Reporters on the Job

from the September 4, 2007 edition

• Happy to Pose: As Lebanese troops celebrated the end of fighting militants at the Nahr al-Bared camp near Tripoli, Lebanon, the atmosphere changed notably, says correspondent Nicholas Blanford (see story). "Now that they're no longer fighting, the soldiers love having their pictures taken," says Nick. "Soldiers under duress don't want pictures, but victory is another matter. So today, we could take pictures of soldiers decorating their vehicles with Lebanese flags." Many other people were feeling festive, too. "Hundreds of people lined the highway back to Beirut, all waving flags," he says. When he rolled down his window to take a picture, Nick says, he got a faceful of rose petals and rice. It was all in good fun – though typing on his computer for the next 10 minutes was complicated by having to pick out rice kernels stuck between the keys.

THIS WEEK'S LOOK AHEAD

•TUESDAY, Sept. 4:
Sydney, Australia – Senior business representatives from Pacific Rim countries hold their annual meeting ahead of the APEC forum.

• WEDNESDAY, Sept. 5:
Nicosia, Cyprus – Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to meet for first time in more than a year in bid to break deadlock in reunification talks.

•THURSDAY, Sept. 6:
Dalian, China – World Economic Forum.
Toronto – Toronto International Film Festival. Through Sept. 15.

•FRIDAY, Sept. 7:
Warsaw – Poland's parliament to vote on a motion to dissolve itself.
Morocco – Morocco holds legislative elections.

•SATURDAY, Sept. 8:
Sydney, Australia – APEC summit of Pacific Rim leaders. Through Sept. 9.

– Amelia Newcomb
Deputy World editor

The first woman to serve as a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London, she joined the 35 guards there on Monday. Cathal McNaughton/AP More cultural snapshots

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