Mara Budgen

Head International Editor

All articles - 10
Obama decries mass shooting in Oregon. This is a political choice we make

Obama decries mass shooting in Oregon. This is a political choice we make

An exasperated Obama addresses the Oregon mass shootingAn exasperated Obama says we’re all responsible for the latest school shooting in Oregon. “We, collectively, are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction.” Posted by Quartz on Thursday, 1 October 2015 Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here

Dismaland migrates to Calais to house refugees

Dismaland migrates to Calais to house refugees

Banksy has announced that the timber and fixtures used to build Dismaland, which closed on the 27th of September, will be transferred to the Jungle refugee camp near Calais, in France. The camp hosts around 5,000 people who have escaped from countries including Syria, Libya and Eritrea. Many arrive in Calais in the hope of

Love him or hate him. 5 moments that made Banksy a star

Love him or hate him. 5 moments that made Banksy a star

Banksy, thought to have been born in Bristol, England in the 1970s, has remained faceless and nameless throughout his career in spite of more or less convincing revelations of his identity. In a rare interview he gave to The Guardian in 2003 he revealed that he began doing graffiti in his early teens as a

Refugees Welcome is the Airbnb for refugees. And Europe opens its homes

Refugees Welcome is the Airbnb for refugees. And Europe opens its homes

It’s been called the “Airbnb for refugees”. Refugees Welcome, Flüchtlinge Willkommen in the original German, is a non-profit website that connects refugees to people offering spare rooms. It has been active in Germany since November 2014 and in Austria since January 2015, helping around 140 refugees from 21 different countries find places to stay.  

California is burning: even its ancient Sequoia forests risk extermination

California is burning: even its ancient Sequoia forests risk extermination

Four years of drought in California and record high temperatures during the summer have been blamed for the proliferation of wildfires such as the Valley Fire. The blaze erupted on Saturday the 12th of September, 80 kilometres west of California’s state capital, Sacramento. It spread at a ferocious pace and by Sunday night had expanded

The much awaited European plan on refugees

The much awaited European plan on refugees

The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, held his first speech on the State of the Union the 8th of September. He spoke to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, tackling the humanitarian crisis which sees hundreds of thousands of refugees crowding Europe’s southern borders.   In his speech he outlined the Commission’s plan

Hungarian camera operator fired for tripping over and kicking fleeing refugees

Hungarian camera operator fired for tripping over and kicking fleeing refugees

Petra László is the Hungarian camera operator fired by local television channel N1TV for having deliberately tripped over a man, a fleeing refugee, who was holding a child.   Hundreds of refugees were trying to escape the police’s grip near the Hungarian village of Rőszke, close to the border with Serbia, after having remained confined