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Oman says it has received 10 prisoners released from the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The foreign ministry said it had responded to a request from the US and acted “out of consideration for the men’s humanitarian situation”. The statement said the 10, whose nationalities were not revealed, would be offered temporary residency in Oman.

The move comes in the closing days of President Barack Obama’s time in office. He pledged to close the controversial detention centre during his election campaign in 2008. Although he has been unable to do so, he has cut the number of inmates considerably.

The latest transfers mean there are now fewer than 50 detainees left in the centre, compared with 242 when Mr Obama succeeded George W Bush.

President-elect Donald Trump has called for all further releases to stop. “To meet a request by the US government to assist in settling the issue of the detainees at Guantanamo, out of consideration of their humanitarian situation, 10 people released from that prison arrived in the Sultanate of Oman for a temporary residency,” the foreign ministry statement said.

It did not disclose how long the men had been held. Earlier this month, four Yemeni inmates were transferred to Saudi Arabia.

At least 26 people have died during a 14-hour riot in a Brazilian prison, police said.

The revised death toll is three times what was initially reported, and could increase further, the sources said.

On Saturday afternoon, violence erupted between members of rival gangs at Alcacuz prison, starting a riot which lasted until a dawn raid the following day.

Earlier, prison officials said some of the victims had been decapitated. “We could see the heads ripped off” three of the dead prisoners, said Zemilton Silva, coordinator of the prison system. Forensic teams said most victims had been decapitated or had body parts chopped off, according to reports, and many bodies were thrown into a ditch. It is not yet known if any prison officers or police staff were injured during the incident.

The riot is believed to have started when members of one of Brazil’s powerful criminal organisations attacked their rivals, who were housed in a separate wing. Details are still emerging as authorities restore order and remove the dead and injured from the complex.

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There are reports of two shootings in clubs in the Mexican resort of Playa del Carmen.

People attending the closing night of the BPM electronic music festival at the Blue Parrot club said they had heard shots. Eyewitnesses said they thought as many as five people could have been killed but there has been no confirmation. There are also reports of a second shooting at The Jungle venue, where another BPM event was taking place.

The festival, which is in its 10th year, is popular with foreign tourists, especially from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Sidney Charles tweeted that he was DJing at the time of the shooting in the Blue Parrot.

Video footage said to have been shot in Playa del Carmen shows people running from the Blue Parrot. The BPM festival ran for 10 days and featured more than 375 musicians, DJs and artists. It attracts thousands of electronic music fans from around the world.

One of the first to tweet about the incident was Scottish DJ Jackmaster (@Jackmaster). He said that “someone” had come into the club in Playa Del Carmen and opened fire. “4-5 dead and many wounded,” he tweeted.

Shootings in Mexican clubs are not unusual and are often linked to gang violence, but the venues targeted are normally those frequented by gang members rather than foreign tourists.

Russia says it views the arrival of more than 3,000 US soldiers in Poland as a threat to its own security.

The troops are part of President Barack Obama’s response to reassure Nato allies concerned about a more aggressive Russia. It is the largest US military reinforcement of Europe in decades.

President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the move “threatens our interests and our security”. “It’s a third country that is building up its military presence on our borders in Europe,” he said. “It isn’t even a European country.”

More than 80 main battle tanks and hundreds of armoured vehicles have already arrived in Germany and are now being moved into Eastern Europe by road and rail.

The US Armoured Brigade will also carry out military exercises in the Baltics, all part of President Obama’s response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and to reassure nervous Nato allies. The plan is to rotate forces every nine months. Their arrival comes just days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, who has signalled he wants to improve relations with Moscow.

The election of Mr Trump has raised questions as to whether this heightened US military posture will continue.

Mr Trump’s nomination for defence secretary – Gen James Mattis – is likely to be asked about the new administration’s attitude to Russia in his Senate confirmation hearing later on Thursday.

An ex-MI6 officer who is believed to have prepared a memo claiming Russia has compromising material on US President-elect Donald Trump is now in hiding.

Christopher Steele, who runs a London-based intelligence firm, is believed to have left his home this week. The memos contain unsubstantiated claims that Russian security officials have compromising material on Mr Trump.

The US president-elect said the claims were “fake news” and “phoney stuff”.

Mr Steele has been widely named as the author of a memo – which has been published in some US media – that contains extensive allegations about Mr Trump’s personal life and his campaign’s relationship with the Russian state. Among the allegations are that Moscow has a video recording of Mr Trump with prostitutes and damaging information about his business activities.
Mr Steele left his home on either Tuesday or Wednesday, before he was publicly named, and was now “in hiding”. He said he had been told Mr Steele had asked his neighbour to look after his cats.

A BBC correspondent said he had been shown the memos about Mr Trump in October last year, when he was told Mr Steele was “in fear of his life”, having spoken out about potential Russian involvement in Mr Trump’s election. He said he had been told by members of the intelligence community that Mr Steele was “extremely, highly regarded” and was thought of as “competent”.

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