Reporters on the Job

• Where's the Election? Staff writer Sara Miller Llana has covered elections in Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Mexico. But when she arrived in Buenos Aires to report on this Sunday's Argentine presidential elections, she wondered if she was in the right country (see story).

"My first impression was that there was no race whatsoever going on. Argentines, who are famous for long debates on literature and politics, weren't talking about this race at all," she says.

Later, Sara went to a campaign event for Elisa Carrio, the leading opposition candidate. "When I arrived again I wasn't sure I was in the right place – it was so quiet. During other elections I've covered in Latin America, candidates' supporters cause spontaneous traffic jams with their marches and rallies," she says. "When I asked about it, one political analyst, who is in his 60s, says this is the quietest campaign he's ever seen in his life. Mostly it's because Sen. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is so far ahead in the polls."

• 'Dolfans' in London: Staff writer Robert Marquand, who is based in Paris but grew up in Florida, says it isn't easy watching his orange and aqua Dolphins these days, who arrive in London Sunday with a win-less (0-7) record (see story). The Dolphin franchise has some 30 years of winning, with only a couple of losing seasons. "This is a storied franchise – with greats such as Don Shula, Bob Griese and Dan Marino," says Bob. "But the new coach, Cam Cameron, is rebuilding the entire offense from scratch and, to his credit, is averaging 22 points a game. He just didn't count on his fifth ranked defense plummeting to last in the league."

Still, Bob notes that most Britons, looking forward to the first NFL game in Europe , don't seem to mind the Dolphin record. And he takes some joy in seeing "Big JT," the largest animatronic human figure ever made, at Victoria Station.

– David Clark Scott

World editor