Tom Gjelten
Tom Gjelten reports on religion, faith, and belief for NPR News, a beat that encompasses such areas as the changing religious landscape in America, the formation of personal identity, the role of religion in politics, and conflict arising from religious differences. His reporting draws on his many years covering national and international news from posts in Washington and around the world.
In 1986, Gjelten became one of NPR's pioneer foreign correspondents, posted first in Latin America and then in Central Europe. Over the next decade, he covered social and political strife in Central and South America, the first Gulf War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the transitions to democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
His reporting from Sarajevo from 1992 to 1994 was the basis for his book Sarajevo Daily: A City and Its Newspaper Under Siege (HarperCollins), praised by the New York Times as "a chilling portrayal of a city's slow murder." He is also the author of Professionalism in War Reporting: A Correspondent's View (Carnegie Corporation) and a contributor to Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know (W. W. Norton).
After returning from his overseas assignments, Gjelten covered U.S. diplomacy and military affairs, first from the State Department and then from the Pentagon. He was reporting live from the Pentagon at the moment it was hit on September 11, 2001, and he was NPR's lead Pentagon reporter during the early war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Gjelten has also reported extensively from Cuba in recent years. His 2008 book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking), is a unique history of modern Cuba, told through the life and times of the Bacardi rum family. The New York Times selected it as a "Notable Nonfiction Book," and the Washington Post, Kansas City Star, and San Francisco Chronicle all listed it among their "Best Books of 2008." His latest book, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story (Simon & Schuster), published in 2015, recounts the impact on America of the 1965 Immigration Act, which officially opened the country's doors to immigrants of color. He has also contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other outlets.
Since joining NPR in 1982 as labor and education reporter, Gjelten has won numerous awards for his work, including two Overseas Press Club Awards, a George Polk Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, he began his professional career as a public school teacher and freelance writer.
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Raul Castro, 75, now holds power in Cuba as older brother Fidel Castro recovers from surgery. The development has intensified power struggles in Havana between two sets of loyalists: Fidelistas and Raulistas.
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The announcement that Fidel Castro has temporarily handed power to his brother Raul has set off waves of speculation about Cuba's future. In Miami, Cuban exiles took to the streets to celebrate the news.
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Hurricane Dennis has left Cuba and is now on track to blow into the Gulf Coast between Florida and Louisiana. NPR's Tom Gjelten is in Cuba and describes the damage the hurricane did to the island nation.
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President Bush hails the large turnout for Iraq's national elections as a success. In an address Sunday afternoon, the president called the Iraqi vote "historic" after millions of Iraqi citizens turned out to elect a national assembly. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and NPR's Tom Gjelten.
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Insurgents in Iraq step up attacks on workers contributing to the reconstruction of the battered nation. Commanders in Iraq say the U.S. can't withdraw its troops until Iraqis are able to take responsibility for their own security. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports. -
The city of Fallujah is now in the control of U.S. and Iraqi forces. But observers say there's much more to the insurgence than just Fallujah, and the problem of holding timely elections remains. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten and Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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Briefing reporters in Fallujah, Lt. Gen. John Sattler says fighting in the city has stopped, though many houses need to be cleared of booby traps. He denies there were heavy civilian casualties in the city and says so far there is no humanitarian crisis there. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.
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As violence continues to roil Iraq, many question whether planned January elections are even feasible. Some analysts say the U.S. and allied leaders have gradually compromised their commitment to building a secular democracy in Iraq in favor of better security. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.
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A report issued Friday by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee says claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction were "not supported by the underlying intelligence." The report blames the CIA for overstating the threat and criticizes outgoing CIA Director George Tenet for skewing advice to top policy makers. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and NPR's Tom Gjelten.
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Arab television stations air a new tape, allegedly from Saddam Hussein, in which the speaker mourns the killing last week of Saddam's two eldest sons. Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, senators grill Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on the Bush administration's failure to provide clear guidance on the costs of the U.S. mission in Iraq. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.
