Morning Coffee - 12 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
NONE OF THE ABOVE - President Obama reportedly plans to reject all the options for Afghanistan presented to him by his national security advisers. Unnamed officials told the CBC that Obama would instead push for "clarifications" about how and when the U.S. would turn power over to the Afghan government. Obama's unexpected decision comes after U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, expressed grave doubts about sending more troops. Link
WHEN THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD - Chinese police have raided a counterfeit condom factory in Hunan province. They burst into the workshop to find shirtless workers lubricating unsterile condoms with vegetable oil before wrapping them in branded packages. Officials say the knockoff condoms had already been distributed nationwide. They warned that the fakes provide little protection against pregnancy or disease. Link
UN DECLARES NELSON MANDELA DAY - The UN announced that, henceforth, July 18 would be known as "Nelson Mandela International Day" in honor of South Africa's famous anti-apartheid leader and former prime minister. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has described the 92-year-old Nobel laureate as " the embodiment of the highest values of the United Nations.” Link
SOUND FAMILIAR? - China has a network of black site prisons, according to Human Rights Watch. In its new report, "An Alleyway in Hell," HRW details how people are snatched off the street and held for months without charge. Many of the victims are ordinary people who come toBejing seeking redress for their grievances. Detainees may not even be told why they've been locked up. The report is based on interviews with 38 former black site inmates. Link
TORTURE WIDESPREAD IN COLOMBIA - Torture is "widespread and systematic" in Colombia, the Colombian Coalition Against Torture (CCAT) announced at a press conference in Geneva this week. The group is raising awareness about the issue ahead of its upcoming testimony before a UN panel. They say that the government is the leading perpetrator of torture followed by paramilitaries and guerrilla groups. The group cites 337 instances of torture between 2003 and 2008, half of which were committed by the government. Link
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