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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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. would negotiate with North Korea without demanding that the country first agree to nuclear disarmament.
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The secretary of state said Tuesday the U.S. would be willing to open negotiations without requiring North Korea to agree beforehand to give up its nuclear weapons program. -
The United Nations says 14 U.N. peacekeepers are dead and at least 50 others have been injured in an attack Thursday in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he believes the attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar amounts to ethnic cleansing. He's considering targeted sanctions in response.
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The Trump administration plans to contribute up to $60 million to help five nations in Africa's Sahel region to build up a counterterrorism force. The news comes as Congress looks more closely at U.S. military activities in a the region following an ambush that killed four American service members in Niger.
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President Trump announced he is not recertifying the Iran nuclear deal, but he's not actually pulling out of it. Instead, he's sending it to Congress and asking them to decide on the next steps.
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The U.N. warns the situation in Yemen will only get worse if the warring parties — one side backed by Saudi Arabia and the U.S., the other by Iran — don't get back to the negotiating table.
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As the Trump administration looks to cut spending at the U.N., officials are reviewing every peacekeeping mission. UN officials say the Central African Republic mission needs more resources, not less.
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The order to cut staff at the Cuban embassy comes a few days after the U.S. embassy in Havana downsized dramatically after attacks caused serious health problems for American officials in Cuba.
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The State Department is ordering the Cuban embassy in Washington to downsize, expelling 15 Cuban officials. They have 7 days to leave.
