Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Is Russia About to Free *** Riot?

Russia doesn't know what to do about its political prisoners. To celebrate the upcoming 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Russian constitution in 1993, President Vladimir Putin agreed to free anywhere from 30,000 to a 100,000 prisoners charged...

Published Fri, Dec 06 2013 3:53 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Corruption, Russia, Justice, Eastern Europe, Democracy

After 20 Years of Nothing, the WTO Finally Reaches a Deal...Sort of

The World Trade Organization lives to fight another day. Amid concern that last week's trade talks would end in failure and render the WTO obsolete after two decades of ineffectual negotiations, member countries finally reached a global trade reform...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 12:55 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Economics, Trade

Watch For Yourself: The 5 Biggest Moments From the Mandela Memorial

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people gathered for the national memorial service for Nelson Mandela, a man President Obama called "a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice." The service for Mandela, which is part of a week of...

Published Tue, Dec 10 2013 9:41 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa

Morning Brief: Police Turn Back in Attempt to Clear Kiev Square

Police Turn Back in Attempt to Clear Kiev Square Top news: Ukrainian police abandoned an attempt to clear a central square in Kiev of anti-government protesters after clashes between riot police and those gathered in Maidan Nezalezhnosti overnight. Saying...

Published Wed, Dec 11 2013 5:21 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Edward Snowden's Statement to FP on His Selection as a Global Thinker

Edward Snowden, who has become the public face of an international debate over surveillance, tops the list of Foreign Policy's Global Thinkers for 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor who disclosed the inner workings of the U.S. intelligence...

Published Wed, Dec 11 2013 2:28 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Intelligence

Smog at China's Airports Incite Riots, Require Blind Landings

Forget the days when pilots were expected to have perfect vision. China prefers pilots who can fly blind. Smog in China's major cities has gotten so bad that it's actually visible from space, and airline pilots can no longer rely on sight alone...

Published Thu, Dec 12 2013 11:44 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Environment, East Asia, China

Beyonce's New Album Got FP Global Thinker Chimamanda Adichie All Wrong

Beyonce is just full of surprises. In the past 24 hours, she dropped an album, joined Weibo, and -- to our particular delight -- paid tribute to one of Foreign Policy's 2013 Global Thinkers , Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose 2013 novel Americanah is...

Published Fri, Dec 13 2013 1:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Culture, Media, Women

Adam Gadahn on the media and more highlights from the bin Laden docs

One of the most intriguing highlights of the 17 documents released by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center from the trove captured at Osama bin Laden's Abottabad is a discussion from Al Qaeda's American media advisor Adam Gadahn on plans...

Published Thu, May 03 2012 7:36 AM by FP Passport

State Department: New deal reached on blind Chinese activist

It looks like a deal has been reached for blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng. This just in: STATEMENT BY VICTORIA NULAND, SPOKESPRSON Chen Guangcheng The Chinese Government stated today that Mr. Chen Guangcheng has the same right to travel abroad...

Published Fri, May 04 2012 5:19 AM by FP Passport

A Jewish pilgrimage returns to Tunisia

Though the powerful and prominent Islamist Ennahda party has sent mixed messages about its attitude toward Tunisia's 1,500-strong Jewish population, President Moncef Marzouki's government has made an extraordinary effort this year to promote the...

Published Thu, May 10 2012 12:34 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Security, Culture, Politics, Middle East, Israel/Palestine, Religion, North Africa

Italian anarchists shoot nuclear executive

This would certainly seem to be an escalation : An anarchist group claimed responsibility on Friday for kneecapping an Italian nuclear engineering executive and warned it would strike another seven times at the firm's parent company, Finmeccanica...

Published Fri, May 11 2012 2:53 PM by FP Passport

Europe's gray future

EU Observer looks at a new report , set to be endorsed by Europe's finance ministers tomorrow, that looks beyond the the ramifications of the "Grexit" to a longer-term threat to the continent's prosperity: With an increase of some five...

Published Mon, May 14 2012 2:04 PM by FP Passport

Department of Omens

This is probably not what Francois Hollande wanted on the first day of his presidency: After a succession of rain-drenched and pomp-filled ceremonial inauguration events, Hollande took off in a Falcon 7X aircraft for Berlin. The plane was hit by lightning...

Published Tue, May 15 2012 2:24 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Clinton and Lavrov talk Iran

Clinton and Lavrov talk Iran Top story: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on Iran's nuclear program. It is Clinton's first visit to Russia as secretary of state. While Lavrov insisted...

Published Tue, Oct 13 2009 6:00 AM by FP Passport