Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

U.N. fight over Israel overshadows poverty negotiations

A very long decade ago, the world's leaders got together at the United Nations here in New York to agree on something pretty remarkable: that they were going to do their best to end poverty by 2015. In just over a week, they'll come back -- now...

Published Thu, Sep 09 2010 1:00 PM by FP Passport

Iraqi general to US military: Stay longer!

First Tareq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's former deputy, said that the planned U.S. troop withdrawal was "leaving the country to the wolves." Now, the chief of staff of the Iraqi military, Lt. Gen. Babaker Zebari, says that the U.S. pullout was...

Published Thu, Aug 12 2010 11:58 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Iraq

Kenyan ambassador: We will all pay for ignoring Somalia

Kenya's new ambassador to the United States, Elkanah Odembo, has a message to the United States: Ignore Somalia to your own peril. For the last half-decade, Somalia's near-anarchy has taken a particularly pernicious turn toward a brand of Islamist...

Published Wed, Aug 25 2010 7:29 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Japan's central bank cuts rates to around zero

Japan's central bank cuts rates to around zero Topstory: In an attempt to stimulate lending and fight deflation,the Bank of Japan cut its benchmark interest rate to a range of 0 to 0.1 percent. While thisrepresents only a small decline from its previous...

Published Tue, Oct 05 2010 5:55 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

First Afghanistan, then Incan pottery

President Obama definitely has a lot on his mind after the drubbing congressional Democrats received yesterday. It seems unlikely that he'll get himself involved in an international argument over antiquities, but that hasn't stopped the Peruvian...

Published Wed, Nov 03 2010 1:54 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America

Obama in Afghanistan

President Obama has just arrived at Afghanistan's Bagram airbase for an unannounced trip during which he will meet U.S. troops and hold a meeting by videoconference with President Hamid Karzai. Obama had originally planned to travel to Kabul by helicopter...

Published Fri, Dec 03 2010 9:46 AM by FP Passport

Brazil recognizes Palestinian state

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his transformative Foreign Minister Celso Amorim are still making new s in their last month in office, announcing today that Brazil would recognize the Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. Here's...

Published Fri, Dec 03 2010 11:54 AM by FP Passport

Friday photo: Dragon Market

Filipinos perform a dragon dance on the trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange in Manila on February 3, 2011 to celebrate the Lunar New Year's 'Year of the Rabbit'. From Sydney to Pyongyang, the Lunar New Year was marked by a thundering...

Published Fri, Feb 04 2011 4:46 PM by FP Passport

Human rights analyst: Egyptian government sent thugs to attack the demonstrators

Speaking by phone from Cairo, Human Rights Watch's Joe Stork told me that he is alarmed by the U.S. media coverage portraying the clashes on the streets as spats between "rival protestors" -- citizens who have two different visions of the...

Published Wed, Feb 02 2011 11:52 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Arab World

Vodafone: Government made us send pro-Mubarak text messages

Using emergency powers provisions that give it the right to order mobile phone networks to send text messages to subscribers, the Egyptian government has apparently ordered Vodafone to send a message urging citizens to confront "traitors". Check...

Published Thu, Feb 03 2011 7:46 AM by FP Passport

Chinese to return to California's railroads... as owners

Some sweet historical irony here for China: In the 19th century, laborers from China helped build railroads spanning California and linking the U.S. coasts. In the 21st century, the Chinese may be back — not for backbreaking labor, but with financial...

Published Fri, Jan 07 2011 9:36 AM by FP Passport

Friday photo: New Zealanders love David Hasselhoff!

Star of Baywatch David Hasselhoff arrives in a surf lifesaving craft during a promotion for the new 'Splice Real Fruit' ice block at Mt Maunganui Main Beach on January 6, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. I also like how BP is associating itself...

Published Fri, Jan 07 2011 2:58 PM by FP Passport

Legislature smackdown: Argentina edition

Things got a little out of hand in a legislative session in Argentina's Chaco province when the governing party tried to keep opposition lawmakers out of the room during while they were choosing a new president: In September, FP looked a five of the...

Published Thu, Dec 03 2009 10:41 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America, Fun Stuff

Shoe-throwing comes full circle

The latest victim of the international shoe throwing trend kicked off by Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi in 2008 is... Muntazer al Zaidi! Muntazer al-Zaidi – who became a national hero in Iraq after hurling his footwear at the then US president last...

Published Wed, Dec 02 2009 12:17 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Copenhagen kicks off

Copenhagen kicks off Top story: Around 15,000 delegates from 192 nations have gathered in Copenhagen to attempt to reach an international agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. "The clock has ticked down to zero. After two years of negotiations...

Published Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:03 AM by FP Passport