June 2010 - Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Egypt: Marry an Israeli, lose your citizenship

Forget slapping Israel with "political sanctions" -- Egypt may launch a marital embargo against the Jewish state. On the heels of a restrictive 2005 fatwa , Egypt's supreme administrative court has upheld a decision to revoke the citizenship...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 12:04 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Egypt

Hungary: Never mind about that whole "next Greece" thing

After doing their best last week to convince the world that their economy was on the brink of a Greece-style crash, sending their own currency as well as the euro into a tailspin, the ruling Fidesz party is now awkwardly trying to repair the damage :...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 10:08 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe

Morning Brief: Israel seems to reject international inquiry; navy kills militant divers in Gaza

Israel seems to reject international inquiry; navy kills militant divers in Gaza Top story: Israel has still not issued a formal reply to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's proposal that an international investigation be held into the Israeli raid...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 5:58 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief, Oil / Energy Disaster / Problem / Shennanigans

Is North Korea's World Cup team any good?

As World Cup fever heats up around the world, there's huge interest in the tournament's biggest underdog: North Korea, which debuts against soccer juggernaut Brazil on June 15 in its first cup appearance since a Cinderella showing in 1966 . Kim...

Published Sat, Jun 05 2010 4:18 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa, North Korea, Sports

Does Israel want a democratic Middle East?

Helene Cooper has an interesting take on the Gaza boat affair in this weekend's Times , but I think she goes astray here: Some foreign policy experts say the new willingness to suggest that the Israeli government’s actions may become an American national...

Published Sat, Jun 05 2010 2:19 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Israel/Palestine, Arab World

Friday Photo: The fruits of fraud

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - JUNE 03: A person checks out a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spyder before the auction put on by Rick Levin and Associates, Inc., on behalf of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein's cars and watercraft...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 3:52 PM by FP Passport

Guatemala's sinkhole has nothing on Turkmenistan's pit of flame

Yeah, that sinkhole in Guatemala was pretty crazy.. but was it filled with FIRE? There's an explanation (and more unbelievable pictures) in the surprisingly fascinating post, "12 Amazing Holes in the Earth," from the blog Crooken Brains...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 3:28 PM by FP Passport

Is Israel winning the YouTube war?

Since Monday's clash between Israeli military forces and pro-Palestinian activists, both sides have issued video recordings to support their version of events (and, maybe more importantly, to unload blame onto their adversaries). So far, there's...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 3:05 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Internet, Israel/Palestine

China cautiously remembers Tiananmen

In 1990, to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre that had taken place on June 4 one year prior, only one lone Chinese man stood in the plaza where the blood was shed, seizing a momentary opportunity to hold up a white wreath inscribed "Heroes...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 3:03 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China

How much do we really want to know about the oil industry?

Via Kate Mackenzie at the Financial Times , a graph charting the not terribly surprising impact the Gulf oil spill has had on BP's image, once among the best in the industry: It's from a firm called Covalence that calculates companies' ethical...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 2:36 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Disasters, Science & Technology, North America, Africa, Environment, Energy, Oil, Oil / Energy Disaster / Problem / Shennanigans

What do terrorists look like?

This account by an Israeli commando is getting wide play online today: On Thursday, S. sat down with The Jerusalem Post at the Shayetet’s base in northern Israel for an exclusive interview, during which he described the dramatic events aboard the Mavi...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 1:34 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Israel/Palestine

Hungary: We're the next Greece... really we are

As most of the attention has focused on Europe's PIIGS economies, debt-laden Hungary has, for a few weeks now, been the dark-horse candidate for the next European economy to collapse. This week, the country's new government seems to have been...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 1:33 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Finance

Get smarter and look younger with North Korea's super drink

Now, for make benefit glorious nation of North Korea: a magic herbal tonic that speeds up your brain and slows down the aging process! From the BBC : KCNA says: "It, with effects of both preventive and curative treatment, helps improve mental and...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 10:14 AM by FP Passport

No Obama boost for Kevin Rudd

On the site today, Dan Drezner and the Shadow Gov. team take President Obama to task for cancelling -- for the second time -- his trip to Indonesia and Australia. The leaders of those countries say they understand the delay. Indonesian President Susilo...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 10:02 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Pacific

BP's got problems in Russia too

As BP executives contemplate just how much the ongoing fiasco in the Gulf is going to cost them -- not to mention the lost years and millions spent on greenwashing -- the latest news from the company's joint Russian venture TNK-BP is unlikely to cheer...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 9:29 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Oil