AP biz reporter Batrawy departs for NPR

Aya Batrawy, global economy and mobility reporter at the Associated Press, is leaving the news organization for a position at NPR.

She will be a Middle East correspondent and will start Nov. 7

Didrik Schanche, chief international editor, made the following announcement:

She comes to NPR from The Associated Press, where she has worked as an editor and a reporter for 11 years.

Aya’s love of broadcast news, though, began at the University of South Florida. As an undergraduate, she volunteered at the local NPR affiliate in Tampa Bay, where she grew up. After two subsequent years in Washington, and a master’s from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, she moved to Cairo, producing for Peter Kenyon and Deborah Amos, crisscrossing North Sinai in memorable adventures with both. She also freelanced for Voice of America, Pacifica Radio and PRI’s The World.

Aya joined AP as an editor and reporter 11 years ago in Cairo, covering the Arab Spring uprisings, the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ensuing turmoil that ricocheted across the region.

Based in Dubai since 2013, she has reported on Persian Gulf tensions, led coverage on Islam’s hajj pilgrimage from Mecca and examined efforts by oil producers to diversity their economies away from fossil fuels in a world grappling with climate change.

The weight of her coverage, however, has centered on the rise of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince — his attempts at transforming the kingdom and centralizing power.

More recently, she’s reported on global economic inequalities, inflation and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on food prices. She’s also covered the U.N. General Assembly in New York.