Michele Kelemen
Michele Kelemen has been with NPR for two decades, starting as NPR's Moscow bureau chief and now covering the State Department and Washington's diplomatic corps. Her reports can be heard on all NPR News programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
As Diplomatic Correspondent, Kelemen has traveled with Secretaries of State from Colin Powell to Mike Pompeo and everyone in between. She reports on the Trump administration's "America First" foreign policy and before that the Obama and Bush administration's diplomatic agendas. She was part of the NPR team that won the 2007 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of the war in Iraq.
As NPR's Moscow bureau chief, Kelemen chronicled the end of the Yeltsin era and Vladimir Putin's consolidation of power. She recounted the terrible toll of the latest war in Chechnya, while also reporting on a lighter side of Russia, with stories about modern day Russian literature and sports.
Kelemen came to NPR in September 1998, after eight years working for the Voice of America. There, she learned the ropes as a news writer, newscaster and show host.
Michele earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Russian and East European Affairs and International Economics.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to streamline the State Department by eliminating 132 offices and about 700 jobs, including positions focused on promoting democracy and human rights.
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Ukrainian military officers are meeting with American politicians, church leaders and others to dispel what they say are the myths of Russia's war.
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U.S. humanitarian relief teams are usually among the first to respond to major disasters. But Friday's deadly earthquake in Myanmar came as the Trump administration fired USAID's remaining employees.
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The U.S. Institute of Peace, a think tank funded by Congress, was the scene of a hostile takeover by the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has tried to install new leadership at the institute. -
The headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development was closed weeks ago. Now, those who worked there are being allowed to return briefly to pick up their things.
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The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Monday condemning Russian aggression and calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. The U.S. joined Russia in opposing it.
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Marco Rubio is nearing the end of his five-country visit to Latin America — his first as secretary of state — as the administration works to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Aid.
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed rebels have overrun the city of Goma, sparking concerns at the U.N. of a wider regional war.
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When his parents were killed in the Hamas-led on Israel October 7th, 2023, Moaz Inon put aside a successful tourism business career to focus on something else: peaceful co-existence with Palestinians. He has some ideas for the incoming Trump administration, which ignored Palestinians before.
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As horrific details emerge from Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's jails, many question the man who once claimed to champion their cause.
