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Leila Molana-Allen is a roving Special Correspondent for The Newshour, reporting extensively from across the Middle East and Africa. She has been based in the region for over a decade, working from Beirut and Baghdad. Molana-Allen has extensively covered key conflict zones, including several months on the front lines of the Israel-Gaza war, where she examined the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and reported on human rights violations in Jerusalem and the West Bank. 

In 2023, Molana-Allen covered the rise of Palestinian militant groups in Jenin and Nablus following the IDF’s assault, and reported on anti-government protests across Israel. In Syria, she gained rare access to report on recovery efforts after the earthquake and Russian-Syrian attacks on civilians in Idlib and Aleppo. Her work also explored radicalization in ISIS camps. In 2021, she embedded with US troops in Iraq under attack from Iran-backed militias, joining Iraqi forces in operations against ISIS. She also led the first TV crew to report on the 2020 Beirut port explosion for The NewsHour. 

Before joining The Newshour, Molana-Allen was a foreign correspondent for The Economist in London, as well as a correspondent for BBC World Service Radio and FRANCE 24. Her freelance work as a video and photojournalist based in Beirut has centered on social instability, conflict recovery, displacement, and women’s rights. Her clients have included Al Jazeera English, NBC News, BBC, and News Deeply, and she has reported from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, and the West Bank. 

Molana-Allen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Ancient and Modern History from the University of Oxford and a Master of Science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.