drones

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Taliban No. 2 Killed in Drone Strike: Pakistan

Officials condemn North Waziristan attack

(Newser) - A suspected US drone strike assassinated the Pakistani Taliban's No. 2 commander today, according to multiple reports sourced to Pakistani intelligence. Officials tell the AP that their informants on the ground saw Waliur Rehman 's body firsthand, while others say intercepted Taliban communications confirmed the kill. But a...

Germany Will Use Drones to Fight ... Graffiti

(Newser) - Germany's national railway says it spends $10 million a year cleaning up graffiti. Its proposed solution? Drones, which will hover around 500 feet in the air and use cameras and infra-red sensors to catch vandals spray-painting trains at night, the BBC reports. Each drone will cost around $77,600.

Did Obama Just End the War?
 Did Obama Just End the War? 
OPINION

Did Obama Just End the War?

Pundits differ on how seriously we should take yesterday's speech

(Newser) - President Obama delivered a landmark speech on the war on terror yesterday, but people are divided on just how impressed we ought to be. The New York Times is singing the speech's praises. "As frustratingly late as it was—much of what Mr. Obama said should have been...

Obama Sees an End to 'Perpetual' War on Terror

Time to narrow its scope, says president

(Newser) - In his big policy speech today, President Obama did indeed promise to rein in drone strikes —a higher threshold for targets will be required, along with a "near certainty" that no civilians will be killed—and to push once again for Gitmo's closure. The full text is...

In Major Shift, Obama Will Clamp Down on Drone Strikes

Will speak today on new counterterror policies

(Newser) - President Obama will today outline a new course against terror, including two big goals: cutting down on drone strikes and attempting, once again, to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. The speech comes after the administration yesterday admitted killing four US citizens with drones. Under new drone rules, strikes on foreign...

US Admits Killing 4 Citizens in Drone Strikes

That includes al-Awlaki, three others

(Newser) - That the US killed American citizens in drone strikes isn't exactly news, but today marks the first time the White House is officially acknowledging it, reports the Washington Post . One day before President Obama gives a speech related to US drone strategy, attorney general Eric Holder sent a letter...

France Goes Shopping for US Drones

Congress has approved two for Mali military operations

(Newser) - France is looking to assemble a fleet of intelligence gathering drones to use in its military operations in Mali, and is in talks with both the US and Israel to get its hands on some. The Pentagon has already approved the sale of two Reaper drones (Congress still needs to...

Meet RoboBee, World's Smallest Flying Robot

Harvard's robotic fly is about the size of a dime

(Newser) - The Guardian calls it the "smallest flying robot in the world," DVice has it as the "world's smallest aerial drone," and USA Today settles for "electronic housefly." By whichever name, the dime-sized device by Harvard scientists is amazing. (They call it "RoboBee,...

Israel: We Shot Down Drone
 Israel: We Shot Down Drone 

Israel: We Shot Down Drone

Says Hezbollah sent unmanned aircraft into Israeli airspace

(Newser) - The Israeli military says it has shot down an unmanned aircraft sent by Hezbollah into Israeli skies. Military officials said the aircraft was downed today off the Israeli coast in Israeli airspace near the northern city of Haifa. It is the second known instance in which the Lebanese militant group,...

Paul Angers Libertarians With New Drone Comments

Says he's OK with cops using them in a liquor store robbery

(Newser) - Rand Paul became a political all-star when he staged a marathon filibuster objecting to the idea of the US killing its own citizens with drones. Today, however, he is taking flak over comments he made to Fox Business suggesting that his anti-drone stance isn't quite as anti-drone as some...

Idaho Restricts Use of Spy Drones by Police

Authorities will need a warrant first

(Newser) - Idaho has become the second state to restrict what one lawmaker calls "high-tech window peeping" by police or even nosy neighbors. The governor has signed a bill requiring police to get a warrant before using drones in most cases, reports Reuters . The new law also makes it illegal for...

Pakistan OKed Some Drone Strikes in Secret: Musharraf

Contradicts country's previous assertions

(Newser) - In the past, Pakistan has maintained that US drone strikes in the country were carried out without leaders' involvement. Now, former leader Pervez Musharraf says the government approved some of the strikes in secret, CNN reports. Officials gave the go-ahead "only on a few occasions, when a target was...

PETA: Our Drones Will Catch Abusive Hunters

Animal rights group announces 'impressive new weapons'

(Newser) - American hunters, watch out: The animal rights group PETA says it's going to launch drones to make sure you're abiding by the law, Fast Company reports. "PETA will soon have some impressive new weapons at its disposal to combat those who gun down deer and doves,"...

India Deploys Drones —to Protect Rhinos

Indian state gets aggressive against poachers

(Newser) - Problem: Poachers are killing more and more protected rhinos in India's Kaziranga national park, and the sanctuary is too massive to effectively patrol on the ground. Solution: Drones. Officials in the state of Assam plan to deploy the aircraft—presumably the inexpensive, unmanned variety—to help save their one-horned...

Drone War Exposes Our Racism
 Drone War 
 Exposes 
 Our Racism 
Glenn Greenwald

Drone War Exposes Our Racism

Glenn Greenwald thinks Islamophobia is powering the War on Terror

(Newser) - A poll out this morning shows that a majority of Americans believe the US shouldn't assassinate its own citizens abroad (41% favor the killings, with 52% opposed), which is a little weird, points out Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian , because when the US actually killed citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, it...

CIA Too Busy With Drones to Spy: Report

Hagel panel says agency isn't gathering enough intel

(Newser) - US spy agencies have neglected intelligence gathering operations in strategically critical places like China, the Middle East, and elsewhere, because they've been too busy flying drone strikes and conducting quasi-combat operations, a classified report warned President Obama last year. The panel, headed by Chuck Hagel and former Sen. David...

Obama to Take Drones Out of CIA's Hands: Report

Defense Department will eventually run sole program

(Newser) - A big scoop from the Daily Beast : President Obama is set to eighty-six the CIA's drone program, per three senior US officials. Daniel Klaidman reports that the plan, which the White House is "poised to sign off on," would instead centralize the drone program under the Pentagon;...

Court: CIA Can't Say There's No Drone Program

ACLU records request alive once more.

(Newser) - The CIA can't just pretend its drone program doesn't exist to avoid releasing its records, a federal appeals court ruled today, reviving an ACLU lawsuit to obtain them. The CIA had rejected the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act request, saying it couldn't confirm or deny that...

Obama to Irked Dems: Hey, I'm No Dick Cheney

Obama says he would have objected to the policy as a senator, too

(Newser) - If Barack Obama were still a senator, he too would have "probably objected" to the White House's reticence at sharing its legal justifications behind its drone policy, he admitted during a closed-door meeting with the Senate Democratic conference on Tuesday. But Obama sought to defend himself and the...

Air Force Pulls Data on Drone Strikes From Website

'Air Force Times' says numbers were removed last month

(Newser) - With all this talk of drones lately, it might be interesting to know just how many airstrikes the military is unleashing with them in Afghanistan. The Air Force Times would love to tell you, and it should be able to tell you, because the Air Force makes the info public...

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