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 Russian journalist knew writing about the KGB and its successor the FSB was risky. Russia declared her a foreign agent, like her grandfather who was killed in the Stalin era.
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The United Nations Security Council meets on Ukraine, as Russia mobilizes more forces and Ukraine accuses Russia of fresh atrocities in Izium.
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The war in Ukraine is dominating this year's general assembly. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address the world body about newly discovered graves in formerly Russian occupied territory.
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Washington has released Afghan drug lord Bashir Noorzai in exchange for the freedom of U.S. citizen Mark Frerichs, who'd been held captive in Afghanistan for the past 2 1/2 years.
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Ukraine's battlefield victories are a reason for celebration. But could it could also usher in another dangerous phase — with Russia's President Vladimir Putin lashing out in other ways.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Thursday to announce more security aid to Ukraine. He was also there to signal support as Ukraine tries to push back Russian forces.
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The U.N. Security Council will discuss Russia's so-called filtration camps, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have supposedly been detained, interrogated and possibly moved far into Russia.
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The United Nations is calling for a demilitarized zone around a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
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Nuclear facilities, like the one Russia controls in Ukraine, should be off limits to warring parties. Russia's seizure of the nuclear plant sets a dangerous precedent.
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There has been very little diplomacy during the course of the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are seeking battlefield advantage before negotiating.