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Olivia Alabaster

Former News Editor@OliviaAlabaster

Olivia Alabaster formerly held positions as The Independent's News Editor and International Editor, having previously worked at The Daily Star newspaper in Beirut, where she was based for several years.

<p>A Covid-19 vaccination clinic in Bolton, which remains the epicentre for the Delta variant in the UK</p>
Health

Delta variant may lead to higher rates of hospitalisation, PHE warns

Home News

Clapham vigil for Sarah Everard has been cancelled, organisers say

Matt Hancock announcing changes to tier restrictions in the House of Commons on Wednesday
Home News

Which areas are in tier 4: Full list

Home News

Which areas are in tier 4: Full list

Home News

Which areas are in Tier 4: Full list

<p>Maggi Hambling's 'A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft' in Newington Green, North London</p>
Voices

Naked statue is fearless – she doesn’t need clothes to tell us that

Middle East

Video shows destruction throughout Beirut after Lebanon explosions

Handout CCTV image issued by Hampshire Constabulary of Louise Smith entering a Tesco Metro on Greywell Road shortly before 7.30pm on Thursday May 7
Crime

Murder investigation launched after body of missing teenager found

Civilians flee from Idlib earlier this month
Editor’s letters

We must tell the stories of those bearing the brunt of Syria’s war

Americas

Nuclear power incident alert sent in error, Canadian authorities say

Debris from the plane belonging to Ukraine International Airlines that crashed after taking off from Iran’s Imam Khomeini airport on Wednesday
Middle East

Iran plane crash may have been ‘shootdown event’, aviation experts say

Emergency services at the home in Monsey, New York, on 29 December 2019
Americas

Five stabbed at Hannukah celebration in rabbi's home in New York

Europe

Cargo ship runs aground on Istanbul coast, closing Bosphorus

Europe

Cargo ship runs aground on Istanbul coast, closing Bosphorus

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Japn early in the decade
World

2010-2019: The stories that defined the decade

Flames rise from burnt cars in the north of the country
Editors' letters

From a White House statement to death on the streets

Sir Elton and David Furnish in Kiev with a Ukrainian boy who had received help from one of EJAF's projects as a baby, 15 years previously, and pictured behind them
Europe

Homophobia and Soviet hangover 'driving HIV in Eastern Europe'

Kameel Ahmady, pictured with his wife, was arrested at the couple’s home in western Iran on Sunday
Politics Explained

Why does Iran keep detaining dual-national European citizens?

Kameel Ahmady, pictured with his wife, was arrested at the couple’s home in western Iran on Sunday
Politics Explained

Why does Iran keep detaining dual-national European citizens?

Asia

Japan hit by 6.2-magnitude earthquake

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz
Middle East

Iran seizes foreign oil tanker ‘smuggling oil’ in Gulf strait

Editors' letters

Why it’s important to see a story through to the end

The Mediterranean sea is a dangerous route for refugees trying to reach Europe
Middle East

Shipwreck kills up to 150 people off the coast of Libya

People are seen on the Syntagma Square following the evacuation of nearby buildings after an earthquake in Athens
Europe

Strong earthquake felt in Greek capital

The town's ferris wheel was due to open only a few days after the 1986 disaster
Long Reads

What is drawing thousands of tourists to Chernobyl and killing fields?

Law enforcement at the scene where a man set himself on fire on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on 29 May 2019.
Americas

Man dies after setting himself on fire outside White House, say police

Editors' letters

Why Eurovision doesn't have to separate the political from the lyrical

The town's ferris wheel was due to open only a few days after the 1986 disaster
Long Reads

What is drawing thousands of tourists to Chernobyl and killing fields?

Law enforcement at the scene where a man set himself on fire on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on 29 May 2019.
Americas

Man dies after setting himself on fire outside White House, say police

Editors' letters

Why Eurovision doesn't have to separate the political from the lyrical

Editors' letters

How a sense of scale helps us to deliver the story

Editors' letters

How a sense of scale helps us to deliver the story

Head shot of Olivia Alabaster
Olivia Alabaster
People who live near St Anthony's church leave their houses as the military try to defuse a suspected van before it exploded in Colombo
Asia

New Sri Lanka explosion near church targeted on Easter Sunday

Political operative Roger Stone has been charged as part of the investigation into collusion with Russia
US politics

Read the full indictment as FBI charges former Trump adviser

Aid workers raised fears they would be criminalised by the law
Middle East

Second Isis suicide bombing in days strikes US convoy in Syria

Emergency services headed quickly to the site of the blast at the national police academy in Bogota
Americas

Ten dead as car bomb explodes at Bogota police station

Emergency services headed quickly to the site of the blast at the national police academy in Bogota
Americas

Ten dead as car bomb explodes at Bogota police station

Editors' letters

The Christmas period round the world means very different things

Editors' letters

Our Christmas campaign this year focuses on challenging stigma

Daniela Tejada, wife of Matthew Hedges, arrives at the Foreign Office for a meeting with foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt on 22 November
Middle East

Wife of British 'spy' now says UK is doing all it can to support him

Bangui, Central African Republic
Learn to Live

How the Central African Republic is trying to get back on its feet

Editors' letters

How the fascinating GRU story broke in the newsroom

Americas

Trump says ‘I believe in Nato’ after reports US was going to pull out

Russian police officers arrest British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell following his anti-Putin protest against the mistreatment of LGBT people in Russia in Moscow on June 14, 2018.
Europe

Peter Tatchell detained in Moscow over LGBT+ protest

The crown prince, the effective ruler of Saudi Arabia, has recently introduced a swathe of reforms designed to return the country to a more 'moderate Islam'
Middle East

UN: Saudi Arabia using anti-terror laws to detain political prisoners

The picture of the F-35 in action – before even the US military has claimed to use it – was interpreted as a show of strength for Israel's enemies
Middle East

Israel criticised for picture of F-35 stealth jet flying over Beirut

Iranians hold anti-US placards and shout slogans during a demonstration after Friday prayers in the capital Tehran on 11 May
News

Iranians protest Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal

Middle East

Did Iran fire missiles at Israel from Syria and why did they do it?

Middle East

Did Iran fire missiles at Israel from Syria and why did they do it?

Latifa al-Maktoum, a daughter of Dubai's ruler, in a 40-minute video
Middle East

UN asked to intervene over Dubai princess 'detained against her will'

Children playing in Daraya, near Damascus
Middle East

Anti-Assad protesters remain convinced regime will fall five years on

Syrian refugee Kholod carries her daughters Fedaa’, right, and Rima at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan
Middle East

Birth rate soars among Syrian refugees in Jordan camp

Evacuees from Syrian towns at a Damascus rally
Middle East

Besieged Syrians in Daraya feel forgotten by talks in Geneva

Evacuees from Syrian towns at a Damascus rally
Middle East

Besieged Syrians in Daraya feel forgotten by talks in Geneva

A cholera patient
Health News

Syria cholera outbreak sparks fears of ‘international threat’

Syria’s future agriculture is under threat from the conflict
Middle East

'Doomsday' seeds transferred to region to preserve Syria crop heritage

UK Politics

Britain's first Muslim minister loses seat

This Britain

May Day holiday is a washout

News

Author rejects Hollywood offer

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