A two-storey maximum security jail modelled on a US prison is being built in Cuba, exactly four years after the first terror suspects were placed in makeshift cells in Guantanamo.

Fifty-two prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay have staged a hunger strike, US military officials confirmed tonight.

Gina Holland, Washington

Civil rights lawyers in the US have said they planned to sue US Attorney General John Ashcroft and other officials, alleging widespread abuse of Middle Eastern men detained on immigration violations after September 11.