Federal court rules in favour of ACLU and New York Times to force release of papers describing legal justification for strike The US government must publicly disclose in redacted form secret papers describing its legal justification for using drones to kill citizens suspected of terrorism overseas, because President Barack Obama and senior government officials have commented on the subject, a federal...
Sources say 25 killed and report drone activity Ten militants and three civilians died on Saturday Airstrikes in southern Yemen killed about 25 suspected al-Qaida members on Sunday, local tribal sources said, in the second operation of its kind within two days. On Saturday an air strike killed 10 al-Qaida militants and three civilians in central Yemen, a country that neighbours top oil exporter Saudi...
Sources differ on number of suspects and civilians killed Deputy governor of al-Bayda province assassinated this week An air strike killed 13 suspected al-Qaida militants in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda on Saturday, security and tribal sources said, after a security official earlier said nine suspects died in the attack. The official who said nine suspects had died spoke to the Associated...
Both men had links to terrorism, says NZ prime minister, as deaths in November strikes are revealed An Australian and a New Zealander with links to terrorism were killed in November during a drone strike in Yemen, the New Zealand prime minister said on Wednesday. John Key said he believed the New Zealander had attended a terrorist training camp. He said that among those killed in the strike were three...
State Department declines to comment Lawyer says case a 'textbook disappearance' A 30-year old American citizen who has been detained in Yemen for more than four years is missing, according to his lawyers. Sharif Mobley has been in custody since 2010. He is accused of murdering a Yemeni guard who was monitoring him after he was captured in the capital, Sanaa, on terrorism charges that have since been...
Judge dismisses lawsuit over death of Anwar al-Awlaki and two others in Yemen, saying it is a matter for Congress A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the government by the families of three American citizens killed by drones in Yemen, saying senior officials cannot be held personally responsible for money damages for the act of conducting war. The families of the three including...
Young people under 30 are the majority in many countries in the Middle East and South America, yet politicians do little or nothing for them. Is the demographics of the 'youth bulge' enough to explain the huge rise in disaffection? • A youth heatmap of the world Towards the end of January, Egyptian activists shared a picture on social media of some of their grey-haired countrymen. The people pictured...
Civil service global roundup: Yemeni government pushes to eradicate civil service corruption and troika asks for Greek civil servants to be paid less Scotland: no structural change would be needed after yes vote The former permanent secretary of Scotland, Sir John Elvidge, has said that there will be no need for radical change to existing civil service structures in the country if Scotland votes for...
A reconstruction of a US drone attack on a household in Mir Ali, north Waziristan, Pakistan on 4 October 2010. The footage forms part of a United Nations report ...
Special rapporteur on human rights says states have obligation to launch inquiries into attacks that kill civilians A report by the United Nations Human Rights Council has called for independent investigations to be carried out into drone attacks after a series of strikes that result in unexpected civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Most of the attacks involved US drones....
s authors call on governments and international tribunals to give greater protection to education, and say the UN, regional peacekeepers and all sides in conflicts should refrain from using schools or universities for military purposes. In 24 countries, researchers found that armed forces – both state and non-state – used school buildings as bases, weapons caches, prisons and even torture chambers,...
Public given first glimpse into president's inmate review board touted as key step in closing notorious detention centre Spencer Ackerman ...
Major General Michael Lehnert says detention facility has become a liability in struggle against terrorists Martin Pengelly ...
Strikes this year are estimated to have killed up to 271 people, down from 2012 figure of between 505 and 532 Spencer Ackerman ...
t) Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them a few questions. I'd start with: "How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?" And: "How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?"...
Swarms of locusts have invaded agricultural land across Yemen, causing misery and huge crop losses for farmers ...
Casual killing of medical staff and patients, captured on CCTV, caused public outrage and damaged al-Qaida's reputation ...
s snapshot of what he calls the "precision" RPA is presented in the same week as the latest drone atrocity, with at least 15 Yemeni people slaughtered in what turned out to be a convoy of wedding guests , not al-Qaida terrorists. Hammond says it's wrong to suggest that "the government's use of unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft is shrouded in secrecy". Yet his government (with several taxpayer-funded...
s uncle, the brutality of North Korea's regime has once again come under the international spotlight. In a broader context, is the attention warranted? Find out who uses the death penalty today - and see how it compares to 2007 • Get the data • North Korea executes Kim Jong-un's uncle as traitor Once a key figure in the North Korean regime, Jang Song-thaek, the uncle of supreme leader Kim Jong-un,...
s main stronghold, is among a handful of countries where the United States acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice. Human Rights Watch said in a detailed report in August that US missile strikes, including armed drone attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen. Stabilising the country, which is also struggling with southern separatists and northern rebels, is...