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• Smoke forces evacuation of Washington subway train
• Another winter storm to pummel eastern United States with snow and sleet
• Pentagon chief: US considering slowing exit from Afghanistan
• Spacewalking astronauts rigging station for new U.S. space taxis
• Minneapolis police officer wounded in shooting
• Two children dead in New Jersey house fire: report
• Malcolm X's legacy survives 50 years after his assassination
• Dubai skyscraper catches fire, though no one killed in blaze
• Obama begins sales pitch on trade to wary U.S. public
• Huge blaze guts upper floors of 79-story Dubai skyscraper
• Analysts: West looks impotent as Ukraine ceasefire frays
• Hundreds to mark 50th year since Malcolm X's assassination
• U.S. refinery strike widens to include nation's largest refinery
• 2 sides in West Coast ports dispute reach tentative contract
• Linguistic gap may have contributed to U.S. farmworker slaying, group says
• Meningitis bacteria to blame for Oregon student's death
• Suspect in Vegas road rage killing confessed to friends: police report
• Massive fire engulfs Dubai skyscraper
• NASCAR suspends Kurt Busch before Daytona 500
• Pennsylvania college aims to end insurance coverage of abortions in rape cases
• Pennsylvania college aims to end insurance coverage of abortions in rape cases
• Greece wins eurozone bailout deal with strict conditions

Smoke forces evacuation of Washington subway train Posted: 21 Feb 2015 12:13 PM PST Riders on a Washington subway train were forced to evacuate after faulty brakes caused smoke to fill a station stop in the nation's capital on Saturday, officials said. Faulty train brakes caused the smoke to fill Woodley Park Metro station around noon, according to Washington, D.C. fire department spokesman Tim Wilson. The system, which operates in Washington, D.C. as well as the Virginia and Maryland suburbs, is the second busiest in the country in terms of passengers carried after New York's subway network.

Another winter storm to pummel eastern United States with snow and sleet Posted: 21 Feb 2015 10:52 AM PST (Reuters) - A fresh band of winter weather was pounding parts of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys with snow and rain on Saturday as it headed toward the U.S. East Coast, threatening to bring more misery to storm-weary Boston. The system cut a 2,000 mile path from southern Missouri to Maine, with a winter storm warning in effect until Sunday for parts of southern Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. In Kentucky and Tennessee, forecasters warned of possible flooding as rain fell on frozen ground. The system was expected to bring a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow from Washington to New York City, followed by another blast of bone-chilling cold.

Pentagon chief: US considering slowing exit from Afghanistan Posted: 21 Feb 2015 09:31 AM PST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United States is considering slowing its military exit from Afghanistan by keeping a larger-than-planned troop presence this year and next because the new Afghan government is proving to be a more reliable partner, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Saturday.

Spacewalking astronauts rigging station for new U.S. space taxis Posted: 21 Feb 2015 08:58 AM PST By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - A pair of U.S. astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Saturday to begin rigging parking spots for two commercial space taxis. Station commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore, 52, and flight engineer Terry Virts, 47, left the station's Quest airlock shortly before 8 a.m. EST to begin a planned 6-1/2-hour spacewalk, the first of three outings over the next eight days. The work will prepare docking ports for upcoming flights by Boeing Co and privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which are developing capsules to ferry crew to and from the station, which flies about 260 miles (418 km) above the Earth. The United States has been dependent on Russia for station crew transportation since the space shuttle were retired in 2011.

Minneapolis police officer wounded in shooting Posted: 21 Feb 2015 08:08 AM PST (Reuters) - A Minneapolis police officer was shot and wounded on Saturday after responding to a burglary call in what police said appeared to be a targeted attack. The officer, whose name authorities have not released, was taken by his partner to a hospital and is in stable condition with wounds that are not life threatening, police said. (Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Editing by Mark Potter)

Two children dead in New Jersey house fire: report Posted: 21 Feb 2015 07:37 AM PST (Reuters) - A house fire in New Jersey left two children aged one and six dead, local media reported, citing authorities. The blaze broke out on Friday evening at a residence in Orange, outside of Newark, NJ Advance Media reported, citing the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. The children's mother escaped the fire and was "distraught," NJ Advance Media quoted the prosecutor's office as saying in a statement. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office and Sheriff's Office, along with the Orange Fire Department, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Malcolm X's legacy survives 50 years after his assassination Posted: 21 Feb 2015 06:29 AM PST The uncompromising message of Malcolm X, who had virtually embodied the black power movement in its early years, carries particular resonance today, they say, a half-century after his shooting death in New York on Feb. 21, 1965. His ideas are at the core of a national debate over the treatment of African-Americans and other minorities by the U.S. criminal justice system following last summer's killings of unarmed black men by white police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City. Those two galvanizing cases echo an incident in April 1957, when a black man named Johnson Hinton was beaten by police in New York's Harlem neighborhood and a young Malcolm X famously came to his defense. Malcolm X, born as Malcolm Little and also known as Malcolm Shabazz, was a powerful orator who rose to prominence as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, an African-American Muslim group that opposed integration with whites.

Dubai skyscraper catches fire, though no one killed in blaze Posted: 21 Feb 2015 05:08 AM PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of the world's tallest residential towers caught fire early Saturday in Dubai's Marina district, sending hundreds of residents pouring into the streets as bright yellow flames raged several stories high. No one was reported killed.

Obama begins sales pitch on trade to wary U.S. public Posted: 21 Feb 2015 03:15 AM PST By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday began a broad sales pitch to the U.S. public about the merits of free trade deals, an area in which he faces stiff resistance from many in his own Democratic party. Obama has said he wants to work with Congressional Republicans to finalize the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, an agreement that would stretch from Japan to Chile, covering 40 percent of the world economy. "I'm the first to admit that past trade deals haven't always lived up to the hype," Obama said in his weekly address. "But that doesn't mean we should close ourselves off from new opportunities." The first step in working with other nations to finalize the TPP deal is to pass "fast track" legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals through Congress.

Huge blaze guts upper floors of 79-story Dubai skyscraper Posted: 21 Feb 2015 01:09 AM PST Hundreds of panicked residents fled one of the tallest towers in Dubai early Saturday as a huge fire engulfed the skyscraper, causing extensive damage to its luxury flats. The inferno gutted the upper part of 79-storey Torch tower, triggering an evacuation of nearby blocks in the Dubai Marina neighbourhood, an AFP correspondent reported. Civil defence teams cleared the building, which at 336.1 metres (1,105 feet) is one of the world's tallest residential towers. Dubai Marina is a popular expat neighbourhood that has a high concentration of residential towers.

Analysts: West looks impotent as Ukraine ceasefire frays Posted: 21 Feb 2015 12:03 AM PST The continued fighting in eastern Ukraine has made a mockery of the West's latest attempts to negotiate a ceasefire but may ultimately pave the way for a more durable peace, say analysts. It did not take long for the latest truce, brokered by France and Germany and signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk last week, to look as impotent as previous deals. With barely a pause, pro-Russian rebels continued their assault on the key transport hub of Debaltseve, ultimately forcing the Ukrainian military into a humiliating retreat. "It was a classic case of good intentions paving the way to hell," said Ievgen Vorobiov of the Polish Institute of International Affairs.

Hundreds to mark 50th year since Malcolm X's assassination Posted: 20 Feb 2015 11:45 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Activists, actors, and politicians will remember civil rights leader Malcolm X with a ceremony at the New York site in Harlem where he was killed 50 years ago.

U.S. refinery strike widens to include nation's largest refinery Posted: 20 Feb 2015 11:12 PM PST Shortly after talks between union and oil company representatives ended on Friday night, the union notified Motiva Enterprises [MOTIV.UL] of a strike by its members at the company's 600,250 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. The USW also gave notices on Friday of strikes to begin in 24 hours at Motiva's 235,000 bpd Convent, Louisiana and 238,000 bpd Norco, Louisiana refineries and the Shell Oil Co chemical plant in Norco, the union said. "The industry's refusal to meaningfully address safety issues through good faith bargaining gave us no other option but to expand our work stoppage," USW International President Leo Gerard said in a statement. Motiva is a 50-50 joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco [SDABO.UL].

2 sides in West Coast ports dispute reach tentative contract Posted: 20 Feb 2015 09:16 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — Negotiators reached a tentative contract covering West Coast dockworkers on Friday evening, likely ending a protracted labor dispute that snarled international trade at seaports handling about $1 trillion worth of cargo annually.

Linguistic gap may have contributed to U.S. farmworker slaying, group says Posted: 20 Feb 2015 08:43 PM PST By Eric M. Johnson PASCO, Wash. (Reuters) - A Hispanic immigrant rights group said on Friday that cultural and linguistic differences may have inflamed tensions between police and a Mexican farm laborer shot dead in Washington state last week in a killing that raised questions about use of force. Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, an out-of-work orchard worker from Mexico's Michoacan state, was shot and killed in the city of Pasco in Washington's agricultural heartland after he pelted police with rocks and then fled, in a confrontation captured on video. His death sparked protests by demonstrators who accused police in Pasco of overly aggressive tactics in dealing with the Hispanic community and who likened the shooting to two high-profile police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City. "He suffered from mental illness," Felix Vargas, chairman of Consejo Latino, said of Zambrano Montes.

Meningitis bacteria to blame for Oregon student's death Posted: 20 Feb 2015 07:54 PM PST By Courtney Sherwood PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - A bacterial infection related to meningitis is to blame for the death of a University of Oregon student-athlete who was found unresponsive in her dorm room earlier this week, public health officials said on Friday. Freshman Lauren Jones, 18, was found unconscious on Tuesday and declared dead at a nearby hospital. An initial autopsy did not offer conclusive results, but tests completed on Friday confirmed that meningococcemia caused her death, Lane County Public Health spokesman Jason Davis said in a statement. Jones was the fourth student at the school confirmed to have been infected with meningococcemia, a bacterial precursor to meningitis, since an outbreak began earlier this year.

Suspect in Vegas road rage killing confessed to friends: police report Posted: 20 Feb 2015 06:30 PM PST The 19-year-old man charged with killing a mother of four following a confrontation on the streets of Las Vegas excitedly told friends hours later that he had shot some "kids" who had been after him, arrest warrants made public on Friday show. According to the documents, Erich Milton Nowsch told the two friends he fired 22 times at a green car after a cat-and-mouse car chase through his neighborhood just a few miles from the famed Las Vegas strip, and knew that he had shot someone when it was over. Tammy Meyers, 44, was struck by a single bullet to the head on the night of Feb. 12 while in her green Buick Park Avenue outside her home.

Massive fire engulfs Dubai skyscraper Posted: 20 Feb 2015 05:27 PM PST Thousands have reportedly been evacuated from one of the tallest residential buildings in the world.

NASCAR suspends Kurt Busch before Daytona 500 Posted: 20 Feb 2015 03:49 PM PST The suspension comes hours after a judge said he committed an act of domestic violence.

Pennsylvania college aims to end insurance coverage of abortions in rape cases Posted: 20 Feb 2015 03:16 PM PST By David DeKok HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - University of Scranton employee insurance plans will no longer cover abortions in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening pregnancies under a plan that the Jesuit school says is consistent with Catholic doctrine. The union negotiated away coverage for elective abortions nine years ago in return for adoption coverage, but its current contract pays for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the live of the mother. In a letter to faculty released by the university on Friday, its president, Rev. Kevin Quinn, said that even limited abortion coverage is "inconsistent with the moral teachings of the church." The move comes as Pope Francis, the first Catholic pontiff who is a member of the Jesuit order, prepares to visit Pennsylvania in September. Michael Friedman, an English professor who serves as union president, insisted that Quinn could not impose the change unilaterally.

Pennsylvania college aims to end insurance coverage of abortions in rape cases Posted: 20 Feb 2015 03:00 PM PST By David DeKok HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - University of Scranton employee insurance plans will no longer cover abortions in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening pregnancies under a plan that the Jesuit school says is consistent with Catholic doctrine. The union negotiated away coverage for elective abortions nine years ago in return for adoption coverage, but its current contract pays for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the live of the mother. In a letter to faculty released by the university on Friday, its president, Rev. Kevin Quinn, said that even limited abortion coverage is "inconsistent with the moral teachings of the church." The move comes as Pope Francis, the first Catholic pontiff who is a member of the Jesuit order, prepares to visit Pennsylvania in September. Michael Friedman, an English professor who serves as union president, insisted that Quinn could not impose the change unilaterally.

Greece wins eurozone bailout deal with strict conditions Posted: 20 Feb 2015 02:11 PM PST Europe on Friday granted Greece a crucial extension to its massive debt bailout, ending weeks of tension, but at the cost of huge concessions including a commitment to spell out reforms within two days. The 19 single currency finance ministers reached the hard-won deal to end a standoff pitting Greece against an angry Germany, suspicious that the radical leftist government in Athens was looking to ditch its austerity obligations. "The meeting was intense because it was about building trust between us," said Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem, after the talks ended with a two page statement setting out the tough conditions Athens will have to fulfil. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the deal would mark a new era for Athens and its relationship with the European Union.

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