Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Global Times readers fire back!

The nationalist Chinese newspaper Global Times posted on their home page a translated summary of my Time piece on the next decade in US-China relations, " The Indispensable Axis ," as well an accompanying essay on " The Next American Century...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 12:17 PM by FP Passport

FP makes the prime minister's briefing in Zimbabwe

A few weeks back, I reported on the case of Georges Tadonki , a former U.N. official who claims that he was dismissed in part because he was outspoken in his warnings of a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe in 2008 and 2009. Earlier this month, the report caught...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 11:47 AM by FP Passport

Netanyahu's brother-in-law calls Obama an anti-Semite

As if relations between Israel and the United States weren't icy enough lately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's brother-in-law, Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi, has now publicly called President Barack Obama an anti-semite on an Army Radio program: It's...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 10:40 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Israel/Palestine

Hey Thai protesters, what's up with the blood?

Thailand's red-shirt protesters not only made good on their threat to pour gallons of their own blood on Bangkok's Government House on Tuesday, they followed it up today by hurling more human blood at Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva's home...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 7:58 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia

A horrid suggestion from Qaddafi

The recent violence in central Nigeria has shocked everyone for its scale and horror (there was another minor outbreak today ). But no better is a solution proposed by none other than Libya's Muammar Qaddafi : divide the country in half. Funny, that's...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 7:01 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Irish cardinal apologizes as pope promises to address abuse scandal

Irish cardinal apologizes as pope promises to address abuse scandal Top news: Cardinal Sean Brady, the head of Ireland's Catholic Church apologized in his St. Patrick's Day sermon today for the role he played in covering up the sexual abuse of...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 6:09 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

A French Bradley effect?

U.S. political junkes are well aware of the "Bradley effect," a scenario in which embarassed white voters tell pollsters they're planning on voting for a minority candidate, then vote for a white one when they get in the booth, producing...

Published Tue, Mar 16 2010 11:21 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: France, Elections, Race/Ethnicity

Lockerbie bomber's health "greatly improved"

Seven months after he was released from British prison with supposedly only three months to live, convicted Pan-Am bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi is apparently doing just fine : The health of the freed Lockerbie bomber has 'greatly improved'...

Published Tue, Mar 16 2010 9:19 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Terrorism, North Africa

North Korea bans other people from being named Kim Jong Un

The rollout of Kim Jong-un as North Korea's new leader continues , with South Korean sources reporting that an official portrait of the heir apparent has been prepared for distribution. Then there's this: Last month, the Radio Free Asia also reported...

Published Tue, Mar 16 2010 8:37 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North Korea, East Asia

Morning Brief: Mitchell cancels visit as U.S.-Israel tension deepens

Mitchell cancels visit as U.S.-Israel tension deepens U.S. envoy George Mitchell has indefinitely postponed a planned trip to the Middle East in the midst of what Israel's ambassador to the United States has called "most severe crisis in U.S...

Published Tue, Mar 16 2010 5:56 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Karzai reportedly "very angry" about Mullah Baradar arrest

The Associated Press has a scooptastic story tonight saying that Mullah Baradar, the Taliban's erstwhile No. 2 man, was "holding secret talks" with the Afghan government when he was arrested by Pakistan with the help of U.S. intelligence...

Published Mon, Mar 15 2010 8:02 PM by FP Passport

Nigerian militants set off car bombs to tell everyone they exist

Being on the e-mail list of the spokesperson for the Nigerian rebel group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), I often have the non-pleasure of waking up to news of the group's grisley attacks. This morning around 11 a.m. Nigeria...

Published Mon, Mar 15 2010 1:30 PM by FP Passport

Nepal's gay rights revolution

The AP reports that Nepal is actively looking to become a destination for gay tourists in South Asia -- including a publicity stunt to hold the world's highest-ever gay wedding at the Mt. Everest base camp -- a sign of just how quickly things have...

Published Mon, Mar 15 2010 1:27 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: South Asia

The Indispensable Axis

Time magazine's cover current package is the third of their annual “10 Ideas” issues; this time it’s forward-oriented, focused on " 10 Ideas That Will Shape the Next Ten Years. " One of those is a piece on the U.S.-China relationship by...

Published Mon, Mar 15 2010 9:45 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China

Thailand: There might be blood

Here's a novel (and disgusting) political tactic from Thailand's "red-shirt" protesters: Organizers of the demonstrations in the Thai capital said they're requesting that each protester donate between two and 20 teaspoons of blood...

Published Mon, Mar 15 2010 8:59 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Southeast Asia