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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A day after criticism and chaos for some caused by his executive order temporarily banning Muslims from seven countries, the president took to Twitter Sunday morning to defend himself. -
Secretary of State John Kerry is in Vienna this morning, and Iranian state media are reporting the release of four Iranian-American prisoners. It may be part of a deal with Iran to lift sanctions.
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When the U.S. reopens its embassy in Havana, it will increase its staff. That should mean more help for American businesses hoping to gain a foothold on the Communist island.
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Iran is now receiving about $700 million a month in sanctions relief while talks on its nuclear program carry on. That's raising eyebrows among one group of Americans with a traumatic history in Iran. -
The head of a leading aid group warned the United Nations that the situation in West Africa is desperate. U.N. officials said they're getting help on the ground as quickly as possible. -
President Obama is expected Friday to nominate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as his next secretary of state. Kerry would replace Hillary Clinton, who's planning to leave the post after four years as the president's globetrotting emissary.
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Leading GOP senators vow to block U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice from becoming secretary of state if Obama nominates her and object to how she characterized the attack on the U.N. Consulate in Benghazi. -
On of the last stops on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's latest overseas trip was Tunisia to meet with other world leaders about the bloodshed in Syria. Clinton said the United States and other countries and organizations are trying to facilitate humanitarian aid into Syria.
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Aid groups say they are making progress in delivering food to Somalia. But the need is critical and growing as the death toll continues to mount. -
Part of Somalia affected by famine is controlled by al-Shabaab, a group on the U.S. terrorism blacklist, which places restrictions on U.S. humanitarian groups hoping to reach people in that area. The State Department is negotiating with groups to ease the rules due to the severity of the crisis.
