Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

America's flawed Cuba policy: Bey and Jay edition

Last week, Beyonce and Jay-Z, the royal couple of American pop music, made a surprise visit to Cuba to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Strolling through the streets of Havana, the celebrities were greeted by huge crowds, and Cuban authorities...

Published Tue, Apr 09 2013 4:30 PM by FP Passport

Syrian rebels want to protect the US from North Korea

The Syrian uprising is serious business, but people still have time for some levity now and then. In this video, for instance, a group of Syrians announce the formation of the "Eagles of Washington" brigade, which they say will protect the United...

Published Thu, Apr 11 2013 3:40 AM by FP Passport

Is this the first unfiltered threat out of North Korea?

Determining what's a credible threat out of North Korea is something of a fool's errand. Official ultimatums by Pyongyang routinely evaporate into nothing. But what happens when U.S. spies uncover threats never intended for mass consumption? CNN's...

Published Thu, Apr 04 2013 11:30 AM by FP Passport

Singapore’s prime minister is funny

On Tuesday, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long visited the United States and met with President Obama. That night, in a speech to U.S. businessmen, Lee told a few jokes about China. AP reports : He drew laughs - and some groans - with his quips...

Published Wed, Apr 03 2013 5:50 PM by FP Passport

Oops -- Russia mistakenly blacklists its top social network

Access to Russia's leading social network -- VKontakte -- was briefly blocked on Friday, after the website appeared on a list of sites banned from distributing content inside the country. Apparently, Vkontakte (Russia's version of Facebook) ended...

Published Fri, May 24 2013 2:49 PM by FP Passport

Brazil's moment to lead

Countries around the world are frantically searching for their citizens in Haiti, but this week's events have been particularly hard on Brazil, which had a big footprint in the country before the quake. At least 14 Brazilian troops were killed in...

Published Fri, Jan 15 2010 9:25 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America, Haiti's Disaster

Which Tymoshenko do you get?

This morning at the Center for American Progress, a panel of veteran American Ukraine hands briefed a group of Ukrainian political leaders and think tankers via satellite on the implications of this Sunday's presidential election on U.S.-Ukrainian...

Published Tue, Feb 02 2010 9:49 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Elections

Who's afraid of big, bad Hezbollah?

Patrick Barry noticed this very interesting passage from the U.S. intelligence community's annual threat assessment : We judge that, unlike al-Qa'ida, Hizballah, which has not directly attacked US interests overseas over the past 13 years, is...

Published Thu, Feb 04 2010 8:56 AM by FP Passport

Armenian-American groups blast Condoleezza Rice as 'genocide denier'

Eurasianet reporst that Armenian-American groups have not responded well to Condoleezza Rice's new memoir, in which she discusses her efforts to quash a Congressional resolution labeling the post-World War I killing of ethnic Armenians by Turkey a...

Published Fri, Nov 11 2011 1:20 PM by FP Passport

What in the world does North Korea still have left to threaten?

If you've already threatened nuclear holocaust, shredded a sacrosanct armistice agreement, terminated a military telephone line, invalidated all non-aggression pacts, and declared "all-out-war," what do you do next to show the West you really...

Published Mon, Mar 11 2013 2:30 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Cardinals gather to select next pope

Cardinals gather to select next pope Top news: The Roman Catholic cardinals who have gathered in Rome to elect the next pope filed into St. Peter's Basilica on Tuesday for the final Mass before the conclave. There, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of...

Published Tue, Mar 12 2013 5:26 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Will Francis's role during Argentina's 'Dirty War' come back to haunt him?

With the selection of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as pope, the Catholic Church broke new ground by tapping its first modern non-European pontiff, an acknowledgement of the church's growing flock in the developing world. Unlike many other contenders...

Published Wed, Mar 13 2013 2:20 PM by FP Passport

Decline Watch: Governor of U.S. territory offers to lease islands to China

Small Pacific islands have something of a track record of selling their allegiance to larger powers, but usually not U.S. territories! The governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean, said he is willing to lease...

Published Thu, Oct 20 2011 2:51 PM by FP Passport

Friday photo: Heaven and Hell

Lava spewed from a crater of the giant Etna volcano in the southern Italy island of Sicily on July 30, 2011 in Catania. The lava flown into a valley overnight and did not represent a danger to inhabited areas. Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe...

Published Fri, Sep 09 2011 4:53 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Triumphant Hollande visits Timbuktu as French airstrikes continue

Triumphant Hollande visits Timbuktu as French airstrikes continue Top news: French President Francois Hollande was hailed as a liberator Saturday during a visit to Timbuktu, Mali, where he praised the military campaign to oust Islamist rebels while vowing...

Published Mon, Feb 04 2013 5:54 AM by FP Passport