Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Morning Brief: European countries agree to deficit deal, but Britain sits out

European countries agree to deficit deal, but Britain sits out Top news: European leaders agreed to a deal to impose stricter fiscal and financial discipline in an effort to rescue the eurozone, but Britain will not sign it, making it unclear how the...

Published Fri, Dec 09 2011 5:27 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

FP's Global Thinkers in the news

It's been almost two weeks since Foreign Policy released its Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2011 , and while the year is nearly up, many members of the list are continuing to make headlines. Russian anti-corruption blogger Alexey Navalny was arrested...

Published Fri, Dec 09 2011 3:14 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Diplomacy, Economics, Egypt

Turkey: The land of 'zero problems' has an awful lot of problems

Turkey, today, took the dramatic step of cutting off diplomatic ties with France over a new law passed by the French government that would criminalize genocide denial, including the 1915 slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Yigal Schliefer writes...

Published Thu, Dec 22 2011 12:13 PM by FP Passport

Hennessy responds to the loss of its best customer

Say what you want about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, the man liked his Hennessy . For two years in the mid-1990s, he was the world's largest buyer of Hennessy Paradis cognac, importing up to $800,000 of the stuff a year, both to quaff himself...

Published Fri, Dec 23 2011 1:26 PM by FP Passport

Did Putin just register his 2012 campaign website?

Could the prime minister have just tipped his hand ? The online database of state register Reg.ru shows that the Federal Bodyguard Service in late August registered two Cyrillic-script addresses, Putin-2012.rf and Putin2012.rf. The agency, which is responsible...

Published Fri, Sep 17 2010 9:04 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia

"The only reason I'm reading them is that I have to sign them and am worried about embarrassing myself"

The National Journal 's Yochi Dreazen interviews Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's top hardware guy. The best bit: NJ: You've pointed out that the Pentagon spends millions of dollars and tens of thousands of hours producing reports that few people...

Published Sat, Sep 18 2010 12:34 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Military

Last chance to vote for FP for Best Magazine Cover!

Hey, FP readers! Today's your last day to vote for FP for Cover of the Year. The March/April 2010 issue of the print magazine was nominated for the American Society of Magazine Editors' (ASME) Best Cover of the Year Contest in the "Best News...

Published Mon, Sep 20 2010 10:32 AM by FP Passport

Vatican bank investigated for money laundering

In yet another scandal for the Catholic Church, Italian authorities are investigating the Vatican Bank on suspicion of money laundering: The Bank of Italy investigation was prompted by two wire transfers which the Vatican Bank asked Credito Artigiano...

Published Tue, Sep 21 2010 9:52 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Drugs & Crime, Religion, Economics

Morning Brief: Chinese premier threatens action against Japan

Chinese premier threatens action against Japan Top news: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao demanded the immediate release of a Chinese fishing boat captain, who has been held for two weeks, as Chinese-Japanese tension continued to rise. “This is totally illegal...

Published Wed, Sep 22 2010 5:38 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Is China making a rare earth power play?

At one point in Diamonds Are Forever , the 1971 James Bond thriller, Agent 007 asks the villain, who has covertly amassed a stockpile of valuable gems: "What do you intend to do with those diamonds?" "An excellent question," the evil...

Published Thu, Sep 23 2010 3:16 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China

From Nimrod to 9/11: Ahmadinejad at the U.N.

The U.S. delegation walked out of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the General Assembly today, just as the Iranian president was putting forth an alternative theory about the 9/11 attacks: "That some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated...

Published Thu, Sep 23 2010 2:12 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: United Nations, Iran

Are Americans too Constitution obsessed?

The Economist' s Lexington makes a provocative case that Americans' veneration of the Constitution and its framers has become unhealthy: When history is turned into scripture and men into deities, truth is the victim. The framers were giants,...

Published Fri, Sep 24 2010 8:59 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics

Friday photo: Harvest moon

SEPTEMBER 22: The moon rises behind Coit Tower September 22, 2010 in San Francisco, California. Today marks the first time in two decades that the Sun has sunk as a full Moon has risen exactly opposite to it on the autumnal equinox, or the beginning of...

Published Fri, Sep 24 2010 3:23 PM by FP Passport

Even in mourning, Lil' Kim imitates his father

In preparation for secretive Kim Jong Il's state funeral, planned for an unknown time today (we told you he was secretive!) we asked Chad O'Carroll, Director of Communications at the Korea Economic Institute, to explain the simularities between...

Published Tue, Dec 27 2011 4:37 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia

Chavez wonders whether U.S. is afflicting Latin American leaders with cancer

Given the CIA's history of intrigue in Latin America, it may not be particularly surprising that the region's leaders are sensitive to signs of U.S. meddling in their countries' internal affairs. But sometimes the conspiracy theories seem...

Published Wed, Dec 28 2011 3:32 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America, Flash Points