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
OBAMA IN CHINA - U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao met privately today near Tienanmen Square in Bejing. Top items on their agenda included trade, climate change, and the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. After the meeting, the two leaders held a press conference where they took no questions. Each pledged that the two countries would work together to stabilize the global economy, grapple with climate change, and control nuclear proliferation.
Link GADHAFI PITCHES ISLAM TO MODELS - While in Rome for the UN food summit, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi took time out to encourage 200 young Italian women to convert to Islam. A modeling agency paid the women $78 dollars to attend Gadhafi's soiree, according to an Italian reporter who infiltrated the gathering. Women who weren't tall enough or dressed modestly enough were left behind while Gadhafi and the remaining women went to a villa where he lectured them about women's rights and Islam.
Link YOU MAY KISS THE GROOM - An Argentine couple is preparing for what might be the first same-sex marriage in Latin America. José María Di Bello and Alex Freyre won the right to marry last week after a judge ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage violated Argentina's constitution. The city of Buenos Aires accepted the court's ruling and issued the men a marriage license. “On December 1st we will become man and man,” said Di Bello.
Link PIRATES SEIZE NORK SHIP - Pirates have hijacked a North Korean chemical tanker of the coast of Somalia. The Singaporean-operated MV Theresa VIII and its 28 crew members were captured on Monday about 180 nautical miles north west of Seychelles.
Link TOKYO NAMED TOP RESTAURANT TOWN - Move over Paris, Tokyo now has more three-star Michelin restaurants than any other city in the world. Japan's capital has 11 such establishments, according to the latest edition of the Michelin guide. New York, a noted foodie town, has only four three-star restaurants.
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