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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Amid intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are in full force this weekend. The United States and France put forward a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an end to the fighting and for U.N. peacekeepers to patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.
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Just more than a year ago, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) stood in the way of controversial U.N. ambassador pick John Bolton. The Bush administration worked around Senate opposition by giving Bolton a recess appointment to the job. Now Bolton is back up for Senate confirmation.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki meets with President Bush at the White House. They are expected to discuss the ongoing crisis in Lebanon, and the continuing sectarian violence in Iraq.
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The United Nations Security Council meets in a closed session to discuss implications of North Korea's testing of ballistic missiles in the past 24 hours. The United States has denounced North Korea's moves as provocation.
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The United States and five other world powers approve a package of incentives and penalties aimed at persuading Iran to curb its nuclear program. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finalized the deal with the foreign ministers of Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain late Thursday at meetings in Vienna.
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The Bush administration is shifting gears on its policy with Iran. The United States now says it will hold face-to-face talks with Iranian and European officials if Iran suspends nuclear activities suspected of being part of a weapons program. President Bush says he wants to take a leadership role in resolving the issue.
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Ehud Olmert, Israel's new prime minister, addresses the U.S. Congress, one day after meeting with President Bush. Olmert plans to lay out his vision for a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians. Mr. Bush called the plan "bold."
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Ehud Olmert, Israel's new prime minister, meets President Bush at the White House. Olmert is seeking support for his plan to make more unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank. He has said he intends to set Israel's final borders by 2010.
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The U.S., EU, Russia and the U.N. have agreed on a deal to create a trust fund for the Palestinian Authority. The authority is in the midst of a deepening financial crisis created when Hamas was voted into power, prompting Western donors to end their support for the government. The four powers now hope to get aid directly to the Palestinian people.
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A letter from Iran's president to President Bush overshadows Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's meetings in New York with senior diplomats from France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China. Rice dismissed the letter as a diversionary tactic.