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• Workers strike for new pact at nine U.S. oil, chemical plants
• Huckabee compares being gay to drinking, swearing
• Major snowstorm churns through Midwest toward New England
• Five found slain in Georgia house, police seek 26-year-old man
• Toddler shoots father, pregnant mother at New Mexico motel
• California suffers dry January, prolonging devastating drought
• In shock, Japan ponders its role in the world
• Exclusive: Some charities to refuse money from U.S. financier accused in sex case
• Obama budget offers contrasts, long-shot deals with GOP
• Storm crawls into Midwest, threatens Northeast
• Japan mourns slain hostage Goto as caring and courageous reporter
• Deadline passes in U.S. refinery workers contract talks
• Scientist considered father of birth control pill dies
• Arizona's Sheriff Joe picks Patriots; inmates to get popcorn
• Measles continues to spread as scientists urge parents to vaccinate children
• Whitney Houston's daughter revived after found unresponsive in tub
• Video: IS beheads Japanese hostage

Workers strike for new pact at nine U.S. oil, chemical plants Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:53 PM PST By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) - Union workers took to picket lines on Sunday after strikes were called at nine U.S. refineries and chemical plants in a bid to pressure oil companies to agree to a new national contract covering workers at 63 plants. The discord comes as plunging crude prices force oil companies to slash spending. The United Steelworkers union (USW) said Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the lead industry negotiator, halted talks after the union rejected a fifth proposal from the company.

Huckabee compares being gay to drinking, swearing Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:37 PM PST The former Arkansas governor says there's no chance he'll ever accept same-sex marriage, whether he runs for president or not.

Major snowstorm churns through Midwest toward New England Posted: 01 Feb 2015 11:35 AM PST By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - A major winter storm swept into the northern Plains on Sunday, threatening to bury Chicago under more than a foot of snow before tracking toward New England, a region still reeling from a powerful blizzard that struck only days earlier. The fresh snowfall and strong winds could complicate the plans of millions of Americans in the Midwest planning to travel to Super Bowl parties on Sunday. In Chicago's two major airports, about 1,400 flights were scratched. "We are right now ramping up into blizzard conditions," said David Beachler, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Chicago.

Five found slain in Georgia house, police seek 26-year-old man Posted: 01 Feb 2015 09:29 AM PST By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - Georgia police were searching for a 26-year-old man on Sunday in the killings of five people whose bodies were discovered in a house the night before. The victims ranged in age from 16 to 60, Troup County Sheriff's Department spokesman Stewart Smith told Reuters. Four of the five victims were related, Smith said. Lagrange, a town in Troup County near the Alabama border, is about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Atlanta, "One of the victims had not been to work for a couple of days and their employer was concerned and called 911," Smith said.

Toddler shoots father, pregnant mother at New Mexico motel Posted: 01 Feb 2015 08:58 AM PST (Reuters) - A 3-year-old boy shot and wounded his father and pregnant mother with a 9 mm handgun that he pulled out of the woman's purse while searching for an iPad, police in New Mexico said on Sunday. Both parents needed hospital treatment for non-life threatening injuries after the bullet went through his father's buttocks and into his mother's shoulder, Albuquerque Police Department Officer Simon Drobik said.

California suffers dry January, prolonging devastating drought Posted: 01 Feb 2015 07:23 AM PST By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California has experienced one of the driest Januarys on record, and the lack of rain during a time of year when the weather is usually wet indicates the state is likely headed for a fourth straight year of drought, officials said. A prolonged drought could portend further economic and environmental setbacks for the nation's most populous state, which has already lost both crops and jobs to the dry weather. The state's driest January on record was in 1984, when the 30-day average precipitation in the state reached 0.33 of an inch (0.84 cm), under one method used to gauge rainfall statewide, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Mathews. The low rainfall combined with warmer-than-average temperatures have resulted in a meager snow pack, the California Department of Water Resources said in a statement.

In shock, Japan ponders its role in the world Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:31 AM PST The Japanese, who inhabit one of the world's safest countries, have been brutally reminded of the dangers elsewhere.

Exclusive: Some charities to refuse money from U.S. financier accused in sex case Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:20 AM PST By David Ingram NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some charities that have received money from U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein said they are reviewing their relationships with him or will decline to accept any future gifts from him in the wake of recent allegations he forced an underage girl to have sex with Britain's Prince Andrew and other powerful men. Epstein, 62, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring an underage girl for prostitution and served a year in a Florida jail, has long burnished his reputation as a philanthropist through a series of foundations that he says have given millions of dollars to institutions ranging from Harvard University to a New York junior tennis league. The filing has also renewed questions about Epstein's once close links to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, though there are no allegations of any wrongdoing by Clinton.

Obama budget offers contrasts, long-shot deals with GOP Posted: 01 Feb 2015 03:23 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — With a blend of tax hikes and spending increases, President Barack Obama's budget spells out a policy agenda that will distinguish him from Republicans who now control Congress. It also will contain what amount to opening bids for some long-shot compromises.

Storm crawls into Midwest, threatens Northeast Posted: 01 Feb 2015 02:03 AM PST CHICAGO (AP) — A storm that gathered steam over the southern Rockies moved into the Midwest early Sunday and is expected to dump more than a foot of snow as it moves toward New England, which is still recovering from a winter walloping it received just a few days ago.

Japan mourns slain hostage Goto as caring and courageous reporter Posted: 31 Jan 2015 11:54 PM PST The story of the vulnerable, the children, and the poor drove the work of journalist Kenji Goto.

Deadline passes in U.S. refinery workers contract talks Posted: 31 Jan 2015 09:14 PM PST HOUSTON (Reuters) - Contracts for unionized U.S. refinery workers began expiring at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday (0401 GMT) without word from labor or refinery owners about the outcome of talks for a new national pact. The national agreement between the United Steelworkers union (USW) and oil companies, which covers workers at 63 refineries accounting for two-thirds of U.S. refining capacity, expires at 12:01 a.m. local time on Sunday in the time zone where each refinery is located. Negotiators for the USW and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which represents U.S. ...

Scientist considered father of birth control pill dies Posted: 31 Jan 2015 08:58 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carl Djerassi, the chemist widely considered the father of the birth control pill, has died.

Arizona's Sheriff Joe picks Patriots; inmates to get popcorn Posted: 31 Jan 2015 07:22 PM PST By Daniel Wallis PHOENIX (Reuters) - The Arizona lawman who bills himself as "America's toughest sheriff" predicts the New England Patriots will win the Super Bowl and says some inmates will be allowed popcorn as they watch Sunday's face-off with the Seattle Seahawks. Joe Arpaio, the 82-year-old sheriff of Maricopa County where the National Football League's championship game will be played, held an event on Saturday at which he popped the popcorn and forecast the Patriots will triumph 27-17. He also took a cheeky jab at his favored team over the "deflategate" scandal, in which the Patriots are accused of using under-inflated footballs during their AFC championship triumph against Indianapolis.

Measles continues to spread as scientists urge parents to vaccinate children Posted: 31 Jan 2015 05:47 PM PST More than 100 people in the United States have been infected with the highly contagious airborne measles virus.

Whitney Houston's daughter revived after found unresponsive in tub Posted: 31 Jan 2015 05:16 PM PST Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only daughter of the late pop star Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her Georgia home on Saturday, but she was revived and rushed to a hospital, police said. The incident comes nearly three years after Houston, a superstar who battled substance abuse, drowned in a bathtub in Beverly Hills, California, in February 2012. Brown, 21, was found in the bathtub at her suburban Atlanta home by her husband and a friend, said Lisa Holland, public information officer for the Roswell Police Department. Brown's husband, Nick Gordon, started CPR and police continued life-saving measures until an ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital.

Video: IS beheads Japanese hostage Posted: 31 Jan 2015 02:36 PM PST An online video purported to show the beheading of journalist Kenji Goto.

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