I am a journalist for The New York Times, where I’m the Continental Europe Editor.

Before starting this role in November 2025, I was an international correspondent for more than a decade, reporting from more than 50 countries and territories.

I was based mostly in the Middle East, living in Cairo, Amman and Jerusalem, and I also lived in Berlin and Istanbul. I am the author of two books, and I’ve lectured on migration at the universities of Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge.

As The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief from 2021-25, I helped lead the team that won a Pulitzer Prize, a Polk Award and two Overseas Press Club Awards for our coverage of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. Before that, I worked as a roving Europe correspondent for The New York Times, reporting in particular on democratic backsliding in Hungary.

You can read my Pulitzer acceptance speech here.

More about my career

I was born in London in June 1989. I have a first-class degree in English Literature from Cambridge University, and a diploma in journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

I joined The Guardian in 2010, working as a reporter in London. In 2012, I wrote my first book — an exploration of Danish culture called How to be Danish. The New York Times said it was “fascinating”, the Wall Street Journal called it “delightful”, and it was a travel book of the month at The Sunday Times.

In January 2013, I moved to Cairo as The Guardian’s Egypt correspondent. I won awards for my investigations into a state-led massacre in Cairo; a secret blacksite in Ismailia; the gassing to death of 37 prisoners inside a police truck; and this assessment of the bloodiest week in modern Egyptian history. With a colleague, I also conducted the last interview of Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, days before his ouster in 2013.

In 2015, I was appointed the Guardian’s first-ever migration correspondent. Covering the 2015 migration crisis, I won awards for this story about one man’s journey from Syria to Sweden, as well as a four-part investigation into people-smuggling in i) Libya; ii) Egypt; iii) Turkey; and iv) Niger.

This work led to me being named foreign affairs reporter of the year at the British Journalism Awards. My book about the European refugee crisis, The New Odyssey, was based on reportage from 17 countries along the migration trail, and was translated into 10 languages. It was described by Jon Snow as “a unique journalistic achievement”, and by Alan Rusbridger as “the great piece of reporting this issue so badly needs.”

In 2016, I gave the Harrell-Bond Lecture, an annual address about migration hosted by Oxford University. Previous speakers included the United Nations secretary-general, and the head of the United Nations refugee agency. I have also lectured about migration at Harvard and Cambridge.

I joined the New York Times in January 2017, first as the paper’s Turkey bureau chief, and then as a roving international correspondent, reporting on places like Hungary, Greece, Britain, Moldova, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malta, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and Spain.

I moved to Jerusalem in January 2021. My work there included investigations into Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 and Israel’s ensuing bombardment of Gaza; the abuse of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees; and how Benjamin Netanyahu prolonged the war to stay in power. Earlier work included a state-of-the-nation journey through Israel; profiles of Israelis and Palestinians who defy religious and ethnic expectations; and in-depth reportage on the Israeli judicial crisis; how the pandemic affected ultra-Orthodox Jews; the 2021 Gaza war; and a divided house that embodies the battle for East Jerusalem.