Barack Obama, the US president, has signed a wide-ranging defence bill into law, putting into place new provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of those suspected of terrorism, as well as imposing fresh sanctions on Iran. In a statement accompanying his signature to the $662bn bill, Obama said that he was signing it despite having “serious reservations” about the provisions relating to terrorism, contending that politicians in the US congress were attempting to restrict the ability of counterterrorism officials to protect the country. He argued that recent US successes against al-Qaeda had been possible because counterterrorism authorities had benefited from flexibility on dealing with suspects, which he said the bill called into question. Administration officials said that Obama only signed the measure on Saturday because certain minimally acceptable changes had been made to the controversial bill that allowed the president’s office to retain certain overarching powers. Obama’s signature…   More →