Erik Hersman

By Bilal Randeree in Europe on July 14th, 2011
Nadia al-Sakkaf, editor-in-chief of Yemen Times, speaks at TEDGlobal in Edinburgh [James Duncan Davidson/TED]

Nadia al-Sakkaf is the editor-in-chief of the Yemen Times, the most widely read English-language newspaper in Yemen.

She was a speaker at the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she spoke about the challenges of her job, especially as a woman, in the media and in the Arab world.

Al-Sakkaf became the chief editor of the newspaper in March 2005, and has become a leading voice in Yemen and global media on issues of media, gender, development and politics.

She said that her role at the paper was to "build bridges", both within Yemeni society, as well as between her country and the rest of the world.

Yemen has been embroiled in a leadership crisis for the past few months, with pro-democracy protesters demanding the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In the past, her

By Kristen Saloomey in Americas on March 16th, 2010
Al Jazeera photo
University students have always been known for their activism, but I just met a group at Columbia University’s School of Public Administration (SIPA) who are using technology to take it to a new level.
 
They are volunteers who have been holed up in the basement of the school’s library, despite their exams, ever since an earthquake struck Chile.
 
They work in shifts from a tiny room without windows, amid half-eaten snacks and potato-chip wrappers, but they are able to have a direct impact on how aid is delivered to the people in Chile - thanks to an amazing new tool available right on their laptops.