Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Canada Joins Bahrain, Saudi Arabia in Banning Masks -- but Only at Riots

The list of oppressive countries legislating the wearing of masks keeps growing: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and now ... Canada. Yes, Canada.[[BREAK]] Last month, we reported on Saudi Arabia banning the Guy Fawkes masks popularized...

Published Thu, Jun 20 2013 11:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Law, Politics, Canada

Spain's Finance Minister on Tax Error Involving Princess Cristina: 'Oops'

In 2011, just as America was recovering from its collective swoon over the British royal wedding, another European monarchy was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Iñaki Urdangarin, the duke of Palma and son-in-law of Spain's constitutional...

Published Thu, Jun 20 2013 10:30 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Corruption, Spain

Why 'Ex-Gay' Group Exodus International Should Take Its Apology Overseas

Exodus International, the controversial evangelical Christian organization that since the 1970s has promoted "reparative therapy" as a cure for homosexuality, announced Wednesday that it is shutting down, with president Alan Chambers disavowing...

Published Thu, Jun 20 2013 9:00 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Taliban peace talks delayed over protocol row

Taliban peace talks delayed over protocol row Top news: Preliminary talks between the United States and the Taliban aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan did not take place on Thursday, following Afghan President Hamid Karzai's suspension of separate...

Published Thu, Jun 20 2013 6:21 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Assange Struggles to Remain Relevant in Snowden Affair

A year after entering the Ecuadorean embassy seeking asylum, Julian Assange is still on the run. Every day he gets on the treadmill given to him by the left-wing filmmaker Ken Loach and runs and runs, logging 744 miles (over 28 marathons), but never getting...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 4:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Media, Intelligence, National Security

Obama's Fishy Explanation for Calling Britain's Finance Minister the Wrong Name

The president, it seems, committed a minor gaffe during this week's G-8 meetings in Northern Ireland. According to the Financial Times , the stumble came during a discussion of tax avoidance issues, when Barack Obama thrice interrupted the British...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 4:03 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Britain, Culture, Celebs, Barack Obama, Just Kidding

State Department Downgrades China, Russia on Human Trafficking

China, Russia, and Uzbekistan are simply not committed to addressing human trafficking. That's the takeaway from the State Department's new 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report , out Wednesday afternoon. After nine years each for China and Russia...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 2:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Human Rights, East Asia, China, Eastern Europe, U.S. Foreign Policy, International Relations, U.S. Congress, Migration/Immigration

A Thematic Guide to Obama's Big Berlin Speech

President Barack Obama stood before the Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday and tried to make some history. In a speech that referenced a band of doomed protesters in East Germany, Immanuel Kant, and John F. Kennedy, Obama announced that he intends to cut America's...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 10:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Freedom, Obama Administration, U.S. Foreign Policy, Germany

Morning Brief: U.S. Peace Initiative with Taliban Draws Fire from Karzai

U.S. Peace Initiative with Taliban Draws Fire from Karzai Top news: U.S. diplomats seeking a political settlement with the Taliban ahead of NATO's 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan achieved a diplomatic breakthrough Tuesday with the opening of a Taliban...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 5:56 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Video: The Iconic Brandenburg Speeches Obama Must Live Up To

Back in 2008, Barack Obama's rollicking overseas tour hit a snag. The Democratic presidential candidate, James Mann later wrote in The Obamians , wanted to deliver a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin that would showcase his widespread popularity...

Published Wed, Jun 19 2013 5:30 AM by FP Passport

Michael Hastings, 1980-2013

We're learning tonight that Michael Hastings -- the 33-year-old journalist whose 2010 Rolling Stone profile of a remarkably unguarded Gen. Stanley McChrystal cost the top commander in Afghanistan his job -- died in a tragic car crash on Tuesday morning...

Published Tue, Jun 18 2013 7:20 PM by FP Passport

The Strange Letter That Has France Asking, 'Use Me?'

On Monday, France's Le Monde newspaper published a letter that has left many amused -- and others utterly confused. Investigators found the handwritten, undated letter, allegedly from current IMF chief Christine Lagarde to former French President...

Published Tue, Jun 18 2013 3:20 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, France, Media

The Suddenly Booming Business of Secretive Communications

For anyone in the habit of wearing a tinfoil hat, the last couple of weeks have been ones of redemption. With a steady stream of revelations about the National Security Agency's astonishingly broad intelligence-gathering activities, conspiracy theories...

Published Tue, Jun 18 2013 2:10 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Intelligence, National Security

'Lonely' Vladimir Putin Dominates G-8 Summit

With the G-8 summit in Northern Ireland concluded, Vladimir Putin -- one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's few remaining allies, and the main obstacle to achieving international consensus on a way out of the Syrian civil war -- appeared before...

Published Tue, Jun 18 2013 12:00 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Diplomacy, Obama Administration, International Relations, International Organizations, Syria

Standing Man Finder: The Spread of Silent Protest in Turkey

On Monday night, beginning at 6 p.m., Turkish performance artist Erdem Gunduz walked to the middle of Istanbul's Taksim Square, which was cleared of protesters on Sunday, and, facing Turkish flags and a portrait of the country's founder, Mustafa...

Published Tue, Jun 18 2013 11:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Turkey