Merrit Kennedy
Merrit Kennedy is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers a broad range of issues, from the latest developments out of the Middle East to science research news.
Kennedy joined NPR in Washington, D.C., in December 2015, after seven years living and working in Egypt. She started her journalism career at the beginning of the Egyptian uprising in 2011 and chronicled the ousting of two presidents, eight rounds of elections, and numerous major outbreaks of violence for NPR and other news outlets. She has also worked as a reporter and television producer in Cairo for The Associated Press, covering Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan.
She grew up in Los Angeles, the Middle East, and places in between, and holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Stanford University and a master's degree in international human rights law from The American University in Cairo.
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At least 10 people were killed in the blast, according to Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova. The explosion hit while the train was between two stations in the center of Russia's second-largest city. -
The last known Tasmanian tiger died more than eight decades ago. It has become the stuff of textbook sketches and yellowing photographs. But now, researchers are launching a new search. -
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says there'll be a few new safeguards following the Best Picture flub, including not allowing electronic devices backstage.
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Malaysia says it will transfer the body and allow an unspecified number of North Koreans to depart, in exchange for the return of nine Malaysians who had been blocked from leaving North Korea. -
For years, a State Department employee allegedly received tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from Chinese intelligence operatives and failed to report the repeated contacts to U.S. officials. -
Africa's elephants have been poached by the thousands for their tusks. Many of those tusks are then smuggled to China, one of the largest markets for the banned material. -
Officers observed an "erratic and aggressive" driver near the Capitol and tried to carry out a traffic stop. Then, police said, the driver nearly hit officers. Shots were fired; no one was injured. -
Residents of the Michigan city have been struggling with the lead crisis for the past three years. "This is the first little battle won in this huge overall war," plaintiff Melissa Mays tells NPR. -
The Trump administration aims to roll back the Clean Power Plan, which limits emissions from power plants, lift the moratorium on federal coal leases and change the "social cost of carbon" policy. -
Police believe the attacker who killed three people before being shot to death acted alone and was "inspired by international terrorism."
