Nineteen-year-old Precious is a smiling, laughing, living testament to human resilience. She sits at the end of a table in a safe house near Rome for Nigerian sex slaves who have managed to escape their exploiters and tells me her story. The first impression of Precious, with her beautiful, gentle face, smooth skin, lively brown …
Dear Blog Readers – I am on a train headed back to Rome after a busy weekend bouncing around the Piedmont region of Italy with Italy’s Foreign Press Association’s “Gruppo Del Gusto” a sort of Culinary Club of journalists who travel around Italy visiting towns looking at local foods and food production, eating a lot …
My frustration over the bad attitude of Romans has boiled over this week and is spilling into this blog…. It started as I was walking across Piazza del Popolo heading home the other day. There is a lot of activity in the Piazza in the late afternoon and early evening. Usually a street entertainer is …
A week ago today, I found myself standing on a street corner in a Cartagena slum with a handful of photographers, camerapersons and reporters—what is known as a tight pool. As always when we cover the Pope, we were dressed in black. Sweat was soaking through our clothing and I could feel the drops running …
Passing the Babies and Forgiving the Unforgivable in Colombia Read More »
Dear Blog Readers – Next Wednesday I will be heading to Colombia on the Papal plane to cover Pope Francis’ five-day trip to four Colombian cities as part as his effort to boost the peace process. I intend to do a post once I am back so this is just a little preview – mostly …
Dear Blog Readers – My colleagues and I have been dedicating our week to covering the drought in Italy and the problem of water supply for the city of Rome. It is hard to believe that Rome, a city surrounded by ancient Roman aqueducts, where water flows freely in fabulous fountains, is now struggling to …
Dear Blog Readers, I am sitting in the airport waiting area in Catania, Sicily trying to take advantage of the sugar high from yet-another cannolo to get started on a post about the past six days in Sicily working on AP coverage of the G7 summit in Taormina. Thanks to a well-timed Alitalia strike at …
The AP Television Rome bureau team is getting ready for a big meeting coming up this Wednesday with two of the most compelling figures on the world stage – Pope Francis and US President Donald Trump. Trump is scheduled to meet the Pope at the Vatican Wednesday morning at 8:30am. His motorcade will pull into …