Jackie Northam
Jackie Northam is NPR's International Affairs Correspondent. She is a veteran journalist who has spent three decades reporting on conflict, politics, 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 collapse of communism, covered the first Gulf War from Saudi Arabia, counter-terrorism efforts in Pakistan, and reported from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
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 put a human face on her reporting, whether it be the courage of villagers walking miles to cast their vote in an Afghan election despite death threats from militants, or the face of a rescue worker as he desperately listens for any sound of life beneath the rubble of a collapsed elementary school in Haiti.
Northam joined NPR in 2000 as National Security Correspondent, covering US defense and intelligence policies. She led the network's coverage of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal and the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Her present beat focuses on the complex relationship between international business and geopolitics, including how the lifting of nuclear sanctions has opened Iran for business, the impact of China's efforts to buy up businesses and real estate around the world, and whether President Trump's overseas business interests are affecting US policy.
Northam has received multiple journalism awards during her career, including Associated Press awards and regional Edward R. Murrow awards, and was part of an NPR team of journalists who won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for "The DNA Files," a series about the science of genetics.
A native of 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.
-
An agreement for Canada to sell light armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia continues to stir debate.
-
Chinese immigrants and investors have bought businesses and property, made philanthropic contributions and supported the arts. But some Vancouver residents feel priced out of the real estate market.
-
NPR's Jackie Northam describes what it was like recently sitting across a courtroom from a man accused of atrocities in Rwanda, 25 years after she covered the genocide.
-
Canada is under pressure from the two rival powers over the Meng Wanzhou extradition case.
-
The summit marks a test of how far world leaders will seek to distance themselves from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
-
The Trump administration hopes the sanctions will force Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal. But analysts point out there are overt and covert activities to avoid the penalties.
-
"The Chinese figured out that technology is the key to wealth and power, and the source of technology is still the West for China," says one China and tech watcher.
-
Container giant Maersk will send one of its ships through the Arctic on the Northern Sea Route to test its feasibility as a new, time-saving shipping lane.
-
President Trump has railed against Canada when it comes to trade. A particular point of criticism is the dairy industry. Canada slaps steep tariffs on imports of milk, cheese and butter from the U.S.
-
Among the items targeted in retaliatory tariffs: ketchup, powerboats, dishwashing liquid, steel and aluminum. And gherkins. Canadian businesses have flooded a Canadian pickle business with new orders.