Periscope: World’s First Green Leader

—Stryker Mcguire and Jenna Crombie

The Blue Jailers
A political prisoner of the United Nations? That's what Albin Kurti and his supporters believe he has become. The 32-year-old Kosovar Albanian has been a thorn in the side of the United Nations mission in Kosovo for years, demanding a referendum on independence for Kosovo and a timetable for the U.N.'s departure. In February, he helped organize a pro-independence rally in which police shot and killed two protesters. Ever since, he's been held under the authority of the U.N., charged with illegally organizing a crowd and obstructing justice. But human-rights groups say the charges and the judicial process look dubious, with no clear line between the prosecution and judiciary. For instance, prosecutors work in the same offices as judges, says Julie Chadbourne, at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. "There are indications [this case] is not on the up and up," she says. "There are questions that Kurti is being brought forward as a scapegoat."

Many Kosovars argue this is all an attempt to muzzle Kurti ahead of the Dec. 10 release of the U.N. mission's final report on Kosovo independence to the Security Council. "They see me as an obstacle," says Kurti. But Russell Geekie, a U.N. spokesman in Kosovo, denies Kurti is a political prisoner. He says the Kosovo judiciary is independent, and Kurti is using the case for his own political advantage. Kurti is due in court Dec. 4 and it looks like his case could drag on indefinitely. Just like the fight over independence.

—Ginanne Brownell

Reality Check
The United States and China are the biggest-polluting countries, but Australians are the heaviest-polluting people. Australians emit the most CO2 per capita—10 tons per person—according to the Center for Global Development, based on a pioneering study of 50,000 power stations around the world. Americans are second (8.2 tons), the British are third (3.2 tons) and the Chinese come in a distant fourth (1.8 tons).

—Patrick Falby