ANN M. SIMMONS

Journalist and writer

 

 

OTHER STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

Years Later, 'Lost Boy' Finds Kin, but What About His Mom? / Los Angeles Times
* SAN DIEGO, California - Word came to Benson Deng in a letter from a half-brother. The mother he had long thought dead might still be alive - almost 20 years after war separated them.

Britain returns control of Basra to Iraq / Los Angeles Times
* BASRA, Iraq - Britain formally handed over control of security responsibility for Basra province to Iraqi authorities.

As Africa grows more prosperous, obesity grows as a problem / Los Angeles Times
* LUSAKA, Zambia - To many of the continent’s residents, the rise of processed food is a sign of economic progress in a region that has long struggled against poverty and hunger.

U.S. troop levels in Iraq to fall by 5,000 next month / Los Angeles Times
* BAGHDAD, Iraq - Overall U.S. troop levels in Iraq are set to drop by about 5,000 with the pullout of a combat brigade.

Back to Africa, From Iraq / Los Angeles Times
* BASRA, Iraq - With the collapse of the government of Saddam Hussein, many black Iraqis, most of them presumed to be the descendants of slaves, are keen to learn about their heritage.

Liberia Rebels Push Ahead / Los Angeles Times
* MONROVIA, Liberia - Liberian rebels battle government forces as they near the country’s embattled capital city.

A Hunger for Land of Ancestors / Los Angeles Times
* WHITE MOUNTAIN, South Africa - Zulu-speaking Amahlubi people build houses on land that white settlers took from their ancestors decades ago.

Nigeria Slowly Sheds Military Legacy / Los Angeles Times
* ENUGU, Nigeria - Freedom has flourished under President Olusegun Obasanjo, but corruption and lavish spending are still rampant as Nigeria pursues civilian-led democracy.

In Somalia, It’s All Business and No Government / Los Angeles Times
* MOGADISHU, Somalia - The violent demise of central authority in this Horn of Africa state has permitted an explosion of trade and private enterprise.

Saving Sierra Leone's Ex-Child Soldiers / Los Angeles Times
* FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - Thousands of children who were forced to join the ranks of the rebel army during this West African nation’s eight-year civil war face a perilous future.

Nigerian States’ Embrace of Islamic Law Triggers Alarm / Los Angeles Times
* GUSAU, Nigeria - Some residents of Nigeria’s northern Zamfara state fear the creeping imposition of Sharia, the Islamic penal code based on the Koran.

Resettled and Happy in Zimbabwe / Los Angeles Times
* MVURWI, Zimbabwe - A controversial government program to seize property from white commercial farmers and distribute it to landless black citizens changes the fortunes of many.

Killer Approached Kabila Calmly, Then Fired, Aide Says / Los Angeles Times
* KINSHASA, Congo - A senior economic advisor, Emile Christophe Mota, gives the first and apparently only eyewitness account of the assassination of Congolese President Laurent Kabila.

Where Fat Is a Mark of Beauty / Los Angeles Times
* AKPABUYO, Nigeria - A centuries-old rite of passage from maidenhood to womanhood gives girls of Nigeria’s Efik people an important pre-nuptials mission: gaining weight.

Brother, Can You Spare a Ruble? / TIME
* MOSCOW, Russia - A fast-growing underclass has emerged with the demise of the Soviet Union as thousands are plunged into poverty and forced to live down-and-out in Moscow.

Finances: The Unfulfilled Promise of Reform Means That Working-Class Families Are Just Scraping By / TIME
* VORONEZH, Russia - The promise of Western-style capitalism has brought few average Russian families more than rising prices and a shriveling ruble.