Dina Temple-Raston

Adding to the coverage of NPR's national security team, Dina Temple-Raston reports about counterterrorism at home and abroad for NPR News. Her reporting can be heard on NPR's newsmagazines. She joined NPR in March 2007 fresh from a two year sabbatical in which she completed two books, learned Arabic and received a Master's Degree from Columbia.

A long-time foreign correspondent for Bloomberg News in Asia, Temple-Raston opened Bloomberg's Shanghai and Hong Kong offices working for both Bloomberg's financial wire and radio operations. She also served as Bloomberg News' White House correspondent during both Clinton administrations and covered financial markets and economics for both USA Today and CNNfn.

Temple-Raston is an award-winning author. Her first book, entitled A Death in Texas and about race in America, won the Barnes' and Noble Discover Award and was chosen as one of the Washington Post's Best Books of 2002. Her second book, on the role Radio Mille Collines played in fomenting the Rwandan genocide, was a Foreign Affairs magazine bestseller. She has two books related to civil liberties and national security. The first, In Defense of Our America (HarperCollins) written with Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, looks at civil liberties in post-9/11 America. The other, The Jihad Next Door (Public Affairs), is about the Lackawanna Six, America's first so-called "sleeper cell" and the issues that face Muslims in America.

Temple-Raston holds a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and a Master's degree from the Columbia University's School of Journalism. She was born in Belgium and French was her first language.

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5:24am

Fri May 24, 2013
National Security

Obama Tweaks U.S. Vision For Fight Against Terrorism

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 8:01 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene.

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6:40pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Law

FBI Shoots And Kills Man Tied To Boston Bombing Suspect

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

There has been an unexpected turn in the Boston Marathon bombing case. A man who was thought to have ties with one of the bombing suspects was shot dead early this morning by authorities in Florida. He allegedly tried to attack an FBI agent who was interviewing him. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has been following the story and is here with the latest. Hi, Dina.

DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, BYLINE: Hi there.

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6:18pm

Wed April 24, 2013
Explosions At Boston Marathon

Investigators Trace Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Activities Abroad

Originally published on Thu April 25, 2013 4:57 pm

The investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing continues. Investigators have spoken with the parents of the suspects in Russia. Audie Cornish talks to Dina Temple-Raston about the latest developments.

6:11pm

Thu April 18, 2013
Explosions At Boston Marathon

Investigators Name Two Suspects In Boston Bombing

Originally published on Thu April 18, 2013 10:26 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

We begin this hour with a major break in the investigation into Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon.

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3:24am

Mon April 8, 2013
Law

Osama Bin Laden's Son-In-Law Set To Appear In N.Y. Court

Originally published on Mon April 8, 2013 10:32 am

Credit Elizabeth Williams / AP

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and former al-Qaida spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is expected to appear in a New York courtroom Monday afternoon.

Abu Ghaith was captured by U.S. officials in February, and his arrest is considered important not just because he was so close to bin Laden, but also because the Obama administration has decided to try him in a federal court instead of using a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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3:15am

Mon April 1, 2013
Asia

Pakistan's Ambitious Program To Re-Educate Militants

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 8:50 am

A Pakistani army officer named Col. Zeshan is giving a tour of a jihadi rehabilitation center secreted in the hills of northwest Pakistan's Swat Valley.

"This place was also captured by the Taliban," he says, walking me around the heavily guarded complex. "The army took over this place from them ... when the war was going on."

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12:11pm

Thu March 7, 2013
The Two-Way

Bin Laden's Son-In-Law Arrested, Brought To U.S.

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 11:22 am

Credit HANDOUT / Reuters /Landov

Update at 4:30 p.m. EST. Details Of Capture

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and a former al-Qaida spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, is in U.S. custody and is being held in a Manhattan jail. He could appear in a federal court as soon as Friday, U.S. officials familiar with the case say.

His capture is considered important not just because he was so close to bin Laden but also because U.S. officials have decided to try him in a federal court, not Guantanamo Bay.

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5:29pm

Thu February 21, 2013
The Two-Way

Sept. 11 Trial Judge Gives Defense Attorneys Access To 'Camp 7'

Credit Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images

Defense attorneys in the trial of the five men accused of orchestrating the terror attacks on September 11th will get to see for the first time where their clients are incarcerated.

The army judge presiding over the trial at Guantanamo Bay said today he will allow the lawyers to visit a secret section of the prison.

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3:41am

Mon February 18, 2013
National Security

Hints Of Progress After Investigation at Guantanamo Court

Originally published on Mon February 18, 2013 7:52 am

The most dramatic moment of the week's hearing at Guantanamo Bay's military commissions was when a one-legged man stood up and began to berate the judge.

The one-legged man, Walid bin Attash, is one of the defendants in the high-profile Sept. 11 case, and his complaint was a throwback to a time when the tribunal first opened.

He was upset because guards had taken the opportunity while he was in court to ransack his cell and take letters from his attorney. It had happened to three of the other Sept. 11 defendants as well.

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1:05pm

Mon February 11, 2013
National Security

Alleged Sept. 11 Plotters In Court, But Lawyers Do The Talking

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 2:01 pm

Credit AFP/Getty Images

Pretrial hearings in the death penalty trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of planning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks lasted a little more than an hour Monday before the judge recessed the session until Tuesday.

The men, who all came into the courtroom in camouflage vests and traditional garments known as shalwar kameez, have been in jail — awaiting this trial — for more than a decade.

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3:31am

Mon February 11, 2013
National Security

Procedure Questions Expected To Bog Down Hearings For Alleged Sept. 11 Planners

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 11:44 am

Pretrial hearings resume Monday in the death penalty trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The men have been in jail, awaiting trial, for more than a decade. The hearings in their case started back in May, and they have hardly moved forward since then.

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6:15am

Sun January 6, 2013
Asia

After Fighting To Go To School, A Pakistani Woman Builds Her Own

Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 10:32 am

6:56am

Sat January 5, 2013
Asia

Pakistani Cafe Is Oasis In Desert Of Civil Discourse

Originally published on Sat January 5, 2013 9:59 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

In Pakistan, there's a cafe called the Second Floor. It's listed in a local Karachi social blog as one of the coolest cafes in town. Since it opened its doors five years ago, it's become a haven in a city more known for its violence than its civil discourse. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston paid a visit.

DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, BYLINE: The artwork on the front stoop of the Second Floor Cafe in Karachi says it all.

SABEEN MAHMUD: I wanted something right at the entrance...

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4:54pm

Fri January 4, 2013
Middle East

Pakistani Military Hopes Rehab Will Lead Men To Paralympics

Originally published on Fri January 4, 2013 7:02 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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11:01am

Wed January 2, 2013
Asia

The Tony Soprano of Karachi: Gangster Or Politician?

Originally published on Wed January 2, 2013 7:56 pm

Gangsters have been part of life in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, for decades. And nowhere is their rule more notorious than in the slums of Lyari, a dusty warren of low-slung tenement houses in the south central part of Karachi.

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3:49am

Wed January 2, 2013
World

Pakistan's 'Patriot Act' Could Target Politicians

Originally published on Wed January 2, 2013 11:16 am

Credit Ahmad Kamal / Xinhua/Landov

Earlier this month, Pakistan's powerful Lower House of Parliament passed what analysts have dubbed Pakistan's Patriot Act. Its name here is "Investigation for Fair Trial Bill."

It has been presented to the Pakistani people as a way to update existing law and usher the rules for investigation in Pakistan into the 21st century. Among other things, it makes electronic eavesdropping admissible as evidence in court.

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4:16pm

Tue January 1, 2013
Europe

Pakistan Embraces Man Behind 'One Pound Fish' Viral Video

Originally published on Tue January 8, 2013 2:19 pm

Credit Hamza Ali / AP

2:59am

Tue January 1, 2013
World

Multiple Feuds Bring A Record Year Of Violence To Karachi

Originally published on Wed February 13, 2013 10:35 am

The sad truth about Karachi in 2012 was that whatever your religion, business affiliation, or political party, someone was willing to kill you for it.

The murder rate in Pakistan's largest city and commercial hub hit an all time high last year. Over 2,500 people died in violent crimes in Karachi in 2012, a 50 percent increase over the year before.

Most of the deaths were attributable to sectarian killings and score settling. Shia Muslims took on the brunt of the violence. But Sunni Muslims were killed in reprisal attacks that added to the tally.

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5:10am

Sun December 30, 2012
World

Street Signs Intended To Give Pakistani City New Direction

Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 10:31 am

Credit Dina Temple-Raston

Landlords built Lahore in a haphazard way over centuries. They didn't concern themselves with city grids or sensible mapping. As a result, Lahore is renowned in Pakistan for being almost impossible to navigate.

And that's where Asim Fayaz and Khurram Siddiqi come in.

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4:29pm

Wed December 19, 2012
World

In Pakistan, Tax Evaders Are Everywhere — Government Included

Originally published on Wed December 19, 2012 8:32 pm

Credit Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP/Getty Images

Tax evasion is a chronic problem in Pakistan — only about 2 percent of the population is registered in the tax system, and the government collects just 9 percent of the country's wealth in taxes, one of the lowest rates in the world.

But now a new investigative report is making headlines. It says that just a third of the country's 446 federal lawmakers bothered to file income tax returns last year.

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4:53am

Wed December 19, 2012
NPR Story

Gunmen In Pakistan Target Polio Vaccinators

Originally published on Thu December 20, 2012 5:44 am

Credit Fareed Khan / AP

Pakistani gunmen staged new attacks Wednesday on health workers carrying out a nationwide polio vaccination program. Six workers were killed Tuesday as they went house to house to administer the immunizations to area children in Karachi and the northwest city of Peshawar.

Although there were additional attacks, the Pakistani government vowed to continue the vaccination campaign — and eradicate the disease — even if there is bloodshed.

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3:31am

Mon November 5, 2012
The Two-Way

Recovery To Take 'Quite A Long Time' In Storm-Ravaged Breezy Point

Originally published on Mon November 5, 2012 8:17 pm

Anyone who traveled to Breezy Point, Queens, in New York City in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, even as recently as a few of days ago, would have needed an SUV — its main thoroughfare was under 3 feet of water. Today, you can see pavement. It sounds like a small victory, but this beachfront, blue-collar town is willing to accept progress in increments.

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4:43pm

Fri October 26, 2012
National Security

As Jihadists Spread, Connecting The Dots Proves Hard

Originally published on Fri October 26, 2012 5:57 pm

Credit Adama Diarra / Reuters /Landov

More than a year after popular protests rocked the Arab world, U.S. intelligence officials are struggling to understand the myriad of Islamist groups that have filled the vacuum.

Those groups run the gamut from moderate believers who are willing to give the political process a try to violent extremists. The difficulty is figuring out which is which.

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5:58pm

Fri October 19, 2012
National Security

Minnesota Case Re-Opens Wounds Among Somalis

Originally published on Fri October 19, 2012 7:12 pm

Credit Anonymous / AP

For nearly three weeks, the benches at the back of a federal courtroom in Minneapolis were filled with local Somalis. The man on trial, Mahamud Said Omar, was accused of conspiring to help a terrorist group recruit some two dozen young Minnesota men to fight a holy war in Somalia.

It took a federal jury just eight hours to convict him of all of the five terrorism charges leveled against him, but the verdict is only the beginning for the Somali community in the Twin Cities.

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7:09pm

Wed October 17, 2012
National Security

Man Arrested In Plot To Blow Up NY Federal Reserve

A man has been arrested in an alleged terror plot to blow up the Federal Reserve building in New York City. Federal authorities and the New York Police Department collaborated to foil the plot apparently conceived by a Bangladeshi man, Quazi Mohammd Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis. Nafis is said to have conceived the plot. However, authorities learned of the plot and actually provided what appeared to be the bomb. It was inert and there was no threat to the public.

7:26pm

Tue October 16, 2012
National Security

Court Overturns Conviction Of Bin Laden Driver

Credit AP

A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of Osama bin Laden's former driver and bodyguard, Salim Ahmed Hamdan. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Hamdan was at the center of a Supreme Court case that ruled that the Bush administration's military commission system at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was unconstitutional.

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3:07am

Mon October 8, 2012
National Security

Predicting The Future: Fantasy Or A Good Algorithm?

Originally published on Mon October 8, 2012 11:47 am

After failing to predict the Arab Spring, intelligence officials are now exploring whether Big Data, the combing of billions of pieces of disparate electronic information, can help them identify hot spots before they explode. The intelligence community has always been in the business of forecasting the future. The question is whether tapping into publicly available data — Twitter and news feeds and blogs among other things — can help them do that faster and more precisely.

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5:58am

Sat October 6, 2012
Asia

U.S. Drones Navigate Murky Legal Path In Pakistan

Originally published on Sat October 6, 2012 8:15 pm

Credit Massoud Hossaini / AP

The U.S. has been carrying out drone strikes in Pakistan for some eight years, but it's done so under a policy that has emerged piecemeal over that time.

"It started in 2004, when drones were really an oddity," says Daniel Markey, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was on the State Department's policy planning staff when it all started during the Bush administration.

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4:37pm

Fri October 5, 2012
Africa

Benghazi Attack Raises New Questions About Al-Qaida

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

Credit EPA/Landov

For the past decade, al-Qaida has been a top-down organization.

Letters seized at Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan showed that he was a hands-on manager, approving everything from operations to leadership changes in affiliate groups.

But there's early intelligence that al-Qaida may have had a small role in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, on Sept. 11.

If al-Qaida involvement is confirmed, it may signal that al-Qaida has changed.

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3:35am

Thu September 20, 2012
Middle East

Official Versions Diverge Over U.S. Consulate Attack

Originally published on Thu September 20, 2012 9:24 am

Credit Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters /Landov

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya last week has led to dueling versions of what unfolded that night in Benghazi.

To hear the Obama administration tell it, the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans was spontaneous — and staged by local extremists who saw an opportunity to hijack peaceful demonstrations against an offensive film.

The Libyans have a different view. They say it was a premeditated strike, launched by foreign fighters with ties to al-Qaida.

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