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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NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Paul Schiff Berman, a professor of law at George Washington University, about Musk's scheme and whether it's legal.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Tuesday night that pitching star Fernando Valenzuela has died. In 1981, he won the National League’s Cy Young award and was the National League's Rookie of the Year.
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Donald Trump continues to be inflammatory as the campaign nears an end. Control of the House could be determined by California. Italy plans to keep processing migrants from North Africa in Albania.
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An NPR investigation has found that former president Donald Trump has made more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute, imprison or otherwise punish his perceived opponents.
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NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with philosopher James Brusseau of Pace University about the ethics of creating and using artificial intelligence chat bots using a person's voice.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts leaders from many of the world’s fastest developing economies at a summit this week.
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A federal court in Louisiana is weighing whether a state law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools is constitutional.
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Donald Trump makes more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies. Judge hears arguments to block Ten Commandments displays in Louisiana schools. Russia hosts emerging nations summit.
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Former President Donald Trump has talked about using the military and the Department of Justice to go after those he sees as disloyal, raising concerns about American democracy and civil rights.
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How does the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar change the prospects for a negotiation with Israel, and what is the next step for Hamas? NPR's Leila Fadel talks with Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.