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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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. -
Pakistan's outgoing President Pervez Musharraf was a close U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida. But critics say the Bush administration relied on him too much, and that he didn't do enough to rein in the Taliban. With Musharraf out, Pakistan is expected to concentrate on preventing extremism inside Pakistan rather than across the border.
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to visit the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, this week in an effort to resolve the Russia-Georgia conflict. On Thursday, Rice meets with France's president, who has taken the diplomatic lead in dealing with the conflict.
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The Bush administration is taking steps toward rebuilding relations with a country it once said was part of an "axis of evil." President Bush announced Thursday that the United States is lifting some trade sanctions against North Korea and removing it from a list of countries that the U.S. considers state sponsors of terrorism.
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Aid groups and donor countries are mobilizing to get assistance to the survivors of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar. The United Nations says hundreds of thousand people are in need of help. Getting visas and travel permission from the government of Myanmar is still a problem. The U.S. is among those trying to get in. -
The Bush administration says it expects to work with the government formed in Pakistan after Monday's elections. Critics of U.S. policy on Pakistan say the election could provide an opportunity to stop relying on President Pervez Musharraf.
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President Bush, wrapping up a visit to the Middle East to promote peace in the region, got a boost Wednesday on his last stop in Egypt. Top Arab ally President Hosni Mubarak said he would work closely with the U.S. on a deal to create a Palestinian state.
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President Bush is in the United Arab Emirates and heads next to Saudi Arabia. Both states are allies of the U.S., but that comes with some caveats. Part of the trip is aimed at reenergizing Mideast peace talks and keeping pressure on Iran.
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President Bush travels to the countries of U.S. Persian Gulf allies — Bahrain and Kuwait — where he visits military personnel and gets an update on the war in Iraq from Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. He is due to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
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The future of Kosovo again tops the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. The U.N. has been running the region ever since NATO helped end a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanians there eight years ago. But Kosovo's Albanians are planning to declare independence, a move resisted by Serbia.
