Tina Susman

Tina Susman joined the Times in January 2007, after more than 15 years as a foreign and national correspondent with the Associated Press and Newsday. She covered sub-Saharan Africa from 1990-2001, including the end of apartheid in South Africa and the genocide in Rwanda. From 2001-2006, she was a national and international correspondent for Newsday. Her work has been recognized with awards from the Overseas Press Club, the National Association of Black Journalists and others. Susman was an intern at the Times while attending San Diego State University. She grew up in Oakland. EMAIL

November 16, 2009

Demand grows for niche translators

Abigail Dahlberg realized she was a success a few years ago while explaining her unusual specialty -- translating documents about waste- management issues from German into English -- to a wide-eyed listener.

November 6, 2009

New York's Bloomberg spent big, for small return

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg may have narrowly won a third term this week but he also earned -- or, rather, very handsomely paid for -- a less-welcome distinction: becoming the latest in a long line of politicians to prove that money can't buy everything.

October 27, 2009

Preserving the Merritt Parkway's bridges to the past

The narrow lanes weave through the forest, past timber guardrails, low-slung bridges with stone facades and trees whose crimson leaves glisten in the fall sun.

October 17, 2009

U.N. body backs Gaza war report

In a vote likely to complicate U.S. efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a report calling on Israel and Hamas to conduct credible investigations of alleged war crimes by their forces or face further international inquiries and possible prosecutions.

September 25, 2009

Denver man charged in alleged terrorist bomb plot

A federal grand jury in New York indicted a Denver man on a terrorism charge Thursday after federal authorities alleged that he and possibly three others had gone on a buying spree of bomb-making chemicals and were preparing an attack on U.S. soil.

September 24, 2009

Iran's president extols himself and denounces Israel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad heralded his disputed reelection as "a glorious and fully democratic" event Wednesday in a speech to the General Assembly and avoided mention of Tehran's nuclear program, even as he faces possible sanctions from U.N. nations.

September 22, 2009

Terror probe widens in U.S.

Federal authorities have tied as many as a dozen people to a suspected Al Qaeda-linked bomb plot on U.S. soil as they continue to gather evidence to indict on terrorism charges the young Afghan immigrant at the center of the case, law enforcement officials said Monday.

August 28, 2009

Thousands greet Kennedy motorcade, file past casket

In an extraordinary outpouring of public emotion, thousands of people solemnly lined state highways and city streets Thursday to pay their last respects to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the legendary scion of America's most storied political dynasty.

June 25, 2009

HOMETOWN: New York

Bohemian tenants shown the door

NEW YORK -- Overheard on the Chelsea Hotel stairway one recent Sunday:

July 5, 2009

Crown's reopening sealed with kiss

NEW YORK -- Erica Breder, a first-generation American, stood mesmerized inside the Statue of Liberty's crown. Out one window, the statue's massive arm and golden torch rose above her. Hundreds of feet below early Saturday, the blue, sparkling waters of New York Harbor stretched to infinity. On the floor beside Breder, was her . . . boyfriend?

June 19, 2009

COLUMN ONE

Zen in their bedside manner

NEW YORK -- It was 8 a.m., and the subject was death.

May 10, 2009

A socialite's world is Exhibit A

NEW YORK -- The elegant woman in the forest green frock held up a slender right hand and swore to tell the truth. She was matter-of-fact as she described herself as unemployed, just "an average housewife" taking care of her husband, Henry, and their home.

April 23, 2009

COLUMN ONE

A tale of murder, rape and tradition in Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Sometimes, it's the forbidden stories, the ones people are afraid to tell in full, the ones that emerge only in fragments, that reveal the truth about a place.

March 15, 2009

Waiting for Iraq to live XL again

BAGHDAD -- Clothes make the man, no matter what his size, and few know that better than Wisam Hussein.

March 11, 2009

Transfer Of Power Plant Key Iraq Test

MUSAYYIB, IRAQ -- Flames flickered from a metal trash can as a U.S. soldier shoved maps and other papers into the fire. A front loader carried an outhouse down a dirt lane marked N. Hellcat Road.

March 10, 2009

COLUMN ONE

Iraqis rethink American dream

BAGHDAD -- Raheem's cellphone rang as we walked through a crowded market, stepping over piles of trash and weaving around slow-moving donkey carts.

February 24, 2009

COLUMN ONE

A luxury they love to look up to

BAGHDAD -- Standing near glass -- not to mention sitting in a shop brimming with it -- used to be a death wish in bomb-riddled Baghdad. Just ask Muthanna Jabouri, who had to replace the windows of his chandelier shop five times after explosions tore through the street outside.

February 6, 2009

Maliki's slate prevails over religious foes in Iraqi vote

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has won a resounding victory in provincial elections across Iraq, cashing in on his strongman image while dealing a sharp defeat to outright religious parties, according to preliminary results released Thursday.

March 24, 2008

Air Force Staff Sergeant CHRISTOPHER S. FROST

A proud 'Combat Journalist'

Whenever I'm thundering over Iraq in a helicopter, I think of a colleague who died in a copter crash in Afghanistan years ago, and I pray that my aircraft makes it safely to the landing pad. From now on, I'll also think of Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Frost, who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq on March 3, six months after arriving here.

February 12, 2008