Kate Thomas

About Kate Thomas

Kate Thomas is a foreign news reporter for the Independent, paying special attention to humanitarian and development stories. She has reported from West Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. Kate has previously worked in the NGO sector in Thailand, Cambodia and the UK, and regularly contributes to travel supplements and guidebooks on developing countries.

Hands up... if you want new gloves

There are already competitions to win everything on Earth. From Make Me a Supermodel to The Apprentice and Grease Is the Word, the shows spur on young hopefuls, leaving behind more traditional methods of signing the face of a new advertising...
Date Posted: February 07, 2008

The original high-flier

Spreading its vast wings wide, the pterodactyl catches the breeze and takes to the air. On the back of a fierce spring wind, it soars above grassy verges and muddy streams, gliding in and out of pockets of tall deciduous trees.
Date Posted: February 07, 2008

The big switch-off

In the Nineties, when light bulb jokes were still funny, Australians used to tell one about the English. "How many Englishmen does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer: "What do you mean change it?
Date Posted: February 07, 2008

Troubled waters

Lundy Island, a granite outpost off the coast of north Devon, is one of Britain's great green success stories. Measuring just three- and-a-half miles long, it marks the spot where the Bristol Channel meets the white horses of the Atlantic...
Date Posted: February 07, 2008

Travel. With my feet on the ground

Orson Welles once said that there are only two emotions on a plane: boredom and terror. He was wrong. Ten hours into a 22-hour flight to Australia, I was feeling a third: frustration.
Date Posted: February 05, 2008

With my feet on the ground

Orson Welles once said that there are only two emotions on a plane: boredom and terror. He was wrong. Ten hours into a 22-hour flight to Australia, I was feeling a third: frustration.
Date Posted: February 05, 2008

'Sometimes, youwonderif peace is worthwhile'

Leaning back in a chair in his office, Dr Walter T Gwenigale looks tired. Liberia's Health Minister was out late on Saturday. "The theatre," he explains.
Date Posted: February 01, 2008

Eastern Congo drc: Looks like heaven, feels like hell

The government official spun around in his chair, kicked an empty beer bottle with his heel and stared out of the window. "North Kivu looks like heaven," he said. I agreed.
Date Posted: January 29, 2008

Eastern Congo: Looks like heaven, feels like hell

The government official spun around in his chair, kicked an empty beer bottle with his heel and stared out of the window. "North Kivu looks like heaven," he said. I agreed.
Date Posted: January 28, 2008