Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Contagion: Tiny germs vs. big government

Warning: Mild spoilers ahead Aside from being about the most effective advertisement for Purell ever devised, Steven Soderbergh's very good new film Contagion can also be read as an argument for the necessity of strong states and government intervention...

Published Sun, Sep 11 2011 7:55 PM by FP Passport

Indian company markets cell phones as birth control

Sex sells, the saying goes. But this amusing -- if slightly retrograde in its view of gender roles -- ad for India's !DEA cell phone carrier markets 3G service as a form of population control. With all they can do on their phones, the ad suggests...

Published Mon, Sep 12 2011 2:49 PM by FP Passport

Saif to the Hague? Get ready for a long wait

The International Criminal Court reports today that it has made indirect contact with Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, and is attempting to negotiate his transfer to the Hague: An NTC source said on Thursday that Saif al-Islam wanted an aircraft, possibly arranged...

Published Fri, Oct 28 2011 10:46 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: New prime minister selected in Libya

New prime minister selected in Libya Top story: Abdurraheem el-Keib, a dual U.S.-Libyan citizen and a longtime professor at U.S. universities, was chosen by the members of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) as the country's new prime...

Published Tue, Nov 01 2011 5:03 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Decline Watch: Human Development Index highlights U.S. inequality

The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index presents a very different picture of global wellbeing than the Legatum Prosperity Index discussed yesterday, though those smug Norwegians are still on top. The big headline from this...

Published Wed, Nov 02 2011 9:44 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Decline Watch

Nigeria's youngest government official

This gives new meaning to the phrase cradle-to-grave benefits: A one-month old baby, said to hold a diploma, was on the Nigerian government payroll, officials have discovered, exposing the levels to which corruption runs in Africa's most populous...

Published Thu, Nov 03 2011 8:30 AM by FP Passport

Chinese editor calls for regime change in North Korea

Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 On Wednesday, the Financial Times published an op-ed titled "China should abandon North Korea" by Deng Yuwen, the deputy editor of Study Times , the journal of China's...

Published Thu, Feb 28 2013 10:58 AM by FP Passport

Cheney rips Condoleezza Rice in new documentary

In an upcoming documentary about the life and legacy of *** Cheney previewed by Foreign Policy , the former vice president lashes out at former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Brooding over one issue specifically, Cheney criticizes his former colleague...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 8:15 AM by FP Passport

The 'Harlem Shake' is becoming a new form of protest in the Middle East

Earlier this week, we reported on the controversy in Tunisia and Egypt over some "Harlem Shake" videos, which have provoked arrests and an investigation by the Tunisian Ministry of Education, and the follow-up Harlem Shake protests Egyptians...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 9:55 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Freedom, Culture, Politics, Middle East, Fun Stuff, Religion, North Africa, Egypt

59 years ago this day: the largest ever U.S. nuclear weapons test

On March 1, 1954, the United States attempted something it had never done before: The explosion of a hydrogen bomb in an operation code-named "Castle Bravo." Unfortunately, the test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific didn't go exactly...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 2:13 PM by FP Passport

Is the Pirate Bay now hosted in North Korea, or are they messing with us?

Visitors to the filesharing megasite Pirate Bay today might be surprised to see a North Korean flag on the page's usual Pirate Ship logo. The image links to the following post on the site's blog : The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 10:34 AM by FP Passport

How are Palestinians reacting to Israel’s ‘Palestinian-only’ buses?

On Monday, the Israeli government launched a new bus service to shuttle Palestinian day laborers from the West Bank town of Qalqiliya to Israeli cities where they are employed. Ynet outlined the reasons behind the two new lines, which have only been advertised...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 2:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics, Middle East, Media, Israel/Palestine

Morning Brief: Kenyatta takes early lead in Kenyan election

Kenyatta takes early lead in Kenyan election Top news: Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta jumped out to an early lead in the country's first presidential election since 2007, though 60 percent of polling stations have yet to report and the...

Published Tue, Mar 05 2013 5:51 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Pakistan denies New York Times report on drones

The New York Times is taking heat from the Pakistani military today after reporting that two lethal airstrikes carried out in early February were not the work of the United States, according to its sources, and may have been carried out by Pakistan instead...

Published Tue, Mar 05 2013 9:30 AM by FP Passport

Has anybody noticed that Malaysia is at war?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 So, this happened: "For three weeks," the Financial Times reported on Monday, "Malaysian forces have been facing off against 180 followers of the self-proclaimed Sultan...

Published Tue, Mar 05 2013 1:40 PM by FP Passport