Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

How the "king of Africa" fueled his own country's racism

It's ironic given Muammar al-Qaddafi's pan-African ambitions , that one of the last legacies of his presidency may be to contribute to his own country's racial animosity toward sub-Saharan Africans. The Christian Science Monitor 's Clair...

Published Mon, Mar 07 2011 8:27 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Qaddafi forces push back at key town

Qaddafi forces push back at key town Top news: Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi launched airstrikes on the key oil town of Ras Lanuf, which was recently taken by rebels. The nearby town of Bin Jawwad fell to pro-government forces. Heavy...

Published Mon, Mar 07 2011 5:29 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Friday photo: Belle of the ball

Karima el-Mahroug enjoys the company of her host Austrian businessman Richard Lugner during the traditional Opera Ball at the state opera in Vienna on March 3, 2011. Karima el-Mahroug nicknamed Ruby, is the woman at the centre of a sex scandal which is...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 3:21 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Friday Photo

Libya disconnects from the Internet

Monitoring firm Renesys reports that following sporadic outages throughout the week, Libya now appears to be completely disconnected from the Internet: After a quiet week, we received reports tonight that Libyans in Tripoli were suddenly unable to use...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 1:09 PM by FP Passport

Another dictator figures out Facebook

In early February, I blogged on the somewhat surprising news that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was encouraging his supporters to join Facebook to counteract anti-government demonstrators who were using the site to organize. Sudanese officials...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 12:10 PM by FP Passport

Maltese EU commissioner goes way off script on Libya

In a post yesterday , I noted that Malta's geographic proximity to Libya had given it a central role in the international response to the ongoing crisis -- a somewhat awkward position for an EU member that nonetheless has longstanding political and...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 10:25 AM by FP Passport

Germany's stiff upper lip

Germany experienced its first Islamist attack on Wednesday when a man by the name of Arid U. (Germany withholds the last names of suspects in ongoing investigations) opened fire at the Frankfurt airport, killing two U.S. military personnel and injuring...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 10:05 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Germany

Morning Brief: Government forces fire on Tripoli protest

Government forces fire on Tripoli protest Top news: An anti-Qaddafi rally following Friday prayers in Libya was met first with tear gas and then with live fire by government loyalists. A similiar protest was met with live-fire last week. Since then, Qaddafi's...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 6:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

What happens when the mercenaries return home?

According to Malian officials, Muammar al-Qaddafi's government has recruited hundreds of young Tuaregs, including former rebels, from Mali and Niger to act as mercenaries. As AFP's Serge Daniel reports , locals are worried about what this will...

Published Thu, Mar 03 2011 2:21 PM by FP Passport

Malta in the Middle

The tiny island nation of Malta, owing to its proximity to Libya -- Tripoli is closer to Malta than to Benghazi -- has emerged as a major transport hub as nations scramble to evacuate their citizens from Libya. Countries ranging from India , to Russia...

Published Thu, Mar 03 2011 1:39 PM by FP Passport

What will be in China's next Five Year Plan?

It must be a stressful day inside the offices of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. The city's security apparatus is fearful -- and brutally overreacting -- to the perceived threat of Chinese netizens organizing a "jasmine revolution" to...

Published Thu, Mar 03 2011 8:58 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Rebels repel attack in eastern Libya

Rebels repel attack in eastern Libya Top story: Anti-government rebels successfully repelled an attack by Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi's forces in the strategic oil city of Brega on Wednesday. However, the rebels' defense of the city showed that their...

Published Thu, Mar 03 2011 5:20 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Endgame for Saleh?

One-man Yemen media empire Oliver Holmes is reporting in both Time and the Wall Street Journal that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is in talks with his country's opposition on a set of demands that would have him stepping down within this year...

Published Wed, Mar 02 2011 2:15 PM by FP Passport

Belarus: Arms dealer to the world's pariahs?

On Monday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused Belarus of violating an international arms embargo by shipping helicopters to the Ivory Coast for use by forces loyal to incumbent but internationally rejected President Laurent Gbagbo. As Colum Lynch...

Published Wed, Mar 02 2011 12:03 PM by FP Passport

Saif al-Qaddafi's fall from grace

Saif al-Islam, Muammar al-Qaddafi's favored son, is shown in the video above rallying a pro-Qaddafi crowd into a frenzy. At one point, he leads the crowd in a chant of "Only God, Muammar, and Libya ... we need no other than our leader Qaddafi...

Published Wed, Mar 02 2011 10:25 AM by FP Passport

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How the "king of Africa" fueled his own country's racism

Morning Brief: Qaddafi forces push back at key town

Friday photo: Belle of the ball

Libya disconnects from the Internet

Another dictator figures out Facebook

Maltese EU commissioner goes way off script on Libya

Germany's stiff upper lip

Morning Brief: Government forces fire on Tripoli protest

What happens when the mercenaries return home?

Malta in the Middle

What will be in China's next Five Year Plan?

Morning Brief: Rebels repel attack in eastern Libya

Endgame for Saleh?

Belarus: Arms dealer to the world's pariahs?

Saif al-Qaddafi's fall from grace