It’s (back) on! Russell Brand and Jemima Khan confirm they are giving their romance another go as they pose at documentary screening
By Sarah Bull for The Daily Mail.
They were rumoured to have rekindled their relationship earlier this month.
Read moreNew Ad Campaign Explains Drones to Skeptical America Public
By IndyBay.
The California Department of Corrections (CDC) has unveiled a new series of advertisements to defend America’s drone policy amidst mounting public scrutiny from lawmakers and human rights groups.
Read moreUK Government refusing to grant visa for drone strike victims
By David Swanson on Warisacrime.org.
From Reprieve
The British government is refusing to grant visas to three Pakistani drone strike victims, including Noor Khan, who is suing the UK over its role in intelligence-sharing with the CIA. All three men had been invited to speak at a Parliamentary meeting on drones that was scheduled to take place today. Last week, the Rehman family - whose grandmother was killed in a drone strike - travelled to the US to speak at a drone strike having been granted visas.
Read moreDon’t link peace talks to drone strikes: MQM
While the Pakistan government feels the peace talks were torpedoed by last week’s drone strike killing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud, Farooq Sattar of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) struck a different note. He told the National Assembly on Tuesday that talks should not be linked to drone strikes and Mehsud should not be made a martyr.
Read moreThis Little Girl Was Injured and Flew 7,000 Miles. Only 5 Congressmen Came to Hear Her
By Dain Fitzgerald for Politix.
When drone strike victims Rafiq ur Rehman and his children Nabila, 9, and Zubair, 13, travelled all the way from Pakistan to testify before Congress on the destruction wrought by the US drone strike program, nobody listened. Or at least precious few did. Only five members of Capital Hill showed up to hear their story, reportsTruth-Out's Rania Khalek.
Read moreNabila’s Plea: The Case Against Congressional Apathy
By Jihad Al-Jabban for Huffington Post.
Late October 2012, Nabila Rehman and her family were working in the vast fields in Northern Waziristan (northwestern Pakistan). It was just a few days before Eid Al-Adha, a festive holiday where Muslims honor the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismail as a sign of submission to God. God would intervene and provide a lamb for sacrifice. As one of the two holidays of Islam, Eid Al-Adha is a time where Muslims celebrate with family and the community and give in charity. In preparation for this holiday, Nabila's grandmother, Momina Bibi, was teaching her and her siblings how to pick okra. But a haunting buzzing sound filled the jovial mountain air. This horrifying sound is all too familiar to rural Pakistanis. It is the sound of CIA-operated drones and the sound of what would become a nightmare to Nabila and her family. The drone attacked the Rehman family and left several children wounded and Momina dead.
Read moreThe victims of drones have come out of the shadows
By Medea Benjamin for Mondoweiss.
At each of the over 200 cities I’ve traveled to this past year with my book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, I ask the audience an easy question: Have they ever seen or heard from drone strike victims in the mainstream US press? Not one hand has ever gone up. This is an obvious indication that the media has failed to do its job of humanizing the civilian casualties that accompany President Obama’s deadly drone program.
Read moreYoung Muslim heroes call for an end to US drone strikes, citing it gives birth to new terrorists
By Rabia Sheikh for The Daily Cougar.
Nabila ur-Rehman, 9, is a survivor of the U.S. drone attack that took place in her neighborhood in North Waziristan, Pakistan. According to CNN, Nabila lost her grandmother Momina, who was killed by this drone. Nabila recently visited Washington along with her brother Zubair, 9, and her father Rafiq to appeal against the drone strikes in front of Congress.
Read moreAmerican apathy toward drone strikes is appalling
For The Independent Florida Alligator.
President Barack Obama’s use of drone strikes abroad is a polarizing debate, and the legality and secrecy of the strikes is often called into question by lawmakers. The public’s top concern over the strikes, according to the Pew Research Center, is the potential endangerment of civilians’ lives.
Read moreFamily of drone strike victim call on US to end use of remote-controlled bombs
By Rachel Brown for ABC News (Australia Press).
PETER LLOYD: The family of a Pakistani woman killed in an American military drone strike have added their voice to a worldwide campaign to force the Obama administration to cease carrying out remote-controlled bomb attacks.
Read more