Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

North Korean TV releases image of Dennis Rodman bowing to Kim Jong Un

As if Dennis Rodman calling Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" whose people "love him" wasn't enough to stoke outrage about the former NBA star's utterly bizarre visit to North Korea this week, North Korean television is now running...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 9:24 AM by FP Passport

'According to Wikileaks': The journalistic legacy of Bradley Manning

At a hearing yesterday, Pfc. Bradley Manning took full responsibility for leaking the documents that came to be known as the Afghan and Iraq war logs and the "Cablegate" archive of classified diplomatic cables to Wikileaks. Given the fate that...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 8:59 AM by FP Passport

Decline Watch: Still holding in 10th place ... but for how long?

At an event at Washington's St. Regis Hotel today, the Legatum Institute unveilled its 2011 Prosperity Index . The keynote speaker at the event was author, broadcaster, and American decline prophet Fareed Zakaria. Not surprisingly, Zakaria was pessimistic...

Published Tue, Nov 01 2011 2:12 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Greek government on the verge of collapse

Greek government on the verge of collapse Top news: Greece's government is teetering on the brink of collapse as Prime Minister George Papandreou attempts to win back rebellious members of his ruling Socialist Party who have split with his government...

Published Thu, Nov 03 2011 5:33 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Shocking photo: Train hits and kills elephant in India

Today a high-speed train traveling through West Bengal crushed and killed an elephant that was crossing the tracks. A Forest Department official said that the Indian railway is looking into the cause of the accident, though the "cause" seems...

Published Tue, Mar 05 2013 3:52 PM by FP Passport

The Qaddafi regime refuses to die

Ever since Libyans seemingly wrested control of Tripoli from Muammar al-Qaddafi on Aug. 21, most observers seemed content to give Libyans some time to savor their victory before getting down to the hard questions of reestablishing the rule of law in the...

Published Mon, Aug 22 2011 7:22 PM by FP Passport

The GOP candidates and the news from Libya

The NATO intervention in Libya was an e arly defining issu e for the 2012 GOP field, dividing the party's neoconservative wing from the new, more isolationist spirit embodied by the Tea Party. With the conflict now, seemingly, in its closing hours...

Published Mon, Aug 22 2011 11:04 AM by FP Passport

Hoping for a Ramadan Gift

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, two American hikers captured along the Iranian border with Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2009, were sentenced Sunday by Iran's Revolutionary Court to eight years in prison. The...

Published Tue, Aug 23 2011 3:52 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Iran

Morsi flees presidential palace amid a spark of violent protest

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi retreated from the presidential palace Tuesday night as protesters clashed with security forces . Tens of thousands of people were demonstrating outside the palace , located in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, against Morsi's...

Published Wed, Dec 05 2012 5:47 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Middle East, North Africa, Arab World, Mideast Brief

Egypt's strange visa decision

The Egyptian government is planning to stop issuing visas for tourists on arrival: Tourists "will have to apply at embassies and consulates for visas," he said. Tourists from many states, especially Western countries whose nationals contribute...

Published Fri, Sep 09 2011 9:10 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Flash Points

Blowing up Tokyo with Chinese fireworks

Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 China's 2-week New Year festivities kick off this weekend. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people will travel home and an obscene number of fireworks will be set off, causing...

Published Fri, Feb 08 2013 10:55 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China

Black Bloc: Italy's serial protest hijackers

Today I got the chance to speak with the very sharp and funny Italian columnist Beppe Severgnini to get his take on Silvio Berlusconi's continued survival. It didn't really fit into the interview, but I also asked him if he was surprised by yesterday's...

Published Mon, Oct 17 2011 4:19 PM by FP Passport

Indian company markets cell phones as birth control

Sex sells, the saying goes. But this amusing -- if slightly retrograde in its view of gender roles -- ad for India's !DEA cell phone carrier markets 3G service as a form of population control. With all they can do on their phones, the ad suggests...

Published Mon, Sep 12 2011 2:49 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Obama lays out modest foreign policy vision

Obama lays out modest foreign policy vision Top news: President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he will withdraw 34,000 troops from Afghanistan within a year, seek aggressive action to combat climate change, and negotiate a trade deal with Europe...

Published Wed, Feb 13 2013 6:08 AM by FP Passport