Ghana

At a college in a small town in Ghana where students don't have textbooks, or books of any sort actually, the American professor faced a quandary. Some of the books she kept for them, in a makeshift, bricks-and-boards library in her office, were getting too old and tattered for lending out, but how could she throw them away? So she piled them under a sign saying that any of her students with perfect attendance could take one to keep. "Each one was more worn than the next -- no cover, raggedy, dog-eared -- and yet students would take 20 minutes to pick through them," Sister Kathleen Feeley said.

Valentine's Day Calling all chocoholics Indulge your sweet tooth today at the Village Learning Place's program Chocolate: Dip Into the World of Chocolate From Beans to Bonbons. Valentines can sample confections from Baltimore chocolatier Ma Petite Shoe and see a presentation by author Phil Grout on the co coa-growing Kuapa Kokoo Co operative in Ghana. The free event is 7 p.m.-9 p.m. at 2521 St. Paul St. Call 410-235-2210.

1957: Sputnik circles the earth1957: Ghana independent1959: St. Lawrence Seaway opens1960: Trieste dives 35,800 feet

Ed Dudley has made so many trips to Ghana, in West Africa, it's almost like going home. "I've been traveling to Africa for about 10 years now," Dudley says.The trips are more than a sightseeing venture. Dudley is a Baltimore businessman who makes the voyage once or twice yearly to purchase authentic African goods to sell here.He will be selling some of the African fashions and woodcrafts at this year's Afram, which takes place tomorrow through Sunday on the infield at Pimlico Race Course.

AT ONE POINT in Time magazine's Person of the Century poll, Adolf Hitler led the pack with 21 percent of the vote. Pope John Paul II was third, Mohandas Gandhi fourth and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fifth.Who was in second place, with 19 percent? Elvis Presley. Only in the United States of Daffydom could Presley even be on the list at all. Not that he didn't achieve anything. He was a Mississippi white boy who got in touch with his Negro side and, in so doing, helped millions of his white countrymen get in touch with theirs.

NEW YORK -- A Nigerian woman 7 1/2 months pregnant went into labor yesterday on a flight from Ghana to New York, but the pilots radioed ahead and two Port Authority police officers rushed on board when the plane landed at Kennedy International Airport and helped deliver a healthy baby girl in coach class."

Shinichi Suzuki,99, who pioneered a method for teaching toddlers to play musical instruments the same way they learn to speak -- through imitation and constant repetition -- died yesterday in Matsumoto, Japan.Since it was introduced in the 1950s, hundreds of thousands of young musicians have learned to play using the Suzuki method, performing on miniature violins and other instruments with remarkable precision.Hilla Limann,64, a former Ghana president who was ousted in a 1981 coup after a brief rule and tried to reclaim the post in elections 11 years later, died Friday in Accra, Ghana.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- When Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings arrived in Abidjan on Thursday for a three-day official visit, huge crowds formed, traffic stopped and lusty cheers of approval rang out wherever his delegation went.Ghanaian immigrants, the busiest commercial fishermen in this country, even took the day off to bring their dugouts into Abidjan's central lagoon for a glimpse of their homeland's leader.From the extraordinary reaction, one might have thought that Rawlings was a rare visitor from an exotic and faraway land.

ALL THOSE breakdowns and coups in Africa should not distract from due recognition of progress in Ghana, symbolized by the re-election of an incumbent president, who was a revolutionary dictator before his conversion to democracy,President Jerry Rawlings held an election almost five years after winning a flawed exercise in 1992. This one was fair and free. International observers and local people agreed. The leading opponent, John Kufuor, a well-educated lawyer and businessman, said as much.

Everything feels different here in Ghana.That is part of the lure for a growing number of travelers to this West African nation.Dawn breaks with faint strains of drums, singing and traditional worship. The tropical air carries the perfume of palm leaves, a scent that soaks clothing, papers and every home.The beaches are vast, and the warm ocean feels like bath water. The pace is slow, and people seem incapable of worry.It is this otherworldly feel, coupled with Ghana's rich history, that draws an increasing number of vacationers each year.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama made his first trip to the African continent as president, visiting Ghana, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain its independence from Europe. The nation of about 20 million remains a democracy and has not been a victim of civil unrest, making it a peaceful destination for tourists. It also offers a range of attractions from beaches to game reserves to old European forts and castles. 1 Explore the National Museum: . Located in Accra, the nation's capital, it is the oldest museum that celebrates the rich culture of the region, offering art and historical objects, exhibits and films.

Earthquakes kill three in part of Indonesia JAKARTA, Indonesia : A series of powerful earthquakes killed at least three people in eastern Indonesia today, cutting power lines and badly damaging buildings. A 7.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:43 a.m. local time about 85 miles from Manokwari, Papua, at a depth of 22 miles, the U.S. Geological Agency said. It was followed by a strong 7.5 aftershock. Three bodies were found, including that of a 10-year-old girl, a hospital director said. Nineteen other patients were treated for injuries.

ACCRA, Ghana -- After crossing Africa from west to east and back, the central issues that President Bush brought on his tour came together yesterday in the white stucco Osu Castle, Ghana's seat of government. With gusto, Bush declared "that's baloney" to the notion that the United States was preparing to establish military bases in Africa. "Or, as we say in Texas, that's bull," he said at a news conference with Ghanaian President John Kufuor. Bush defended the foundation of his program to combat HIV and AIDS, which emphasizes premarital abstinence, fidelity and the use of condoms.

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will lose its flights to Africa in May, when North American Airlines cuts service to Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana. It is the latest blow to BWI's efforts to bolster its international service, after Icelandair's pullout last month. It also means the large West African immigrant population in the Baltimore-Washington region will now have to travel further for flights to their home countries. Rising fuel costs, coupled with competition from routes Delta Air Lines recently launched from New York to West Africa, have forced North American Airlines to shut down all commercial service, company spokesman Steve Forsyth said.

At a college in a small town in Ghana where students don't have textbooks, or books of any sort actually, the American professor faced a quandary. Some of the books she kept for them, in a makeshift, bricks-and-boards library in her office, were getting too old and tattered for lending out, but how could she throw them away? So she piled them under a sign saying that any of her students with perfect attendance could take one to keep. "Each one was more worn than the next -- no cover, raggedy, dog-eared -- and yet students would take 20 minutes to pick through them," Sister Kathleen Feeley said.

Valentine's Day Calling all chocoholics Indulge your sweet tooth today at the Village Learning Place's program Chocolate: Dip Into the World of Chocolate From Beans to Bonbons. Valentines can sample confections from Baltimore chocolatier Ma Petite Shoe and see a presentation by author Phil Grout on the co coa-growing Kuapa Kokoo Co operative in Ghana. The free event is 7 p.m.-9 p.m. at 2521 St. Paul St. Call 410-235-2210.

The man from Ghana refused to reveal the contents of his stomach until he reached the hospital. There, faced with the prospect of an X-ray, he started to tell Maryland immigration authorities his death-defying tale. An emigre in the United States recruited Hopkins Appau back in Africa to swallow dozens of pellets filled with heroin. He boarded a plane, arrived in Baltimore and greeted his American bosses from his motherland -- a longtime Washington municipal employee and his immigrant wife living in a suburban townhouse.

Good morning --Ghana -- Enjoy your win over the Americans. Brazil won't be so accommodating.

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- The United States soccer team's reputation, in tatters after a meek loss to the Czech Republic on Monday, is once again intact. The Americans regained the respect of the soccer-playing world, and can still advance to the second round of the World Cup, after their 1-1 tie with Italy at Frtiz Walter Stadium yesterday. More World Cup Fans balance loyalties. PG 7D Advancement Scenarios The United States tied Italy, 1-1, yesterday in its second World Cup match.

Is the United States already finished in the World Cup? With a coach like Bruce Arena, who berates his players to the world press following a loss, they may have been finished before they started. Jim Kirby Columbia Unless the U.S. can beat both Italy and Ghana soundly, it won't advance. All the pre-Cup hype for this team appears to be nothing more than bogus publicity to get us to watch them get their butts kicked. No. 5 in the world? Bill Paschak Woodstock Who will win the U.S. Open this weekend?