Jackie Northam
Jackie Northam is NPR's International Affairs Correspondent. She is a veteran journalist who has spent four 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 traveled across Saudi Arabia to cover the rise of the Kingdom’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. She was in Pakistan in 2021 to report on the Taliban retaking control of Afghanistan and the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country.
Northam’s work has taken her to many conflict zones around the world. She has traveled repeatedly to the Middle East to cover wars between Israel and Hamas or Hezbollah. She 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, such as 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 and quickly became its 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 U.S. efforts to sanction Russia and counter China's rising power. Northam has received multiple awards for her reporting over the years.
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. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
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Famine has been officially declared in northern Gaza, a U.N.-backed group warns — marking the first such confirmation in the Middle East. -
Germany, France and the United Kingdom hold talks with Iran in Istanbul Friday, just days after the three European nations warned they would reimpose stiff sanctions on Tehran. -
After the 12-day war in June, the issue of who will succeed Iran's longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has become more urgent. -
President Trump has announced that an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout will be held on the grounds of the White House next year, one of many events to be held to celebrate America's 250th birthday. -
Russian missiles and drones hammered Kyiv in an overnight attack, the largest aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital since the war began more than three years ago. -
President Trump warned that a "massive" war could break out in the Middle East over Iran's nuclear program, after the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Iran wasn't complying with its nonproliferation duties. -
The king's visit is being seen in Canada as an opportunity for the nation to bolster its sovereignty amid threats by President Trump to turn the United States' northern neighbor into the 51st state. -
Trump's remarks were a rare rebuke of the Russian president and followed a storm of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities on Sunday evening. -
Mark Carney wins Canada's election, seizing on strong public sentiment against President Trump. But it's still not clear if his Liberal Party has won an outright majority in Parliament. -
Canada's snap election has been dominated by one politician — who's not even in the race: President Trump.
