June 2010 - Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

With Noynoy in office, what's in store for the Philippines?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE It's official: Benigno (Noynoy) Aquino III will serve as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines. But what can we expect after his inauguration on June 30th? We know he chain smokes , is...

Published Wed, Jun 09 2010 8:50 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia

Flemish secesionists leading in Belgian election

Loyal readers of this blog know that we have a long-running obsession with the ongoing cultural-linguistic dispute in Belgium -- Leffe-anon for short. The situation is looking a bit more serious this week a party led by outspoken Flemish nationalist Bart...

Published Wed, Jun 09 2010 8:44 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe

China aims to put out 50-year-old coal fires

One of the world's less noticed ongoing ecological catastrophes, the underground coal fires that have been roaring in Northern China since the early 1960s burn somewhere between 20 and 200 million tons of coal per year. Spread out over nearly 10 miles...

Published Wed, Jun 09 2010 7:49 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China

Morning Brief: Security Council to vote on Iran sanctions today

Security Council to vote on Iran sanctions today Top story: The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote today on a new round of sanctions against Iran's nuclear program. The new measures, which are the fourth round of sanctions imposed on Iran...

Published Wed, Jun 09 2010 5:41 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Tuesday map: Put the oil spill wherever you want

A few weeks ago, Jon Stewart poked some fun at the media's need to compare the Gulf oil slick to other similarly sized areas -- "the size of Puerto Rico," "the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined!" The new site "If...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 4:02 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Tuesday Map, Oil / Energy Disaster / Problem / Shennanigans

Australian parliament throws out "Barrack Obama" mugs

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Tomorrow morning, two lucky Aussies will pour their coffee into what may well become eBay's most sought-after mugs. Australian Parliamentary services secretary Alan Thompson...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 2:39 PM by FP Passport

Report: U.S. military misdiagnoses and mistreats brain injuries

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 NPR and ProPublica have teamed up to produce a startling report about gaps in the U.S military's diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries. Their investigation calls fresh attention...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 1:00 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Military, Health

1,001 nights lives for another day

As Ursula Lindsey explains in her most recent article for Foreign Policy , the Thousand and One Nights is based on a framing device where Scheherazade must constantly weave magnificent tales to the sultan, Shahryar, in order to keep her life. Recently...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 12:18 PM by FP Passport

Send a Freedom Flotilla to Tehran?

With the one-year anniversary of the Iranian elections coming up next week, FP asked an all-star roster of Iranian-American writers to weigh in on what we've learned in the last 12 months. The result? "Misreading Tehran ," our package of...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 10:45 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Iran

Female birth control that could prevent HIV/AIDS in first field test

This is huge: For the first time, trials are beginning for a type of birth control that would allow women to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS -- without the need for their partner's knowledge or consent. It's hard to understate how...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 8:57 AM by FP Passport

Japan's prime minister is married to his first cousin

It would be hard top Miyuki Hatoyama in terms of eccentricity. The former Japanese first lady was best known for the fact that she claimed that she was abducted by aliens and knew Tom Cruise in a former life. Naoto Kan's wife Nobuko, according to...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 8:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Japan

Morning Brief: United Nations Security Council begins final Iran sanctions push

United Nations Security Council begins final Iran sanctions push Top story: The United States began its final push for a fourth round of sanctions against Iran at the United Nations Security Council, with a vote expected as early as Wednesday. As part...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 5:09 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Costa Rica cracks down on stem cell tourism

Costa Rica, increasingly known as a haven for medical tourism, is putting a stop to one controversial practice: The health ministry last month ordered the country's largest stem cell clinic to stop offering treatments, arguing there is no evidence...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 3:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America, Health

Michele Bachelet to South Sudan: figure out how to live together

Former Chilean President Michele Bachelet was in town today, taking time out from a whirlwind schedule of events at the Women Deliver conference to speak to an audience at the National Press Club. As Latin America's first female president and the...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 3:20 PM by FP Passport

Canada's mistake on the lake

Reporters love being close to the action -- so many are understandably bummed that they will be unable to cover this month's G8 summit in Huntsville, Ontario. Only about 150 reporters have been granted access to the site, with the rest forced to cover...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 3:18 PM by FP Passport