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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The U.S. now believes Ukraine can win, a significant change in thinking, and is rushing in weapons. This raises the risk of widening the conflict, analysts say, and may destabilize the global economy. -
Signaling renewed support for Ukraine, the U.S. says it will slowly return diplomats back to the Ukrainian capital. It also promised new military aid for the besieged country.
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At Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting, the U.S. hoped to get an explanation from Russia of exactly what it was doing regarding Ukraine. But instead, the meeting was full of tense exchanges.
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Since evacuating its Kabul embassy, the U.S. has set up shop in Doha to continue diplomatic work on Afghanistan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he'll thank them in Doha next week.
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U.S. Embassy officials in Afghanistan are in lockdown due to an outbreak of over 100 cases of COVID-19.
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Military hospital ICU resources are at full capacity and the embassy has been forced to "create temporary, on-compound COVID-19 wards," according to a note sent to embassy staff.
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The leaders of U.S., Japan, Australia and India met at a virtual summit today where they announced a major initiative to get 1 billion vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Asia.
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Rancorous debate at the U.N. has led Secretary General António Guterres to say the pandemic has been a test of international cooperation that the world is failing.
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President Trump may be the only world leader in the room at this year's United Nations General Assembly. Others are sending their messages virtually.
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The Trump administration says China poses a risk for its lack of transparency about COVID-19. China says the U.S. is trying to shift blame for the Trump administration's failings.
