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 U.S. now believes Ukraine can win, a significant change in thinking, and is rushing in weapons. This raises the risk of widening the conflict, analysts say, and may destabilize the global economy. -
Signaling renewed support for Ukraine, the U.S. says it will slowly return diplomats back to the Ukrainian capital. It also promised new military aid for the besieged country.
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At Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting, the U.S. hoped to get an explanation from Russia of exactly what it was doing regarding Ukraine. But instead, the meeting was full of tense exchanges.
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Career diplomat Daniel Foote called the Biden administration's approach "inhumane" and "counterproductive" in his resignation letter.
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Since evacuating its Kabul embassy, the U.S. has set up shop in Doha to continue diplomatic work on Afghanistan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he'll thank them in Doha next week.
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President Biden is standing firm on the pledge to "limit" the duration of the evacuation mission in Kabul, but says it will be completed.
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Afghans who worked with international forces and organizations are fleeing the country by the thousands, raising concerns about a brain drain that could affect Afghanistan for years to come.
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Harris' trip from Singapore to the Vietnamese capital was delayed by roughly three hours. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi reported "a recent possible anomalous health incident" that affected embassy staff.
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The Taliban are at the Presidential Palace in Kabul. The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan is shuttered. A small group of U.S. diplomats are now working out of a makeshift office at Kabul's airport.
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As the Taliban take over more cities and towns in Afghanistan, the U.S. special envoy is rushing off to Doha, the capital of Qatar, to try to salvage peace talks.
