| Republican Leader Calls for Compromise on US Jobs Posted: 16 Oct 2011 06:29 PM PDT As U.S. President Barack Obama prepared for a three-day bus tour in the states of Virginia and North Carolina to continue promoting his $447 billion jobs creation bill, House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor urged the president on Sunday to compromise with Republican lawmakers on measures that would put Americans back to work, bringing down an unemployment rate that hovers just above nine percent.
Republican Eric Cantor appeared on Fox News Sunday with a copy of a Republican-backed jobs creation plan. He said President Obama should stop blaming congressional Republicans for stalling his plan and find common ground. "We want the president to work with us. We want him to stop campaigning. Let's go find the things that are in common between this plan and his," he said.
The Senate last week voted down Mr. Obama's bill in a procedural vote, called by Democrats to bring the legislation to full debate. Three Democrats voted with the minority Republicans to reject the measure.
Cantor said Sunday that elements of the Republicans' bill, particularly efforts to help small businesses, match parts of Mr. Obama's plan. But he said the number of job losses and home foreclosures that have occurred during the Obama administration indicate that different ideas are needed. "Obviously, his economic plans are not working. That's why we are trying to say we've got to change directions here. We've got to focus on private enterprise and small business. We've got to get the entrepreneurs back in the game," he said.
Cantor said that rather than the president's plan, which would give funding to state governments to prevent public worker layoffs, the Republican bill offers businesses incentives for job creation. Their plan includes reducing the corporate and individual tax rates to 25 percent, cutting trillions of dollars in spending, and rolling back some corporate regulations.
Mr. Obama is expected to use his bus tour this week to push for various portions of his jobs package in hopes that the legislation rejected as one bill can be approved piece by piece. In his Saturday address, the president told Americans they should hold Congress accountable, if lawmakers continue to reject his proposals. He recorded his message during a visit to a Michigan automotive plant.
"Next week, I'm urging members of Congress to vote on putting hundreds of thousands of teachers back in the classrooms, cops back on the streets, and firefighters back on the job. And if they vote 'no' on that, they'll have to tell you why," he said.
The president said that in the coming weeks, Congress will vote on other parts of the jobs bill: putting construction workers back to work on infrastructure projects, providing tax assistance for businesses that hire veterans, and continuing tax breaks for the middle class. 
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| British driver Wheldon dies after Indy crash Posted: 16 Oct 2011 04:39 PM PDT (Reuters) – British IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in an horrific crash at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, race organisers said. The 33-year-old Englishman, who lived in St. Petersburg Florida, was involved in a multi-car accident 13 laps into the Las Vegas Indy 300 which sent his vehicle flying. Wheldon was flown by helicopter to University Medical Center in Las Vegas for treatment before his death was announced two hours later. “IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries,” IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners have decided to end the race. In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute,” Bernard added. Wheldon was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion and he won the Indy500 race that year and also in 2011. The drivers returned to the track on Sunday for an emotional five-lap tribute with Wheldon’s fellow British driver, Scotsman Dario Franchitti, sobbing uncontrollably as he was strapped back into his car. SILENT FANS  
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| Hundreds Arrested in Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement Posted: 16 Oct 2011 03:41 PM PDT Police have arrested hundreds of protesters in several cities across the United States as the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street movement continues to spread across the country.
In the midwestern city of Chicago, police on Sunday arrested 175 people who refused to leave a public park.
In Washington D.C., police arrested at least 19 people protesting on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. More than 100 protesters were arrested across the western state of Arizona. The arrests were mostly peaceful and came one day after tens of thousands demonstrated in cities around the world against what they see as corporate greed.
The vast majority of those protests Saturday were peaceful. But there was violence in Rome, where hundreds of hooded, masked demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles, setting fires and smashing bank and shop windows. More than 70 people were injured.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the violence was a worrying sign for civil society. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the Italian capital in decades. Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, says repairing the damage could reach $1.4 million.
In London, several hundred protesters have established a camp site just outside St. Paul's Cathedral, which is adjacent to the British capital's financial district.
Protesters also have turned out in Australia, Asia and South Africa. The demonstrators are seeking to focus attention on what they see as corporate greed and economic inequality, the increasing gap between the rich and poor across the globe. 
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| Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement Spreads Posted: 16 Oct 2011 03:41 PM PDT The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City a month ago has gone global with demonstrations taking place in countries in Asia and across Europe.
The vast majority of the protests, which have attracted thousands, have been peaceful. But there was violence in Rome Saturday. Hundreds of hooded, masked protesters hurled rocks and bottles, settling fires and smashing bank and shop windows. More than 70 people were injured. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Sunday the violence was a worrying sign for civil society. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the Italian capital in decades
Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, says repairing the damage could reach $1.4 million.
In London, several hundred protesters have established a camp site just outside St. Paul's Cathedral which is adjacent to the British capital's financial district.
In the mid-western U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois some 175 people have been arrested when they refused to remove their tents and leave a park.
The demonstrators are seeking to focus attention on what they see as corporate greed and economic inequality, the increasing gap between the rich and poor across the globe.
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| Obama Helps Dedicate King Memorial Posted: 16 Oct 2011 02:38 PM PDT Delayed by Hurricane Irene in August, the day finally came. U.S. President Barack Obama, the country's first black president, dedicated a $120 million statue and memorial park Sunday to the slain civil rights leader who helped pave the way for him and many others in the United States.
Renowned civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. galvanized the U.S. civil rights movement with his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, his non-violent message calling for an end to racial segregation.
Almost half a century later, thousands convened on Washington's National Mall to give his new memorial a proper dedication.
Joyce Hayward flew from the island of Bermuda to be here. "I wanted to be part of the celebration of the person who helped me be free," she said.
For Jeanine Hill, it was a long bus ride from Ohio. "This is a special day because African Americans, we need something like this, especially for an election year ... this is a very important endeavor, and I am proud very proud to be a part of history," she said.
Revered civil-rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson greeted reporters before his formal remarks, saying King's fight must go on. "We have the obligation to not just glow in this but to keep raising the challenging and disturbing moral questions of economic justice and fairness," he said.
Stevie Wonder added to the chorus with his song, and members of King's family orated, including Reverend King's sister, Dr. Christine King Farris. "I witnessed a baby become a great hero to humanity, who provides hope and inspiration for freedom-loving people everywhere," she said.
And designer Tommy Hilfiger, who supplied an ocean of white baseball caps to the crowd, was swarmed by journalists before speaking.
But the day's big speaker was no doubt U.S. President Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, who was just six-years old when King was assassinated. "Because of that hopeful vision because of Dr. King's moral imagination, barricades began to fall and bigotry began to fade. New doors of opportunity swung open for an entire generation. Yes laws changed, but hearts and minds changed as well," he said.
The 10-meter-tall statue of Dr. King reminds the world of his fight for equality.
And his ultimate belief that great dreams can come true. 
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