Africa
Burkina Faso: the next domino?
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson warned that Burkina Faso is at risk of being destabilized by the conflict in neighboring Mali.
Tag: drones
Africa
UN approves Congo ‘intervention brigade’
The UN Security Council unanimously approved the first-ever “offensive” UN peacekeeping brigade to battle rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Southeast Asia
China: drug lord’s execution sparks dissent
Chinese TV broadcast images of a Burmese drug lord and his accomplices on their way to a death chamber in Yunnan, prompting online protests from rights activists in Beijing.
North Africa
France faces Mali insurgency; US troops to Niger
Some 100 US troops have been mobilized to Niger to establish a drone base, while across the border in northern Mali French-led forces face growing jihadist resistance.
Watching the Shadows
Press was prone on drones, but cover blown
The media are abuzz with reports that the CIA has a secret drone base in Saudi Arabia—but the New York Times and Washington Post admit they sat on the information for two years.
North Africa
US drone base for Niger: report
The US military is preparing to establish a drone base in Niger along the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against jihadist rebels.
Afghanistan
UN rights expert to investigate drone strikes
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Ben Emmerson announced that he will begin investigating the legality of the use of drone strikes.
Afghanistan
Pakistan Foreign Minister condemns drone attacks
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar condemned US drone attacks as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and international law, “counter-productive” to fighting terrorism.
Watching the Shadows
Obama’s fourth year: a World War 4 Report scorecard
World War 4 Report offers its annual annotated assessment of Obama’s moves in dismantling, continuing or escalating the oppressive apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: 20,000 troops to remain?
Gen. John R. Allen, outgoing US commander in Afghanistan, submitted military options to the Pentagon that would keep 6,000 to 20,000 troops in the country after 2014.
Greater Middle East
Amnesty: human rights ‘catastrophe’ in Yemen
A report by Amnesty International documents a "raft of gross and deeply disturbing abuses" committed by both Islamist rebels and government forces in the battle for southern Yemen.
Watching the Shadows
ACLU urges Obama to close Gitmo in second term
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on US President Barack Obama early on the morning after his re-election to shut down the Guantánamo Bay military prison.