There was a time when this news would have been the biggest story for months in the US. Now it's barely mentioned in US media, buried below 'head-lies' about ISIS boogeymen, kittens, Nutella, twerking, and celebrity gossip.

US oil workers on largest national strike since 1980

BBC, 2 February 2015

US union leaders have launched a large-scale strike at nine refineries after failing to agree on a new national contract with major oil companies.

It marks the first nationwide walkout since 1980 and impacts plants that together account for more than 10% of US refining capacity.

The United Steelworkers Union (USW) said it "had no choice".

"This industry is the richest in the world and can afford to make the changes we offered in bargaining," USW International Vice President of Administration Tom Conway said in a statement.

"The problem is that oil companies are too greedy to make a positive change in the workplace and they continue to value production and profit over health and safety, workers and the community."

Royal Dutch Shell, the lead industry negotiator, said it "hopes to resume negotiations as early as possible".

Taking a page from the National Rifle Association and tapping into the national spotlight on sexual assault on college campuses, lawmakers from Florida to Nevada are introducing legislation to permit the carrying of firearms at universities.

Eleven states are considering such proposals, the New York Times reported.

The carrying of concealed firearms on college campuses is banned in 41 states by law or by university policy, but some state lawmakers are looking at the failure of several colleges to handle recent scandals over sexual assault and hoping they will help to consolidate the passage of these measures. Some states have already lifted restrictions.

"If you've got a person that's raped because you wouldn't let them carry a firearm to defend themselves, I think you're responsible," Florida state Rep. Dennis K. Bexley said during a House subcommittee debate last month.

The Florida bill was passed by the Republican dominated legislature. It also passed the Senate committee but still has a way to go before it becomes state law. If enacted, it would allow concealed weapons on campus at 12 state universities. However, many law enforcement, college students and college administrators are opposed.

A train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil has derailed in southern West Virginia, sending at least one tanker into the Kanawha River and igniting at least 14 others that caused a house fire, officials said.

One person was being treated for potential inhalation issues, but no other injuries were reported, according to a news release from CSX, the train company.

Nearby residents were told to evacuate as state emergency response and environmental officials headed to the scene about 30 miles (48.2 kilometres) southeast of Charleston.

The state was under a winter storm warning and getting heavy snowfall at times, with as much as five inches (12.7 centimetres) in some places.

It's not clear if the weather had anything to do with the derailment, which occurred along a flat stretch of rail.

Minor injuries were reported after an explosion ripped apart structures at an oil refinery in southern Los Angeles County Wednesday morning and shook homes for miles around the blast site.

Aerial video showed smoke coming from a damaged portion of the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery, located south of the 405 Freeway. The blast, which led to an air quality advisory due to smoke, twisted metal and sent ash raining down on vehicles parked near the sprawling 750-acre refinery property.

"I thought it was an earthquake, like someone hit the back of my car," said resident Drew Magtoto.

Another resident told NBC4 he could feel shaking from about seven miles away and noticed a large flare-up from the plant's burnoff stack. The stack flaring is a safety measure used to dissipate pressure and avoid explosions.

Racism rears its ugly head, as this video shows a black man in Paris forcefully pushed off a subway train by rowdy British Chelsea fans headed for a match with Paris Saint-Germain. An investigation into their identities is underway.

"We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it" - this is the phrase they chanted during the incident, seen here in amateur video footage taken at the Richelieu-Drouot station and obtained exclusively by the Guardian.

The man tried to squeeze past them several times, before being given a hard shove.

The ride was delayed by three minutes as this was happening, according to British expat Paul Nolan.


He told the newspaper that "the doors were open and I could see and hear that a lot of chanting was going on. It looked like it was quite aggressive so I just took out my phone to record it."

Supporters of a charity which aims to support English culture have been exposed giving Nazi salutes and making racist comments in an undercover investigation.

The Steadfast Trust, set up in 2004, claims to be the only charity representing the Anglo-Saxon community in England and supports "education, legal rights and welfare" for the English community.

The charity has been accused of supporting far-right political views and was de-registered by the Charity Commission in the UK following an investigation.

Supporters have now been shown proudly revealing their membership of far-right and racist groups including the National Front (NF), British National Party (BNP) and even the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

Others were caught voicing racist tirades and chanting "victory to the Aryan race" in undercover footage obtained by a reporter on ITV1's Exposure program.

Several members of the charity are reported to have backgrounds in racist far-right organizations.

A Wichita mother and local business owner has taken to YouTube to express her anger over a violent no-knock raid that occurred on Friday morning at the home she owns and rents to her son and his friends.


Taylor Tymony, 22, and Michael Kostelecky, 21, were home on Friday around 10 am. That's when officers, armed with rifles burst through the unlocked door to the home they share with another friend, with a battering ram.

The roommates were allegedly ordered to the ground with rifles, as an officer instructed one of his accomplices that, "if you want them to be quiet, just do them like this," and proceeded to slam Kostelecky to the ground, using his foot to stomp on his neck and his head. The female officer who was holding Tymony at gun point reportedly followed suit and did the same to him.

The men allege that an officer asked them how they were able to pay the rent on such an expensive home, seemingly the only explanation as to why these men were targeted. The roommates also have a music studio set up in the home so artists are frequently coming and going.

There was reportedly no explanation given to the young men about why they had been under surveillance or why they were being raided. The officers even failed to provide a copy of the search warrant to the men at the time of the raid. A document obtained from the police by Porter, reportedly states that the warrant was not presented because there was no one home when the police entered the house, which was not true, Kansas Exposed reported.

Porter further explains that after trashing the home, the only thing the officers managed to find was an old, broken, piece of a marijuana pipe.

Funeral services were held Monday for John Skelley Jr., age 69, a retired factory worker who died of hypothermia February 1, after his gas was shut off by regional power monopoly Consumers Energy at his home in Hazel Park, a working class suburb just outside of Detroit.

Skelley, a Vietnam War veteran, was living with a roommate at the time, who owed an outstanding balance of $760.28. According to published reports, Consumers disconnected service on January 19, in the midst of a bitterly cold Midwest winter. The Michigan Public Services Commission (MPSA) says the state has a policy prohibiting the shutoff of services in winter to those over age 65. The state of Michigan, has now ordered Consumers to issue a report over the incident.

Hazel Park police reported that they found Skelley unresponsive, huddled under blankets next to a space heater. The medical examiner ruled that hypothermia was a major factor in his death. The high temperature was 18 Fahrenheit (minus 8 Celsius) the day he died, with a low of 2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 19 Celsius).

Skelley is survived by five children and seven grandchildren. According to family, Skelley worked for 30 years at Phoenix Wire Cloth, a stainless steel wire mesh manufacturer. He was suffering from throat cancer at the time of his death, which undoubtedly weakened his resistance to the cold. He had been recently estranged from family members, who were unsure of his whereabouts.

The death of Skelley is the latest needless tragedy resulting from the relentless profit drive of the gas and electric monopolies. According to the MPSA, Consumers Energy disconnected 164,604 gas and electric customers in 2014. The same year, the state's other major gas and electric utility, DTE Energy, shut off 206,799 households.

It comes as the city of Detroit is continuing a brutal policy of water shutoffs, disconnecting service to tens of thousands of households for unpaid bills as little as $150.

A 90-year old's home was destroyed by police conducting a raid but it appears they got the wrong house.

The elderly woman shared her story of terror and what police are doing to clean up the mess.

She's called Riviera Beach home for 25 years, but back on December 18th around 1 p.m., the 90-year-old woman, who asked not to be identified, had some uninvited guests.

"I don't know how the cops got in here. The noise woke me up when something said boom! Like a bomb or something," said the 90-year old.

There was shattered glass, a busted door, and traces of a flash bang device.

Riviera Beach Police said after evidence of criminal activity, they got a search warrant.

"Cops standing over here talking about where's the drugs? I said what? What drugs? Ain't no drugs in here," she said.

Police searched the home with drug sniffing dogs but came up empty-handed.

"I've never been arrested, never been in jail," said the 90-year old.

Riviera Beach Police said the search warrant was executed at the correct address and while the resident may not have had any knowledge of drugs being sold from her home, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

The department has since put up temporary repairs and has decided to pay for new windows and doors.

The resident is supposed to get a new door later this week - and new windows by February 28th.

Germany will assign 20 of its police officers to the Hungary-Serbia border to stem the flow of asylum-seekers who are fleeing Kosovo in droves to find economic sanctuary in the European Union, the German Interior Ministry said Thursday. Thousands of Kosovars have left their homeland's unemployment and poverty and attempted to smuggle their way into EU, primarily to Germany and its vibrant economy.

A recent change to travel rules allowed citizens of Kosovo easier access to the EU by way of Serbia, according to Reuters. Approximately 10,000 refugees sought asylum in Hungary in January, with many moving on to Germany to apply for welfare benefits.

"To ensure the long-term stability of Kosovo and the whole region and to guarantee ... protection and acceptance among the population for those who are politically persecuted..., we have taken a range of measures," Germany's Interior Ministry said in a statement.