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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In a statement, the State Department said all the "wrongfully detained" Americans in China are now home. -
In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, writing about the war in Ukraine, the church or LGBTQ+ life could land you in jail. A new organization helps authors publish books in Russian they couldn't back home. -
The State Department urged Israel to move quickly to investigate the death of a U.S. woman during a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank last week. Eyewitnesses said she was shot in the head by Israeli forces policing the protest. Israeli authorities have said they are investigating the incident. -
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza as soon as possible.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying to get a cease-fire agreement for Gaza “across the finish line.” It has been on the table for months, and many are skeptical a deal can be reached.
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Back in May, President Biden outlined a plan to end the war in Gaza. Now, his administration is trying to get it across the finish line.
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In Nigeria, an American man is caught up in a dispute between the government and the crypto currency exchange Binance. Some lawmakers say that Nigeria is effectively holding him hostage.
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American Reporter Evan Gershkovich was among the more than 20 prisoners exchanged by Russia, the U.S. and European countries.
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The Wall Street Journal reporter and the former U.S. Marine have been released by Russia in exchange for Russian prisoners held in the U.S. and Europe, in what the U.S. calls a historic prisoner swap. -
On the same day that a Wall Street Journal reporter was convicted of espionage, Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in a similar case.
