LONDON: CNN has hired Sky News journalist Sam Kiley as senior international correspondent based out of its Middle East office in Abu Dhabi.
Kiley, whose journalistic career spans more than three decades, has worked at the BBC, America’s PBS Frontline program and Sky News, first as the network’s defense and security editor, then as Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem, and latterly as foreign affairs editor.
“CNN is the world’s most watched news network with an unmatched presence on every major global story. I have grown up as a journalist alongside CNN teams from Somalia to Sarajevo and Mosul. I have always admired them and am proud to be joining my friends at the network at this exciting, and unpredictable, time,” said Kiley.
Kiley’s long-standing experience covering Middle East affairs includes a stint as Middle East bureau chief for The Times before moving to the London Evening Standard newspaper in 2001 to report on the wars in Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
He then went on to present “Truth and Lies in Baghdad” for Channel 4 television’s current affairs series “Dispatches,” before joining the network full time. While covering the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Kiley was kidnapped along with his cameraman and team, narrowly avoiding execution.
The only journalist to have spent an entire tour with British troops fighting in Helmand, Kiley recounted the six-month deployment in his 2009 book, “Desperate Glory,” which was named an Economist Book of the Year.
“Sam is a uniquely experienced correspondent, with an outstanding record of investigative reporting. He has managed bureau, broken major stories and delivered powerful, important documentaries throughout an extraordinary career. He is a formidable addition to our international news gathering operation,” said Deborah Rayner, SVP of international newsgathering for TV & Digital at CNN International.
Becky Anderson, managing editor of CNN Abu Dhabi, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Sam to Abu Dhabi. He has a remarkable portfolio of achievements under his belt and will be a fantastic asset to our reporting across this region.”
Sky News correspondent Sam Kiley joins CNN in Abu Dhabi
Sky News correspondent Sam Kiley joins CNN in Abu Dhabi
Israeli court overturns conviction of officer who assaulted Palestinian journalist, citing ‘Oct. 7 PTSD’
- Judge sentenced Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service, saying officer “devoted his life to Israel’s security” and conviction was “disproportionate to severity of his actions”
- Footage shows Sofer throwing photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque
LONDON: An Israeli court overturned the conviction of a border police officer who assaulted a Palestinian journalist, ruling his actions were influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder from serving during the Oct. 7 2023 attacks.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced officer Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service for assaulting Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf in occupied East Jerusalem in December 2023.
Footage shows Sofer and other officers drawing weapons, throwing Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque amid heavy restrictions.
Alkharouf was hospitalized with facial and body injuries. His cameraman, Faiz Abu Ramila, was also attacked.
Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf violently attacked by Israeli army in occupied East Jerusalem while covering Palestinian prayers near Al-Aqsa Mosque
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 15, 2023
Incident highlights ongoing restrictions on Friday prayers and press freedom in region https://t.co/exT6XqjEaA pic.twitter.com/pqugK9HnOt
Sofer had been convicted in September 2024 of assault causing bodily harm (acquitted of threats) and initially faced six months’ community service, as recommended by Mahash, the Justice Ministry’s police misconduct unit.
Judge Amir Shaked accepted the defense request to cancel the conviction, replacing it with community service.
He cited Sofer’s PTSD from responding to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, noting the officer had “no prior criminal record” and had “devoted his life to Israel’s security.”
“The court cannot ignore this when considering whether the defendant’s conviction should stand,” he said, adding that while the incident is “serious and does cross the criminal threshold,” the conviction in place could cause Sofer harm “disproportionate to the severity of his actions.”
The ruling comes amid surging attacks on journalists in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported Israel responsible for two-thirds of the 129 media workers killed worldwide in 2025, the deadliest year on record, citing a “persistent culture of impunity” and lack of transparent probes.
Reporters Without Borders called the Israeli army the “worst enemy of journalists” in its 2025 report, with nearly half of global reporter deaths in Gaza.
Foreign journalists face raids, arrests and intimidation. In late January 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court granted a delay on ruling a ban on foreign media access to Gaza.
