Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

NCTC director: Al Qaeda magazine has fallen off

Back in May, I took a look at the first two issues o f Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine to be released since the deaths of its best known contributor Anwar al-Awlaki, and its editor Samir Khan. It seemed to me that the quality...

Published Thu, Sep 20 2012 8:05 AM by FP Passport

Apple's new mapping software has Senkakus for everyone!

Apple has promised that the much-derided mapping software on its new iOS6 mobile operating system will improve soon, the BBC reports : The BBC received a lot of complaints about Apple's maps, with users saying that some towns, such as Stratford Upon...

Published Fri, Sep 21 2012 7:15 AM by FP Passport

The Election 2012 Weekly Report: Red Lines and Videotape

Tale of the tape Mitt Romney was forced to play defense again this week after Mother Jones released a secret recording of remarks he made at a private Boca Raton fundraiser in May. In addition to saying that his "job is not to worry about" the...

Published Fri, Sep 21 2012 10:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Election 2012, 2012 Report

Vanuatu ambassador: Who told you we're recognizing Abkhazia?

Last week's item on the recognition of Abkhazian independence by the tiny pacific nation of Vanuatu may have been premature, the New York Times reports : Ambassador Donald Kalpokas, Vanuatu’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said officials...

Published Mon, Jun 06 2011 7:59 AM by FP Passport

Greece's riot dog returns

The clashes last week between protesters and police outside Greece's parliament brought back into the spotlight Athens' best-known demonstrator-***-mascot: Loukanikos, the riot dog. Loukanikos has been a fixture at the protests that have engulfed...

Published Mon, Jun 20 2011 10:03 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Photographs

What does Medvedev want? (And does it matter?)

As part of our package on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union, I've got a short photo-essay up on the evolution of Russia ruling tandem . As it turns out, the timing couldn't be better since we now have the newest data-point in...

Published Mon, Jun 20 2011 2:52 PM by FP Passport

Austrian villages, made in China

Pop quiz: what do you do if you're Chinese and you want to see a picturesque Austrian village? Go to Austria? Ha. China-based developer China Minmetals Ltd. has a better idea: go to that famous font of German tradition, Guangdong Province. Der Spiegel...

Published Tue, Jun 21 2011 7:17 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China

Poll results – What do Pakistanis think about bin Laden, Obama, and the U.S.?

A just-released Pew poll holds some grim news about the Pakistani public's views toward the United States. For starters, almost two-thirds of Pakistanis don't approve of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. And only 12 percent had a positive...

Published Tue, Jun 21 2011 11:10 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Pakistan, South Asia

A history of prison breaks in Yemen

Yemeni prisons have been criticized as overcrowded and under-monitored radicalization factories where the government sometimes stuffs people it doesn't know what to do with -- at times without trial. And every few years, a spectacular mass escape...

Published Wed, Jun 22 2011 9:31 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Arab World, Yemen

What's the worst case scenario for Greece?

As Greeks face the prospect of a new round of austerity measures, growing discontent has some wondering if the Arab Spring could spread to southern Europe. Already, thousands of protesters have clashed with police in Athens' Syntagma Square, calling...

Published Wed, Jun 22 2011 2:25 PM by FP Passport

Is India ready for 'SlutWalks'?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Women in New Delhi are taking to the streets this July--but don't expect to see the average run-of-the-mill protest sign or megaphone. These women are participating in a SlutWalk...

Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 3:12 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Freedom, Politics, Fun Stuff, Photographs

What should al Qaeda's new name be?

The AP reports that in the last days of his life, Osama bin Laden considered changing the name of al Qaeda to something more religious -- and with fewer connotations of slaughter and wanton destruction and all that: The problem with the name al-Qaida...

Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 8:13 AM by FP Passport

G.O.P. 2012 round-up: Newt on the attack; Romney heading to London; and Santorum and Beck discuss the Middle East

Newt to Obama: ‘Tide of war' isn't receding Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama's assertion in his June 22 speech announcing the troop drawdown in Afghanistan that the "tide of war is receding." He...

Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 2:04 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, North America, Pakistan, Politics, Middle East, Israel/Palestine, South Asia