Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Medvedev asked to investigate governor's alien encounter

I thought this story might be another hoax from those wiseguys at the Moscow Times, but it seems to have been reported elsewhere and is just way too good to check : The aliens came for him on September 18, 1997. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was at home in his Moscow...

Published Wed, May 05 2010 10:06 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia

Kim Jong Il's Austrian fetish

The thing about wacky Kim Jong Il stories is that they're generally impossible to prove or disprove so it's gnereally best to treat them as little more than curiosities. That's certainly true of Kim's apparent taste for all things Austrian...

Published Mon, Mar 08 2010 7:47 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North Korea, East Asia

Indian minister: Maoists are a greater threat than Islamic terrorists

The Indian government is preparing to deploy thousands of soldiers to defeat the country's growing Naxalite Maoist insurgency. Home minister P Chidambaram's description of the threat posed by the Naxalites was striking: The Home Minister told...

Published Fri, Mar 12 2010 10:09 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Terrorism, South Asia

Morning Brief: Israel seals off West Bank

Israel seals off West Bank Top story: Israeli authorities have sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours, preventing Palestinians from entering Israel, over fears of unrest. The government is concerned about violence this weekend in reaction to Israel's...

Published Fri, Mar 12 2010 6:02 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

British Conservatives endorsed by... Robert Mugabe!

Ever eager to criticize the sitting British government, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe piped in today with an endorsement of the Conservative party's David Cameron in the British election. This is, to be sure, more of an indictment (if that's...

Published Thu, Mar 04 2010 1:42 PM by FP Passport

Report: Women's rights make uneven advance in Middle East

The status of Middle Eastern women has improved over the last five years, contradicting common perceptions of cloaked, powerless individuals, according to Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance , a study released...

Published Wed, Mar 03 2010 4:12 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Human Rights, Middle East

Morning Brief: Pants bomber to appear in court today

Pants bomber to appear in court today Top news: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas day, is due to appear in Federal Court in Detroit today to be arraigned on six charges, including attempted murder and...

Published Fri, Jan 08 2010 5:52 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

The best part of Obama's speech today

I thought Obama really nailed his appearance today. This bit was right on: Here at home, we will strengthen our defenses, but we will not succumb to a siege mentality that sacrifices the open society and liberties and values that we cherish as Americans...

Published Thu, Jan 07 2010 4:38 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Security

What We're Reading: Snowmaggedon Edition

What the Foreign Policy staff are reading while trapped in the blizzard: Preeti Aroon: “War in Iran: British Join Soviet Allies,” on page 39 of the Jan. 26, 1942, issue of Life magazine. Google Books let’s you browse old issues of Life , and it’s fun...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 3:42 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: What We're Reading

FP contributors weigh in on the latest from Iran

We've had a whole lot of content on Iran this week tied to today's demonstrations. Here's a quick guide: Colum Lynch profiled the key players in the Iran sanctions debate. Daniel Drezner wondered how we will be able to tell if the protests...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 3:06 PM by FP Passport

Why are Congolese rebels praising Nelson Mandela on Twitter?

Nelson Mandela is back in the news this week with the announcement that he's once again in the hospital and in fragile condition . And while the legacy of the former South African president and anti-apartheid revolutionary leader is open to debate...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 11:30 AM by FP Passport

Is Obama out of options on Cuba?

The tone of U.S.-Cuban relations have taken a number of turns for the worse in recent days. The largest of these may be the arrest of an American contractor for distributing laptops on the island. Christopher Sabatini explains the significance of this...

Published Thu, Jan 07 2010 12:20 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America

Somali insurgents announce their allegiance to al Qaeda

Al Shabaab, the Islamist militia wreaking havoc in Somalia, has long been rumored to be harboring al Qaeda ties. Some of the group's main leaders -- including several killed by U.S. drone strikes -- probably trained with the organization abroad. And...

Published Mon, Feb 01 2010 2:19 PM by FP Passport

Fake fake news: The Iranian time machine

A good rule of thumb for news in the Internet age: If there's a "Ha, ha, silly foreigners" story circulating on the Internet, and if 90 percent of the people writing about it are citing the Telegraph , it's probably mostly fake, or at...

Published Thu, Apr 11 2013 2:30 PM by FP Passport

DIY deportation: Amazingly easy

It turns out that deporting someone from the United States, even if you're not a federal official or law enforcement officer, is not all that hard: Wearing a fake badge and a shirt imprinted with "U.S. Federal Agent," Gregory Denny, 37,...

Published Thu, Feb 04 2010 11:12 AM by FP Passport