Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Is Israel winning the YouTube war?

Since Monday's clash between Israeli military forces and pro-Palestinian activists, both sides have issued video recordings to support their version of events (and, maybe more importantly, to unload blame onto their adversaries). So far, there's...

Published Fri, Jun 04 2010 3:05 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Internet, Israel/Palestine

Is North Korea's World Cup team any good?

As World Cup fever heats up around the world, there's huge interest in the tournament's biggest underdog: North Korea, which debuts against soccer juggernaut Brazil on June 15 in its first cup appearance since a Cinderella showing in 1966 . Kim...

Published Sat, Jun 05 2010 4:18 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa, North Korea, Sports

Costa Rica cracks down on stem cell tourism

Costa Rica, increasingly known as a haven for medical tourism, is putting a stop to one controversial practice: The health ministry last month ordered the country's largest stem cell clinic to stop offering treatments, arguing there is no evidence...

Published Mon, Jun 07 2010 3:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America, Health

Japan's prime minister is married to his first cousin

It would be hard top Miyuki Hatoyama in terms of eccentricity. The former Japanese first lady was best known for the fact that she claimed that she was abducted by aliens and knew Tom Cruise in a former life. Naoto Kan's wife Nobuko, according to...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 8:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Japan

Tuesday map: Put the oil spill wherever you want

A few weeks ago, Jon Stewart poked some fun at the media's need to compare the Gulf oil slick to other similarly sized areas -- "the size of Puerto Rico," "the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined!" The new site "If...

Published Tue, Jun 08 2010 4:02 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Tuesday Map, Oil / Energy Disaster / Problem / Shennanigans

Flemish secesionists leading in Belgian election

Loyal readers of this blog know that we have a long-running obsession with the ongoing cultural-linguistic dispute in Belgium -- Leffe-anon for short. The situation is looking a bit more serious this week a party led by outspoken Flemish nationalist Bart...

Published Wed, Jun 09 2010 8:44 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe

Remarks by Syrian envoy spark controversy at U.N. Human Rights Council

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Big news at the U.N. today is the passage of a resolution to impose new Iranian sanctions -- a document that, if nothing else, epitomizes the delicate (read: watered down) diplomatic...

Published Wed, Jun 09 2010 12:15 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Israel/Palestine, United Nations

First comes love, then comes...jail?

Love was momentarily in the air in Saudi Arabia -- until the cops showed up. AP reports this morning that a young Saudi man from Riyadh will face 90 lashes and four months in the clapper as punishment for "engaging in immoral movements" (read...

Published Thu, Jun 10 2010 9:49 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Law, Religion, Arab World

Exiled emirate prince plans coup with British lawyer

Here's an unlikely advocate in the enforcement of sanctions against Iran: Sheikh Khalid, the former crown prince of the UAE emirate Ras al-Khaimah (RAK). In 2003, his own father and half-brother staged a takeover and exiled him to Muscat, Oman. Now...

Published Thu, Jun 10 2010 2:15 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East

What growing Iranian ties to Russia?

Criticizing a column by Charles Krauthammer is an action roughly akin to shooting fish in a barrel, but today's offering contains a particularly egregious distortion: On Tuesday, one day before the president touted passage of a surpassingly weak U...

Published Fri, Jun 11 2010 10:18 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Iran

Friday Photo: Dog Songs

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 05: 'Darwin' the Basset Hound sits with his owner at the 'Music for Dogs' concert for canines as part of the Vivid LIVE festival at the Sydney Opera House forecourt on June 5, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. The concert...

Published Fri, Jun 11 2010 2:59 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Friday Photo

Chechnya's top terrorist un-retires

Do terrorists get to retire? Apparently not. After announcing that he was stepping down in an online video a few days ago, Chechen separatist leader Dokku Umarov has now reversed that decision in a follow-up video. "Due to the situation in the Caucasus...

Published Thu, Aug 05 2010 9:53 AM by FP Passport

Did we learn anything from Naomi Campbell's testimony?

In case you were wondering, supermodels are not particularly well informed about world events. Exhibit A: Naomi Campbell's testimony at the trial of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor today: 'I didn't know anything about Charles Taylor...

Published Thu, Aug 05 2010 12:03 PM by FP Passport

Winston Churchill's close encounter - by Brian Fung

Either the tin hats were right all along, or Churchill was as crazy as the rest of 'em. Among the revelations made in files released this week by the British National Archives is the discovery that Winston Churchill had a UFO sighting covered up for...

Published Fri, Aug 06 2010 7:09 AM by FP Passport

The global economy death trap

Today's Financial Times goes large on the global wheat crisis sparked by the Russian fires, warning of dire consequences for global commodity markets as a result of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's decision to ban wheat exports. The FT doesn't...

Published Fri, Aug 06 2010 10:22 AM by FP Passport