Isabel Coles
Chief International Correspondent
Isabel reported from the Middle East for a decade before covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before joining The Observer in 2025, she worked for The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. She received an award from the Overseas Press Club of America for a series of articles about a Swedish man’s quest to recover his seven orphaned grandchildren from Syria, and was part of a team that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of Iraq.
Isabel Coles
Chief International Correspondent
Isabel reported from the Middle East for a decade before covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before joining The Observer in 2025, she worked for The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. She received an award from the Overseas Press Club of America for a series of articles about a Swedish man’s quest to recover his seven orphaned grandchildren from Syria, and was part of a team that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of Iraq.
How the UAE put a ‘ring of fire’ round Sudan in a deadly proxy power game
Trump helps Greenlanders
Trump lets Orbán avoid sanctions on Russian oil
‘The road is full of dead’: Sudanese leave one hell for another
Spurred by Trump, Denmark apologises for its colonial past
Hamas reasserts its power in Gaza
Storms ahead for the Gaza flotilla
In the West Bank, statehood feels increasingly impossible
UK recognises Palestine as Israel bombards Gaza City
Netanyahu faces tough battle at home
Amidst peace talks, Western firms eye return to Russia
As protests hit TV, Israelis can't look away from plight of Gaza
