Alexandra Sandels joined the Times' Beirut bureau in 2009. She has worked as a journalist in the Middle East since 2006 for Western and Arab media outlets. She has reported from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Iran and Turkey. She received a Bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Southern California in 2005, and once took part in a semester-long community outreach program teaching international relations to high school students in south central Los Angeles. The Stockholm, Sweden native speaks fluent Swedish, Arabic and French.