Reporters on the Job

Get all the Monitor's headlines by e-mail. Subscribe for free.

E-mail this story Write a letter to the Editor Printer-friendly version del.icio.us [ What is this? ] digg [ What is this? ]

Scott could call ahead, but prefers not to for security reasons. From visits that stretch back to late 2002, he knows the family's daily habits well enough to know when the neighborhood streets are least crowded with watchful eyes, and when most of the family members are likely to be home.

"Sometimes it is a few months between visits, but the family has only ever been most welcoming," says Scott. "They knew that Jill Carroll wrote for the Monitor, and expressed their concern for her safety during this visit. Later they asked me why I often arrive with a different interpreter. I told them that the last one they had met - Allan Enwiya - had been killed during Jill's abduction."

• Back in the USSR: As he reports on the elections in Belarus (see story), correspondent Fred Weir notes that "it feels like I'm back in the USSR." He has lived in Russia for 19 years.

"The streets of Minsk are quiet and orderly - almost no cars - and little advertising other than patriotic billboards. Few people I talk to will give their last names," he says. "Even most of [President Alexander] Lukashenko's supporters won't give their full names."

He met with an independent sociologist in a cafe Thursday, and the first thing he said to Fred was: "I don't think I was followed."

- David Clark Scott
World editor

		FOREFRONT OF TECHNOLOGY: A blind student tests the Forehead Retina System (FRS) at Tokyo University. FRS enables a person to "see" the images (in this case the black triangle) via electrical impulses felt on his forehead. JUNJI KUROKAWA/AP More cultural snapshots

Let us hear from you.

Mail to: One Norway Street, Boston, MA 02115 via e-mail: World editor