Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Berlusconi: Lampedusa for Lampedusans

The Italian Prime Minister is visiting the tiny Mediterranean island that has become ground-zero for Europe's new refugee crisis: "The 'Free Lampedusa' plan began at midnight... In 48-60 hours Lampedusa will be inhabited only by the people...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 9:30 AM by FP Passport

Hugo Chavez wins press freedom award

When you think of Hugo Chavez and journalism, his repeated habit of shutting down TV stations that are critical of his government and supporting legislation to punish "press crimes," might be the first thing that comes to mind. But one Argentine...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 9:01 AM by FP Passport

Zahi Hawass' triumphant return

Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who unwisely took a position in Hosni Mubarak's cabinet just a few days before the government's downfall, has been named minister of antiquities in Egypt's new government: Hawass's appointment is likely...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 8:45 AM by FP Passport

Ivory Coast ex-rebel forces close in on capital

Wires are reporting this morning that the ex-rebel forces who back president-elect Alassane Ouattara in the Ivory Coast are close to recapturing the country's capital, Yamoussoukro, from outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo this morning -- a win that...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 8:31 AM by FP Passport

Blogging from Qaddafi-world

Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim, or Musa Mansour as he was known in his previous life as a cycling-for-charity filmmaker in Britain, has emerged as this war's Baghdad Bob , doing his best to make his boss's statements about U.S./al Qaeda...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 8:25 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Qaddafi forces push rebels back while coalition meets in London

Qaddafi forces push rebels back while coalition meets in London Top news: Pro-Qaddafi forces have reportedly captured the refinery town of Ras Lanuf. The rebels' westward advance, aided by international airstrikes and a mandated no-fly zone, appears...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 5:53 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Yakuza to the rescue?

Reuters reports that Japan's infamous notorious organized crime network has been active in the earthquake relief effort: Yakuza groups have so far dispatched at least 70 trucks to the quake zone loaded with supplies worth more than $500,000 (311,000...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 11:09 AM by FP Passport

Europeans putting on a fighter plane demo in Libya?

If you thought it was cynical to suggest that Nicolas Sarkozy may have been aggresively pushing for military action with an eye on the 2012 election, that's nothing compared to the notion that the campaign is serving as an advertisement for the Dassault...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 10:25 AM by FP Passport

P.J. Crowley: I stand by what I said about Bradley Manning

Judging by his appearance on CNN last night, parsing the president's speech, recently fired State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley is making a transition to media pundit in record time. In an op-ed for the Guardian today, he addresses the reason...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 9:08 AM by FP Passport

Does the "Obama doctrine" apply to the Ivory Coast?

Not 30 minutes after Barack Obama had finished speaking last night, the pundits on CNN, the Tweetosphere, and the blogosphere, were abuzz with talk of a new "Obama doctrine" defined by the notion that the United States -- unlike some countries...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 8:13 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Obama defends Libya intervention in national speech

Obama defends Libya intervention in national speech Top story: President Barack Obama, speaking at the National Defense University in Washington yesterday evening, said that the U.S. intervention in Libya had been necessary to prevent a massacre of Libyan...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 5:17 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Libyan intervention: Brought to you by Bernard-Henri Levy?

After his key role in the run-up to France's intervention in Libya, Bernard-Henri "BHL" Levy, can probably safely claim to be the world's most powerful philosopher: Lévy took up the Libyan cause in earnest after meeting Mustafa Abdul...

Published Mon, Mar 28 2011 1:56 PM by FP Passport

Chinese blogger takes on Baidu

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Last week, Larry Page's dream of "organizing all the world's information" hit a set-back. A federal judge in New York threw out a settlement between Google, which...

Published Mon, Mar 28 2011 8:17 AM by FP Passport

Alan Dershowitz to represent ex-Ukrainian president over journalist's murder

Famed attorney and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has been hired by former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who has been charged in connection with the 2000 murder of an investigative journalist: “I look forward to contributing my experience...

Published Mon, Mar 28 2011 8:05 AM by FP Passport

Hugo Chavez doubling down on support for Mideast dictators

In addition to his longtime friend Muammar al-Qaddafi, Hugo Chavez is now speaking out in support of Syria's Bashar al-Assad: "Now some supposed political protest movements have begun (in Syria), a few deaths ... and now they are accusing the...

Published Mon, Mar 28 2011 7:02 AM by FP Passport