Lukwesa Burak

Burak was born in Ndola, Zambia, and is named after her royal tribal family.{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=1327710112664915968 |date=14 November 2020 |title=@townboyworld @soulofto Ndola born x |language=en |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306235403/https://twitter.com/lukwesaburak/status/1327710112664915968 |archive-date=6 March 2022 |url-status=live}} Her father is of Zambian and Greek heritage, her mother of Zimbabwean and Portuguese heritage and her stepfather is Polish.{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=1358401585852866561 |date=7 February 2021 |title=@DavieWasili3 @africaupdates Zambia ... with a twist Father: Zambian/Greek Mother: Zimbabwean/Portuguese StepDad: Polish |language=en |access-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207130635/https://twitter.com/LukwesaBurak/status/1358401585852866561 |archive-date=7 February 2021 |url-status=live}} She enjoyed animals and had a spider collection. After a boat capsized on a fishing trip with her father on the Zambezi river, she was hospitalised for four weeks, having caught malaria.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/eastmidlandstoday/profiles/lukwesaburak.shtml|title=Lukwesa Burak|publisher=BBC East Midlands Today|accessdate=3 December 2008}}

Burak spent her early childhood in Triangle, Zimbabwe,{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=1370003425979686920 |date=11 March 2021 |title=@Oviat Yes, we used to live in the sugar cane town...Triangle -- Zimbabwe's 'Sugar Capital'. |language=en |access-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515220242/https://twitter.com/LukwesaBurak/status/1370003425979686920 |archive-date=15 May 2022 |url-status=live}} where she attended Murray MacDougall Junior School,{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=443201643430281216 |date=11 March 2014 |title=Looking for my former classmates at Murray MacDougall Junior School, Triangle Zimbabwe.... http://t.co/QpBLjZjYxc |language=en |access-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515220239/https://twitter.com/LukwesaBurak/status/443201643430281216 |archive-date=15 May 2022 |url-status=live}} before she moved to England when she was eight years old and lived in Guiseley,{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=1474582201253732352 |date=25 December 2021 |title=@autoplay4 @DavidLloydRADIO @BBCNews Used to live in Guiseley… went to school in Menston… 😉 |language=en |access-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230093054/https://twitter.com/lukwesaburak/status/1474582201253732352 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |url-status=live}} West Yorkshire and attended Menston Primary School and St Mary's Catholic High School in Menston.{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=342781597583564800 |date=6 June 2013 |title=Nice to see my old school #StMarysSchool, #Menston. Shame about the circumstances. Happy happy memories of #Yorkshire |language=en |access-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230174844/https://twitter.com/lukwesaburak/status/342781597583564800 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=BBC - East Midlands Today - Presenter Profiles - Lukewsa Burak |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/eastmidlandstoday/profiles/lukwesaburak.shtml |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=1289539160626343936 |date=1 August 2020 |title=@janemerrick23 Does the Guiseley to Menston school walk (via the original Harry Ramsden's before the sale) every day count? |language=en |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801123126/https://twitter.com/LukwesaBurak/status/1289539160626343936 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |url-status=live}}{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=1362525662611976193 |date=18 February 2021 |title=@emmajosmith It's just heartbreaking! As a youngster at St. Mary's, Menston I would spend lunch breaks at a 'Special School' . The people I spent my time with were so gentle. They had no voice and yet had so much to say. It haunts me! |language=en |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218221355/https://twitter.com/LukwesaBurak/status/1362525662611976193 |archive-date=18 February 2021 |url-status=live}} She had an interest in flying, so joined the Royal Air Force Air Training Corps, but had to leave after injuring her leg during a game of football. She gained a bachelor's degree in Geography and European Studies at the University of Sussex, when she spent a year in Switzerland and learned to speak French. She was then awarded a European Union scholarship to complete a Master of Science degree at the University of Leicester.

After three years in an information technology career, Burak started her media career as a broadcast assistant for BBC Weather, and trained as a broadcast meteorologist during this time.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/bbcweather/forecasters/lukwesaburak.shtml|title=Lukwesa Burak|publisher=BBC Weather Centre|accessdate=3 December 2008}} She began broadcasting as a relief forecaster for BBC regions and nations, eventually joining BBC East Midlands as one of their permanent forecast team, before becoming the lunchtime news anchor.

Burak moved to Sky News in 2006. Her main role involved presenting Sky News overnight, with her typical shift starting at midnight ending at 06:00. During this time she presented Sky News on the Hour from 01:00 to 03:00 and then Sky World News from 03:00 to 06:00, which caters for audiences within Europe, Asia and Africa.{{cite web|url=http://www.skypressoffice.co.uk/SkyNews/AboutUs/biography.asp?id=166|title=Bio – Lukwesa Burak|publisher=Sky News|accessdate=3 December 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916101401/http://www.skypressoffice.co.uk/SkyNews/AboutUs/biography.asp?id=166|archivedate=16 September 2008|df=dmy-all}} She left Sky News in 2012, but returned in 2013.

In August 2012, Burak joined eNCA (eNews Channel Africa), based in South Africa. She said that she had to relocate to South Africa as her husband had been offered a new job there, but that she was very much looking forward to the opportunity to join the channel's Africa Edition team and to have the opportunity to conduct live interviews rather than dealing with predominantly pre-recorded material. But of her former employers, Sky News, she said: "Sky is an experience I would recommend to anybody. When you are working at that level in the industry, you could not ask for anything else." Burak rejoined Sky News in 2013 before departing once more in June 2015. She joined the team of Al Jazeera English in Doha.

In May 2016 Burak returned to BBC News, joining BBC East Midlands and BBC World News. She began presenting on the BBC News Channel on 13 August 2016. In September Burak became the main presenter of Inside Out East Midlands and the relaunched England edition, which is a weekly round-up of the three best reports from across the country.

Burak went on to anchor the BBC World News channel in London.

Burak was portrayed on the cover of Issue 2 of UK Zambians' Lifestyle Magazine in the summer of 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://ukzambians.co.uk/magazine/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311081846/http://www.ukzambians.co.uk/magazine/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2008|title=Extra News {{!}} Wordpress Theme|work=UK Zambians|access-date=2 April 2019}} She was also appointed patron of the charity All Star Kids (1079911) at the start of December 2008. She is an ambassador for Malaria No More UK, as a result of her own personal experiences as a child. Since January 2011, she has been the director of hair products company Gidore which she founded.{{cite web|url=http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/lukwesa-burak/29/238/683|title= Lukwesa Burak|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121130013552/http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/lukwesa-burak/29/238/683 |archivedate=30 November 2012|work= LinkedIn}}Hazelann Williams, [http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/hair-today-gone-tomorrow "'Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!'"], The Voice, 11 March 2012[http://www.thenaturallounge.com/interview-with-lukwesa-burak-sky-news-presenter-and-founder-of-gidore/ "Interview with Lukwesa Burak – Sky News presenter and founder of Gidore"], The Natural Lounge, 22 December 2011 {{Dead link|date=July 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}

Burak is married with two children.{{Cite web |title=Lukwesa Burak, Geographical Information Systems MSc, 1998 |url=https://le.ac.uk/alumni/stay-connected/through-the-ages/90s-alumni/lukwesa-barak |access-date=2023-04-28 |website=le.ac.uk |language=en}} She lives in the village of Braybrooke, Northamptonshire.{{cite tweet |last=Burak |first=Lukwesa |author-link=Lukwesa Burak |user=LukwesaBurak |number=744587325942816769 |date=19 June 2016 |title=Lovely to see cyclists whooshing through our little village. I think Braybrooke Hill broke some competitors ! #avivawomenstour #AvivaWT2016 |language=en |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507104121/https://twitter.com/lukwesaburak/status/744587325942816769 |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-status=live}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130423134014/http://lukwesaburak.com/ Lukwesa Burak Official Website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080916101401/http://www.skypressoffice.co.uk/SkyNews/AboutUs/biography.asp?id=166 Lukwesa Burak] at Sky News
• [https://www.tvnewsroom.co.uk/q-and-a/qa-lukwesa-burak-2558/ Q&A with tvnewsroom.co.uk]

{{Al Jazeera English personalities}}

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Category:1970s births

Category:Living people

Category:Zambian emigrants to the United Kingdom

Category:Alumni of the University of Sussex

Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester

Category:Black British television personalities

Category:English meteorologists

Category:English people of Greek descent

Category:English people of Portuguese descent

Category:English people of Zambian descent

Category:English people of Zimbabwean descent

Category:BBC weather forecasters

Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists

Category:BBC World News

Category:Al Jazeera people

Category:Sky News newsreaders and journalists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)