Richard Colvin's testimony at a parliamentary committee yesterday has now not only caught the attention of just about everyone in Canada. China has noted the allegations in a story today in the China Daily, the government's newspaper.
Colvin used to be the number two man in Canada's embassy in Kabul. He says Afghan detainees, captured by Canadian Forces, were handed over to Afghan authorities and then tortured. CBC's James Cudmore has the lastest on that.
CBC political blogger Kady O'Malley was in the committee room yesterday. Read her view on what happened there.
CBC's China Correspondent Anthony Germain tells us how embarrassing this may be for prime minister Stephen Harper in the coming weeks. Harper is to go to China for his first official visit to the country. But how can Harper raise questions of human rights to the Chinese, if his own government is implicated in torture, and is even accused of trying to cover it up?
The Conservatives in Ottawa are trying to attack the credibility of Colvin's statements, saying he never saw first-hand any acts of torture. But it seems unlikely this story is going to die down anytime soon, especially now that China is paying attention.

On Thursday, Hamid Karzai will be sworn in for another term as Afghanistan's president. Security is tightening around Kabul. Foreign leaders are flying in to attend the inauguration -- largely in hopes of adding some legitimacy to Afghanistan's unstable leadership.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon will represent Canada -- and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secretly arrived in Afghanistan today. That story's in today's New York Times.

It's been a long and controversial road to get to this point -- and there's no sign things will get any easier. Let's take a look back: In August, there was an election. Then there was a United Nations-backed investigation of widespread voter fraud. Then there was international pressure on Afghan president-elect Hamid Karzai to agree to a run-off. Karzai finally agreed -- and the "do-over" against his main rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, was supposed to happen on November 7th. But THEN, Abdullah pulled out in protest, saying the election couldn't possibly be fair, and that voters would be at risk of violence.

So that brings us to now. And a lot has happened leading up to tomorrow's swearing-in. Earlier this week, the Afghan government announced a large-scale anti-corruption unit - aimed at monitoring its own top officials. CBC's James Murray is in Kandahar, and many Afghans he spoke with told him corruption is the number one problem in their country.

Also earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton bluntly said the Afghan government had better clean up its act if it wants to see more aid money.

And aid is desperately needed by ordinary Afghan citizens. Today, Oxfam released a report -- you can read the findings here -- saying that the majority of Afghans see poverty as the root cause of the conflict that plagues their lives.

And today, U.S. president Barack Obama says he's close to a decision on America's next steps in the combat mission. Check out the BBC's coverage on this. Obama's top general in Afghanistan says more troops are needed if there's any hope of succeeding. Afghanistan -- not to mention coalition partners Canada and Britain -- await his answer.

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CBC Reporter Alison Crawford is covering Stephen Harper's visit to India. It's his first since he was elected Prime Minister. For a behind-the-scenes look at Alison's thoughts while on assignment, check out her blog here..

And while Harper's in India, U.S president Barack Obama is in China - walking a delicate line between diplomacy and advocating for human rights. Scroll down to our latest cast to hear Anthony Germain's report on Obama's town hall meeting in Shanghai. The first thing he had to do was teach the students attending how to participate in an open back-and-forth exchange.

Check out today's New York Times story on this too. .