Merrit Kennedy
Merrit Kennedy is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers a broad range of issues, from the latest developments out of the Middle East to science research news.
Kennedy joined NPR in Washington, D.C., in December 2015, after seven years living and working in Egypt. She started her journalism career at the beginning of the Egyptian uprising in 2011 and chronicled the ousting of two presidents, eight rounds of elections, and numerous major outbreaks of violence for NPR and other news outlets. She has also worked as a reporter and television producer in Cairo for The Associated Press, covering Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan.
She grew up in Los Angeles, the Middle East, and places in between, and holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Stanford University and a master's degree in international human rights law from The American University in Cairo.
-
It's the latest in a series of sweeping abortion restrictions passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures that appear aimed at pushing abortion challenges to the Supreme Court. -
There's a type of spider that can slowly stretch its web taut and then release it, causing the web to catapult forward and entangle unsuspecting prey in its strands. -
The Carter Center said the former president was preparing to go turkey hunting when he fell in his home. It added that he is now "recovering comfortably" after undergoing surgery. -
The building burned for hours on Monday, with smoke billowing into the sky. The cause of the cathedral's blaze was not immediately known, but the initial investigation points to an accident. -
The country has been hobbled by a blackout since Thursday. People wait in long lines for gas and water and increasingly are having difficulty communicating by phone or Internet. -
The retailer, which markets products to young women, says its products are safe and says the test results "show significant errors." Other independent testers also found asbestos in the products. -
The U.K. expelled the residents of the Indian Ocean islands and allowed the U.S. to build a military base. The U.N. Court says it must cede control of the islands "as rapidly as possibly." -
Officials blame "challenges." In Africa's most populous country, President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to hold on to his position, and opposition leader Atiku Abubakar is his fiercest challenger. -
The suspect batch contains more than 12,000 treatments of human immunoglobulin meant to boost patients' weakened immune systems. It's not yet clear if anyone contracted HIV from the product.
-
The transfer is part of a deal between Australia and the U.S., under the Obama administration, in which the U.S. agreed to accept some 1,250 refugees. President Trump has called it a "dumb deal."
