Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Freedom House: Myanmar now more free than China

Freedom House released its 2013 Freedom in the World rankings today. Over on the main site, David Kramer and Arch Puddington make some recommendations for the Obama administration's second-term prioritiesbased on the report's findings. Overall...

Published Wed, Jan 16 2013 1:06 PM by FP Passport

Cuba gets broadband, but who gets to use it?

The Renesys blog reports on signs that Cuba has finally activated its long awaited broadband cable: In 2007, state-owned telecommunications companies from Cuba and Venezuela joined forces to build a submarine cable between the two Caribbean nations, linking...

Published Wed, Jan 23 2013 11:03 AM by FP Passport

Pakistan to buy bulletproof buses for foreign cricketers

I wonder how reassuring this is actually going to be: Pakistani cricket chiefs on Wednesday approved the purchase of bulletproof buses as part of efforts to persuade foreign teams to return after a long suspension over security fears. No international...

Published Thu, Oct 25 2012 10:30 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Russia recognizes Libyan rebels

Russia recognizes Libyan rebels Top story: As international leaders prepared to gather in Paris on Thursday to chart the course of Libya's political transition, Russia recognized the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the government of Libya....

Published Thu, Sep 01 2011 5:01 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Who's holding up John Brennan's confirmation?

Almost two months after Barack Obama nominated John Brennan to become his next CIA director, the White House counterterrorism advisor's confirmation remains out of reach. Practically no one doubts Brennan will eventually be confirmed, but a few key...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 11:04 AM by FP Passport

Nigeria's youngest government official

This gives new meaning to the phrase cradle-to-grave benefits: A one-month old baby, said to hold a diploma, was on the Nigerian government payroll, officials have discovered, exposing the levels to which corruption runs in Africa's most populous...

Published Thu, Nov 03 2011 8:30 AM by FP Passport

Should men be discriminated against on International Women’s Day?

People across the world are celebrating International Women's Day today as both a reminder of the struggles women face and a celebration of their achievements and progress since the holiday's inception in the early 20th century. In many countries...

Published Fri, Mar 08 2013 3:10 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics, Middle East, Women

Uganda: The collapse of democracy?

Uganda's Chief Magistrate's court dismissed a landmark case on Wednesday that had been filed by two Ugandan journalists, Angelo Izama and Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi. The file was introduced by the two journalists as an attempt to use Uganda's...

Published Fri, Feb 05 2010 9:57 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa, Politics, Media, Oil

Morning Brief: Tensions flare in West Bank as Netanyahu heads to Washington

Tensions flare in West Bank as Netanyahu heads to Washington Top news: As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for Washington today on a trip meant to address a growing rift in U.S.-Israel relations, tensions were flaring back home after the killing...

Published Mon, Mar 22 2010 5:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

The Greece v. Germany row gets deeper

Two weeks ago, European leaders tapped Germany to lead a bailout of Greece. Since then -- sturm und drang and chaos . Germans are infuriated over everything from Greece's hiring of Wall Street firms to hide its debt to the country's retirement...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2010 10:05 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Financial crisis, Finance

Eric Cartman borrows 200 AK-47s

Nathan Hodge reports on today's Senate Blackwater hearings for Danger Room: Another issue the committee probed was Bunker 22, an armory near the notorious Pol-e-Charki prison that held weapons meant for the Afghan National Police. According to the...

Published Wed, Feb 24 2010 9:25 AM by FP Passport

Assange Struggles to Remain Relevant in Snowden Affair

A year after entering the Ecuadorean embassy seeking asylum, Julian Assange is still on the run. Every day he gets on the treadmill given to him by the left-wing filmmaker Ken Loach and runs and runs, logging 744 miles (over 28 marathons), but never getting...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 4:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Media, Intelligence, National Security

WikiLeaks Airlines Is Now Boarding

WikiLeaks is determined to make itself a part of the Edward Snowden affair. So much so that the businessman who handles donations to the site now claims he has a chartered plane ready to fly the NSA leaker to Iceland, where he has said he would like to...

Published Fri, Jun 21 2013 2:09 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: WikiLeaks

Whistleblowers: Thanks for Nothing, Snowden

When Edward Snowden first started revealing secrets about the National Security Agency's massive surveillance operations, the small community of U.S. government whistleblowers and their advocates publicly leapt to Snowden's defense. But now that...

Published Mon, Jun 24 2013 8:10 AM by FP Passport

Global Times readers fire back!

The nationalist Chinese newspaper Global Times posted on their home page a translated summary of my Time piece on the next decade in US-China relations, " The Indispensable Axis ," as well an accompanying essay on " The Next American Century...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 12:17 PM by FP Passport