
Leila Fadel
Leila Fadel is a national correspondent for NPR based in Los Angeles, covering issues of culture, diversity, and race.
Most recently, she was NPR's international correspondent based in Cairo and covered the wave of revolts in the Middle East and their aftermaths in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and beyond. Her stories brought us to the heart of a state-ordered massacre of pro-Muslim Brotherhood protesters in Cairo in 2013 when police shot into crowds of people to clear them and killed between 1,000 and 2,000 people. She told us the tales of a coup in Egypt and what it is like for a country to go through a military overthrow of an elected government. She covered the fall of Mosul to ISIS in 2014 and documented the harrowing tales of the Yazidi women who were kidnapped and enslaved by the group. Her coverage also included stories of human smugglers in Egypt and the Syrian families desperate and willing to pay to risk their lives and cross a turbulent ocean for Europe.
She was awarded the Lowell Thomas Award from the Overseas Press Club for her coverage of the 2013 coup in Egypt and the toll it took on the country and Egyptian families. In 2017 she earned a Gracie award for the story of a single mother in Tunisia whose two eldest daughters were brainwashed and joined ISIS. The mother was fighting to make sure it didn't happen to her younger girls.
Before joining NPR, she covered the Middle East for The Washington Post as the Cairo Bureau Chief. Prior to her position as Cairo Bureau Chief for the Post, she covered the Iraq war for nearly five years with Knight Ridder, McClatchy Newspapers, and later the Washington Post. Her foreign coverage of the devastating human toll of the Iraq war earned her the George. R. Polk award in 2007. In 2016 she was the Council on Foreign Relations Edward R. Murrow fellow.
Leila Fadel is a Lebanese-American journalist who speaks conversational Arabic and was raised in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
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President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff visits Russia for talks over Ukraine war, the MAGA world was on the side of Israel — now it is split over Gaza, how Pam Bondi has redefined the Attorney General role.
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Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. Former Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker weighs in on how the negotiations might go.
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A new law firm formed this week with a mission to challenge President Trump's executive power. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with James Pearce, one of the firm's top lawyers, about the legal void it intends to fill.
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The Trump administration is revisiting the investigation into Russia's 2016 election interference. NPR's Steve Inskeep and Leila Fadel speak to Susan Miller, an ex-CIA official who is defending her work.
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NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar about the Republican redistricting efforts that would eliminate his congressional district in Texas.
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As ceasefire talks stall Israel's government weighs a full occupation of Gaza, Texas Republicans threaten to arrest Democratic lawmakers unless they return to the State House, why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose.
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From climate data, to budget forecasts, to intelligence reports, President Trump has challenged sources of data within his administration. NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Peter Baker of the New York Times.
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President Trump has positioned nuclear submarines close to Russia. What pressure, if any, is this bringing on Russian President Vladimir Putin? NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Sergey Radchenko, a professor at Johns Hopkins University.
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Hundreds of former Israeli military officials are urging President Trump to help end to the war in Gaza. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to retired Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin who supports ending the war.
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Tesla's board has approved another huge compensation package for Elon Musk – but only if he sticks around to lead the company for at least two more years.