|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 27-year-old planned to fly remote-controlled model aircraft carrying explosives into the Pentagon and Capitol A US man was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison over a plot to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and Capitol. Rezwan Ferdaus, 27, pleaded guilty in July to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings with an explosive. Prosecutors and Ferdaus's attorney agreed to recommend the 17-year sentence as part of a plea deal Ferdaus, a Muslim who grew up in Massachusetts and has a physics degree, delivered a soft-spoken statement in which he offered no apology for his actions but thanked his family and friends for supporting him. He said he had accepted his fate and "can dream of a brighter future". Ferdaus referred to "a world filled with injustices." "Who other than God knows best what it takes to make a good human being," he said. Ferdaus was arrested last year after federal employees posing as members of al-Qaida delivered materials he requested, including grenades, machine guns and plastic explosives. Authorities said the public was never in danger because the explosives were always under the control of federal agents. Prosecutors said Ferdaus began planning a holy war against the United States in 2010 after being persuaded by jihadi websites and videos saying America was evil. Prosecutors said he approached a government informant at a mosque in December 2010 and later met with undercover agents to discuss a plot, and that Ferdaus also wanted to kill US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan using improvised explosive devices detonated by modified mobile phones. Counterterrorism experts and model aircraft enthusiasts have said it would be nearly impossible to inflict large-scale damage using model planes. The defence suggested that the FBI ignored signs of mental illness while investigating Ferdaus. During a bail hearing last year, an FBI agent acknowledged that Ferdaus told undercover agents that he was anxious and depressed and having "intrusive thoughts" in the months before his arrest. After he was sentenced, his lawyer, Miriam Conrad, said Ferdaus was being treated by a psychiatrist for depression and anxiety in August 2011, a month before his arrest. District judge Richard Stearns said he had received a series of letters from Ferdaus's family and friends that painted a portrait of a much-loved man who had lived 90% of his life in a positive way. "Everyone noticed that there was a point when Mr Ferdaus's life turned darker," Stearns said. In a letter to Stearns, Ferdaus's parents, Showket and Anamaria Ferdaus, said he slipped into depression during his senior year at college, which led to mental illness that was obviously visible to his family since late 2009. They said they tried to get him to see a doctor, but he would not. "We took a very cautious approach. After all, he was over 18 and we could not force him to see a doctor. That is the American way. We felt helpless," they wrote in their letter. After the hearing, Ferdaus's mother was mobbed by television cameras. "My son is innocent," she cried. "Investigate your government." Ferdaus will receive credit for the 13 months he spent in prison while awaiting trial.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 'We have never avoided paying taxes', says coffee company as latest profit figures are announced Starbucks executives have dismissed charges that it has underpaid its European tax bills. Politicians in the UK, Germany and France have called for investigations into the coffee company following Reuters reports into the firm's tax arrangements. According to the news agency, the firm told investors its European businesses made a $40m (£25m) profit in 2011, but filed accounts that showed a $60m loss. "We have never avoided paying taxes," said Michelle Gass, Starbucks European president, as the company announced its latest earnings. She said the company had an "openness and willingness" to discuss its taxes, adding: "We look forward to clarifying our position in the days and weeks to come." The Seattle-based company reported a net profit of $359m for the quarter ended 30 September, compared with a year-earlier profit of $358.5m. The company had revenues of $283.7 in Europe and the middle east, slightly less than last year, and reported a loss for the region of $6.5m. The Starbucks tax controversy comes as politicians and activists continue to highlight tax avoidance tactics used by multinational companies including Amazon and Google, which make significant sums in their UK subsidiaries but pay little in tax. Starbucks has not paid tax in the UK for three years, Reuters reported last month, adding that it has paid £8.6m of income tax since 1998 on £3.1bn of sales by reporting consistent losses. Starbucks paid no tax on its UK earnings for the past three years after recording annual losses. But Reuters reported that US executives claimed in telephone calls with investors that the UK business was profitable. Starbucks has become a target for UK Uncut, the protest group that has targeted banks and firms including Topshop retailer Arcadia and Vodafone, gluing up locks and organising sitins. The House of Commons public accounts committee has asked senior officials from all three companies to address the issues at a hearing later this month. Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, told parliament last month that Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google and Starbucks had avoided nearly £900m of tax. Prime minister David Cameron responded to the claim by saying: "I'm not happy with the current situation. I think [HM Revenue & Customs] needs to look at it very carefully. We do need to make sure we are encouraging these businesses to invest in our country as they are but they should be paying fair taxes as well." Politicians in Germany and France have also called for an explanation.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Graham Spanier charged with participating in a 'conspiracy of silence' to cover up football coach's abuse of boys A grand jury has charged former Pennsylvania State University president Graham Spanier with participating in a "conspiracy of silence" to cover up child sexual abuse by former football coach Jerry Sandusky. Pennsylvania's attorney general, Linda Kelly, said on Thursday that Spanier, 64, was accused of child endangerment, perjury and criminal conspiracy, all felonies. He also faces misdemeanour counts of failure to report suspected abuse, conspiracy and obstruction of the administration of law. "This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment. This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working to actively conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children," said Kelly. Two other officials, athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz, also face new charges of child endangerment, criminal conspiracy and obstruction. They were charged in November 2011 with failure to report suspected abuse and perjury. Both have pleaded not guilty. Sandusky, 68, a former assistant coach in Penn State's football programme, was convicted in June of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, effectively a life sentence. Trustees fired Spanier and revered head football coach Joe Paterno in November 2011 in the wake of the charges against Sandusky. Paterno died in January of lung cancer. Spanier, Curley and Schultz, whose job included heading the university police, are accused of concealing information about suspected abuse involving Sandusky. Kelly said the abuse included on-campus incidents in 1998 and 2001 that the three men discussed in detail, she said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | New York mayor combines endorsement with attack on Romney for failures over climate change, women's rights and gun control The impact of the superstorm Sandy was felt directly on the presidential election on Thursday when the popular mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, threw his support behind Barack Obama, citing Republican challenger Mitt Romney's failure to back climate change measures. Bloomberg combined his endorsement of Obama with a devastating attack on Romney for reversing his positions not only on climate change but on immigration, guns, abortion rights and healthcare. His endorsement came as Obama received plaudits for his handling of the storm that has devastated New Jersey and New York and also hit Connecticut and West Virginia. The mayor, writing about the damage caused to New York by Sandy, praised Obama for having made some progress towards tackling climate change. He noted that Romney, too, had supported climate change moves in the past but has since backed away from them. In a powerful passage that can only hurt Romney, Bloomberg went on to write: "I believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring valuable business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America was built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results. "In the past he has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and healthcare. But he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the healthcare model he signed into law in Massachusetts." Obama said he was honoured to have Bloomberg's endorsement. "I deeply respect him for his leadership in business, philanthropy and government, and [I] appreciate the extraordinary job he's doing right now, leading New York City through these difficult days," the president said. "Mayor Bloomberg and I agree on the most important issues of our time – that the key to a strong economy is investing in the skills and education of our people, that immigration reform is essential to an open and dynamic democracy, and that climate change is a threat to our children's future. "Just as importantly, we agree that whether we are Democrats, Republicans, or independents, there is only one way to solve these challenges and move forward as a nation – together." Bloomberg's support comes after New Jersey governor Chris Christie praised Obama for his handling of Sandy. Although Christie is a Republican and a prominent supporter of Romney, he went out of his way this week to repeatedly praise Obama's leadership in responding to the crisis. Bloomberg is an independent who had originally been a Democrat before switching to the Republicans in 2001. He won the mayorship as a Republican but fell out with the party in 2007. He considered running as an independent in the 2008 White House election and commissioned polls in all 50 states, dropping the idea after finding insufficient support. In his op-ed, Bloomberg brings climate change, largely ignored by Obama and Romney during the campaign, back to the fore. "The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the north-east – in lost lives, lost homes and lost business – brought the stakes of Tuesday's presidential election into sharp relief," he wrote. He added: "Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be – given this week's devastation – should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action." Obama had taken major steps to reduce carbon consumption and Romney too had a history of tackling climate change but had reversed course. He said he was disappointed with Obama on many issues, listing among them healthcare reform. "When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties' nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America," he writes. "One believes a woman's right to choose should be protected for future generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of supreme court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision. "One recognises marriage equality as consistent with America's march of freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side of history." He concluded: "Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both found success while their parties were out of power in Congress – and President Obama can, too. If he listens to people on both sides of the aisle, and builds the trust of moderates, he can fulfil the hope he inspired four years ago and lead our country toward a better future for my children and yours. And that's why I will be voting for him." The Economist, which has a wide readership in the US, said in an editorial it had backed Obama four years ago and was doing so again. It regretted that Romney was too far removed from the centre. "This newspaper yearns for the more tolerant conservatism of Ronald Reagan, where 'small government' meant keeping the state out of people's bedrooms as well as out of their businesses. Mr Romney shows no sign of wanting to revive it," it says. It concludes: "For all his businesslike intentions, Mr Romney has an economic plan that works only if you don't believe most of what he says. That is not a convincing pitch for a chief executive. And for all his shortcomings, Mr Obama has dragged America's economy back from the brink of disaster, and has made a decent fist of foreign policy. So this newspaper would stick with the devil it knows, and re-elect him." Fellow Republicans downplayed the significance of Bloomberg's endorsement. "It's not surprising to me. Bloomberg is a very liberal political figure," said George Pataki, the former Republican governor of New York. Pataki also argued Romney would be "far better" than Obama in dealing with climate change. Pataki during his time as governor was one of the creators of a regional carbon trading system – which is in partial collapse since Christie pulled out last year. He said of Romney's position: "I think he is far better than Obama, who embraced the Markey-Waxman bill. That is the fear when you allow people like Pelosi and Reid and Obama to draft national legislation that is not so much aimed at climate change but at expanding government power and government revenue. I think Romney would be far better."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Death toll rises to 74 as full extent of damage emerges in New Jersey and New York amid struggle to get back to work Life in America's hurricane battered north-east slowly headed towards normality on Thursday as presidential election campaigning resumed, public transport networks struggled to life and power began to come back on. But the impact of devastating superstorm Sandy was still being felt across the region as more of the damage inflicted by the history-making weather system was revealed, the death toll more than 140, with 74 dead in the US, many more missing and some five million people were still without electricity. New Jersey remained the centre of destruction as state officials began to count the cost of the direct hit on the state's famed Jersey Shore of beach towns, casinos and boardwalks. It is thought Sandy will inflict $30bn of damage in New Jersey alone. In Hoboken, just across the Hudson river from New York, the US National Guard patrolled debris-strewn flooded streets in Humvees hoping to evacuate 20,000 stranded residents. City officials there had launched a desperate appeal for supplies of flashlights, food, generators, fuel and water. All along the coastline of New Jersey, scenes of disaster emerged, from shattered boardwalks, to coast roads suddenly turned into beaches, to houses reduced to piles of wood. In south Mantoloking, the ruins of home still smouldered after a terrible fire. In Sayreville, it emerged that almost 200 people had been rescued by boat. In Atlantic City, local officials contemplated a huge blow to their casino-based economy amid streets that had been flooded waist deep. In Jersey City, a curfew was put in effect. Across the state, huge queues built up at petrol stations as desperate drivers tried to fill up their cars amid a tightening of supplies. In Seaside Heights, rows of houses had been effectively flattened by Sandy's enormous flood surge. Seaside's boardwalk, which featured in MTV's hit reality show Jersey Shore, has been uprooted, amusement rides beside Casino Pier have been swept into the sea, and sand covered coastal streets and houses. City officials simply asked people to leave town. "We have to get everyone off the island because there is total devastation," Seaside Heights police chief Thomas Boyd said at an earlier press conference. One of the main problems many areas have faced is that the flood waters are polluted with oil and chemicals after Sandy struck such a built-up part of the country. Officials also warned that 336,000 gallons of diesel fuel had spilled into the waters around Staten Island and New Jersey after a storage tank was ruptured and lifted from its holdings. Authorities say the fuel, which leaked at the Motiva oil tank facility in Woodbridge, was now contained in booms on the ocean. In New York, however, there were increasing signs of life as America's largest city struggled – sometimes chaotically – to get back to normality. Commuter railway lines sputtered back to life but were inundated with customers. So was the subway system as a limited service began and was immediately swamped by people who began queuing up at 5am to catch a train. The city's streets were often clogged with traffic and massive jams built up as Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to control the number of cars in the city by barring any carrying less than three passengers. Bloomberg was also currently resisting calls to cancel the New York marathon scheduled for Sunday. Numerous politicians have appealed for him to scrap the event as the city copes with aftershock of Sandy, but so far the famous road race remains on track to takee place. "It's a great event for New York, and I think for those who were lost, you've got to believe they would want us to have an economy and have a city go on," Bloomberg said. All three main airports in the New York area were also expected to be operational on Thursday after waters receded from LaGuardia, the final airport to open, which sits just a few feet above sea level by the East river. However, as working life returned to some areas of New York, many neighbourhoods were still without power. ConEdison reported that 719,000 of its own customers in the New York area were without power, with 227,000 of those in Manhattan though it was predicting full power would be restored there by Saturday. But for the moment, life in downtown Manhattan is still an eerie experience for those suddenly taken back to living an electricity-free era. Many thousands of residents have simply left to stay with friends and family in other parts of the city. Others are putting up with darkened hallways, no lifts and living by candlelight. Though a few restaurants and food shops are open, the vast majority of businesses on the usually frantic and busy city streets are closed. Many of the areas more famous residents have fled the usually fashionable neighbourhood. The New York Post reported that film stars like Naomi Watts and Russell Crowe, model Helena Christensen and Vogue editor Anna Wintour had all fled uptown for the plush Mark Hotel on the Upper East Side. Others had less options. Diane Ward, a 76-year-old who has lived in the East Village neighbourhood for 45 years, stayed put to look after her cat. She had just gone to a local home supplies store that was hawking candles and batteries on the street. "I bought some candles," she explained. "It is depressing inside when you are living by flashlight. Candles are much nicer." Meanwhile, America's election campaign was back in top gear. President Barack Obama had visited New Jersey on Wednesday in the company of its Republican governor Chris Christie, who is usually a staunch critic. But that rare political truce was over on Thursday as both Obama joined Republican challenger Mitt Romney back on the campaign trail. In Wisconsin, Obama implicitly reminded his audience of Romney's habit of making dramatic changes on issues. "You know what I believe. You know where I stand. You know that I'll make tough political decisions even when they are not popular," Obama said. "After all we've been through together, we can't give up now." Meanwhile, Romney was back on the attack, mentioning the president by name for the first time in two days. At a campaign stop in Virginia he slammed an Obama idea to create a new government agency to help businesses create jobs. "I don't think adding a new chair to his cabinet will help add millions of jobs on Main Street," Romney said. Romney's campaign also released a highly aggressive attack ad in Florida, linking Obama to high-profile socialists in Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Casino mogul is sparing no expense to get Romney elected, a win that would benefit his businesses and his bank account Every day three scenes, on the surface unconnected, unfold in different corners of the world. By breakfast time in Macau, China's gambling mecca, thousands of people are inside vast casino resorts spending money on baccarat, poker, slot machines and restaurants. Managers monitor the profit by the hour. By lunchtime in Israel commuters and shoppers are perusing Israel Hayom, a brash giveaway tabloid and the country's most-read newspaper. It supports the government of Binyamin Netanyahu. And it clobbers rival dailies to the point of extinction. By dinnertime viewers in Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Nevada and other swing states in the US presidential election are watching, for the umpteenth time that day, television advertisements attacking Barack Obama and promoting Mitt Romney. Their volume and cost have set records. This eclectic, global triptych is connected by a fourth, less visible scene. In the quiet hum of his air-conditioned Las Vegas headquarters a short, portly man with thinning red hair absorbs reports detailing it all, Macau, Israel, the election, because in every one he is a player. He crunches the profits, circulation and polling and ponders his next move. His name is Sheldon Adelson, and he is one of the world's richest men. "I suppose you could say that I live on Vince Lombardi's belief. Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing," he told a recent interviewer, citing the legendary American football coach. "So, I do whatever it takes, as long as it's moral, ethical, principled, legal." No one doubts Adelson, 79, lives to win. But with the White House race entering the final stretch of what both sides call the most important election in decades there is growing controversy over his business interests and methods. "I've studied Sheldon Adelson closely but I don't claim to know him," said John L Smith, a Las Vegas-based author and columnist who tangled with him in a bitter court case. "I'm like a kid at the zoo watching the big predator but not understanding." How the son of immigrants – Adelson's Lithuanian-born father was a taxi driver, his British-born mother a seamstress – rose from poverty in Boston's tough Dorchester district to become a force in global politics and commerce is, depending on your perspective, an inspiring story of entrepreneurial grit and flair, or a cautionary tale of plutocracy and democratic dysfunction. Adelson, with a fortune valued at over $20bn, controls a unique web linking gaming empires in Nevada and Asia, media control in Israel and mega-donations to Romney and other Republican candidates. He represents a new breed of tycoon, said Chrystia Freeland, the editor of Thomson Reuters Digital and author of Plutocrats: the rise of the new global super-rich and the fall of everyone else. "The caricature is of conspicuous consumption, yachts and jets, but for the super-rich the real status symbol is having a voice, having an impact on public policy, and in that sense Sheldon is characteristic of his class." He is not shy about declaring his wealth. "You know," he reportedly bragged to George W Bush, when he was president in 2008, "I am the richest Jew in the world." If few knew that then, many know now. Adelson has burst onto the international stage by becoming, as one observer noted, "sugar daddy" to zionist and conservative causes. He is a modern Croesus who converts cash into influence. The question, which to critics becomes more urgent with each day of the campaign, is the extent to which he may convert, or try to convert, influence into cash. In a written reply to Guardian questions, Adelson said he wished only that the White House invite him to its annual Hanukah party and save him some potato pancakes. 'He doesn't give up'A Romney victory could yield Adelson billions in tax cuts and make the White House an ally. His businesses are under investigation from the justice department and other agencies over alleged wrongdoing in Asia. There was little in his background to suggest Adelson would become the right's impresario. Reared in liberal Massachusetts, he worked his way through multiple jobs – vending machine salesman, court reporter, real estate dealer, toiletries packager – and scored big with Comdex, a computer trade show he launched in 1979. In 1988 he bought a chunk of the Sands hotel and casino, a fading, one-time rat pack haunt and turned it into Las Vegas Sands Corporation, a glitzy triumph with the Venetian as its flagship. He gambled, correctly, that if he built convention centres conferences would flock to Sin City. Even in a town known to be filled with tough operators, Adelson's steeliness stood out. He drove aides as hard as he did himself, did not take no for an answer, and did not forgive trespasses. He successfully sued the Daily Mail for libel and in a separate case went after Smith and his publisher, Barricade Books, over a depiction of Adelson in Smith's book Sharks in the Desert. Threatened with a $15m lawsuit, the publisher entered bankruptcy and agreed to a judgement of libel. Smith also entered bankruptcy. A judge dismissed the suit against him and ordered Adelson to pay some of the author's costs. "He's a real sweetheart," said Smith. "He doesn't give up." Ron Reese, a spokesman who who has represented Adelson for a decade, defended his boss. "It is easy to be a critic of someone if you don't know them, haven't taken the time to learn about their values, or if you are simply jealous of their accomplishments. It's a lot like criticising the coaches and players of a football match you didn't watch or attend. The fact is, Mr Adelson is among the world's greatest philanthropists and has created tens of thousands of jobs throughout his business career." What vaulted Adelson into a league Donald Trump can only dream of was Macau, the former Portuguese colony that is part of China and hosts gambling under the "one country, two systems formula". He outfoxed rival casino moguls to open the territory's first Las Vegas-style resort, the Sands Macao, in 2004. In reality it is two vast resorts, one of them the world's biggest. On its first day the crowd reportedly ripped doors off their hinges in a stampede for the gaming tables. Adelson recouped his $265m investment within a year. "In 2004-5 the big question was when Macau would overtake Las Vegas; it was taking about $4bn to Las Vegas's $6bn. Now Macau is taking nearly $40bn a year - and Las Vegas is still on about $6bn," said Aaron Fischer, head of consumer and gaming research at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. Asia – he expanded into Singapore – has made him a multi-billionaire. "Other guys have made promises that may be they weren't able to deliver on. Sheldon stuck to the promises that he made [to officials] even though they have not always been perceived to have the best relationship," said Fischer. "He doesn't have a reputation for always saying the right thing. I really think he's a character. I respect him and I find him to be quite honest and very down to earth. Maybe that's sometimes been his problem; he's not very good at diplomacy." Sergio Terra, editorial executive director of the Portugese-language newspaper Tribuna Macau, said Chinese officials bristled even as they benefited from Adelson's investment. "He wanted everything and everything first. That's not the way the Macau government works. And he had to adjust to the Beijing approach. They don't like pressure." One veteran observer of the casino industry, who declined to be named, said Adelson charged through barriers. "It's served him well but he might have knocked down a few too many and used weapons that are going to be subject to review by regulators. I think his quest is to be the world's richest man – I don't think he's made any secret of that. He's always referring to his ranking." Las Vegas Sands faces three lawsuits over its Macau operations: a former executive, Steve Jacobs, claims wrongful dismissal and alleges the company collaborated with triads and sought to blackmail officials. The company is also snagged in a bribery scandal and claims it violated US anti-money laundering laws. Adelson vehemently denies wrongdoing. "We're going to be found absolutely clean," he said last year. The company blamed the accusations on disgruntled former employees. Breaking into the Israeli newspaper marketMacau is the golden egg, but Israel is Adelson's enduring passion. The mogul often tells the story how he stepped off the plane for the first time wearing the shoes of his late father, who had been too poor to travel. His commitment has grown since marrying his second wife, Miriam, an Israeli, in 1991. The Adelsons have underwritten think tanks, exchange programmes, DC-based lobby groups and, most controversially, the interests of Netanyahu. Adelson believes Israel's hawkish prime minister is a necessary bulwark to supposed peace talks and Palestinian statehood, a prospect he abhors. After false starts, Adelson established his tabloid, Israel Hayom, in 2007. It now has a 38% share of the weekday newspaper market, compared to 36% for its main rival Yedioth Ahronoth, 11% for Ma'ariv and 7% for Haaretz. The heavily advertised paper is given away by uniformed distributors on the streets, outside supermarkets and at gas stations. It also has paid home-delivery sales. Its partisanship earned the nicknamed "Bibiton", a play on the prime minister's nickname and the Hebrew word for newspaper. Many have blamed it for the catastrophic demise of paid-for newspapers. Maariv faces possible closure. Haaretz is also in crisis, with layoffs and pay cuts looming. Yedioth announced cutbacks earlier this year, including dozens of job losses. The Israeli business website Globes quoted a senior Yedioth executive as saying: "You must know that Israel Hayom is destroying Israeli journalism not only at the professional level, with its embarrassing editorial conduct, but also at the economic level." Israel Hayom was breaking the market with ads at zero cost, crippling rivals' revenue streams, he said. "Israel Hayom has finished Ma'ariv, and it is now finishing Haaretz. Adelson has simply brought ruin." The mogul's friends disagree. "He put his money up for an alternative voice and people liked it. That's capitalism," said Sig Rogich, a businessman and media consultant in Las Vegas. Rogich also defended his friend's plunge into this year's US presidential and congressional races after years of confining himself to Nevada politics. He has shattered records by spending an estimated $70m backing Republican candidates nationwide. "This is a country built on the principle of freedom of speech," said Rogich. "When George Soros funded the other side no one complained. Sheldon has been transparent (about his contributions). You have to admire the truthfulness of standing up and telling the world that's he's responsible for the message." Adelson backed Newt Gingrich in the primaries but rowed in behind Romney. As the money has flowed, and as Paul Ryan and other Republican figures paid homage to their benefactor in Las Vegas, the New York Times, among others, asked what does he expect in return. Consciously or not, at a private fundraiser Romney echoed Adelson's views when he appeared to dismiss a two-state solution and said the Palestinians had no interest in peace. The Republican's proposed tax cuts could swell the mogul's bank account by about $2bn. In an interview with Politico, Adelson, who runs the only non-unionised resort on the Las Vegas strip, accused Obama's administration of waging a vendetta. If Romney wins, observers will closely watch the fate of the probes into Adelson's businesses. Onkar Ghate, a vice-president of the Ayn Rand Institute, which champions free markets, said tycoons had a right to fight back against vindictive governments: "If they spend money purely defensively then I think that's entirely correct." But others, including the Economist, fret that Super Pacs backed by the "0.1%" are rigging the system and entrenching inequality. "It is hard to believe that this surge of cash from the richest will have no impact at all." Freeland, the author of Plutocrats, said Adelson's activism raised profound issues. "Democracy is supposed to be one person, one vote. But when economic disparity grows and transfers into political disparity, well, you have to ask where it's going." A conversation with Sheldon AdelsonGuardian: You have made substantial donations to the Romney campaign. Do you expect a return from this investment? How do you respond to critics who say you are buying influence? Sheldon Adelson: I do not expect any type of return, except that if the candidate we are supporting becomes president he maintains this country's freedom and its free-market capitalist ways, as opposed to his opponent who I believe is following socialist policies – it may work in other countries, but not here. There is absolutely no expectation of any favoritism whatsoever, though If I'm fortunate enough to be invited to the White House Hanukkah Party I hope someone would save me a couple of potato pancakes. They ran out the last time I was there. Guardian: Some critics also say a Romney victory could yield you billions in tax cuts and possible protection from multiple investigations into your business affairs. How do you respond? SA: I would be entitled to no preferential tax cuts or any other type of preferential treatment whatsoever. Any tax cuts that would apply to me would apply to President Obama, his wealthy donors, and everyone else. By the way, what is wrong with supporting a candidate whose economic views and values are the same as yours? Guardian: It's been said of you that you are probably the most aggressive, unforgiving individual in the business world today. What do you say to that? SA: Friends I've had for as long as 70 years would never match that word with me or my way of life. The word unforgiving and my name don't belong together – it is inconsistent with my concept of giving away much more than I make or spend on my family to help repair the world – through our drug treatment centers which rehabilitate drug addicts, specifically women who turn to prostitution because of drugs; our medical research foundation; the strong support we provide for our military veterans here in the United States and many other causes.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US government watchdog warns that country is unlikely to be able to maintain facilities after foreign troops pull out in 2014 Afghanistan will struggle to maintain its security forces' buildings and equipment after foreign forces leave at the end of 2014, a US government watchdog said in a bleak report that raised serious questions about long-term stability prospects. The special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction has also announced an audit into $230m (£142.5m) worth of repair parts ordered for the Afghan army that have gone missing, underlining problems with corruption and accountability. The $50bn effort to train Afghan security forces initially focused on the fighting skills needed to face the Taliban on the frontline. But critics have long warned that this meant equally important capacities, including logistics networks that can get food, fuel and ammunition to soldiers out in the field, were being dangerously neglected. The US and Nato are now rushing to correct this imbalance, but may have started too late. Afghanistan will struggle to maintain facilities that cost the US government nearly $12bn to build, the report said. It added: "The Afghan government continues to face challenges that will likely prohibit it from being capable of fully sustaining (Afghanistan National Security Forces) ANSF facilities after the transition in 2014 and the expected significant decrease in US and coalition support. "The Afghan government's challenges in assuming O&M (operations and maintenance) responsibilities include a lack of sufficient numbers and quality of personnel, as well as undeveloped budgeting, procurement, and logistics systems." The army is doing better than the police, who have not put in place the employees or systems needed to be self-sustaining and instead still rely on the US and Nato, the report said. "As a result, US funds invested in the construction and maintenance ... are at risk of being wasted" One particularly serious challenge is high illiteracy among new recruits, which is the legacy of a weak education system and three decades of war. Qualified applicants are also being lured away by higher salaries in the private sector. Training centres aim to teach recruits basic reading and writing at the same time that they learn to handle a weapon, but the education needed to manage complex systems cannot be delivered in a few weeks. Fewer than 40% of organisation and management positions were filled in June this year, the report said. There is also a shortage of technicians able to handle key issues such as water supply, sewage disposal and electricity. Logistics networks have been undermined by serious fraud, which is now endemic in much of Afghanistan. The planned audit into missing spare parts for the army came after inspectors discovered 474 of 500 shipping containers had gone astray. The loss may have triggered another $137m in spending on replacements. It is just the latest in a string of corruption concerns unearthed by the special inspector. His office is currently investigating fuel supplies provided to the police, as records on nearly $475m in fuel payments have been shredded, the report said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Russian president said to be suffering from serious health problem after several engagements are rescheduled He is a judo black belt, has shot tigers and eats raw eggs for breakfast, but Vladimir Putin's strongman image has been placed in jeopardy recently as reports that he is suffering from a serious health problem continue to circulate. The Russian president sported a visible limp during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum in Vladivostok in September, prompting a flurry of rumours, and several scheduled domestic and international engagements have since been postponed until December. A long-running health issue was likely to have been exacerbated by a September stunt when Putin took to the Siberian skies in a motorised hang-glider to lead a flock of rare cranes on the first leg of their migration, the business daily Vedomosti reported on Wednesday. But the Kremlin has repeatedly scoffed at claims that Putin is suffering from any serious medical condition. "Any sportsman has a lot of injuries," Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency Thursday. "Especially if he plays sport actively and every day, like Putin." Peskov denied that Putin's aerial acrobatics with endangered birds had done the president any harm. But he admitted that Putin, who is almost six months into his third presidential term and turned 60 in October, had pulled a muscle. "But that is not imposing any restrictions on his activities," added Peskov. His physical prowess, and a lack of modesty about advertising it, has long been a staple of Putin's presidency, which followed that of Boris Yeltsin, whose obvious physical decline while in office was a source of embarrassment for many Russians. During the Soviet Union there was an implicit ban on public discussions of the wellbeing of politicians. Officials around the dying Leonid Brezhnev in the early 1980s repeatedly denied that the long-serving leader was seriously ill. Putin has kept the details of his health, like other aspects of his personal life, a close secret. A rare documentary with exclusive access that was aired on state television on the occasion of Putin's 60th birthday devoted large amounts of time to showing the president's morning exercise regime of weightlifting and swimming, and his nutritional breakfast. In power since 1999, Putin is constitutionally allowed to seek a second consecutive term as president and remain in Russia's top office until 2024 when he would be 71. The news about Putin's health was first revealed last week by Reuters news agency, which said he was suffering from back trouble which might require surgery. Speculation has mounted this week after a summit for leader of former Soviet states was re-scheduled for December, while Putin did not attend planned October meetings in Pakistan and Turkey. Peskov has said the expected trip to Turkey would take place next month. Domestic engagements have also been disrupted. Peskov announced earlier this week that Putin would not hold his live televised question and answer session in December, which is a feature of the Russian political calendar. The marathon event, which can last for over four hours, will be postponed until the spring when "people's feet and ears won't freeze," said Peskov. Putin recently announced that he was reducing the frequency with which he made the trip from his suburban Novo Ogaryovo residence into the Kremlin in the city centre. Officials said at the time that the decision was motivated by a desire to stop the presidential motorcade unnecessarily disrupting local traffic. The issue of his health is likely to be a new and difficult phenomenon for Putin, said Aleksei Venediktov, a prominent journalist and editor of Ekho Moskvy, which broke the news of Yeltsin's medical difficulties in the mid-1990s. "[But] of course he will try to preserve the image of an absolutely health and eternally young person."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sandy has blown climate change back on the agenda – and many believe the White House was wrong when it decided in 2009 that climate change was not a winning political message The invitation to the White House in the spring of 2009 struck Barack Obama's allies in the environmental movement as a big moment: a clear sign that climate change was on his radar and that the president was eager to get to work. The event was indeed a turning point, but not the one campaigners expected. Instead, it marked a strategic decision by the White House to downplay climate change – avoiding the very word – a decision some campaigners on the guestlist say produced the strange absence of climate change from the 2012 campaign, until hurricane Sandy blew it right back on the political agenda. The storm – which interrupted campaigning for three of the last eight days of the presidential race – may even prove the decisive factor in the elections, with voters watching how Obama handles Sandy's aftermath. The devastation has already sparked debate about America's present-day vulnerability to climate change. But back in 2009, the off-the-record event with the White House green team at the old executive office building offered the first chance for the White House to share its plans for getting a climate change law through Congress. Aides handed round a one-page memo of polling data and talking points. "It was in the context of the financial collapse. With everyone struggling, how do we connect with the public and build political support when everyone's mind was on the very scary economy," said Betsy Taylor, president of Breakthrough Strategies and Solutions an organisation that works with philanthropic and non-profit clients, who attended the meeting. The answer was clear: climate change was not a winning message. Raising the topic would also leave Obama open to attack from industry and conservative groups opposed to intervention in the economy. "What was communicated in the presentation was: 'This is what you talk about, and don't talk about climate change'." Taylor said. "I took away an absolutely clear understanding that we should focus on clean energy jobs and the potential of a clean energy economy rather than the threat of climate change." The message stuck. Subsequent campaigns from the Obama administration and some environmental groups relegated climate change to a second-tier concern. After industry and conservative groups mobilised to attack Obama's policies and climate science in the summer of 2009, the topic was seen as an even greater liability and politically toxic. There was no mention of climate change during six hours of televised debate. Moderators failed to bring up the question, and Obama and Mitt Romney made no effort to fill in the gaps – even during a long and heated exchange about offshore drilling and coal. Romney's convention speech reduced climate change to a laughline. Obama defended climate science at the Democratic convention, and he answered a question on climate in an MTV interview last month. Otherwise, Obama mentioned climate only in passing and in front of safe or rock-solid Democratic audiences, such as fundraisers in San Francisco and New York or events on college campuses. Since Sandy's devastating storm, a number of prominent Democrats like Bill Clinton and Al Gore have talked about climate change, and taken Romney to task on the issue. Those gathered on 26 March 2009 to hear from key members of Obama's green dream team — Carol Browner, then energy and climate adviser, Nancy Sutley, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and Van Jones, then green jobs adviser, believed it would be a pivotal year. The White House and both houses of Congress were controlled by Democrats, world leaders were due to gather in Copenhagen in December to finalise a global climate change treaty. But the economy was in meltdown. The White House, after studying polling and focus groups, concluded it was best to frame climate change as an economic opportunity, a chance for job creation and economic growth, rather than an urgent environmental problem. "My most vivid memory of that meeting is this idea that you can't talk about climate change," said Jessy Tolkan, who at the time was a leader of the climate youth movement, Power Shift. "The real sense at that time was that talking about clean energy jobs, green jobs, was the way we were going to be able to gain momentum and usher in real change. Talking about climate change and global warming was not going to resonate as much." None of the principal White House officials would talk on the record about the meeting. The White House did not release materials related to the meeting or respond to a request for visitors' records. But most of the environmental groups were inclined to go along. "When the White House invites you to a meeting and says: 'here is how we are going to talk about these things', it sends a very clear message," said Erich Pica, president of the US Friends of the Earth Action, who was also at the meeting. Now with Obama fighting for re-election, and the climate agenda stalled and under constant attack from Republicans and industry, environmental groups acknowledge the go-softly strategy was a mistake. "I thought it was a mistake and I told them," said Bill McKibben, who heads the 350.org group, who was one of the few people at the meeting to voice his misgivings. "All I said was sooner or later you are going to have to talk about this in terms of climate change. Because if you want people to make the big changes that are required by the science then you are going to have to explain to people why that is necessary, and why it's such a huge problem," he said. The stealth approach also gave the opposition an opening. The White House reluctance to even mention climate change allowed some in industry and on the right of the political spectrum to discredit climate science. Others argue the strategy of downplaying climate change was a politically necessity. It was naïve to expect to get ambitious measures through Congress in a debate clogged up with scientific detail. "I don't think it was a mistake," said Steve Cochran. vice-president of climate and air at the Environmental Defence Fund. "The people that supported climate were already with us. The people who had questions needed arguments beyond climate, which led to more and more focus on arguments beyond climate." Campaign groups agree Obama continued to push the climate agenda, even if he did so below the radar, through the Environmental Protection Agency regulations and other branches of the government. The economic recovery plan included some $90bn for green-ish measures, such as high speed rail and public transport, and weather-proofing low-income homes. Obama also publicly embraced some environmental measures, standing out in front when the administration proposed raising car mileage standards in May 2009. But the president left climate change out of his Earth Day event, and was a no-show in June 2009 at the release of a landmark scientific report on how America's cities and coastlines would be affected by climate change. There was no mention of climate change in his 2012 state of the union address. Environmental groups, taking their cue from the White House, also downplayed climate. The coalition pushing for climate change law in Congress called itself Clean Energy Works. The bill itself was called the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Campaign groups ran ads featuring former steel workers in green helmets talking about the well-paying new jobs building wind turbines. "If you look at the messaging being done during the climate legislation, it was mostly not about climate," said Carl Pope, who was then the executive director of the Sierra Club. "They realised it was going to be a big target as soon as it passed the house." And it nearly didn't pass. The house of representatives' vote on the climate bill was uncomfortably close, 219-212, with only eight Republicans supporting and 44 Democrats opposed, and it set off a furious backlash. The oil and gas industry alone spent $175m in 2009 trying to block climate legislation, according Open Secrets, which tracks money in politics. The conservative Tea Party movement turned opposition to climate legislation, even climate science, into an article of faith. In the summer of 2010, the US senate dropped the bill, with then Democrat Senate majority leader Harry Reid admitting: "We know we don't have the votes." The administration and environmental groups talked about climate change even less, said Pica, and when they did the connections were even less clear. Facing public confusion about the green jobs promised by Obama's recovery plan, and scepticism about his promise to build a clean energy economy, administration officials switched to talking about climate through healthcare or even national security. They recruited Iraq war veterans to talk about wind energy. "There was a really big emphasis on talking about what I call the sub-narratives – that there were other ways to speak about the opportunity and the challenge of climate change rather than calling it that," said Maggie Fox, the chief executive of Al Gore's Climate Reality Project. "There was a whole suite of sub-narratives: national security, clean energy future, diversification of energy, health, future generations … " But Fox acknowledges none of those reasons – although compelling – went far enough in justifying the need for sweeping transformation needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. "Over time it became in effect an absence of conversation about climate change as a threat, and I think in the end that proved to be unwise because it is the one reason all these storylines matter." The problem now, say campaign groups, is that it has become even more difficult for politicians to talk about climate change, even when evidence is all around them in extreme weather events and even when there is growing public concern about climate change. A Yale University study last month found 70% of Americans now believe in the reality of climate change, a sharp rise over the last two years. The administration, the campaigners say, missed an educational opportunity. Obama, in debates and in campaign stops, continued to talk up the importance of investing in America's future through building a clean energy economy. But the connection to the threat of climate change was lost. "It's really hard to sell clean energy. Clean energy is really struggling because the story has gotten garbled," said Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation. "You can't have a clear conversation, and the reason there can't be a clear conversation is because of this elephant in the room which is climate change."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Roberts is 250th prisoner to be killed under the governor's watch as state reflects on its role as leader in capital punishment On October 15, 2003, a dental assistant named Vicki Bowen was shot dead by her boyfriend at the home they shared in Polk county, about a 90-minute drive north-east of Houston.
In his confession, Donnie Roberts, a 32-year-old laborer, told police that he had a crack cocaine problem and would go to bars, get drunk and look for drugs. According to the police report, he said: "I pointed the gun at her and I said: 'if you'd just give me some money'. And she said 'No'. And then I said: 'look, it doesn't have to be this way'. That's all I remember saying to her. And the next thing I know, I shot her."
At trial, Roberts changed his story and testified that he fired at Bowen because he thought she was going to shoot him with a pistol. Exactly a year after the crime, a jury found him guilty of capital murder and later sentenced him to death.
Bowen's was one of 1,422 murders in Texas in 2003. Nine years on, it will gain a certain degree of notoriety as a symbol of Rick Perry's continued enthusiasm for punishing murder with death. Roberts was executed on Wednesday night, becoming the 250th Texas prisoner to be put to death under Perry's watch.
Texas has executed more people in nearly 12 years under Perry than it did in the previous 24 years. Death Penalty Information Center statistics show that by the last week in October, 1,310 people have been executed in the US since the supreme court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Of those, 488 – about 37% – were executed in Texas. This is more than the total of the next six most prolific states combined.
Another four are scheduled to die between November 8 and December 12.
Perry has presided over far more executions than any other governor in modern US history, though the rate was higher under his predecessor and previous record-setter. George W Bush oversaw 152 deaths between 1995 and 2000. The numbers can be partly explained by the length of Perry's tenure in the US's second-most populous state, as well as Texas's relatively fast and streamlined process for conveying the guilty from courtroom to gurney. The governor's powersTexas law limits a governor's powers regarding death sentences, which are handed down by local juries. But the governor appoints the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and can make non-binding requests for them to make a certain ruling. He can also reject the board's clemency recommendations, as he did in 2009 in the case of Robert Thompson, who went to the death chamber under a state law that holds accomplices equally responsible for murder as those who actually commit the killing. The shooter, meanwhile, received life in prison.
As a last resort a governor can stop an execution via a 30-day stay, which in practice might delay proceedings for longer. Perry has used this reprieve only once. He has granted 31 death row commutations, 28 of them owing to a 2005 supreme court decision prohibiting the execution of minors; none since 2007.
Perry thinks capital punishment is quintessentially Texan. In his 2010 book, Fed Up!, Perry writes: "If you don't support the death penalty and citizens packing a pistol, don't come to Texas." Perry said at the Republican presidential candidates' debate in September last year that he had "never struggled [to sleep at night] at all" with the idea that someone executed under his watch might have been innocent.
"In the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed," Perry said. The audience cheered.
"That certainly projected an image of Texas that doesn't reflect the reality," Kristin Houlé, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, told the Guardian. "Texas is moving away from the death penalty. The climate has really shifted on this issue. It's time our elected officials caught up."
A University of Texas/Texas Tribune survey last May found that 73% of Texan voters polled were either somewhat or strongly in support of the death penalty. But only 51% said it was fairly applied in Texas, with 28% disagreeing. And when offered an alternative of life in prison without parole, support dropped to 53% in favor of capital punishment and 37% preferring imprisonment.
A Gallup poll last year found 61% of Americans in favor of the death penalty for murderers, the lowest approval rating in their study since 1972. California has the most prisoners on death row of any state but has not held an execution since 2006. Voters there will decide next month whether to abolish the death penalty.
Perry's grandstanding masks a decline in executions under his watch. There were 13 last year, the fewest since 1996 and down from a high of 40 in 2000, Bush's last year as governor. Some 20 inmates arrived on death row in 2002, compared with six so far this year.
In 2001, Perry vetoed a bill banning the execution of what are termed "mentally retarded" inmates. But in 2005 he signed a bill giving juries in capital murder cases the option to give defendants life without parole, which Houlé argues has significantly reduced the number of death sentences. She believes that the execution rate will continue to decline after the backlog of inmates from past decades clears. There are about 285 offenders presently on Texas death row – six of them since the 1970s.
Josh Havens, a Perry spokesman, told the Guardian via email that longevity explains his status as the "killingest" governor. "Simply put, he is the longest serving governor in Texas history. It should be noted, though, that the number of annual executions has not increased during governor Perry's tenure," Havens said. "Jeff Blackburn, of the Texas Innocence Project [a group that aims to exonerate the wrongly convicted], routinely praises governor Perry for having made the most significant improvements to the criminal justice system of any other Texas governor … the governor personally reviews each and every death penalty case." However, numerous high-profile cases have drawn attention to Perry's refusal to stop controversial executions. Last year, Texas ignored a White House request to halt the death of the Mexican national Humberto Leal on the basis that it could have negative international repercussions for the US.
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for allegedly setting fire to his home in order to kill his three children in 1991. Shortly before his death, Perry was sent a report by an arson expert casting serious doubt on the evidence but refused to grant a stay. Subsequent investigations by reporters and advocacy groups have provided compelling reasons to believe that Willingham was innocent. His relatives are now seeking a posthumous pardon.
In 2005, Texas created a state commission to regulate the use of forensic science in criminal trials. Perry replaced the chairman in 2009 and three others when the agency was in the midst of examining the Willingham case, leading to accusations that the governor was trying to halt the investigation.
Marvin Wilson died by lethal injection in August this year despite having an IQ of 61 and being medically diagnosed as "mentally retarded". A 2002 supreme court ruling bans the execution of these prisoners but Texas applies its own definition of mental disability inspired partly by the character Lennie from the John Steinbeck novel, Of Mice And Men.
On October 18, the supreme court stopped the execution of Anthony Haynes less than three hours before the 33-year-old was to go to the death chamber for the murder of an off-duty Houston police officer 14 years ago. Haynes' attorneys claimed that his trial lawyers were negligent, that prosecutors inaccurately depicted his character and that Texas appeals procedures were unfair. 'The conditions have to be more humane'Anthony Graves endured 18 years in prison in Texas – 12 on death row – for his alleged role in multiple murders. He spent much of that time in solitary confinement. He was released aged 45 in 2010 after a special prosecutor investigated the case and concluded that Graves was innocent – a decade after the other man convicted in the affair, Robert Carter, confessed that he was the lone killer. Carter was executed in 2000.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Graves is one of 12 death row inmates exonerated in Texas, five during Perry's governorship. "I most definitely think [capital punishment] should be abolished for the simple fact that we can just never be sure we get it right. We don't have the authority to be playing a guessing game with someone's life," Graves told the Guardian.
He is now an anti-capital punishment activist in Texas. "Death row was an experience an ordinary person can never understand. It was just like taking a man and putting him on Mars. The total lack of human respect for another individual was a shock to me," he said. "The conditions have to be more humane. You don't understand how enormous just a touch is in your life till they take it away from you."
Graves believes that Texas' legal processes are undermined by errors and misconduct. "I still think that we overall have a really good system. I wouldn't so much criticize the system, as those who were entrusted with it," he said. A Texas Tribune analysis of overturned convictions found that mistakes by prosecutors potentially contributed to the wrong outcome in almost a quarter of cases.
Perry told reporters last year that the discovery of mistakes in the Graves case proves that the system works. "You continue to find errors that were made and clear them up," he said.
"The governor made sure I was compensated so I don't have anything negative to say about him. The blame we have to place at the voters' feet," Graves said. "You've got to point the finger at those who support the death penalty. The blood is on the hands of them, not just Rick Perry."
He doubts attitudes towards the death penalty are going to change: after all, this is Texas. "The culture here is old western-style," Graves said. "Guns on the hip, shoot you down before you get the chance to ask questions."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Jobs growth for last month exceeds expectations as September numbers revised upward in good news for US recovery US companies added 158,000 jobs in October, far higher than expected, according to the latest survey from payrolls processor ADP. Analysts had been expecting the private sector to add 88,000 jobs in October. The figure comes ahead of Friday's nonfarm payroll report, which also includes government jobs. The bureau of labor statistics' monthly jobs tally has become a flashpoint in the 2012 election with both president Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney parsing the report to bolster their campaigns. Friday's will be the last before election day. ADP's figures came amid further evidence of a pickup in the economy. The labor department announced there were 363,000 initial claims for jobless benefits in the latest week, fewer than the 369,000 economists expected. Manufacturing also expanded at a faster pace in October than expected, according to the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) factory index. The index climbed to 51.7 last month, its highest level since May and up from 51.5 in September. Economists had predicted a dip to 51 for October, 50 is the dividing line between growth and contraction. "The job gain is broad based and across industry," said Mark Zandi, Moodys analytics chief economist. "It feels like the jobs market is holding its own." Moodys has been advising ADP on its closely watched report after criticism of the accuracy of its numbers. The survey is very closely followed but has been a sometimes unreliable indicator of the government figures. This is the first report since the survey was overhauled with Moodys' help. Zandi said September's number had been revised up to 114,000 from 88,000 after adding in more retail jobs. That would bring the number exactly in line with last month's nonfarm figures. Zandi said he suspected a slowdown in government hiring could lead to October's non-farm figure coming in at between 130,000 and 140,000. ADP calculates that the US added 23,000 new jobs in construction last month, another encouraging sign of recovery in the housing market, said Zandi. Some 81,000 of the jobs were in large businesses – most of those, 69,000, in businesses with over 1,000 employees. Small businesses added 50,000 jobs. Zandi said that the construction industry figures boded well for a more robust recovery in the jobs market after months of weak growth. However he warned that political uncertainty over the fiscal cliff – the year-end expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and the imposition of draconian spending cuts – was weighing on hiring. "It's hiring that's the problem, layoffs are very, very low," he said. ADP's report comes as outplacement specialist Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported a 41% jump in the number of planned job cuts in October. According to its latest survey the number of firms planning layoffs surged after a 22-month low in September. Despite last month's sharp increase, layoffs for the year are still well below last year's pace. John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said there were signs of trouble ahead. "The final three months of the year tend to see heavier downsizing activity as companies make year-end adjustments to meet earnings goals and to prepare for the new year. Certainly, the deluge of weak third-quarter earnings reports that resulted from declining sales here and abroad does not bode well for workers as 2013 approaches," he said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mike Bloomberg slams Mitt Romney as a political flip-flopper and endorses Barack Obama over climate change moves
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