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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The Trump Administration stopped admitting refugees and created a new program for white South Africans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers this week that they "assimilate" more easily.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is making the rounds on Capitol Hill for budget hearings, facing questions about how the war in Iran will end and when gas prices for Americans might return to normal.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Cuba needs systemic reforms. But the administration is talking to Cuban officials like ex-leader Raul Castro's grandson.
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President Trump is pushing Saudi Arabia and Qatar to normalize relations with Israel, as part of an end to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Experts call that unrealistic.