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.
-
Required by Congress, the reports no longer single out things like rigged elections or sexual violence against children as human rights violations.
-
Congress has approved a rescission package that claws back about a billion dollars intended for the United Nations — affecting peacekeeping missions, UNICEF, and more.
-
The State Department is slashing hundreds of jobs in what's being called its biggest shake-up in decades — drawing sharp criticism from former diplomats who say the cuts risk gutting America's diplomatic muscle. -
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had some testy exchanges with Democrats in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He defended big cuts and the Trump administration's decision to dismantle USAID.
-
Workers who served in the U.S. Agency for International Development were allowed a final and brief visit back to their offices to clear out their belongings on Thursday. -
Marco Rubio heads to Latin America on his first trip as secretary of state, including Panama, where President Trump wants control of the canal. -
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. -
President-elect Biden's promise of a firm response to the latest hacking attack attributed to Russia signals a much tougher assessment of Vladimir Putin than President Trump's deferential attitude.
-
Mike Pompeo's critics see his trip to Georgia, less than a month before key Senate runoff races, as another example of the secretary of state breaking norms by getting involved in domestic politics. -
The new rules reduce the maximum validity of U.S. business and tourist visas held by party members and their families from 10 years to one month. China calls the action part of a "Cold War mentality."
