Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

How bad is Greece's debt?

Here are a chart and a graph showing the PIIGS' and the United States' indebtedness -- more specifically, their public debt and 2009 deficit relative to GDP. Just glancing at the chart, and remembering that the PIIGS are among the weakest economies...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 8:48 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Economics

Xinjiang opens up Internet access.... to thirty websites

China's Xinjiang province has been without Internet access since anti-government riots last summer. At the end of 2009, the government began allowing access to a handful of government-run sites. This week the bans were lifted on a whopping 27 websites...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 9:58 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China, Internet

Morning Brief: Ahmadinejad declares Iran a "nuclear state" as protests rage

Ahmadinejad declares Iran a "nuclear state" as protests rage Top news: Huge crowds gathered in central Tehran today for the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution as opposition protesters clashed with security forces and President Mahmoud...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 5:24 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Haitian judge recommends release for missionaries

The judge deciding whether 10 U.S. missionaries should face child kidnapping charges for trying to remove children from the earthquake-battered country, has apparently decided they should be released: "After listening to the families, I see the possibility...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 9:08 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Haiti's Disaster

GQ gets the Wonkette treatment

I poked some fun last fall at GQ 's " 50 most powerful people in D.C. " list, which ranked various Washington poobahs who "truly have clout" in the U.S. capital. Today comes word that ex- Wonkette and longtime blogosphere fixture...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 3:26 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Europe vaguely promises help for Greece

Europe vaguely promises help for Greece Top story: After a discussion of Greece's budget troubles in Brussels, EU leaders promised to "take determined and coordinated action, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the euro area as a whole...

Published Fri, Feb 12 2010 5:38 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Quote of the day: chaos in Kiev

Ukrainian politics are really confusing: "The main result of these elections is that Yanukovich came first, but did not win. Tymoshenko, on the other hand, lost but was not defeated," Ukrainska Pravda commentator Vadym Karasov wrote. Got that...

Published Fri, Feb 12 2010 9:55 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Elections

Obama says no to recess appointments

President Barack Obama has indicated that he will not make any recess appointments next week, while senators are back in their home states for the president's day holiday. Earlier in the week, Obama had signaled he might make the direct appointments...

Published Fri, Feb 12 2010 3:41 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Obama Administration, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Congress

The Senegalese Press Isn't Exactly Swooning Over Obama

Consider it a case study in getting off on the wrong foot. Snarled traffic, shut-down streets, and security everywhere. These are things Senegalese news outlets are talking about today -- not development, investment, and American engagement -- as President...

Published Thu, Jun 27 2013 2:00 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa, Obama Administration, U.S. Foreign Policy

Is China's First Lady Playing Politics?

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is currently on a four-day, feel-good trip to China -- full of pledges about greater cooperation on issues ranging from North Korea to bilateral trade -- but one aspect of her visit has been unusual: During a meeting...

Published Fri, Jun 28 2013 9:45 AM by FP Passport

Japan's Prime Minister Courts Youth by Hopping Around in Smartphone App

The real-life Shinzo Abe has had his fair share of critics -- those who find his nationalist inclinations distasteful, for example, or others who are deeply skeptical about his so-called Abenomics plan to save the Japanese economy. But who could dislike...

Published Fri, Jun 28 2013 2:40 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Japan, East Asia, Politics, Fun Stuff

Muslim Brotherhood HQ Burned and Looted

During the 2011 protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak, one of the first targets was the Egyptian president's party apparatus: On Jan. 28, protesters set fire to the headquarters of his National Democratic Party, a large office building looming between...

Published Mon, Jul 01 2013 4:01 AM by FP Passport

Do You Speak the World's Weirdest Language?

Are you one of the 6,000 people in the world who speaks Chalcatongo Mixtec? Congratulations! You speak the world's weirdest language. That's what Tyler Schnoebelen and the researchers at Idibon , a natural language processing company, found when...

Published Mon, Jul 01 2013 3:30 PM by FP Passport

Could Mohamed ElBaradei Be Egypt's Next Ruler?

CAIRO -- It's now less than two hours before the Egyptian military lays outs its plan for the country's future, and the rumors are flying fast and furious. The latest report is that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sissi is meeting with opposition leader...

Published Wed, Jul 03 2013 5:57 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Egypt

Exclusive: Egyptian Ambassador to U.S.: Morsy Ouster 'Not a Coup" but 'a Popular Uprising'

On July 3, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian defense minister, announced the removal of President Mohamed Morsy, Egypt's first democratically elected president, and the suspension of the Egyptian constitution. It's a very uncertain time...

Published Wed, Jul 03 2013 2:53 PM by FP Passport