Some of the latest developments in the Occupy protests taking place in cities across the world:
UNITED STATES
CALIFORNIA
Some tents were back up in front of Oakland’s City Hall on Thursday, as the condition of an Iraq War veteran who suffered a fractured skull in clashes between protesters and police was upgraded to fair.
Police two days earlier cleared the plaza after it grew to dozens of tents and raised health and safety concerns among city officials.
The city allowed protesters back in on Wednesday, but said they would be prohibited from spending the night. About 1,000 people quickly filled the plaza, but later many of them filed out and began marching down nearby streets.
MASSACHUSETTS
U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is clarifying remarks she made about the Occupy Wall Street protests, saying she didn’t mean to take credit for them.
The Democrat and Harvard Law School professor said during a campaign appearance Thursday in Newton that she had intended to say she has been protesting against Wall Street abuses for a long time. Warren added that protesters must follow the law.
In an interview posted on The Daily Beast website, Warren said she “created much of the intellectual foundation” for the demonstrators. Republicans criticized her for the remark, pointing to arrests of some protesters in Boston and other cities.
Warren is considered the likely Democratic challenger to Republican Sen. Scott Brown next year.
NEW MEXICO
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico says it will file an injunction against the University of New Mexico to allow protesters to resume their encampment in a university park.
The move comes after UNM evicted protesters off a four-week old makeshift campsite over safety concerns. Around two dozen protesters have been arrested this week for refusing to leave Yale Park.
NEW YORK
The head of the union representing New York City police sergeants wants Occupy Wall Street protesters to know he’ll pursue legal action against anyone who harms police.
The statement Thursday came after clashes between protesters and police in Oakland, Calif., and elsewhere. The movement in New York City, where the protests originated, has been largely peaceful.
Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins told The Associated Press he wants demonstrators to know that assaulting an officer is a crime. He hopes no violence breaks out in New York.
RHODE ISLAND
The public safety chief in Providence has delivered letters to local Occupy Wall Street protesters notifying them they are violating multiple ordinances by camping overnight at downtown Burnside Park and asking them to leave within 72 hours.
Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare dropped the letters off at protesters’ tents Thursday. The letter lists regulations including littering, keeping off the grass, storage of explosive or inflammable materials, and permitting.
The activists have been camped in the park without a permit since Oct. 15.
TENNESSEE
Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration is imposing a nighttime curfew on the Capitol complex in Nashville in response to what it calls deteriorating safety conditions surrounding anti-Wall Street protests.
Lola Potter of the Department of General Services said the curfew will be enforced beginning Friday.
Occupy Nashville protesters have been encamped on Legislative Plaza for three weeks.
OREGON
In the small town of Ashland, pop. 21,000, Internet marketer Robbie Lindauer has been asking people to take their money out of the local branch of Chase bank to show their opposition to the role of big banks in the economic crisis. One local credit union attributes a spike in new members to the Occupy movement.
NEVADA
Reno elected officials have given the go-ahead for a northern Nevada group to set up a three-month encampment modeled on Occupy Wall Street protests in New York and other cities.
The Reno City Council waived a $35-per-day fee for use of the site near an unused municipal swimming pool several miles south of downtown Reno. One councilman even offered to pay for the $103 permit filing fee for Occupy Reno.
Encampment organizers agreed to follow public safety and health rules and provide portable toilets.
VIRGINIA
A tea party group in Virginia is demanding a refund of about $10,000 from the city of Richmond, claiming the group was unfairly charged for rallies while Occupy protesters have used the same space for several weeks for free.
The political organization is sending the city an invoice for the charges incurred for three rallies held in Kanawha Plaza over the past three years.
The Occupy protesters have been camped out at the plaza since Oct. 15.
Richmond Tea Party spokeswoman Colleen Owens said it was not fair that her group had to pay fees for permits, portable toilets, police and emergency personnel. The group also had to purchase a $1 million insurance policy.
The Atlanta Tea Party has raised similar complaints about Occupy Atlanta protests.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Howard University students, alumni and faculty are planning a march Friday to support the Occupy Wall Street protests.
The planned afternoon march will go from the Howard campus to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Organizers say they’ve coordinated with and will be joined by protesters from two ongoing “occupations” near the White House.
Talib Karim, an alumnus of the historically black school and one of the organizers, said the march is part of an effort to bring more racial diversity to the Wall Street protests. He says the issues raised by the protesters should resonate with African-Americans, who endure poverty and unemployment in greater percentages than the general population. The marchers will be calling on Congress to pass bills promoting job growth.
HEALTH CONCERNS
In American cities where Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are taking place, officials express concern that garbage, human waste and hygiene are becoming a growing worry in the public encampments. Poor food storage exacerbates a rat infestation in Oakland. Inspectors find open human waste in Philadelphia. Hypothermia cases develop in Denver after a snowstorm hits.
ENGLAND
The senior St. Paul’s Cathedral priest who welcomed anti-capitalist demonstrators to a camp outside the landmark in London has resigned, as the church considers taking legal action to evict the protesters.
The cathedral confirms that Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser has stepped down, but has not given his reasons. Protesters have been camped outside the building since Oct. 15. When police tried to move them the next day, Fraser said the demonstrators were welcome to stay and asked police officers to move instead.
GERMANY
The distribution of wealth in the United States is among the most unequal among industrialized nations, according to a study by the independent Bertelsmann Foundation, based in Gutersloh, Germany.
It was conducted independently of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the foundation said, but gives credit to the battle cry of many protesters that “we are the 99 percent” ? the vast majority of the population that does not benefit from the income of the world’s leading economy.
The United States ranked in the bottom five on a combination of issues including poverty prevention, health and access to education ? ahead of only Greece, Chile, Mexico and Turkey ? according to the study on social justice in the 31 developed nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Distribution of wealth in the United States is the most unequal among the nations examined, with more than 17 percent below the poverty line. Of those living below the poverty line in the U.S., some 21.6 percent of them are children, who also suffer from a lack of access to equal education, it showed.
Topping the list were the Scandinavian nations ? all places where the Occupy movement has failed to gain traction. The largest gathering in Sweden to date drew a crowd of only about 500 people. The foundation used data gathered both independently and by the development organization in 2010.
SCOTLAND
Police say they are investigating reports that a woman was raped while participating in the anti-capitalist protests in Glasgow. The report involved a 28-year-old woman at a tent in the city’s George Square. No arrests have been made. Occupy Glasgow organizers said they are shocked by the report and working with police to ensure that everyone at the camp is safe.