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
UN INSPECTORS TOUR IRAN SITE - UN inspectors got their first look at an Iranian uranium enrichment plant near Tehran yesterday. The four-member team toured the heavily guarded plant carved into a mountainside. Iran is still weighing a draft UN resolution that would allow it to enrich uranium and export most of it to Russia. An answer is expected later this week.
Link 147 DIE IN IRAQ BLASTS - Two car bombs went off at two Iraqi government buildings in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 147 people. The targets were the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad provincial administration. The blasts occurred hours before Iraq's senior leaders were scheduled to meet with opposition parties to negotiate guidelines for the January elections.
Link - THE CORAL IS NOT OK
Coral experts are turning to cryogenics in their fight against reef extinction. Researchers at a meeting in Denmark argued that most coral reefs won't survive even if the world takes decisive action on climate change. Therefore, they suggested freezing coral in the hopes of reintroducing it in the future. Worldwide, half a billion people depend on coral reefs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8324954.stm
LinkKARADZIC BOYCOTTS OWN TRIAL - Notorious former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is boycotting his own genocide trial. This is a risky strategy since Karadzic is representing himself. He's not showing up because the court denied his request for nine months to prepare his defense. Karadzic is accused, amongst other things, of orchestrating the massacre of 7000 Bosnian Muslims in 1995.
Link COLOMBIAN SOCCER PLAYERS MURDERED - Ten members of a Colombian amateur soccer team were kidnapped and murdered in Venezuela. Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez blamed the deaths on Colombia's "internal struggles," meaning the low-level criminal and guerrilla war in the border region where the men were found. The deaths will place further strain on the relationship between Colombia and Venezuela. Venezuela has been accused of harboring drug traffickers who are involved in the Colombian conflict.
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