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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There might be an end soon to the fighting between Israel and Hamas. After 11 days of airstrikes, Israel says it is willing to cease-fire, and Hamas officials have already been saying they would.
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While pressure builds for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, strikes from both sides continue and the death toll mounts. Pressure builds on President Biden to get more involved.
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The battle between Israel and Hamas shows little sign of letting up. Militant rocket fire into Israel continues as do Israeli air strikes.
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Trouble keeps mounting for the massive ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal. Egypt has seized the Ever Given, its thousands of containers and the crew while demanding $1 billion in compensation.
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The U.S is withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan to focus on more urgent foreign policy priorities.
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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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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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The Biden administration is weighing whether to continue former President Trump's hard line against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. It's part of the broader review of China-related policies.
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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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In Egypt, a ship the length of four football fields has run aground in the Suez Canal — backing up cargo and oil tanker traffic on one of the world's busiest routes.