All smiles on Leicester's Golden Mile at Diwali celebrations

Spectacular fireworks, music and dancing entertained thousands from across the country as Leicester staged the biggest Diwali celebrations outside India.
Families and friends, from toddlers to great grandparents, came from far and wide to see the city's Belgrave Road – known as the Golden Mile – burst into life on Saturday night.
Earlier in the evening, thousands of people filled Cossington Street Recreation Ground, off Belgrave Road, to see and hear performances of classical and contemporary Indian music and dance.
They were welcomed with Diwali messages from deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester Councillor Manjula Sood and president of the Leicester Hindu Festival Council Maganbhai Patel.
After the speeches, dance troupes wearing colourful costumes performed everything from modern Bollywood numbers to Punjabi and Gujarati folk dance.
Then, shortly before 9pm, a huge firework display lit up the sky over the park.
Diwali – the Festival of Lights – marks the start of the Hindu new year, but is also celebrated by Sikhs and followers of the Jain religion. It is an official holiday in India.
Among those enjoying the entertainment was Jay Singh, 18, of Belgrave, who went to see the fireworks and take in the atmosphere with college friends.
He said: "It's been really good to see so many people from different backgrounds join together. Some of my friends have never been to a Diwali celebration before.
"With all the lights, fireworks and lasers, it's pretty a pretty impressive sight."
Santokh Kaur, 54, of Rushey Mead, Leicester, has celebrated the festival of lights on the Golden Mile for almost every one of the 22 years that festivities have been held there.
He said: "Every year I come along thinking it can't get any bigger or better but still it does. The fireworks were breathtaking and I'm sure there are even more people here than last year."
The Odedra family had travelled from Manchester to attend the event.
Sid Odedra, 47, wife Nita, 43 and daughter Kira, 14, were celebrating Diwali day in Leicester for the fifth time.
Mr Odedra said: "It's just wonderful. There's a real feel-good party atmosphere here and it's great to see so many people out celebrating.
"We have family in Leicester so it is a good time for us all to get together and enjoy these fantastic celebrations."
Some 6,500 lamps have lit up 1,000 metres of Belgrave Road for the past two weeks since the city's Diwali lights were switched on.
Councillor Veejay Patel, chairman of the city council's Diwali working party, said: "We are very proud of our Diwali celebrations in Leicester."
Saturday's spectacle marked the end of a week of Diwali celebrations across the county.
Over the weekend shoppers at Highcross Leicester created a huge Diwali-inspired rangoli – floor artwork – during a workshop staged in the lower mall, while the Bollywood Brass Band paraded through the centre on Saturday afternoon.
On Thursday, staff and customers of HSBC Bank, in Grove Park, Enderby, held an evening of Diwali fun when about 200 people were treated to a selection of Indian food and music at the bank's conference centre.

Obama marks Diwali, reaches out to Asian Americans

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday lit a lamp to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali as he reached out to Asian Americans with a new initiative aimed at expanding opportunities.

Obama became the first US president to personally take part in a White House ceremony for the festival of lights, lighting a "diya" oil lamp inside the executive mansion and bowing respectfully before a Hindu priest.

"While this is a time of rejoicing, it's also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need," Obama said.

Obama used the occasion to sign an executive order setting up a commission, comprised of 20 members from a wide range of government agencies, to conduct a two-year study of how to assist Asian Americans.

The executive order saluted the success of many Asian Americans but pointed out that some communities -- Americans of Hmong, Cambodian and Malaysian descent -- suffer high rates of poverty.

One in five Asian Americans lacks health insurance, in part because more than one million of them are sole proprietors of businesses, the order said.

"It's tempting, given the strengths of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, for us to buy into the myth of the 'model minority' and to overlook the very real challenges that certain Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are facing," Obama said.

He also pointed to health disparities such as higher rates of diabetes and Hepatitis B, along with barriers to employment and workplace advancement.

Previous presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had also launched initiatives for Asian Americans.

But some community activists were upset that Bush's initiative, run under the Commerce Department, was tightly focused on business development rather than a range of issues.

Obama "has restored its broad mission to ensure that all federal agencies are addressing the needs of underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander communities," said Representative Mike Honda, who heads the community's caucus in Congress.