Irene death toll hits 35 in 10 states
NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama said federal agencies will work with states cleaning up after Irene, which left flooding, downed trees and power outages in its wake.
"It's going to take time to recover from a storm of this magnitude," Obama said Monday during a unrelated announcement. "The effects are still being felt across much of this country."
Obama signed an emergency declaration for Vermont, which was slammed by Irene before it pushed northward into Canada.
The declaration signed for Vermont and other states affected by Irene, which at one point had been a Category 3 hurricane before it marched up the U.S. East Coast as a weaker hurricane and then tropical storm, authorizes the Homeland Security Department's Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
"So our response continues, but I'm going to make sure that FEMA and other agencies are doing everything in their power to help people on the ground," Obama said.
Unofficially, at least 35 people died in 10 states, including a 55-year-old surfer and a 55-year-old tourist who was wading in rough surf in Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
At one point, media outlets reported, about 4 million customers were without power. Several media outlets reported damage could be anywhere from $7 billion to $10 billion.
Remnants of Irene moved through eastern Quebec Monday.
Irene, now a post-tropical depression, was about 191 miles north-northeast of Frenchville, Maine, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and moving northeast at 25 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its final advisory on the storm at 11 a.m. EDT.
Bachmann: Irene, quake 'God's way'
SARASOTA, Fla., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann was joking when she said Hurricane Irene and a recent quake were God's attention-getters, an aide said.
"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians," Bachmann said Sunday at a campaign appearance in Sarasota, Fla.
"We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'"
On Monday, a Bachmann campaign spokeswoman said the Minnesota congresswoman was just joking.
"Of course, she was saying it in jest," Alice Stewart wrote in an e-mail to ABC News.
Speaking at a Tea Party-sponsored event in Sarasota, Bachmann slammed President Obama's economic agenda and promised deep cuts in government spending, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
Bachmann, who won the Iowa Straw Poll by edging out libertarian Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, also made a campaign stop in Naples as part of her first visit to Florida as a presidential candidate.
Gadhafi family members in Algeria
TRIPOLI, Libya, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The wife of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi and three of his children are in Algeria, Algerian officials say, fueling speculation he also has fled Libya.
The Algerian Press Service reported Gadhafi's wife Safia, daughter Aisha and sons Mohamed and Hannibal, and their children, crossed the border in a Mercedes and a bus early Monday to flee the advancing rebels in Libya.
Mourad Benmehidi, the Algerian permanent representative to the United Nations, confirmed Algeria had allowed them to enter on humanitarian grounds, The New York Times reported. Gadhafi, however, was not part of the group, Benmehidi said.
Gadhafi's whereabouts have been a mystery since rebels overran his Tripoli compound last week. Gadhafi and another son, Saif al-Islam, are the subject of warrants from the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the whereabouts of two other sons, Mutassim and Saadi, also were unclear.
The Times, quoting an unidentified Algerian Foreign Ministry official, said the family had gone to Algiers.
The report came as fighting continued in Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown, and rebels called for continued NATO air support.
Arab League to send leader to Damascus
DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Protests in Syria's capital city escalated as the Arab League said it plans to send its leader to Damascus to press the government to end the bloodshed.
Human rights activists reported dozens of protests in Damascus suburbs during the weekend, as well as shots being fired at protesters trying to march into the city itself, Britain's Financial Times reported Sunday.
Syria's Interior Ministry urged citizens not to participate in rallies or public gatherings "out of concern for their safety."
In its first official meeting since the Syrian uprising began in March, the Arab League Sunday said it would send Secretary-General Nabil al-Aribi to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad to try to resolve the crisis.
A date hadn't been determined.
In its strongest statement yet on Syria, foreign ministers urged Assad to "end the bloodshed and resort to reason before it is too late."
Cantor unveils jobs plan big on regs cuts
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor outlined a jobs plan that would target 10 regulations for elimination and enact one major tax cut for businesses.
Cantor, outlined his plan -- presented as contrast to jobs proposals President Obama plans to offer next week -- in an e-mail to rank-and-file Republicans, The Hill reported.
"I think the administration has … already demonstrated that it is not interested in focusing on private sector growth," the Virginia Republican said. "What our list demonstrates is Washington now has gotten in the way, and we've got to make it easier, finally, for small business people to grow."
Cantor's proposals face a tough battle in becoming law but could find their way into a package developed by the 12-member, bipartisan, bicameral "supercommittee" charged with recommending $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts by late November, observers told The Hill.
The 10 regulations were identified by committee chairmen as those they consider most harmful to the economy. Cantor's package also would allow small-business owners to deduct 20 percent of their income from their taxes.
Cantor's memo said House members also will vote on legislation that would require all major regulations be subject to an up-or-down vote in Congress, and would consider two bills that would change the way regulatory impacts are analyzed.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Cantor's agenda a distraction meant to "provide cover for blocking the kind of pro-growth proposals needed to make a difference."
