washington

FBI FOCUSED ON OCCUPY MOVEMENT

The FBI used counterterrorism agents to investigate the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to newly disclosed agency records. FBI personnel around the country were routinely involved in exchanging information about the group with businesses, local law-enforcement agencies and universities, the records show. An October 2011 memo from the bureau's Jacksonville field office said agents discussed "past and upcoming meetings" of the movement. It said agents should contact Occupy Wall Street activists to ascertain whether people who attended their events had "violent tendencies." The memo said that because of high rates of unemployment, "the movement was spreading throughout Florida and there were several Facebook pages dedicated to specific chapters based on geographical areas." The records were obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, a civil rights organization in Washington, through a Freedom of Information request sent to the FBI. The records show little evidence that the group planned to commit violence.

India

Lockdown of city after rape protests

The New Delhi authorities shut down the heart of the capital for a second day, snarling traffic and disrupting the commute of thousands of workers a day before the Christmas holiday. Monday's lockdown followed weekend clashes between the police and thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets to urge administrators to make the city safer for women, after the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student this month shocked the nation. Six of the suspects have been arrested.

McKINNEY, Texas

Gas can explodes, hurting 6 children

Four children were airlifted to a Dallas hospital with critical burns after a gas can exploded on Christmas Eve next to an open fire pit in a back yard, a fire official in McKinney, Texas, said. Two other children are in the hospital, one with serious injuries and the other with minor burns. At least one of the children sprinkled gasoline on the fire Monday, and then left the can near the pit, said McKinney Fire Department spokeswoman Stacie Durham. The fumes from the can ignited, and all six children were nearby when it exploded, and the flames hit them, she said.

Elsewhere

Indianapolis: Three suspects charged with setting up a gas explosion that devastated an Indianapolis neighborhood and killed two people were ordered Monday to be held without bond.

China: A minivan carrying 15 children to kindergarten plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of eastern China on Monday, killing 11 children, state media said.

Yemen: A U.S. drone airstrike killed two al-Qaida militants Monday in a southern town, Yemeni security officials said, the latest in an offensive against the branch the United States considers the most dangerous.

Times wires