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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Images of Kurdish militias in control of the streets of the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk are making Turkey nervous. Fearing that Turkish Kurds might now rise up against the government, Turkey again threatens to send troops into northern Iraq. U.S. diplomats are working to keep that from happening. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell says the U.S-led "coalition of the willing" to oust Saddam Hussein has the support of at least 45 nations. But he says a third of them "do not yet wish to be publicly named." NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
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As the U.S., Britain and Spain abandon efforts to win U.N. approval for a new resolution on Iraq, President Bush prepares to address the nation at 8 p.m. ET. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says Bush will issue an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, that the Iraqi leader leave the country or face war. And Secretary of State Powell says the "time for diplomacy has passed." Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara and Michele Kelemen.
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The Bush administration thinks it might have a treasure trove of information about al Qaeda following the Saturday arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He's allegedly the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and a man long sought by the United States. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, and NPR's Melissa Block talks with Tim McGirk who's following the story for Time Magazine.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell tells the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the Iraqi weapons matter will be brought to conclusion "within weeks, one way or another." Meantime, there's skeptical reaction from France and many Muslim countries to Powell's U.N. presentation on Iraq Wednesday. Hear reports from NPR's Michele Kelemen, NPR's Nick Spicer and Khaled Al-Maeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, seeking congressional support for a possible war with Iraq. Powell's testimony comes a day after he presents the U.N. Security Council with a report detailing evidence against Iraq. NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Michele Kelemen.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell provides detailed evidence against Saddam Hussein to the U.N. Security Council and lists ways America says Iraq is continuing to develop weapons and help terrorists. Iraq's U.N. ambassador responds. Hear reports from NPR's Vicky O'Hara and NPR's Michele Kelemen.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell presents U.S. intelligence to the U.N. Security Council, in hopes of persuading members that Iraq is in defiance of U.N. weapons resolutions. NPR's Bob Edwards talks to NPR's Michele Kelemen.
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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he's "confident" in international inspectors who have begun looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In an interview with NPR's Michele Kelemen, Powell says the Bush administration hopes for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq issue but warns that if war does come, the United States and other nations will be ready to "accomplish the mission of disarmament." NPR Online has the complete interview.