The central African country of Chad includes what some call the most beautiful, untouched wilderness areas in the continent—Zakouma National Park. The park is one of the last safe refuges for elephants in the continent. Poachers continue to hunt them for their ivory. National Geographic joined with the park’s rangers for a story called "Ivory Wars" and tracked the elephant’s movements, set up cameras throughout the park and documented the deaths of elephants in the area. The story is a perfect example of how creating your own database can add context and depth to reporting. It could ... Read more ...

President Bush has called Iran part of an "axis of evil" and accused it of helping terrorists, meddling in Iraq and trying to develop nuclear weapons. I decided to see whether Bush's tough rhetoric was reflected in the United States’ exports to Iran. Bush has been pressing the United Nations and European Union to impose tougher sanctions on Iran, but he hasn’t pursued stronger U.S.-only limits on trade. I analyzed U.S. trade data from Bush’s first seven years in office and found that exports to Iran grew more than tenfold. In addition to the ...

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