [Join now]( [The View from Westminster ]( The View from Westminster Every weekday, 6pm (UK time) Written by John Rentoul [Join now](   If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Download the free Independent app Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's Morning Headlines newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's Morning Headlines newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Headlines_Masterlist_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This e-mail was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 14-18 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AH. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.