Majikthise

The Vancouver Olympics is a triumph of human civilization

Listen up, Canada Customs: The Vancouver Olympics will be the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful international sporting event I've ever seen. Is that clear?

I don't want to end up like U.S. journalist Amy Goodman, who was detained at the Canadian border by guards who were concerned that the host of the popular radio show Democracy Now! would speak out against the 2010 Olympics to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. (via Melissa Lebo in Vancouver.)

For more international news, check out the latest edition of Morning Coffee.

Morning Coffee - 9 July 2009

Coffee's on at UN Dispatch.

Reader Victor Manfredi contributed the photo, which he took on his recent trip to Brazil.

Morning Coffee: Koh nomination on hold

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) put a hold on Harold Koh's nomination to become the next top legal adviser at the State Department. Some Republicans have become convinced that Koh is a dangerous radical who favors Sharia law in America. Koh, a former Assistant Secretary of State and past dean of Yale Law School, aroused suspicions by arguing that U.S. judges can sometimes learn things from reading the opinions of judges in other countries.

Get more highlights from international news and foreign policy with your Morning Coffee from UN Dispatch.

Morning Coffee: Obama says waterboarding is torture

At yesterday's press conference, the president stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture. Read all about it with your Morning Coffee at UN Dispatch.

Morning Coffee: Iranian prez pelted with clown noses

Your morning jolt of international news from UN Dispatch: After launching into an anti-Israel rant, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was pelted with foam clown noses at the UN anti-racism conference in Geneva yesterday.

Morning Coffee: The IDF ain't half hot

Did you know that the Israeli Defense Force has a controversial musical comedy dance troupe, find out more from today's Morning Coffee.

Morning Coffee: Russian cops face irony crackdown

RUSSIAN COPS FACE IRONY CRACKDOWN
Russian cop shows may never be the same, thanks to new rules issued by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In addition to usual no-nos like taking bribes, the new rules forbid "indiscriminate sex" as well as "gross jokes and wicked irony."

EURO MERCENARY PLOT TO KILL MORALES
Bolivian president Evo Morales is having a good week, he passed election reform, ended his hunger strike, and apparently survived a bizarre assassination plot featuring European mercenaries. Three attackers were killed in a half-hour shootout outside a hotel in Santa Cruz after detonating a grenade in the lobby. The three were part of a group that allegedly included Irish, Croatian, and Hungarian assailants. The same group is thought to be responsible for a dynamite attack on the home of a Bolivian cardinal.

These are two of the top world news stories from this morning's bulletin. Get more international news from UN Dispatch with your Morning Coffee.

Morning Coffee: Bolivian president on hunger strike

Bolivian president Evo Morales is about four days into a hunger strike to pressure minority legislators to stop stalling a vote on an elections act that would give more representation to poor and indigenous people and set the date for the next federal election?

The bill passed in outline last week, but the details have yet to be ratified. Opposition members blocking the vote by denying the legislature a quorum.

Morales has used hunger strikes as a tactic before. The Bolivians must be more compassionate that American legislators who would happily let the president starve himself to death.

Check Morning Coffee, for details, plus news of witches, pirates, nuclear arms control, a massive anti-government protest/waterfight in Bangkok, and more.

Morning Coffee - 7 April 2009

Morning Coffee's ready at UN Dispatch. A strong demitasse of world news to start your day.