Morning Coffee - 11 November 2009

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
BUYING FRIENDS - Four former Blackwater executives told the New York Times that the private security company authorized over $1 million in bribes to Iraqi officials in the wake of the 2007 Nissour Square massacre. Blackwater decided to pay off officials because it was afraid of losing its license to operate in Iraq. The former executives said they didn't know whether the money was ultimately delivered to the officials, only that then-president Gary Jackson authorized the payout. Link
SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 24 IN PAKISTAN - A suicide car bomber killed 24 people and wounded 64 others in a busy market near Peshawar in northeast Pakistan. The Taliban is suspected of orchestrating the attack, their fourth this month in Peshawar with a total death toll of roughly 200. Link
A SHOT IN THE ARM - The World Health Organization is set to receive 50 million doses of H1N1 influenza vaccine to distribute in 95 poor countries. The pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is donating the shots. WHO hopes to receive enough vaccine to immunize 10% of the population of these nations. The first shipment of vaccine is expected to arrive later this month. Link
TEEN TRAPPED ON ICE SHOOTS POLAR BEAR - Think you're having a bad day? A Canadian teenager found himself adrift on a piece of ice with a mother polar bear and two cubs. Jupi Angootealuk, 17, was forced to shoot the mother when she got too close to him. The young man and his uncle were on a hunting trip when their snowmobile broke down. As they were walking back, the ice broke up, stranding Jupi on a piece of drifting ice 30 meters in diameter. He spent two days at sea before search and rescue technicians could parachute in to evacuate him. Link
BLACKOUT IN BRAZIL - Millions of Brazilians were plunged into darkness last night when a massive hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline. The outage lasted about two hours. About 80% of Brazil's power is hydroelectric, so a major malfunction at a single large facility can have far-reaching effects. Link
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