James Reynolds was born in 1974 in Kingston-upon-Thames.

He was brought up in New York, Brussels and Jerusalem. He read French & Spanish at Cambridge University and graduated with a first class degree in 1996.

During his time at university he presented a half hour programme for Radio 4's "Tales from the Back of Beyond" series, based on an expedition he made to a Tibetan refugee camp in northern India. Shortly after graduating from Cambridge he joined the BBC as a Regional News Trainee, and worked in the Nottingham newsroom for a year.

In 1998 James was appointed BBC South America Correspondent, based in Santiago, Chile. He spent the next three years covering the news across the region - including earthquakes, floods, coups, and revolutions.

In 2000 he was nominated for the Royal Television Society's Young Journalist of the Year award.

In April 2001 James returned to Britain to join News 24 as a reporter.

In July 2001 he will move to Jerusalem to begin work as one of the BBC's Middle East Correspondents.