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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Representatives of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are sounding the alarm about his health, saying he lost 18 pounds and is suffering acute stomach pain. They fear another poisoning.
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Russia is holding two Americans. Russia has yet to give consular access to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich or to agree on a deal to release former Marine Paul Whelan.
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The United Nations has a difficult balancing act in Afghanistan. The humanitarian needs are great. But the Taliban are no longer allowing female Afghan aid workers to deliver assistance.
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Russia detained a U.S. journalist working for The Wall Street Journal, accusing him of espionage. Evan Gershkovich was reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg when he was detained.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicks off a summit to strengthen democracy, hosting an event with Ukraine's president.
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The man who inspired the novel and the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina, was released late Friday evening from prison after the Rwandan government commuted his sentence. -
The ICC has issued warrants for the Russian president and his children's rights commissioner for alleged war crimes involving accusations that Russia has forcibly taken Ukrainian children. -
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Ethiopia in an effort to support the peace process after a brutal two-year civil war.
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China has proposed a 12-point plan to bring about peace in Ukraine. The U.S. says China is "far from an honest broker," because of China's "no limits partnership with Russia."
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Relations between the two countries have collapsed over the Ukraine war, with the U.S. slapping thousands of sanctions on Russia, and militarily, economically and diplomatically supporting Ukraine.
