Occupy protests spread across US

In New York, police have arrested dozens of people involved in the Occupy Wall Street protests after the group attempted to march on the stock exchange.

Police blocked the junctions leading to Wall Street, allowing only those with employee identification past the barricades.

Protest organisers have called for demonstrations at 16 New York subway stations and a march on Brooklyn Bridge later on Thursday.

Caroline Hepker, reporting from New York, said smaller protests were happening in other cities in the US in support of the New York rally.