“Shaped like Texas, but twice as big, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. It exports almost nothing - mostly just cotton, gold and livestock - and doesn't have enough money to import much of anything, either.”

American journalist and author

Richard Engel is an American journalist and author, best known as the chief foreign correspondent for NBC News. He was appointed to that role in 2008, after working as the network’s Middle East correspondent and Beirut bureau chief. Before joining NBC in 2003, Engel covered the opening of the Iraq War for ABC News as a freelance reporter based in Baghdad. His work has focused on international reporting, especially the Middle East and major conflict zones.