Malala Yousafzai and Drone Attacks

It is commendable the great work young Malala has done, promoting education for young girls. This makes it all the more appalling that the Taliban would shoot her, a barbaric action. It is great that she got the treatment she needed, a British doctor stepped up, and she's making a recovery.

However, there is something worth remembering in all this. Many young people are being killed and injured in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen, by un-manned US drone attacks. The attacker is safely far away, in a control room, removed from the violence. Barack Obama has been ordering these drone attacks and evading questions about civilian casualties. This is appalling.

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India: Tragic Cases of Gang Rape

Two gruesome cases of gang rape in India have received international media attention. Symptomatic of longer standing problems, they have shed a light on the poor state of women's rights in India - both the mistreatment women face in public places - glaring and groping by men are very common on buses and in public places - and the dismal lack of recourse for these women.

In one tragic case police pressured the woman to drop changes against those who gang-raped her, asking her to marry one of the rapists. In response to this appalling suggestion, she committed suicide.

Another gang-rape victim was severely injured from accompanying beatings, and has died in hospital.

This is not acceptable, there needs to be a change. Women in India need to be able to walk outside, take the bus, do basic everyday things, and feel safe. Also, they need to be able to seek proper recourse.

This is a very bad state of affairs.

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