President Obama has signed a renewal of the controversial National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The law has drawn widespread criticism for last year’s provision allowing the United States to detain suspects anywhere in the world without charge or trial. A group of journalists, activists and scholars — including Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky — have challenged the Obama administration over that statute in a case currently before a federal appeals court. The 2013 version effectively blocks the Obama administration from closing Guantánamo Bay by barring the use of funds for construction on facilities that could be used for prisoner transfers. There are currently 166 prisoners held at Guantánamo; 86 of them have been cleared for release. President Obama signed the renewal despite his objections to the Guantánamo provision, following promises to close the detention center. In a statement, he said: “I have approved this annual defense authorization legislation, as I have in previous years, because it authorizes essential support for service members and their families, renews vital national security programs, and helps ensure that the United States will continue to have the strongest military in the world.”