Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Idaho Potatoes and a Furry Pink Hat: This Is What Now Passes for Diplomacy

Few diplomats have seen quite as much success in stifling American ambitions on the world stage as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It's even won him a nickname: Minister Nyet . But fresh off victories to eliminate Syria's stockpile of...

Published Mon, Jan 13 2014 10:16 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Diplomacy, Eastern Europe, Fun Stuff, Obama Administration

Fat-Shaming Campaign Warns Israel's Kids: 'Obese Today... Ugly Tomorrow'

"When your child gains weight, his smile shrinks," read the caption under a cartoonishly ballooned head with a shrunken face beaming from the center. "One in four children in Israel is overweight," it continued. The picture hung on...

Published Fri, Jan 10 2014 2:07 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Health

Kyrgyz Sex Video: You Can Leave Your Mufti Hat On

Here's a story you don't hear every day: the grand mufti of Kyrgyzstan -- the highest Islamic authority in the country -- resigned Tuesday over a sex-tape scandal. The mufti, Rakhmatulla-Hajji Egemberdiev, admitted that the man in a white tank...

Published Fri, Jan 10 2014 12:48 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Central Asia, Religion

Are Saudi’s Princesses Training for the Olympics, or for the Hunger Games?

Seems like just yesterday that Saudi women were banned from competing in the Olympics. But now that they've proven their mettle (in track and judo, at least), Saudi Arabia's king has high hopes for the women in his own family. King Abdullah bin...

Published Fri, Jan 10 2014 10:09 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Women, Sports, Saudi Arabia

‘Gender’ Is The New Enemy of the Polish Church

The Polish Catholic church is on a mission -- a mission to destroy its new enemy: "gender ideology." While Pope Francis has staked out a conciliatory stance toward divisive social issues that have plagued the church in recent years, Polish bishops...

Published Fri, Jan 10 2014 8:20 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Women, Religion

Morning Brief: CAR Interim President Djotodia Resigns

CAR Interim President Djotodia Resigns Top News: Under pressure from fellow African leaders at a regional summit to end the violence that has ravaged his country, Michel Djotodia, the interim president of the Central African Republic, resigned , a move...

Published Fri, Jan 10 2014 5:59 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

The Nine Lives of Pakistan's 'Dirty Harry'

Karachi's famed police investigator, Chaudhry Aslam Khan was a man for whom metaphors have been mixed. He was a divisive figure, sometimes called Karachi's " Dirty Harry " because of his controversial law enforcement tactics, which many...

Published Thu, Jan 09 2014 3:18 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Terrorism, Pakistan, Taliban, South Asia

It'll Cost You $7,000 to Report on Australia's Refugee Crisis

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE To the cynic, it might look like the island nation of Nauru doesn't want journalists snooping around anymore. The tiny Pacific island nation, which has become a focal point in Australia's increasingly...

Published Thu, Jan 09 2014 12:14 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Human Rights, Pacific, Migration/Immigration, Australia

Exile on Jihad Street: Can Mali’s World-Famous Music Festival Ever Go Back Home?

Not even Mali’s music-hating Islamists can the keep the country’s musicians from throwing a king-sized show. Musicians in the country have been embattled since 2012, when a triumvirate of militant Islamist groups groups seized power of the country and...

Published Thu, Jan 09 2014 9:34 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa, Culture

Russian Spy Babe Will Now Dress You for a 'Backwater Village'

If her personal style is anything to go by, expect former Russian spy Anna Chapman's fashion label to feature lots of leather , form-fitting dresses and of cleavage . Chapman the red-haired femme fatale at the center of a Russian spy ring broken up...

Published Thu, Jan 09 2014 9:31 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Russia, Intelligence

Morning Brief: Syria Reports Attacks on Chemical Weapons Sites

Syria Reports Attacks on Chemical Weapons Sites Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Top news: The Syrian government said Wednesday that rebel forces had attacked two of its chemical weapons storage facilities, a development that, if confirmed...

Published Thu, Jan 09 2014 6:20 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Survey Says: Muslim Women, Cover Your Hair, Not Your Faces

A new report by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has shed some light on how Muslim women should cover up. Looking at surveys from seven predominately Muslim countries the researchers found that most respondents thought women...

Published Wed, Jan 08 2014 3:04 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Culture, Middle East, Women, Religion

How to Tell if You're Drinking Whale

What does it take to become a true Viking? According to one Icelandic brewery, drinking their beer made with ground up whale bones will do the trick just fine. To the consternation of much of the non-whale-eating world, the brewery, Steðji, announced...

Published Wed, Jan 08 2014 1:43 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Environment, Fun Stuff, Food/Agriculture

Coming Soon: The Holocaust Documentary Hitchcock Was Almost Too Scared to Make

Before Hollywood dubbed him the "Master of Suspense," Alfred Hitchcock made anti-Nazi propaganda films for the British Ministry of Information. Some of his work from that period, including "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) and "Saboteur"...

Published Wed, Jan 08 2014 1:42 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Culture, Germany

A Theory for Why Rodman Loves Kim: They're Both Miserable Loners

Both North Korea and Dennis Rodman know the pain of ostracization. When he was child growing up in a Dallas housing project, Rodman was relentlessly teased by his peers. Because of the way his body moved when he played pinball, he earned the nickname...

Published Wed, Jan 08 2014 11:42 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North Korea, East Asia