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About Me

I’m an award-winning reporter, editor, and published author with nearly three decades of experience covering global affairs. My work has taken me from reporting on oil markets to analyzing major economic and geopolitical shifts across South and Central Asia and the Middle East. I previously led VOA’s Afghanistan Service and spent the 2011–2012 academic year as a Knight Fellow in Journalism at Stanford. You can find my reporting on Voice of America, in the Wall Street Journal, and in the New York Times.

Voice of America •

The Roosevelt Hotel: A window into New York City's history

The Roosevelt Hotel, a New York City landmark for over a century, once again faces an uncertain future. Last month, city officials announced plans to stop using it as a migrant shelter and processing center beginning this summer.Opened in 1924 to cater to passengers using the nearby Grand Central Terminal, the iconic hotel has weathered Prohibition, the Great Depression, a World War and 9/11.The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, however, forced the hotel to close its doors to guests due to financial lo...
Voice of America •

Fort Knox: Is gold there?

“Is the gold there?”
As the decades-old question about the legendary Fort Knox makes headlines again, U.S. President Donald Trump is on the hunt for answers.
“We're actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold. Tons of gold,” Trump said Monday.
His demand for an audit is echoing widely, with public figures like his cost-cutting czar Elon Musk and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky joining the chorus in recent weeks.
“Who is confirming that...
Voice of America •

Amid rising worldwide populism, US conservative conference goes global

This week, thousands of conservative politicians, activists and influencers convened outside Washington for the Conservative Political Action Conference, the premier annual gathering of the American right.
The four-day event, hosted by the American Conservative Union since 1974, features U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, among other high-profile speakers from around the world.
Dubbed the "Woodstock for conservatives," CPAC was once the go-to event for conservative Republic...
Voice of America •

Why is Trump pausing US anti-bribery law?

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week pausing almost all enforcement of a decades-old U.S. anti-bribery law.
The law, known as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, makes it illegal for both U.S. firms and foreign companies with a U.S. connection to bribe foreign officials.
Transparency advocates have credited the U.S. Justice Department's vigorous enforcement of the law over the past two decades with curbing foreign corruption. Critics, including business leaders, however...
Voice of America •

How pause in US foreign aid is impacting South, Central Asia

In Kabul, Afghanistan, a major midwifery program — girls' only higher education option — has closed.
Across Pakistan, dozens of development programs have ground to a halt.
In Bangladesh, a health research center has laid off more than 1,000 employees.
The fallout comes two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration suspended foreign aid amid a widespread review, leaving thousands of development programs in limbo.
"I'm in shock," said a student at the USAID-funded midwifery school i...
Voice of America •

How the oldest known Hebrew book landed in a Washington museum

In 2016, Herschel Hepler was browsing Google Images to practice his paleography — the study of historical writing systems — when he stumbled upon an eerily familiar photo that would lead to a groundbreaking discovery.
“I recognized it immediately and said, 'That’s a manuscript in our collection,'” Hepler, a curator at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, recalls.
The museum had recently acquired the manuscript — a rare Jewish prayer book — believing it to be part of the famous Cairo Geniza, a...
Voice of America •

How Carter's covert aid to Afghan rebels redefined his foreign policy record

President Ronald Reagan is often credited with defeating the Soviet Union, in part by helping Afghan rebels, but it was the administration of President Jimmy Carter that laid the groundwork.

Considered a foreign policy novice by many when he entered the White House, Carter made the early decision to provide covert aid to Afghan insurgents months before the Soviet invasion. The move offers a window into one of the defining issues of his presidency, showing a president unafraid to confront the So...
Voice of America •

Foreign worker visa program faces uncertainty in Trump's second term

Foreign workers seeking U.S. jobs enjoyed near-guaranteed visa success in fiscal year 2024, with immigration authorities approving more than 97% of H1-B visa applications, as reported by the National Foundation for American Policy.
The was the second-highest approval rate in more than a decade. But the exceptionally high success rate could soon end if President-elect Donald Trump's team revives his first administration's restrictive immigration policies, according to immigration lawyers. That in...
Voice of America •

What happened to Iranian proxies in Syria?

They were part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" — Syria-based proxy groups created to defend the former Assad regime as part of Iran's campaign to expand its influence across the Middle East.
The Fatemiyoun Brigade was made up of Afghan Shiites brought in from Iran; the Zainebiyoun Brigade was composed of their Pakistani religious cohorts.
At the height of the Syrian civil war, the two groups fought in major battles, helping Syrian forces to reclaim lost territory from the Islamic State group (IS)...
Voice of America •

How America hands power from one president to the next

In July, Keir Starmer became British prime minister just one day after his party swept parliamentary elections.
Donald Trump, who won the November 5 U.S. election, must wait 76 days to become president again.
What gives?
Britain’s opposition party, like its counterparts in some parliamentary democracies, runs a “shadow government" that is ready to seize power after winning an election.
The United States has no such system. America’s president-to-be starts from scratch, tasked with filling posts...
Voice of America •

In historic shift, American Muslim and Arab voters desert Democrats

In a historic shift, Muslim and Arab Americans broke with two decades of Democratic loyalty, splitting most of their votes between President-elect Donald Trump and third-party candidates in Tuesday’s presidential election, according to preliminary findings of two prominent advocacy groups.
The exodus, fueled by anger over the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza, helped Trump win key battleground states, especially Michigan, as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to win a seco...
Voice of America •

Indian Americans show shifting political loyalties ahead of presidential election

At a recent Diwali gathering in Denver, software architect Salil Gaonkar asked his Indian American friends to raise their hands: Would they vote for Trump or Harris in the presidential race?
The response — from about 45 tech professionals and business owners who had overwhelmingly backed Joe Biden in 2020 — stunned him. Former President Donald Trump edged out Vice President Kamala Harris, albeit by a narrow margin.
"I was shocked," Gaonkar, a progressive Democrat who is supporting Harris, said....
Voice of America •

Muslim candidates surge in local elections in US

As the United States prepares for a presidential election next month, the idyllic New York suburb of Teaneck, New Jersey, is gearing up for elections that reflect a broader trend in U.S. politics.
Two Muslim women are running for local office in Teaneck, a town of 41,000 residents with a significant Muslim population. They are among hundreds of Muslim candidates in local, state and federal elections around the country.
Teaneck once had a Muslim mayor but never a Muslim woman on its city council....
Voice of America •

Bangladesh at crossroads as it pursues sweeping constitutional reform

As Bangladesh pursues constitutional reform, international legal experts say a consensus-based process is vital for creating an enduring charter and ensuring political stability in South Asia’s third most populous nation.
The ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August pushed her Awami League party out of power, raising concerns that a key player could be excluded from a process shaping Bangladesh's future.
In response, the nine-week interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus,...
Voice of America •

Deadly mob violence underscores Bangladesh's security breakdown

A brutal mob lynching at Bangladesh’s oldest university has put a spotlight on the country's crumbling law and order, just as its fledgling interim government tries to assert control and push through sweeping institutional reforms.
Late Wednesday, Tofazzal Hossein, a man known for struggling with mental health issues and roaming around the 102-year-old University of Dhaka, wandered into a residential hall.
Accusing him of theft, a mob of students grabbed and savagely beat him over the course of...
Voice of America •

Kyrgyzstan follows regional trend, takes Taliban off terrorist list

Shunned by the West for over three years, Afghanistan's Taliban scored a diplomatic victory of sorts this week when the small Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan quietly removed the group from its list of banned terrorist organizations.
The move underscores warming ties between the Taliban, in power since August 2021, and the countries of Central Asia. While the United States has led an international campaign to deny the Taliban government legitimacy, over a dozen regional countries, led by China...
Voice of America •

Living in limbo: The struggle of families in South Asia torn by state-enforced disappearances

They’ve been waiting for years, sometimes decades, desperate to learn the fate of their loved ones — victims of enforced disappearances in South Asia.
With husbands neither dead nor alive, their wives are sometimes known as “half widows.” The ambiguity gnaws at them, yet it also keeps them going. Every rumored sighting, every whisper of hope, becomes a lifeline in their endless search for closure.
Farzana Akhtar’s husband, Parvez Hossain, was taken by Bangladeshi security forces 11 years ago. A...
Voice of America •

US presidential election energizes fast-growing Indian American community

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' meteoric rise to the top of the Democratic Party's presidential ticket has energized many Indian Americans, raising the fast-growing community's political profile and sparking widespread excitement.
Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, appears set to become the first female presidential nominee of color after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday. But the fervor isn't solely about her nomination.
Many Indian Americans, regardless of po...
Voice of America •

In South Asia, Trump shooting is used to push political narratives

South Asia, long a breeding ground for conspiracy theories, faced an avalanche of disinformation triggered by the recent assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Social media in the region is still buzzing with wild claims, from Chinese involvement to an anti-Taliban group ordering the hit, highlighting how nefarious actors exploit global events to push ideological narratives and political agendas.
“The truth is that we see this happening everywhere in the world simultaneousl...
Voice of America •

A look at high-profile politician assassinations across South Asia

The recent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump marks a rare event in U.S. history but shines light on a more common global phenomenon.
Political assassinations have long been a part of human history, often occurring in countries with limited political competition and strong polarization and fragmentation, according to research by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
These conditions can lead to a decline in political legitimacy and increased violence, especiall...
Voice of America •

South Asia's 'youth bulge' masks aging population

Zahirul Islam, a 52-year-old cafe manager in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has worked all his life supporting his family, with little to save for old age.
Facing retirement at 59, Islam expects to work for another seven or eight years before holding down a job becomes unfeasible.
"Then, it may not be possible to continue working," he said in an interview with VOA.
In eight years, Islam turns 60, joining Bangladesh's growing population of older people. With little savings and no pension plan, he plans to re...
Voice of America •

Once a rallying cry, 'radical Islamic terrorism' fades from Trump rhetoric

In 2016, Donald Trump's presidential campaign echoed with a frequent vow to crush "radical Islamic terrorism."
Fast forward to today, as he seeks a second chance in the White House, Trump rarely mentions the phrase, his erstwhile rhetoric about Islamist terrorism eclipsed by a focus on immigration, crime and other domestic issues.
The shift came into sharp relief on Sunday when a coordinated terrorist assault on a police station, churches and synagogues in southern Russia left at least 20 peop...
Voice of America •

Anti-Muslim hate groups in US surge back into spotlight

Once seemingly fading into obscurity, anti-Muslim hate groups in the United States have surged back into the spotlight in recent months, reinvigorated by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Many of these groups, such as Jihad Watch and ACT for America, emerged in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. and thrived on public fears of terrorism. But as those fears waned in recent years, so did the groups’ sway. Some disbanded, while others gravitated to other hot-button issues.
From a peak of 114...
Voice of America •

Muslim drift to Republican Party stalls amid Gaza conflict

The war in Gaza is shaking Muslim Americans’ political loyalties ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.
Disenchanted by President Joe Biden’s embrace of Israel, many Democratic-leaning Muslims who once backed him are now vowing to withdraw their endorsement.
But it’s not just Muslim Democrats abandoning their once-preferred candidate. Some Muslim Republicans are also wavering amidst their own party's support of Israel.
Mo Nehad, a Pakistani American Republican activist in Fort Bend...
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