Reporters on the Job

• No Half-Eaten Pastry: Staff writer Robert Marquand didn't go to Kosovo to interview maverick UN critic Albin Kurti. He stumbled upon him as part of an effort to talk to people holding various viewpoints about the future of the place (see story). Mr. Kurti is under house arrest, and based on his reputation, Bob had expected to enter "a dank messy apartment strewn with posters and plates of half-eaten burek [a savory regional pastry]," he says. But he found quite the opposite.

"Kurti's place is spotless. His books are obviously prized, carefully ordered, just like his excellent English," says Bob. "He speaks in entire paragraphs, and has that capacity for 'losing himself' in an idea or conversation. It's a quality important to getting to the heart of an issue."

– David Clark Scott

World editor

• Monday, Dec. 10: Port of Spain, Trinidad – Appeals court hears challenge to extradition of three men accused of plotting to bomb New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Buenos Aires, Argentina – Cristina Ferdandez de Kirchner, first elected female president of Argentina, is sworn in.

• Wednesday, Dec. 12: Bali, Indonesia – Top ministers arrive to begin two days of talks at the UN Climate Change Conference to create follow-up targets to the Kyoto Protocol.

• Thursday, Dec. 13: Moscow – Iranian foreign minister meets with Russian officials. Russia is resisting the US call for more UN sanctions on Iran.Sebokeng, South Africa – Former employee of Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls arrested in abuse and sexual assault case is scheduled for court hearing.

– Associated Press