Morning Coffee - 4 January 2010

Welcome to Morning Coffee, brought to you by Lindsay Beyerstein with additional links from the UN Dispatch team. Every morning we survey foreign affairs and foreign policy news so you don't have to. We begin with the "Starting Five" items of the day -- these may not always appear on A-1, but they *are* the kinds of stories that will be buzzing in foreign capitals, the UN and wherever foreign policy minds roam.
Starting Five
IXNAY ON THE ABINETCAY - The Afghan parliament rejected most of President Hamid Karzai's cabinet picks last week. The legislature voted down 17 out of 24 cabinet nominees including a former warlord and the lone female nominee. Now, the UN is apprehensive about the potential consequences. Top UN diplomat says the mass rejection will postpone the day when Afghanistan has a functioning government. Link
CANADA WON'T SEIZE DEAD SEA SCROLLS - The Canadian government said Sunday that it would ignore Jordan's request to seize the Dead Sea Scrolls. The sixteen ancient relics were on display through Sunday at the Royal Ontario Museum. The scrolls were discovered by Bedouin tribesmen in caves near the border between Israel and Jordan in 1947. Israel currently controls the scrolls, but their ownership has been disputed by Jordanians and Palestinians. Link
U.S. & U.K. SHUTTER EMBASSIES - The U.S. and the U.K. have closed their embassies in Yemen after threats purportedly from al Qaeda. A senior U.S. counter terrorism official said the U.S. had intelligence that terrorists were planning to attack the capital city of Yemen, possibly the U.S. Embassy there. Yemen is a U.S. ally and a major recipient of U.S. aid. At this point, officials say that the U.S. does not consider Yemen to be on par with Iraq or Afghanistan in terms of its significance in the overall struggle against al-Qaeda. Link
XE SCOTT FREE - A U.S. judge dismissed all charges against former employees of the private security firm Blackwater (aka Xe) in connection with the 2007 shooting deaths of 17 civilians in Baghdad's Nissour Square. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina criticized prosecutors for building their case on statements from witnesses who had been granted immunity in exchange for their testimony. (Why else do prosecutors have the power to grant immunity, if not to encourage people to come forward?) The dismissal can be appealed. Link
MAJOR OIL SPILL IN CHINA - Diesel fuel discharged into a tributary of the Yellow River threatens to contaminate one of China's most important sources of fresh water. "A large amount" of fuel escaped from a pipeline in Shaanxi Province last Thursday, according to state news sources. No word on why a spill that happened on Thursday didn't make headlines until Sunday. Link
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