Roula Khalaf becomes first woman editor at Financial Times

LONDON: The Financial Times on Tuesday announced that its deputy editor, Roula Khalaf, would take over as the newspaper's editor next year, the first woman to hold the post.

She succeeds Lionel Barber, who will step down after almost 15 years in the top job.

Khalaf joined the FT in 1995 as North Africa correspondent and went on to lead the paper's coverage of the Arab Spring, which started in 2011, before becoming foreign editor.

Terming it "a privilege", she said: "I'm thrilled to be leading the most talented newsroom through the next chapter of FT excellence."