Reporters on the Job

from the January 5, 2009 edition

• Free Coal, Anyone? The battle between Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party is being fought on many levels, says reporter Yigal Schleifer (see story).

"One of the things the AKP is doing is delivering free coal to help people heat their homes this winter," says Yigal. "During my meeting with a local head of the AKP, he boasted about how many tons of free coal the AKP had recently delivered. The free coal deliveries have actually become something of a political issue in Turkey, with some press reports claiming that the AKP is helping increase air pollution by giving out coal. One paper even showed photographs of smog-choked areas where it claimed the AKP had delivered its coal."

– Matthew Clark

Africa/Americas editor

• MONDAY, Jan. 5:
Paris – Three people go on trial in Paris for the 2002 bomb attack on a Tunisian synagogue that killed 21. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also a suspected 9/11 mastermind, will be tried in absentia.

• THURSDAY, Jan. 8:
Paris – French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Tony Blair host a two-day conference on the financial crisis.

• FRIDAY, Jan. 9:
The Hague – International Criminal Court trial begins of Congolese former rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo on charges of using child soldiers.

• SUNDAY, Jan. 11:
Seoul, South Korea – Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso visits Seoul for summit with President Lee Myung-bak.

Here’s lookin’ at ewe, kid: A Bulgarian wore a sheepskin mask Sunday while performing the Kukeri ritual in the village of Lesnovo, Bulgaria. Kukeri is an important ritual in which people wear masks and sheepskin garments to scare away evil spirits. Petar Petrov/AP More cultural snapshots

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