Abid Hussain

Originally from Karachi and now based in Islamabad, Pakistan, he writes news, features and explainers covering politics, foreign policy and security issues, human rights, religious persecution, disinformation, the economy, media freedom, climate change, sports and culture. He also covers Afghanistan and the wider region. Abid previously worked at the now closed monthly investigative magazine, Herald, based in Karachi, and spent six years reporting for the BBC in Pakistan. Abid has broken a number of important stories including his investigative report on Pakistan's new Internet Firewall for Al Jazeera in November 2024. He delivered the “Bangladesh at 50” project for BBC Urdu’s online platform in 2021, marking Bangladesh's 50th independence anniversary. He won the Human Rights Press Award (multimedia category) from Human Rights Watch for his long-form story on the migrants from Pakistan who were aboard the trawler Adriana which sank in June 2023. He also won the data journalism award from the Centre for Excellence in Journalism, Karachi, for his coverage of the COVID-19 global pandemic for the BBC in 2021.