New book on journalism and AI pushed me to reflect on 2 years of AI-assisted reporting. Writing with AI means heavier ethics, not lighter. Every story still starts with a person willing to talk to me, and lands in front of one too ruudelmendorp.substack.com/p/journalism...

Safari for the masses. Twenty vehicles around one lion still gets under my skin. My latest for De Telegraaf: Uber sells safaris in Nairobi, tourism funds a huge slice of Kenya's economy. Tourists turn their backs to lions for selfies, front camera on. Real magic starts where convoys don't reach.

2001, South Sudan. On a blackboard in an abandoned school in Rumbek: "We have no animals left, they were all eaten because there is no food." Last week UNESCO made that landscape World Heritage. Six million antelope. Who protects 11m hectares in a country at war? Today in De Telegraaf.

A monkey nobody had ever seen was just found in a Congolese forest with no roads. It lives in 1,700 km² and nowhere else. We can see 13 billion years into space, but we've seen less than 0.001% of our own deep ocean. Finding an exoplanet costs us nothing. This monkey we can lose.

Verified! open.substack.com/pub/ruudelme... #substack #verification #bluetick #bluesky

The Tools Change the Story My take on how AI and social media not only change the news, but also the journalists open.substack.com/pub/ruudelme...

My amazing and conflicting visit of the mourning of the late Ayatolla Ali Khamenei ruudelmendorp.substack.com/p/the-only-j...

In the Netherlands and other Western countries, electric driving is a debate. In Kenya, riders just ride. E-motorbikes are booming, not for the climate but for the wallet: fuel €7 per 160 km, batteries €1.40. And the grid? 93% renewable. My story in today's De Telegraaf 🇳🇱

Reflections after a weekend trip filming Tik Tok open.substack.com/pub/ruudelme... #shoppingmalls #Kenya #substack

My next story, please have fun and share: open.substack.com/pub/ruudelme...

Stories that wander from daily musings to geopolitics, all driven by a quiet fascination with the beautifully complex world we inhabit. Read them here substack.com/@ruudelmendorp

Russia’s footprint in the Central African Republic looks different depending on where you stand. In Bangui, it shows up in Cyrillic signs and cultural outreach. Around the gold mines, it becomes military and extractive. Here my latest story in De Telegraaf #russia #CAR #CentralAfricanRepublic

How China is reshaping Nairobi. From pagoda-style toll gates that greet you as you leave the airport to Chinese signage, menus, and entire streets in Nairobi, China’s presence is no longer just built, it’s lived. In my latest piece, I look at how that shift is unfolding on the ground

From a conflict zone in Somalia straight to the dinner table at home, it doesn’t work. A rare moment where I truly felt the gap between worlds, and realised: you need to decompress somewhere before you can really arrive. Here is my column in De Telegraaf.

In South Africa, migrants are becoming the face of growing anger, facing intimidation and violence. Watching this as a Dutch journalist, it’s hard not to think of the Dutch migration debate. Different context, yes. But the same risk: when rhetoric hardens, reality can follow.

Colombian mercenaries fighting in Darfur appear to have been trained on UAE soil, according to Human Rights Watch. Activists say a red line has been crossed — and are calling on governments and the NBA to rethink ties with the Emirates.

Ebola is spreading from DR Congo into neighbouring countries, but the real driver may be mistrust, not medicine. Why is this outbreak getting so much attention now? Here is my analysis in De Telegraaf.

eSwatini is the last country in Africa that still recognizes Taiwan. No Chinese billions, no megaprojects—yet it survives. Like the Asterix village holding out against an empire, this story looks beyond the obvious and asks whether following the world’s rules is the only way forward.

Every trip leaves an impression, but this one stands out. Puntland, amid a massive prolonged drought. An ancient land of camels, frankincense and the fabled Land of Punt, now facing a quiet, largely unseen tragedy, worsened by international funding cuts. My first article is out. More to come.

I’ve been reporting on Sudan since 2001, including Darfur. What haunts me most after three years of war is not only today’s violence, but how past atrocities fade without memory or accountability, making genocide feel new again. My story in De Telegraaf

I don’t usually write about nature — I write about conflict. But when a rare gorilla twin is born in the middle of a conflict zone in eastern DRC, the story becomes impossible to ignore. New life in the shadow of instability. Article just out in De Telegraaf

Something I never imagined when starting out on Tik Tok, but now forming a Content Gang to create stories across Kenya and Africa

The Americans are back in the Sahel. Not because In my new piece, I break down why

South Sudan hurts to write about. I lived there in 2001 during the war, watched the peace deal being signed in 2005. Now I'm reporting again on a security crisis inside an independent South Sudan. The child soldiers I met back then are adults with families, yet the war never really left

For many Africans applying for visas to Europe, it’s a maze with almost no exits. When the legal path disappears into refusals, some end up on boats across the Mediterranean, with tragic consequences. My column looks at what it says about who gets to move freely in the world #visa #migration #Africa

Africa’s wars are going airborne. Iran’s Shahed drones—famous from Ukraine—now show up in Sudan and Ethiopia, while cheap consumer drones are hacked into flying weapons. Experts say there’s no battlefield left without the ominous buzz of drones: no rules, no limits, and a growing sky full of danger.

After decades on the road, hotels were always my default. Business travellers choosing apartments never made sense to me. Until an accidental stay showed how an apartment moves at your own rhythm and quietly boosts creativity. Travel isn’t just distance; it’s self‑discovery.

At the Iranian Embassy in Nairobi, Ambassador Ali Gholampour calls Iran’s regional strikes legitimate self‑defence and criticises governments that stayed silent on the earlier US and Israeli attack. Kenya condemns Iran’s retaliation but not the initial strike #Iran #Iranwar #Kenya

Here is my heartbreaking story in De Telegraaf about parents and siblings of Kenyans who were lured into the Russian army and then forced to the frontline in Ukraine. Many odf these young men are reported missing or dead, while their pictures in combat uniform appear online #Kenya #Russia #Ukraine

Barely a week after the UN warned of “hallmarks of genocide” in Darfur, RSF commander Hemedti shows up on a state visit to Museveni in Kampala — and Uganda isn’t the only country warming to him. Once again, trade and geopolitics trump a humanitarian disaster.