Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Introducing Anna Badkhen's 'Afghanistan By Donkey'

It's been another week of heartbreakingly grim violence in Afghanistan. On Monday, the so-called "spring fighting season" began with a coordinated 18-hour Taliban attack on Kabul. Today, the violence got -- if possible -- even more senseless...

Published Tue, Apr 17 2012 2:20 PM by FP Passport

Can the spirit of Christmas defeat Kim Jong Il?

A South Korean church has erected a giant Christmas tree near the North Korean border. As gestures go, it's better than missiles I guess: The method of delivery was a giant, brightly lit Christmas tree, reportedly visible from Kaesong, the border...

Published Tue, Dec 21 2010 11:44 AM by FP Passport

Kosovo PM vows to fight organ trafficking allegations

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has vowed to set up an independent investigation into the allegations by the Council of Europe that he was complicit in the murder of Serb prisoners for their kidneys, in order to "dispel the mist". He has...

Published Tue, Dec 21 2010 12:49 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Relief Efforts Struggle to Reach Areas Devastated by Typhoon Haiyan

Relief Efforts Struggle to Reach Areas Devastated by Typhoon Haiyan Top News: As the Philippines reels from the devastation left by Typhoon Haiyan, which is believed to have left 10,000 people dead and 660,000 people displaced, relief efforts are struggling...

Published Tue, Nov 12 2013 5:14 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Putin Bids Farewell to Independent News, Welcomes the Crazy

President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin always had a very sly, if transparent, way of creating the illusion that Russia has independent media -- at least until now. Walking a thin line, state-owned or state-backed news services would be allowed to report...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 2:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Media, Democracy

Why are scientists such bad spies?

It appears astrophysics isn't a good prerequisite for espionage. Hot off the heels of this month's arrest of an alleged al-Qaeda operative at the CERN lab, a U.S. scientist was brought down yesterday for trying to sell state secrets to Israel...

Published Tue, Oct 20 2009 11:05 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: al Qaeda, North America, Israel/Palestine, Intelligence

The problem with presidential medical travel

There's still a lot of confusion surrounding the death of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika from a heart attack yesterday, but from what Reuters is reporting , it seems that his country's shoddy infrastructure and medical system may have played...

Published Fri, Apr 06 2012 12:17 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Fighting subsides in Afghan capital

Fighting subsides in Afghan capital Top story: On Sunday, the Taliban launched coordinated attacks in Kabul and three eastern Afghan provinces, in what a spokesman for the group said was the start of the spring offensive. Thirty-six militants, eight policemen...

Published Mon, Apr 16 2012 5:12 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

For Cash-Strapped Chinese Parents, Two Babies Are Too Many

0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Call it reproduction with Chinese capitalist characteristics. On Nov. 15, authorities announced that the country's one-child policy would be loosened, adding couples in which one spouse is an only child to...

Published Tue, Nov 19 2013 4:22 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, TLN

The Election 2012 Weekly Report: Sayonara Santo

Santorum drops out Rick Santorum, the last credible rival for the GOP nomination, dropped out of the race on Wednesday leaving a clear path for front-runner and presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. "This game is a long, long, long way from over,"...

Published Fri, Apr 13 2012 11:18 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Election 2012, 2012 Report, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Barack Obama

Gunter Grass's Passover surprise

The controversy-courting German author is back in the headlines today for a new poem published in several newspapers that accuses Israel of endangering world peace. Titled, "What must be said," it's available here in German. Reuters summarizes...

Published Wed, Apr 04 2012 8:11 AM by FP Passport

Happy Fourth of July, Incarceration Nation!

'Ridiculously photogenic Syrian soldier': A weapon of mass seduction

Sex sells -- but can it sell a bloody Middle Eastern revolution pitting disparate armed factions against an entrenched autocrat? Last year's successful overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi turned Libya's rebels with a cause into international...

Published Wed, Aug 15 2012 12:05 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Syria, Dispatch from the Revolution

The HIV/AIDS gamechanger

During its short but painful existence in humans, HIV/AIDS has thwarted efforts at prevention. Vaccines have proven elusive; changing human behaviors that spread the disease is never as easy as we'd like. HIV in particular is wrapped in a complicated...

Published Mon, May 16 2011 2:25 PM by FP Passport