Morning Coffee -18 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
SIX DEGREES OF INUNDATION - A new study of global CO2 levels by the British Antarctic Society has revealed that temperatures could rise up to 6 degrees if action is not taken to curb emissions. CO2 emissions have risen 29% in the last decade alone. And a new report by the UN Family Planning Agency (UNFPA) shows that poor women will bear the brunt of climate change. Link
IRAQI VEEP VETOES ELECTION LAW - Joe Biden must be so envious: Iraq's vice president has the power to veto bills. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi announced today that he had vetoed Iraq's election law. His decision could postpone Iraq's election, which had been scheduled for January 16. Hashemi, a Sunni, objected to a provision giving only 5% of the seats in parliament to minorities and Iraqi refugees abroad. He insists that the Iraqi parliament can easily fix the bill and allow the election to move forward on schedule. Delaying the election could delay the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Link
GOLD MINERS GOT THE SHAFT - Former gold miners in South Africa are suing the mining giant Anglo American over occupationally induced lung disease. The 24 plaintiffs, who suffer from incurable lung disease caused by silica dust, worked in the mine between 1970 and 1998. They say the company knew that the dust was dangerous and failed to protect them. Link
THE APT PUPIL - A former SS sergeant has been charged with 58 counts of murder in connection with a massacre of Jews during the Second World War. The man, Adolf Storms, had lived quietly as a railway agent until a university student discovered his true identity while researching the massacre. Link
LEMUR PANIC - Listen up, this is serious: The worlds' cutest animals--as measured by eye-to-body ratio and general fluffiness--are in grave danger. Environmentalist say that political unrest and rampant logging are threatening the lemurs of Madagascar. We could be losing species of lemur we didn't even know we had. Madacascar's former president was working to conserve the country's forests, but he was ousted by a coup that ushered in a lawless "goldrush" of logging and poaching. Link
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