Amnesty International urges U.S. to end drone attack secrecy

The United States should end the secrecy surrounding its drone campaign in Pakistan and bring those responsible for illegal strikes to justice, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

The rights group said there appeared to be no justification for two drone attacks in northwest Pakistan last year, one of which killed a 68-year-old grandmother as she picked vegetables.

Amnesty’s call came on the eve of White House talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at which the drone attacks are expected to be discussed.

White House official fired over anonymous tweets

A senior White House official who was helping negotiate nuclear issues with Iran has been fired after being unmasked as the acidic voice behind a Twitter account known for its insults of public figures at the White House and on Capitol Hill, a government official said on Tuesday.

Jofi Joseph was director of nuclear non-proliferation on the White House National Security Council staff, but for more than two years sent hundreds of anonymous and abrasive tweets using the handle @NatSecWonk.

He was fired last week after he was caught, the official said.

A White House official confirmed Joseph no longer worked there, but would not comment on personnel matters. The firing was first reported by the website Daily Beast.

Dubai inaugurates first phase of mega solar energy project

Dubai inaugurated the first phase of a solar energy park on Tuesday as the Gulf emirate seeks to diversify its energy sources, official Emirati news agency WAM reported.

The park, named the “Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum Park” after the emirate’s ruler, will produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity when completed, and will cost 12 billion dirhams ($3.3 billion), WAM said.

The first plant of the solar energy megaproject is 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the city of Dubai and can produce 10 megawatts of energy on its own.

Yemeni 15-year-old girl burned to death for ‘meeting fiancé’

A 15-year-old Yemeni girl has been burned to death for allegedly meeting her fiancé before their wedding, police said on Tuesday, adding that her father was the chief suspect.


Prosecutors are to press charges against the 35-year-old over the death of his daughter in the village of Shabaa in the southern highland province of Taez, the police website said.

Killings of daughters, wives or sisters to punish perceived breaches of family honor are not uncommon in Yemen, despite pressure from the United Nations and human rights watchdogs for more effective action by the authorities to protect women.