Britain settles with detainees

The British government will pay millions of dollars to 15 former Guantanamo Bay detainees and a current one, who accused the country's security services of collusion in torture and unlawful imprisonment, an extraordinary settlement that officials insisted was not an admission of guilt.

Security agencies in Britain have repeatedly insisted they were not complicit in alleged acts of torture against the prisoners, all of whom are British citizens or residents. Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, told Parliament on Tuesday: "The alternative to any payments made would have been protracted and extremely expensive litigation" and the possible compromise of national security.

Suspected U.S. missiles fired by drones hit a house and a speeding vehicle near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing 20 alleged militants in the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan, officials said. It was the eighth such attack this month.