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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Hamas has released a video of one of the Americans held hostage in Gaza, the first such move since the October 7 attack.
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China has told the world that that it is neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war, and that it is not providing weapons to Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected visit to Beijing this month.
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UN human rights experts say there are credible allegations that Ukrainian POWs have been tortured by Russian forces. Family members of some spoke to NPR about these cases.
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Lithuania's foreign minister visited Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. this week to make a pitch to the divided electorate in the U.S. that Europe needs American support to win the war in Ukraine.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel trying to push for a new hostage deal that he hopes could lead to an end to the war in Gaza. Hamas has responded to the latest proposal on the table.
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U.N. Security Council proposals to call for a Gaza ceasefire or put the U.N. in charge of aid inspections were weakened to try to win support from the U.S., which backs Israel's fight against Hamas.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken insists U.S. support for Israel has not left it isolated, despite anger over Israel's offensive in Gaza. It's just one of the crises he's looking at as the year ends.
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Israel wants the United Nations and international community to do more about its evidence of sexual violence by militants in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
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The State Department announces visa bans for Israeli settlers who've recently attacked Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians who've attacked Israelis would also be subject to the bans.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel in an effort to further extend the ceasefire and secure the release of more hostages.