Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:18pm EST

n">(Reuters) - A series of rain showers helped ease drought conditions in parts of the United States over the last week, but drought expanded slightly in parts of the U.S. Plains, according to a report issued Thursday.

Officials in north-central Oklahoma declared a state of emergency due to record low reservoir conditions and public and private interests throughout the central United States hardest hit by drought were examining measures to try to cope with ongoing drought.

Roughly 58.87 percent of the contiguous United States was in at least "moderate" drought as of January 15, an improvement from 60.26 percent a week earlier, according to a "Drought Monitor" report issued Thursday by a consortium of federal and state climatology experts.

But severe drought blanketed 87.25 percent of the High Plains, up from 86.20 percent the week before, and 61.27 percent of the region was classified in extreme drought, up from 60.25 percent.

Fully 100 percent of the land area in Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma was engulfed in severe drought or worse, according to the Drought Monitor.

While the Plains remained parched, southern portions of the Midwest received heavy rainfall during the past seven days. The Drought Monitor report said substantial precipitation was concentrated over southern Illinois, Indiana, western Kentucky, and southeastern Missouri with totals ranging from two to five inches.

The U.S. drought, considered the worst in 50 years, continues to stress winter-seeded crops such as hard red winter wheat and has caused shipping problems on Midwest rivers for a range of commodities.

Twelve to 18 inches of precipitation, or three to five times more than normal, is needed in the western Corn Belt to ease soil dryness after last summer's drought, according to Don Keeney, a senior agricultural meteorologist with Cropcast weather service.

Last summer's extreme weather locked two-thirds of the U.S. continental land mass in severe drought, cutting production of the biggest crop, corn, by 27 percent from early-season estimates.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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n">(Reuters) - Senate leaders have not yet been able to reach a deal to a avert a "fiscal cliff," and with time running out, it is uncertain if they will get one, a senior Senate aide said on Sunday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been aiming to reach an agreement by 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) so that they can present it to previously scheduled closed-door meetings of their respective Democratic and Republican colleagues in an attempt to beat a New Year's Day deadline.

However, at this point, they still do not have an agreement, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (Writing by Thomas Ferraro; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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1 of 15. A man walks past the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington December 17, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:27am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress comes back on Monday without a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and only a few hours of actual legislative time scheduled in which to act if an agreement materializes.

Negotiations involving Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to offer the last hope for avoiding the across-the-board tax increases and draconian cuts in the federal budget that will be triggered at the start of the New Year because of a deficit-reduction law enacted in August, 2011.

A jolt from the financial markets could also prod the parties, as it has occasionally in the past.

"I believe investors will show their displeasure" at the lack of progress in Washington, said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management, an investment advisory firm in New York.

Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate had hoped to clear the way for swift action on Sunday. But with the two sides still at loggerheads in talks, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid postponed any possible votes and the Senate adjourned until Monday.

The main sticking point between Republicans and Democrats remained whether to extend existing tax rates for everyone, as Republicans want, or just for those earning below $250,000 to $400,000, as Democrats have proposed.

Also at issue were Republican demands for larger cuts in spending than those offered by President Barack Obama.

Hopes for a "grand bargain" of deficit-reduction measures vanished weeks ago as talks stalled.

While Congress has the capacity to move swiftly when motivated, the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have left themselves little time for what could be a complicated day of procedural maneuvering in the event of an agreement.

House Speaker John Boehner has insisted that the Senate act first, but that chamber does not begin legislative business until about noon Monday.

OTHER BUSINESS ALSO ON AGENDA

And the cliff is not the only business on the House agenda. Farm-state lawmakers are seeking a one-year extension of the expiring U.S. farm law to head off a possible doubling of retail milk prices to $7 or more a gallon in early 2013.

Relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy is waiting in line in the House as well, though it could still consider a Senate bill on assistance for the storm until January 2, the last day of the Congress that was elected in November 2010.

Expiring along with low tax rates at midnight Monday are a raft of other tax measures effecting tens of millions of Americans.

A payroll tax holiday Americans have enjoyed for two years looks like the most certain casualty as neither Republicans or Democrats have shown much interest in continuing it, in part because the tax funds the Social Security retirement program.

The current 4.2 percent payroll tax rate paid by about 160 million workers will revert to the previous 6.2 percent rate after December 31, and will be the most immediate hit to taxpayers.

A "patch" for the Alternative Minimum Tax that would prevent millions of middle-class Americans from being taxed as if they were rich, could go over the cliff as well. Both Republicans and Democrats support doing another patch, but have not approved one.

At best, the Internal Revenue Service has warned that as many as 100 million taxpayers could face refund delays without an AMT fix. At worst, they could face higher taxes unless Congress comes back with a retroactive fix.

After Tuesday, Congress could move for retroactive relief on any or all of the tax and spending issues. But that would require compromises that Republicans and Democrats have been unwilling to make so far.

Obama said on Sunday he plans on pushing legislation as soon as January 4 to reverse the tax hikes for all but the wealthy.

(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

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Barbra Streisand performs ''Evergreen'' at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 13, 2011.

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:05pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blending photo montages with at times a thick accent and a singing voice still soaring at the age of 70, Barbra Streisand performed on Thursday in her first big concert where it all began - her birthplace of Brooklyn, New York.

In the second show of her "Back to Brooklyn" tour, Streisand performed for nearly three hours at a new 19,000-seat arena, kicking off the concert with the words "I've come home at last!" from the show tune "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from "Sunset Boulevard".

Accompanied by more than 50 orchestra players, she connected with fans through references to Brooklyn and her Jewish background, talking about the borough's docks and knishes. She recalled that the last time she sang in Brooklyn she was 8 years old and it was "on somebody's stoop".

"I left Brooklyn to pursue my dreams, but Brooklyn never quite left me," she told the crowd sprinkled with stars such as actor Michael Douglas and musician Sting. "I am so glad I was born and raised here."

She sang a series of songs by Brooklyn-born composers Alan and Marilyn Bergman including "Nice 'n' Easy" and a love song from her 1983 film "Yentl", called "The Way He Makes Me Feel".

Changing costume several times, she kept the crowd entertained with funny anecdotes and introduced other musical acts including the teenage Italian tenor group Il Volo, trumpeter Chris Botti and her son, Jason Gould.

She paid tribute to collaborators such as Donna Summer with a short, snappy version of their 1979 duet "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" and composer Jule Styne with a medley of songs from the musical "Gypsy", and later "People" from the musical "Funny Girl".

In a tribute to another collaborator, Marvin Hamlisch, who died in August, she sang "The Way We Were", with his original orchestration, and then "Through the Eyes of Love", which he wrote for the film "Ice Castles".

"He could always make me laugh, which is not an easy thing to do," she said of Hamlisch.

Other hits included Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" accompanied by Botti, "Evergreen" and "Lost Inside of You".

Toward the end of the concert she asked the crowd to take seriously the environment, the upcoming U.S. election and to "appreciate the moment".

She recalled not singing for 27 years after suffering stage fright during a 1967 concert in Central Park, before discarding rumors she would be quitting her career after this tour.

"If I learned anything, it's to say 'Never say never' and it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings - and I ain't fat," she said, before finishing the concert with two encores ending with "Happy Days Are Here Again".

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Dale Hudson)

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