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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Unlike Rex Tillerson, a secretive former oil executive, Mike Pompeo's views of the world are much clearer. He's been a hawk on Iran and his views of Muslims have raised alarms. If he is confirmed as secretary of state, world leaders will have to adjust.
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As President Trump accepts North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's invitation to meet him, questions remain about whether the State Department has enough experts on hand to engage in serious negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.
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North Korea's leader has asked President Trump to meet him to talk about denuclearization — and Trump has said yes. All of this comes from South Korea's national security chief, who met separately with both leaders.
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, angry over the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, wants other countries to lead peace efforts now. He is making his case to the U.N. Security Council.
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President Trump has been cutting budgets for foreign aid and that means the man in charge of U.S. development work around the world has a tough selling job with his own government. But how is the Trump administration's aid agency is faring?
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Raqqa was once an ISIS stronghold, but Syrian rebels — backed by a U.S. air campaign — pushed ISIS out last year. Before residents can move back, landmines and booby traps must be dealt with.
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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., brought in three State Department officials to try to get to the bottom of the mysterious "attacks" on 24 Americans serving in Cuba. Some lost hearing and faced a range of other health problems.
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The White House has suspended all U.S. security assistance to Pakistan, and is calling on Pakistan to deny safe haven to extremists who are undermining Afghanistan's government.
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"Only the devil knows what the president meant by that," Israeli lawmaker Avi Dichter told Israeli radio. -
The secretary of state goes to the U.N. on Friday, just days after he offered to talk to North Korea with no preconditions. That would represent a change in approach for the Trump administration.
