I’m a freelance journalist, published by the BBC, The Irish Times, Al Jazeera, Politico, New Lines, Le Point and many others.
I mainly cover international stories - in recent times, the UK-Mauritius Chagos handover, the US elections, Iran's protest movement, post-war Iraq and elections in various countries. Closer to home, I've reported on all sorts, including the insane London property market and the cost-of-living crisis. I also write a monthly column for Die Zeit's Spotlight magazine.
Currently based in London, I do both print and broadcast – in English and French. Contact me here.
Recent work
‘Tug of war’: Chagos Islands deal tearing families apart in Mauritius
Al Jazeera (02/25)
Mauritius is on a knife edge as it awaits US approval for the UK to hand over the Chagos Islands. But while the historic deal will undoubtedly be a cause for national celebration, exiled Chagossian families living in the suburbs of Port Louis have been torn apart by rows over whether they should accept it.
In the words of slam poet Geraldine Baptiste, “it’s like being in a tug of war between two sides that are killing each other”.
The Elon Musk effect: How Trump gained from billionaire's support
Al Jazeera (11/24)
When Donald Trump declared his “magnificent victory”, he reserved special praise for one man who had helped to catapult him back into the nation’s top job.
“A star is born, Elon,” he said in a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, referring to his greatest ally in the race to become president.
‘Blood minerals’: The hidden costs of the EU- Rwanda supply deal
Al Jazeera (05/24)
As the green revolution revs up, the European Union has signed a deal with Rwanda that will ensure supplies of precious minerals needed to build clean tech like electric vehicles. But critics say supply chains will be tainted with coltan smuggled from wartorn DR Congo.
Shooting war: Gaza’s visual storytellers
Al Jazeera (02/24)
Wielding a camera in war has always been a dangerous occupation. Visual journalists are close to the action, easily identified by their equipment and at constant risk of beaming out their location. Palestinian investigative journalist Shrouq Aila and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Greg Marinovich describe the dangers of shooting war.
Conflict-weary DR Congo votes on December 20: A guide to the election
Al Jazeera (12/23)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo prepares to vote against a backdrop of myriad armed groups wreaking havoc in the mineral-rich east, fighting for land and valuable resources like coltan. This on top of decades of war sparked by overspill from the Rwandan genocide.
‘Elephant in the room’: The US military’s carbon footprint
Al Jazeera (12/23)
The US military is vast in scale, with a carbon footprint larger than any other institution on earth. But when it comes to disclosure of its emissions of greenhouse gases, it’s been kept off the books – and let off the hook. “It’s the elephant in the room,” said David Vine, author of, Base Nation: How US Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World.
50 years ago, the UK expelled Chagos Islanders. Now they might be going home.
Christian Science Monitor (11/24)
People from the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, have spent five decades fighting to return home. But now the moment is in sight, doubts have surfaced about the terms on offer.
Lucienne Sagaie and Lucie Tiatous, two octogenarian sisters evicted from the islands half a century ago, describe their thoughts on the transfer over a game of bingo in a community centre in Crawley, England.
Trump elected: What happens to the legal cases against him?
Al Jazeera (11/24)
Donald Trump has many reasons to celebrate his victory, but one in particular stands out.
The president-elect could now be freed of the criminal cases that have been hanging over him like a sword of Damocles – at the very least while he remains in the White House.
‘Heavy-handed’ US negotiates pullout from Niger
Al Jazeera (05/24)
The United States is withdrawing over 1,000 army personnel from Niger, once a front-line partner in its war against ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates.
In bidding a not-so-fond farewell to the US, Niger is opening the door to ‘transactional’ Russia as violence spirals in the Sahel.
Masih Alinejad: Staring down injustice
Zeit Sprachen (12/23)
The incredible story of Masih Alinejad, the voice of women’s rights in Iran, who has repeatedly risked her life to challenge the theocratic regime on ‘gender apartheid’. Long considered a prime target for the Islamic Republic, she has spent the past few years living In FBI safe houses. This daughter of a Basij vigilante, who grew up in a mud hut, has made it her business to be the biggest thorn in the regime's side.
DJ vs Judoka: Madagascar’s upcoming presidential election
Al Jazeera (11/23)
President Andry Rajoelina, a former DJ who first came to power with the backing of the army in 2009, seeks a second consecutive term in office. But he may be floored by former judo champ Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, a political ally recently turned foe.
Is the world capable of stopping a climate apocalypse?
Al Jazeera (12/23)
It's supposed to be a matter of life or death. So why the dithering? I asked pioneering American climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer and British environmental campaigner George Monbiot for their views on why it's taking so long for the world to get its act together on climate change.
Chagos Islands: Justice at last? Or is history about to repeat itself?
New Internationalist (12/24)
Mauritius is gearing up to take control of the Chagos Islands after winning a long-running legal battle with Britain.
But the fate of the original islanders, kicked out by Britain to make way for the base more than 50 years ago, is still uncertain. Excluded from the bilateral talks, many fear that their futures are once again being decided over their heads, with details on major issues like reparations and resettlement terms shrouded in secrecy.
With a deal in view, time is running out for them to have a say.
‘I cannot sell this land. It belongs to my children’
Irish Times (08/24)
The Serbian village of Gornje Nedeljice is at the centre of an almighty battle pitching the nation against the government over plans to build Europe's biggest lithium mine. Some residents have vowed not to budge, claiming the project will turn their fertile lands into a ‘dump for mining waste’, their cause becoming a lightning rod for wider frustrations with an increasingly autocratic president.
‘Don’t touch my constitution!’ Togolese resist pre-election reform
Al Jazeera (04/24)
Tensions rise in Togo over major constitutional reforms ahead of delayed parliamentary elections. Opposition figures accuse President Faure Gnassingbe of changing the rules so he can maintain his grip on power.
Who is Ilya Ponomarev, the Russian renegade exiled in Ukraine?
Al Jazeera (12/23)
Ilya Ponomarev was once a member of the Russian parliament, an unruly liberal tolerated by the leadership. These days, he’s on a mission to drive an "aspen stake" through the hearts of Vladimir Putin and his cronies.
‘All in same canoe’: What’s it like being young on a sinking small island?
Al Jazeera (12/23)
When it comes to climate change, the low-lying Marshall Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean are as front line as it gets.
Youth activist Litokne Kabua has watched the seasons bending into unpredictable shapes, bringing drought, cyclones and tidal surges.
At the epicentre of Mauritius’ narco trade
BBC Radio 4 (10/23) @17.06 mins
Vast sums of money transit through Karo Kalyptus, a slum of raw concrete and corrugated iron shacks on the outskirts of Fort Louis. I’ve come here to meet three local women, who’ve agreed to talk to me because they are sick of seeing of seeing their young being destroyed by heroin and synthetics..
Selected from archives
‘Kids whose insides are destroyed’: The return of drug abuse to Mauritius
Al Jazeera (10/23)
Heroin addiction, which peaked in the ‘90s, has made a roaring comeback in Mauritius, the drug rerouted to its shores through Madagascar on its journey from Afghanistan. In parallel, synthetics like “Black Mamba”, “Rambo” and “Murder” have taken hold.
Chagos: the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago at the heart of a major political struggle
New Lines (10/23)
As Britain prepares to hand over Chagos to Mauritius, many of the original islanders and their descendants feel they are being sidelined. Fifty years on from their brutal expulsion from their island home to make way for an American military base, is history repeating itself?
Chagos Islanders confront their postcolonial future
The Continent (10/23)
The dream is within touching distance. Olivier Bancoult has pulled off a feat many would once have considered impossible – his people are on the brink of being allowed to return to their fabled homeland of Chagos, which will soon pass into Mauritian ownership. But not everyone is happy.
Life on the edge for Turkey's fearful Syrian refugees
Irish Times (04/23)
Turkey has become a hostile environment for the 3.7 million Syrian refugees it hosts, most of whom have temporary protection ID cards, known as kimlic. The country operated a generous open-door policy after the Syrian war broke out in 2011, but as the economic crisis bites, hate crimes, racist rhetoric and bullying from officials have become the norm for many.
Turkey's earthquake survivors voice questions and fury
Irish Times (04/23)
The building is barely standing, great chunks of concrete ripped from the front, a radiator hanging by a thin pipe from the fourth floor. Yet Alper Nedirli and his mother Sevim have just risked their lives, climbing to their quake-hit apartment on the second floor to retrieve a couple of bags of clothes, plates and cups, some pictures, and a rug.
Iran: Rap and the regime
Irish Times (04/23)
When rapper Toomaj Salehi shot to fame in Iran, tearing strips off the regime with his lacerating lyrics, people wondered if he was for real. Songs like Soorakh Moosh (Mousehole), in which he warned the regime and its stooges to find a hiding place before an imminent day of reckoning, were political dynamite ...
Iraq - 20 years on
Byline Times (03/23)
From Operation Iraqi Freedom to Iranian Domination. Twenty years on from 'Operation Iraqi Freedom', few people have much time for America. Hundreds of thousands died as a result of the invasion, the ensuing sectarian civil war and the emergence of the Islamic State .
But, these days, much of the blame for the country’s ills tends to be laid at Iran’s door.
'Muqtada' - The cleric who has Iraq in his grip
Irish Times (01/23)
Ask any Iraqi about politics and talk will soon turn to Muqtada al-Sadr. Widely known by the mononym “Muqtada”, he wields unparalleled clout as Shia cleric, militia boss and political leader. Often described as mercurial, his sudden shifts of mood and changes of mind have the country mesmerised.
Michael Palin: Into Iraq
Spotlight (03/23)
Michael Palin’s home office is just as you’d expect it to be, with a view over sunlit brick chimneys, old photos and postcards pinned to corkboard, walls lined with books ... and a copy of the 1958 Iraqi Constitution lying somewhere amid the clutter.
“Milk? Sugar?” asks the Monty Python star, making me a cup of coffee ...
'Iraq is now a teenage country'
Twenty years on from the US-led invasion, three Iraqi artists explain how, after decades of being held back, they are taking back control of their country's narrative. Much of Iraq's story has been told in the West, deploying a visual shorthand of guns, bombs and oil derived from TV news, a dominant narrative that is hard to shift ...
Escape from Iran: 'My dream was to be a primary teacher. Now I'm holding a gun'
Irish Times (10/22)
Iran protests: 'We need the people to move and take down this government'
Irish Times (11/22)
The people in the bus were not afraid. They had just come from Iran, crossing the Zagros mountains into Iraqi Kurdistan. On the khaki and mustard slopes, positioned on the distinctive zigzag ridges marking the border, Iranian forces kept watch from their lookout post.
Who is the man driving UK’s ongoing rail strikes?
Al Jazeera (08/22)
Interview with Mick Lynch, the most talked about man in Britain. A social media phenomenon, his ability to tell simple truths about equality and social justice have captured the imagination of millions
Mosul’s new masters
After Isis, came the mafia. In Mosul, a jumbled assortment of Iran-backed militias, known collectively as the Hashd al-Shaabi, compete for their share of the spoils of war.
The vapers of Mosul
BBC Radio 4 (03/20) @11.14mins
Out on the hustle with three buccaneering entrepreneurs, selling vapes in war-torn Mosul. Moslawis are born entrepreneurs. Given half the chance, they can make their city great again.
The best weapon against war in Iraq is a waistcoat
For the dapper young men at Mr Erbil, style is survival. In their emporium of hip, espressos are sipped and style flaunted as chaos and menace swirl outside. No talk of religion or politics permitted.
‘You live with these men as a slave. It’s free for them to do anything’
Naveen Rasho endured five years of hell at the hands of Islamic State. She survived the fall of the caliphate in Baghuz, only to face the fresh horror of detention at Al Hawl camp in Syria with her captor’s three brides.
‘We are only 1,000, but we fight like 10,000.’
In the hills of northern Iraq, I meet showman general Hussein Yazdanpanah, whose Iranian Kurdish fighters are fighting against a resurgent Islamic State and the Tehran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias.
Global Ear: Dé:Nash
Hungarian rapper Dé:Nash mines his country’s collective consciousness, satirising the Fidesz regime’s use of ancient legend and historical grievances to craft a new national narrative.
’Licence to kill’
Cameroon’s bloody conflict between the regime and separatist rebels has been raging nearly three years. Government forces wield their ‘licence to kill’ liberally, with utter impunity.
Interview: Guinea-Bissau’s president
José Mário Vaz, president of Guinea-Bissau, appeals to world for help in fighting the cocaine cartels that he says are still using the fragile state as a trafficking hub.
