Jackie Northam
Jackie Northam is NPR's International Affairs Correspondent. She is a veteran journalist who has spent three decades reporting on conflict, geopolitics, and life across the globe - from the mountains of Afghanistan and the desert sands of Saudi Arabia, to the gritty prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and the pristine beauty of the Arctic.
Northam spent more than a dozen years as an international correspondent living in London, Budapest, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Nairobi. She charted the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, reported from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and the rise of Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. She was in Islamabad to cover the Taliban recapturing Afghanistan
Her work has taken her to conflict zones around the world. Northam covered the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, arriving in the country just four days after Hutu extremists began slaughtering ethnic Tutsis. In Afghanistan, she accompanied Green Berets on a precarious mission to take a Taliban base. In Cambodia, she reported from Khmer Rouge strongholds.
Throughout her career, Northam has revealed the human experience behind the headlines, from the courage of Afghan villagers defying militant death threats to cast their vote in a national election, or exhausted rescue workers desperately searching for survivors following a massive earthquake in Haiti.
Northam joined NPR in 2000 as National Security Correspondent, covering defense and intelligence policies at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She led the network's coverage of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal and the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Her present beat focuses on the complex relationship between geopolitics and the global economy, including efforts to counter China's rising power.
Northam has received multiple journalism awards, including Associated Press and Edward R. Murrow awards, and was part of the NPR team that won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for "The DNA Files," a series about the science of genetics.
Originally from Canada, Northam spends her time off crewing in the summer, on the ski hills in the winter, and on long walks year-round with her beloved beagle, Tara.
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Citing President Biden's speech to Congress, North Korea says the United States will face a grave situation if it continues to pursue its "hostile policy" toward the country's nuclear program. -
Officials in the Biden administration are preparing to issue wide-ranging sanctions against Russia in retaliation for the massive cyber breach discovered late last year.
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More than 100 ships of similar size to the Ever Given ply the world's waterways, creating logistical challenges and concerns about mishaps — including "spectacular losses of cargo," one analyst says. -
Giant ships are loaded down with cargo, mostly consumer goods during the pandemic, which is causing concern about more mishaps like the one in the Suez Canal, and containers going overboard.
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A massive container ship that has blocked the Suez Canal for six days has been partially freed. Traffic has not yet resumed in the canal, which is among the world's most important waterways.
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If one of the world's largest container ships had remained solidly lodged in the Suez Canal for much longer, it could have had far-reaching implications. -
Trials in China for two Canadians charged with espionage are seen as retaliation after Canada arrested a Chinese executive at request of the U.S. Washington wants that exec extradited to the U.S.
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President Biden wants to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal that his predecessor pulled out of. It's at a standstill, but analysts say the Biden administration can make gestures to bring Iran to the table. -
By releasing intelligence tying Saudi Arabia's crown prince to the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Biden is toughening U.S. posture toward the kingdom.
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An investigation is underway to determine what caused a small Nigerian air force passenger plane to crash near the nation's capital on Sunday, killing all seven people on board.
