Morning Coffee - 28 October 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 UN WORKERS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN - Six UN workers and four others were killed in Afghanistan when Taliban fighters attacked their guesthouse early this morning. The UN workers were election monitors. The Taliban said the attack was intended to disrupt the upcoming presidential runoff election. A UN spokeswoman said the UN has no plans to pull out of Afghanistan. Link
80 KILLED IN PESHAWAR BOMBING - At least 80 people were killed and 160 seriously injured in Peshawar as a car packed with explosives detonated in a crowded market. The attack came three hours after Secretary Clinton's arrival in Islamabad, a 90-minute drive away. Clinton said, "They know they are on the losing side of history. But they are determined to take as many lives with them as their movement is finally exposed for the nihilistic, empty effort it is." A similar attack in Peshawar earlier this month killed 48. Link
UNICEF PROBES DEATHS OF 77 BABIES IN SUDAN - UNICEF has launched an inquiry to determine why so many infants are dying at a charity orphanage in Khartoum. Seventy-seven babies died in September alone. The orphanage is not necessarily to blame. Officials say that the babies often arrive underweight and suffering from life-threatening infections. Women often abandon their infants to escape the stigma of out-of-wedlock births. Link
OUR MEN IN CARACAS - Venezuela has arrested several alleged Colombian spies, whom the government accuses of trying to destabilize the government, as tensions between the two nations continue to run high. The two nations broke off trade relations over Colombia's decision to host a U.S. military base. And recently 10 amateur Colombian soccer players were recently kidnapped and murdered in Venezuela near the Colombian border. Link
WHO BLAMES SEX, FAT & ALCOHOL - The World Health Organization has secured its reputation as the least fun UN agency with a report that blames sex, fat, and alcohol for premature death. A new report found that about a quarter of all premature deaths are attributable to just five factors: food (underfeeding and overweight), unsafe sex, alcohol abuse, high blood pressure, and bad sanitation. Link
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