Reporters on the Job
• Loud Neighbors: Correspondent Fred Weir empathizes with the latest Russian civic protests. "I awaken every morning to the wail of sirens and the squawk of horns as Russia's rich and powerful barrel down the nearby Uspenskoye Highway in convoys of armored cars, shoving ordinary drivers aside in their daily rush to downtown Moscow offices. This narrow two-lane country road is home to hundreds of VIPs, including President Putin and many of his top officials, which makes it one of the most frustrating places on Earth to be a motorist with no special privileges."
David Clark Scott
World editor
Monday, June 12:
Vienna - International Atomic Energy Agency's board begins week-long, regular meeting. Negotiations over Iran's suspect nuclear program are to be discussed, but are now on IAEA's back burner as Tehran considers a proposal from US and other powers.
Bergamo, Italy - A freedom of speech case opens that charges Italian author and former war correspondent Oriana Fallaci with defaming Islam. Ms. Fallaci, who lives in New York, has stirred controversy with provocative stances against Islam.
Tuesday, June 13:
Ottawa - The Canadian Supreme Court hears arguments against federal security certificates, which allow detention without trial of suspects deemed threat to national security.
Wednesday, June 14:
Manila - Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, is scheduled to be freed after serving 26 months for conspiracy in the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.
Kiev, Ukraine - The new self-imposed deadline for three pro-Western parties to present governing coalition to Ukraine's parliament. Many lawmakers think President Viktor Yushchenko's party is ready to concede the premiership to former ally, now rival, Yulia Tymoshenko.
Thursday, June 15:
La Paz, Bolivia - Bolivia's state energy company, YPFB, takes back control of all service stations it leased out, as part of leftist President Evo Morales' nationalization of country's energy resources and businesses.
Friday, June 16:
Frigate Bay, St. Kitts - The International Whaling Commission is expected to debate efforts of Japan and few other nations to lift two-decade-old ban on commercial whaling.
- Associated Press
