Draft:Nada Bashir

Nada Bashir (born December 17, 1995) is an award-winning British journalist and International Correspondent for CNN based in London. Her work focuses primarily on the Middle East, where she travels frequently for reporting assignments.

In 2024, Bashir was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list. She was also recognized by the the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with the Emmy award for Outstanding Emerging Journalist.

Early Life and Education

Bashir was born in Brighton, England and later relocated with her family to London, where she completed her secondary and university education.

In 2017 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and East European Studies from University College London, and later went on to graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a master's degree in Global Politics in 2020.

While at UCL, Bashir was an active member of the university's official student news outlet, Pi Media. She was appointed Editor-in-Chief of PiTV in her final year.

Early Career

Bashir joined CNN in 2018 as an intern, and went on the continue working with the network as a freelance producer, before being offered a staff producer position in 2020.

In 2019, Bashir travelled independently to Iraq's Kurdistan region to report on the influx of refugees escaping violence in northern Syria following Turkey's military incursion into the war-torn country. The story was picked up by CNN's digital platform, Go There, and would become Bashir's first on-camera report.

In 2021, Bashir embedded with Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen alongside CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson and travelled to the frontlines of Marib to report the country's civil war. She later worked with CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman in Lebanon to cover anti-government protests taking place around the one-year anniversary of the Beirut port blast.

In 2022, Bashir was promoted to the role of on-air Reporter and has since played a key role in CNN's international coverage, with a particular focus on the Middle East. She was later named International Correspondent in March 2024.

CNN International Correspondent

In 2023, Bashir was amongst several CNN correspondents deployed to Turkey to report on the aftermath of a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake, spending five weeks traveling across the country to cover the story. Later that year, she was also deployed to Morocco to report on a 6.9 magnitude earthquake which devastated several remote villages across the country's Atlas Mountains.

Following the Hamas attacks of October 7, Bashir has travelled frequently across the Middle East to report on the war in Gaza and the broader regional fallout.

In the early months of the war, Bashir spent several weeks in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, reporting on the surge in violence against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, as well as the humanitarian crisis inside Gaza. She also played a key role in covering the short-lived truce between Israel and Hamas in November 2023, reporting from Ramallah on the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as part of a hostage exchange agreement.

In 2024, Bashir gained access to a field hospital established off the coast of Al-Arish in North Sinai, where she met with and interviewed wounded Palestinians recently evacuated from the Gaza Strip. She later reported from Lebanon on growing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel along the country's southern border, and was one of the first international correspondents at the scene following the assassination of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.

She has also closely covered ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, traveling frequently to Cairo to follow meetings between key diplomatic delegations involved in the talks.

Awards and Recognition

In September 2024, Bashir received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Emerging Journalist. She was also part of the CNN team awarded with an Emmy for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

In May 2024, Bashir was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe List.

In 2023, Bashir received an Emmy award in recognition of CNN's breaking news coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Bashir was also part of the CNN team nominated for an Emmy in 2021 for Outstanding Continuing Coverage, in recognition of their work covering the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Personal Life

Bashir is of Libyan heritage, and is conversant in Arabic.

Her father was a political activist and spent many years campaigning for democratic change in Libya during Muammar al-Gaddafi's rule. She has described the Arab Spring as a pivotal moment in her decision to pursue journalism as a career.

Bashir is a practicing Muslim and is CNN's first hijab-wearing on-air correspondent.