biography

Yasmine Ryan is a journalist for Al Jazeera English, where she focuses on North African and French politics.

She was covering the Tunisian Uprising from its early days, weeks before other English-speaking journalists realised the significance of the protest movement that would soon spread throughout much of the Arab world.

When Ben Ali fell, she traveled to the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid to hear the real story of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young street seller whose act of self-immolation triggered the revolt.

In Tunisia's new era, Yasmine has continued to report on the political and social transformations taking place in Tunisia since Ben Ali's departure.

Before joining Al Jazeera, Yasmine worked for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times.

She covered the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen for TakePart and attended the UNAIDS Conference in 2010 as a fellow of the National Press Foundation. She also had a stint with The Daily Star in Lebanon.

She was awarded an International Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2010 for an article on the harraga of Algeria.

Originally from New Zealand, Yasmine began her career with Scoop, an independent news website. In 2004, she co-authored the book I Almost Forgot About the Moon: The Disinformation Campaign Against Ahmed Zaoui and has an ongoing interest in how so-called anti-terror laws affect civil liberties and the right to dissent.

Yasmine has reported from countries across North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the South Pacific. She is fluent in both French and English. Her Arabic is a work-in-progress.