NPR 2009-10-03

Plenty of excitement in Rio de Janeiro today, though not so much in Chicago, Tokyo or Madrid, the three other cities that had been in the running to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Rio beat out surprise finalist Madrid to host the Games after Chicago was eliminated in the first round by the International Olympic Committee. That was despite the best efforts of President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, both of whom traveled to Denmark to lobby on Chicago’s behalf. President expressed disappointment upon his return from Denmark today.

"Although I wish that we had come back with better news from Copenhagen, I could not be prouder of my hometown of Chicago."

Reaction in Chicago, meanwhile, was of shock and disbelief when the city failed to make it through the first round, even though some in the Windy City had expressed reservations about the hassles and the costs associated with hosting the Olympic Games.

Israel has released a video of captured soldier Gilad Shalit that appears to show him unharmed after more than three years of captivity 1 in the Gaza Strip. Israel released 19 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the proof of life. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

In the video which lasts about a minute, 23-year-old Gilad Shalit is shown sitting in a chair against a white wall, holding a newspaper dated September 14th of this year. He appears pale, but near the end of the video he stands up and takes a few steps. The video shot by Hamas militants 3 was delivered to Israel through the efforts of Egyptian and German mediators. At the same time, Israel released 19 Palestinian prisoners, all women, some of whom were slated 4 for release soon. A 20th prisoner was due to be released Sunday. Both sides hoped the modest exchange will set the stage for a broader prisoner swap 5, involving Shalit and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Some analysts 6 hope such a deal would also prompt Israel to ease the punishing blockade it has imposed on the Gaza Strip. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Jerusalem.

US economy lost more jobs than expected last month, non-farm payrolls 7 fell by 263,000. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

Many analysts were predicting a loss of about 175,000 jobs, so the bigger number is a disappointment. And it suggests that the labor 8 market is healing more slowly than many people thought. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8%. Stuart Hoffman is / chief economist 9 with PNC Financial Services Group.

“The job market has still not reached the point where small and large businesses are hiring. They’ve reduced the layoffs 10, so the job losses are smaller. But you just don't see any hiring going on consistently across the country.”

Back last winter, the US was losing 700,000 jobs a month, now it's losing 263,000. So the trend is still clearly towards fewer job losses, and Hoffman expects to see some job growth in the first part of 2010. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 21 points today. This is NPR.

A CBS News employee today pleaded not guilty to charges he sought to extort 11 late-night Talk Show host David Letterman out of two million dollars. Robert Halderman, a CBS producer who works for the show “48 Hours” entered his plea today, as he was being arraigned 12 on attempted grand larceny 13 charges in Manhattan. Prosecutors 14 say Halderman was demanding the money in exchange for not releasing information about Letterman involving affairs with female staffers in his office. Last night on his show Letterman acknowledged the affairs while saying he went to authorities over the matter. Halderman was nabbed in an undercover sting operation.

Pakistani officials say US drone has targeted and killed the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in Pakistan along the border region where foreign militants including al-Qaeda have been holed up. From Lahore, NPR’s Julie McCarthy reports.

The death of Tahir Yuldashev in a drone attack would come as welcome news to the Central Asian Republics. The al-Qaeda-linked Uzbek militant 2 who was killed in August according to Pakistani intelligence sources, led in Islamic militant underground, opposed to the communist government in Uzbekistan where he had been sentenced to death in absentia. He later fled to Afghanistan where he fought alongside the Taliban. Following their ouster, Yudashev, moved across the border to Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal 15 area of Waziristan, there he rose to prominence 16 as a clever commander of war-hardened Uzbek fighters who gave his allies, including the Pakistani Taliban, a decisive advantage in battle. The Taliban denies his killing 17. His death will be a blow to Pakistani militants, as they face what the Pakistan army says, will soon be a major offensive in Waziristan. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Lahore.

Crude oil futures 18 fell $1.14 a barrel to settle at 69.98 a barrel in New York.

I'm Jack 19 Speer, NPR News in Washington.