Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Top 5 News of the World scandals

For fans of sensationalistic headlines, shady reporting tactics, and outright despicable behavior, the British tabloid News of the World will surely be missed. This week, the Murdoch-owned rag officially became the most-hated brand in England after it...

Published Thu, Jul 07 2011 4:35 PM by FP Passport

Friday Photo: The World's Highest Political Body

Nepal may have outdone the Maldives (words I never thought I would type) in the stunt cabinet meeting department: Nepalese politicians take part in a cabinet meeting at Kalapattar Plateau near Mount Everest on December 4, 2009, at an altitude of 5,262...

Published Fri, Dec 04 2009 4:13 PM by FP Passport

The pirate stock market is booming

Those following the pirate lairs of Somalia have long known that the assailants who hijack ships and terrorize the seas are more organized than they appear (Credit here goes to FP contributor and pirate watcher J. Peter Pham ). Far from the sailboat-driving...

Published Wed, Dec 02 2009 9:51 AM by FP Passport

Obama gives troops to Republicans, empty promises to Democrats

As soon as President Obama had rolled out his plan for an Afghan troop surge on Tuesday night, his top deputies headed to Congress to sell the administration's new plan. While they faced criticism from the right and the left, their answers clearly...

Published Thu, Dec 03 2009 3:34 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: South Asia

China: The Dalai Lama isn't allowed to not reincarnate

The Dalai Lama's suggestion that his successor may be appointed while he is still alive or even elected is, unsurprisingly, not so popular with Tibet's Chinese rulers: But Padma Choling, the Chinese-appointed governor of Tibet, said that the Dalai...

Published Mon, Mar 07 2011 8:38 AM by FP Passport

Maltese EU commissioner goes way off script on Libya

In a post yesterday , I noted that Malta's geographic proximity to Libya had given it a central role in the international response to the ongoing crisis -- a somewhat awkward position for an EU member that nonetheless has longstanding political and...

Published Fri, Mar 04 2011 10:25 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Egypt demonstrators settle in for the long haul

Egypt demonstrators settle in for the long haul Top story: As Egypt's political crisis enters its third week , tens of thousands of demonstrators continue to pack Cairo's Tahrir Square, sticking to their central demand that President Hosni Mubarak...

Published Mon, Feb 07 2011 5:59 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

The spy who bit me

Still intrigued by this morning's strange story of a woman who was arrested in Iran and reportedly claimed she had spy equipment installed in her teeth, I called up Peter Earnest , a CIA veteran and executive director of the International Spy Museum...

Published Thu, Jan 06 2011 1:31 PM by FP Passport

CPAC: Agent of Sharia

Turns out that the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual right-wing gathering which will take place in Washington next month, hasn't just been infiltrated by the gay agenda , it's unwittingly furthering the Islamist takeover of...

Published Wed, Jan 05 2011 11:40 AM by FP Passport

Britain's Batman isn't the only superhero living among us

Earlier today, police in the British city of Bradford reported that a man dressed as Batman had walked into a local police station and delivered a wanted man. Ever since, the media has been buzzing with questions: Who is this caped crusader? How did he...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 3:45 PM by FP Passport

Meet the longshot Kenyan presidential candidate everybody loves

As James Verini notes in his dispatch from Nairobi this weekend, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta are the frontrunners in Kenya's closely watched presidential election on Monday. But one other candidate has been...

Published Sun, Mar 03 2013 11:00 AM by FP Passport

Clinton cutting Pacific trip short

The State Department has announced that Secretary of State Hillary is cutting short her trip to Asia "due to the devastating earthquake in Haiti and its severe aftermath." Clinton gave a speech on U.S. Asia Policy in Honolulu earlier today and...

Published Wed, Jan 13 2010 4:08 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Haiti's Disaster

White House foreign-policy speechwriter in the news

Today brings a good Washington Post style section profile of the White House's speechwriter on national security and foreign policy, Ben Rhodes, as well as his inaugural contribution to the blogosphere. Our parent publication describes Rhodes'...

Published Tue, Jan 12 2010 2:40 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: U.S. Foreign Policy

Morning Brief: Israel strikes military facility in Damascus, U.N. investigator says rebels used sarin

Israel strikes military facility in Damascus, U.N. investigator says rebels used sarin Top news: The Syrian government charged Sunday that an overnight airstrike that targeted what is believed to be a military research center in Damascus was carried out...

Published Mon, May 06 2013 5:44 AM by FP Passport