BOSTON (Reuters) – Tensions boiled over in the early hours of Tuesday in downtown Boston, where police arrested about 100 protesters after the Occupy Boston group expanded its footprint and was told by authorities to backtrack.

Protesters said late on Monday that police had given participants an ultimatum to return to their small original encampment by nightfall or be moved along.

But it was not until after 1 a.m. ET Tuesday when hundreds of Boston and Transit police officers, some in riot gear, moved in on the group, handcuffing protesters and tearing down tents.

“At 1:30 this morning hundreds of police in full riot gear brutally attacked Occupy Boston,” the group said in a news release, adding that authorities “made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers.”

Police said no protesters or police were injured in the maneuver.

“Civil disobedience will not be tolerated,” Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told the local Fox News affiliate in an interview early Tuesday.

Monday evening, the Boston Police Department sent a tweet to @Occupy_Boston: “The BPD respects your right to protest peacefully. We ask for your ongoing cooperation.”

BOSTON (Reuters) – The Boston Bruins opened their National Hockey League (NHL) season on Thursday with a noisy, emotional ceremony to mark their 2011 Stanley Cup victory.

The team and its diehard fans have barely come off the high that followed June’s Stanley Cup win over the Vancouver Canucks in a decisive seventh game that clinched the franchise’s first championship since 1972.

Before getting back to business against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2011-12 season opener, Boston had some unfinished business — raising their new championship banner to the TD Garden rafters.

“We’ve waited long enough. The wait is over. Let’s get this damn thing up!” exclaimed team owner Jeremy Jacobs.

The bright yellow banner now hangs next to five others won by the Bruins, dating to 1929, and 17 green and white banners marking the championships won by the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics, which shares the arena.

Team management paid tribute to the players, who endured a grueling 25-game run through the NHL playoffs, including three Game Seven wins, to clinch the title.

“They did it with skill, they did it with courage, and they did it with grit. Thanks guys,” said Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli.

BOSTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Consumer advocate and former Obama administration official Elizabeth Warren squared off with Democratic rivals in her first political debate on Tuesday as she campaigns to unseat Republican Scott Brown in next year’s Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.

Democrats are eager to take back the seat Brown won in an upset in a January 2010 special election after the death of longtime Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy in 2009.

Warren, who locked horns with Wall Street in her work setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has won the backing of national progressive groups since jumping into the race in September. On Monday, she was endorsed by Massachusetts Democratic Representative Niki Tsongas.

Two recent polls of potential Democratic primary voters gave Warren a solid lead in the race for her party’s nomination in the September 2012 primary.

Warren stuck close to the populist themes she used in launching her campaign: fighting for the middle class and reining in the power of Wall Street.

“What this has been about from the beginning, for me, is middle-class families,” Warren said. “This is my life’s work.”

Joining Warren on Tuesday were Bob Massie, an entrepreneur and one-time candidate for lieutenant governor; Alan Khazei, co-founder of the City Year youth program; Tom Conroy, a state legislator; Marisa DeFranco, an immigration lawyer; and Herb Robinson, an engineer.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Consumer advocate and former Obama administration official Elizabeth Warren got into the nitty-gritty of campaigning for the Senate in Massachusetts on Tuesday, facing off in her first political debate.

The Harvard Law School professor, who has never before run for office, lined up at the University of Massachusetts Lowell with five lesser-known Democrats who stand between her and a shot at unseating Republican Scott Brown in 2012.

Democrats are eager to take back the seat that Brown won in an upset in January 2010 in a special election after the death of longtime Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy in 2009.

Warren, who locked horns with Wall Street in her work setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has gotten the backing of national progressive groups since jumping into the race in September. On Monday, she was endorsed by Massachusetts Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

Two recent polls of potential Democratic primary voters suggest Warren is almost assured of winning her party’s nomination in a September primary. She rates highly, for now, in terms of favorability and name recognition.

Warren received hearty applause from the audience and as she and her rivals parried questions ranging from serious (“Would you support Obama’s jobs bill”) to light (“What superhero would you be, and why?).

Dressed in red jacket and black slacks, Warren hewed close to the populist themes used when she launched her campaign last month: fighting for the middle class, and reining in the power of Wall Street.

SALEM, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Slowing the pace of increases in Social Security benefits for wealthier Americans would be one way to help keep the retirement program solvent, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said on Monday.

Romney said benefit adjustment for wealthy recipients should be tied to the consumer price index rather than the faster-rising wage index.

That, along with an increase in the retirement age, would help plug the shortfalls in Social Security, Romney said at a town hall meeting in Salem, New Hampshire.

“I would rather have slower benefit growth for higher income beneficiaries” than raising taxes, he said, adding that current retirees or near-retirees should face “no changes at all” in benefits. “I do not want to raise taxes on anyone.”

Recent missteps in debates by rival Rick Perry, the Texas governor, have helped Romney regain front-runner status in the race for the 2012 Republican primary nomination.

Romney looked energized on Monday while stumping in the key early primary state, where he holds a wide lead in the most polls.

The former governor of neighboring Massachusetts was peppered with questions on immigration, the war in Afghanistan, relations with Pakistan and gun control by a mostly supportive crowd of about 300.

DERRY, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Texas Governor Rick Perry, reeling from recent debate missteps, told voters in New Hampshire on Friday he is the authentic conservative choice for the Republican nomination for president.

At a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, Perry took a veiled shot at former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who has recently jumped back to Republican front-runner status.

The Perry campaign has attempted to link the governance style and positions of Romney with that of President Barack Obama. “We need a nominee for the Republican Party who is a clear contrast with Barack Obama,” Perry said.

Borrowing a line from President Ronald Reagan, he declared, “Now is the time for bright colors, not pale pastels. And let me tell you, I’m that bright color.”

Perry highlighted his record of bringing jobs to Texas, in part by competing aggressively with other states.

Without mentioning Romney, he said “some” candidates had made their reputations by sending jobs to China.

Romney is a former chief executive of the venture capital firm Bain Capital, which outsourced jobs from some of the companies it bought. Romney has said that, on net, Bain Capital created “tens of thousands” of jobs at the companies it acquired or helped to fund.

BOSTON (Reuters) – The arrest of a Massachusetts man who allegedly plotted to fly explosives-packed model planes into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol has reignited concern about the risk of a home-grown militant attack in the United States.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was indicted on Thursday in the explosives plan, as well as for attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas.

“Ferdaus’ arrest underscores the need to continue efforts to combat domestic radicalization and the evolving threat of ‘lone wolf’ extremists,” said Peter King, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

Ferdaus was born in the United States. His immigrant parents’ national origin was not disclosed, and authorities were treading carefully.

“I want the public to understand that Mr. Ferdaus’ conduct, as alleged in the complaint, is not reflective of a particular culture, community or religion,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in announcing the arrest.

Massachusetts Congressman Bill Keating said the “home grown” aspect of the Ferdaus case was disturbing.

“People have been told this, but perhaps until now didn’t understand how real it is,” Keating, a first-term Democrat who sits on the homeland security committee, told Reuters.

BOSTON (Reuters) – U.S. authorities on Wednesday arrested and charged a Massachusetts man with plotting to damage or destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol by using remote-controlled aircraft filled with plastic explosives.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, a U.S. citizen, was also charged with attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said. He was arrested after an undercover operation.

“The conduct alleged today shows that Mr. Ferdaus had long planned to commit violent acts against our country,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement.

The statement said the public was never in danger from the explosive devices, which were controlled by undercover FBI employees.

If convicted Ferdaus faces up to 15 years in jail for providing support to foreign terrorists, up to 20 years on a charge of attempting to destroy national defense premises, and up to 20 years on a charge of attempting to damage and destroy buildings owned by the United States.

In a 42-page affidavit, authorities said the physics graduate from Northeastern University in Boston began planning to commit a violent “jihad” against the United States in early 2010, calling Americans “enemies of Allah.”

Ferdaus, of Ashland, Massachusetts, about 25 miles west of Boston, allegedly modified mobile phones to act as electrical switches for improvised explosive devices. He is accused of supplying the phones to the undercover FBI agents, whom he believed were members of, or recruiters for, al Qaeda.

BOSTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – U.S. authorities on Wednesday arrested and charged a Massachusetts man with plotting to damage or destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol by using remote-controlled aircraft filled with plastic explosives.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, a U.S. citizen, was also charged with attempting to provide support and resources to the al Qaeda group in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said.

He was caught in an undercover operation.

“The conduct alleged today shows that Mr. Ferdaus had long planned to commit violent acts against our country,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement.

The public was never in danger from the explosive devices, which were controlled by undercover FBI employees, she said.

Authorities allege that Ferdaus, a physics graduate from Northeastern University in Boston, began planning to commit a violent “jihad” against the United States in early 2010.

Ferdaus, of Ashland, Massachusetts, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Boston, is alleged to have modified mobile phones to act as electrical switches for an improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

, Sept 27 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama faces a “titanic” struggle to win re-election in 2012 given the persistently high U.S. unemployment and bitter partisan battles in Washington, his senior campaign advisor said on Tuesday.

Strategist David Axelrod also warned of a new “Gilded Age” in the United States in which special interests can use massive campaign donations to “buy” politicians.

“We have the wind in our face because the American people have the wind in their faces. This is going to be a titanic struggle,” Axelrod said, referring to Obama’s bid to win re-election in November 2012 against the eventual Republican White House nominee.

Obama’s job approval ratings in New Hampshire and elsewhere in the country have slumped this year, bruised by a weak economy and high unemployment.

New Hampshire, a small northeastern state, is due to hold its presidential primary election in February, a key milestone on the road to the election in which Obama is seeking a second four-year term as president. (For a factbox on key dates in the 2012 campaign, click on [ID:nN1E7780IF])

“No doubt there is some strong headwinds facing us, but we’re on the right side of the fight and I believe we’re going to win that fight,” Axelrod said at a “Politics and Eggs” event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“And the more I watch the Republicans, the more I believe that,” he added.