Top news: CIA Director Nominee John Brennan defended the Obama administration's drone program in his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, saying attacks are only carried out "as a last resort, to save lives when there is no other alternative." Brennan also stated that the administration needs to "acknowledge it publicly" when civilians are killed in drone attacks, something it has almost never done. He was noncommittal about the idea of setting up a special court to review drone strikes, calling it "certainly worthy of discussion."

The hearing for Brennan, a former CIA agent and currently the White House's top counterterrorism advisor, came shortly after the Obama administration agreed to allow the House and Senate Intelligence committees to review the classified legal memos used to justify the drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen turned al Qaeda leader, in 2011. Brennan was criticized by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the intelligence committee, for the administration's insistence that the drone program remain classified. "Well I think that rationale, Mr. Brennan, is long gone," she said. 

Brennan was also questioned on the CIA's past use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, which he declined to describe as torture, but called "reprehensible" and "something that should not be done." Brennan has defended these methods in the past.

The hearing was repeatedly interrupted by activists from the anti-war group Code Pink and at one point the committee room was cleared.  

Tunisia: The country's ruling party rejected a proposal by the prime minister to form a new government as tens of thousands gathered to mourn slain opposition leader Chokir Belaid.