Anchors & Reporters
Zain Verjee

Zain Verjee anchors CNN International’s ‘World One’ airing at 1000 GMT weekdays, and is based in the network’s London bureau. She is widely recognised for her work as a journalist, anchor and interviewer.

Since joining the network in 2000 Verjee has become synonymous with the CNN brand. She has helmed coverage across many of the major news events of recent times – from the September 11 attacks and the Arab Spring to the Royal Wedding and the 2012 London Olympics. She was also the presenter of special monthly feature programme, ‘i-List’ which visited countries around the world, highlighting innovation in business, industry and culture.

During her time at CNN Verjee has interviewed some of the most important and influential figures from the worlds of international politics including Pakistan’s late former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto and fomer Iranian president Mohammed Khatami.

Prior to her assignment to the London bureau, Verjee was a presenter on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer in Washington, DC, reporting on American foreign policy. During this period she travelled with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to more than a dozen countries, including Israel, Turkey and Libya. She has also broadcast from the Demilitarized Zone in Korea and has covered the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca several times.

Verjee is a native of Kenya where she began her television broadcasting career anchoring the news for the Kenya Television Network. She also hosted The Third Opinion, a political talk show, and freelanced for the BBC, producing several programs for the ‘African Perspectives’ program after the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa. Her first break in the media came at Nairobi radio station Capital FM radio in Nairobi where she was a traffic news reporter and show host.

In January 2008, Verjee returned to Kenya to cover the post-election violence there. She spent several weeks reporting on the political and personal stories, as well as the international community's response to the sudden hostilities.

Verjee speaks Gujarati, Kiswahili and conversational French and is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal and York University in Toronto. She is also the author of a children’s book, ‘Live and On the Air’. Verjee is currently pursuing masters of studies in creative writing at Oxford University.

Follow Zain on Twitter

@zainverjeecnn

And on Facebook

www.facebook.com/zaincnn

 

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