Sleiman chairs Dialogue session without substantial discussion

BAABDA, Lebanon: President Michel Sleiman chaired a National Dialogue session Monday but the meeting lacked substantial discussion given the absence of major March 8 parties, including Hezbollah.

A statement issued after the two-hour session said that attendees highlighted the need for a national defense strategy to defend Lebanon.

“They stressed that the escalating Israeli threats against Lebanon, procrastination over the full-implementation of [U.N. Security Council] Resolution 1701, the increasing danger of terrorism, particularly the dangers from the Syrian crisis along with the proliferation of arms in the hands of Lebanese and those living in Lebanon require agreement on a national strategy to defend Lebanon exclusively,” the statement said.

A source close to Baabda Palace told The Daily Star that attendees did not discuss in detail the national defense strategy proposed by Sleiman in 2012, but only highlighted the need for a defense strategy.

“They prefer to go into details when representatives of all parties, particularly Hezbollah, are present,” the source said, requesting to remain anonymous.

In the summer of 2012, Sleiman put forward a national defense strategy that would place Hezbollah’s arsenal under the command of the Lebanese Army.

Hezbollah boycotted the talks Monday in protest over a speech against the resistance made by Sleiman recently.

Also absent were Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geaga, Marada Movement Chief Suleiman Frangieh, Syrian Social Nationalist Party MP Asaad Hardan and Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan. Monday was the first National Dialogue session since September 2012.

The statement said that participants highlighted the need to discuss Sleiman’s national defense strategy proposal and stressed the importance of Dialogue, calling on all parties to participate in the upcoming session, which Sleiman called for May 5.

Attendees also welcomed the formation of the new Cabinet and said it should work toward meeting all constitutional deadlines.

“They stressed that it was necessary for the government to succeed in addressing its main challenges and the problems facing the country, particularly imposing security and the rule of the law and with preparing to meet constitutional deadlines in line with Lebanese democratic tradition,” the statement said. The two-month period to elect Lebanon’s new president began last week.

At the start of the session, Sleiman touched on the dangers and challenges that have resulted from the growing Syrian refugee crisis, from the increasing level of terrorist activity and sectarian tensions along with the failure of some Lebanese groups to abide by the Baabda Declaration.

He also explained the main elements of his national defense strategy.

Hezbollah violated the Baabda Declaration when it announced last year that its fighters joined Syria’s war alongside President Bashar Assad. The pact calls for distancing Lebanon from regional turmoil, particularly Syria’s civil war.

Hezbollah argues that the Future Movement began supporting Syrian rebels before the party’s interference in Syria, a claim strongly dismissed by the group.

The source said that Sleiman played a two-minute audio recording of the June 2012 Dialogue session during which rival parties, including Hezbollah, voiced their support for the Baabda Declaration.

The source added that most of Dialogue participants gave a speech which highlighted the importance of the all-embracing talks.

He added that participants discussed the security threats facing the country and underscored the importance of implementing a security plan approved by the government last week for the Bekaa Valley and Tripoli, which has been plagued by intermittent clashes between supporters and opponents of Assad since the start of the Syrian crisis.

Taking part in the Dialogue session were Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Future parliamentary bloc head MP Fouad Siniora, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, Free Patriotic Movement head Michel Aoun, Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel, Future bloc MP Jean Ogassapian, Metn MP Hagop Pakradounian, Tripoli MP Mohammad Safadi, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon, MP Michel Murr and Deputy Speaker Farid Makari.

The leaders engaged in side chats which preceded the start of the talks. Berri was seen talking separately to Salam and Siniora.

He also engaged in a conversation with Aoun and Salam.

Meanwhile, March 8 sources said that hopes expressed by Dialogue attendees that all party representatives would attend the upcoming session were unfounded, given Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s statement over the weekend that the party wanted a new president to be elected as soon as possible to launch a new phase of National Dialogue.

For his part, a March 14 official who took part in Monday’s session said that it reflected the current divisions in the country.

He pointed to the recording played by Sleiman and to the fact that Siniora and Makari asked Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria during the discussions.

The source added that there was also a lengthy speech by Berri, who listed the achievements of the resistance in Lebanon.

Hariri supports domestic violence law

BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Monday that his Future Movement would back a draft law to protect women from domestic violence that is due to be voted on in Parliament Tuesday.

“The draft law is listed on Parliament’s agenda in tomorrow’s session; it is natural that I will do my best to endorse it not only because it was approved by a Cabinet I chaired but because it constitutes a qualitative civilized jump in the history of Lebanon,” Hariri said in a statement.

He said the law was “the first step toward granting Lebanese women their rights, in the hopes of completing legislative and legal procedures to give them the rest of their rights, mainly their right to pass on their nationality to their children.”

The draft law was first submitted to Parliament in 2010, and a parliamentary subcommittee began studying it in May 2011, finalizing its amendments in August 2012.

The amendments altered the title of the text, which now refers to violence against the family, as opposed violence directed specifically against women. A key clause criminalizing marital rape was also removed by the committee, after it sparked a backlash from religious figures and some politicians.

Of the 128-member Parliament, 43 MPs gave their support to the draft law in 2012. They were mostly members of the Lebanese Forces, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Future Movement and the Kataeb Party.

Controversial draft laws on agenda as legislative session kicks off

BEIRUT: MPs will debate Tuesday several controversial and crucial draft laws as a three-day legislative session kicks off, ending more than a year of paralysis in Parliament’s work.

Protests against some of the 70 draft laws on the session’s agenda began Monday, with Electricité du Liban contract workers blocking streets near the company’s headquarters in Beirut and other roads across Lebanon.

They were protesting the first draft law on the agenda, which if passed would make over 1,000 EDL contract workers full timers.

According to the draft law, the Council of Civil Service would hold examinations to fill EDL’s vacant posts. None of those taking the exams should be over 56 years of age.

Contract workers insist that the tests be supervised by the council, and argue that the workers’ expertise should be taken into consideration when grading.

They are also demanding that contract workers be paid compensation, an item not stipulated in the draft law. Most of contract workers are supporters of Speaker Nabih Berri.

Sources familiar with the issue told The Daily Star that contacts between Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi and various parliamentary blocs were underway and would continue till early Tuesday in a bid to find a solution that would satisfy the workers.

The sources added that should those efforts hit a dead end, then Parliament would withdraw the draft law and not pass it.

Contract workers will protest at Riad al-Solh Square Tuesday morning in order to voice their demands.

The ninth item on the agenda is a long-awaited draft law to protect women against domestic violence.

Metn MP Ghassan Moukheiber, who was a member of a parliamentary subcommittee which studied the draft law for 52 sessions, said that it was passed unanimously by Parliament’s joint committees after they received it from the subcommittee. The joint committees comprise MPs from various blocs.

But Moukheiber voiced fears that the draft law could be referred back to the joint committees if MPs argued that it contained mistakes or that it still required some amendments.

“I support passing it by Parliament as amended [by the subcommittee]. If there is a need for correction, then this can happen later.”

“I am afraid that if it is referred to the joint committees again, this will take much time and we will be wasting an opportunity to pass this draft law,” Moukheiber added.

He explained that the draft law improved in light of the amendments introduced by the subcommittee. The draft law was referred to Parliament by the Cabinet in 2010.

“This is the best possible draft law and better than the original one referred by the Cabinet. It provides good protection for women.”

Moukheiber said that under the draft law originally forwarded by the government, perpetrators received lighter punishments than those in Lebanon’s penal code. “But we made amendments so that punishment became harsher.”

In a sharp increase in cases of domestic abuse, three women died this year in Lebanon as a result of family violence, driving hundreds to march in Beirut last month, calling for the adoption of a draft law to protect women.

Meanwhile, public notaries expressed their opposition Monday to a draft law on the session’s agenda which would appoint Justice Ministry employees as public notaries without making them undergo a required exam.

“Tests to appoint public notaries are essential in the profession of a public notary and it is unacceptable that the basis of this profession is undermined,” said public notary Abdo Abdo, addressing a news conference at the Press Club.

He said that the draft law weakened the profession and violated constitutional principles, particularly that of equal opportunity in terms of employment. Media reports said that some of those whom the draft law would appoint have previously taken the exams and failed.

Another controversial item on the agenda is a draft rent law which is opposed by longtime tenants.

Other important draft laws include one that would grant access to information and another calling for adopting proportional representation in parliamentary elections. with additional reporting by Hasan Lakkis

Hezbollah reorganizes ranks in light of leaks

Information made available to The Daily Star revealed that a high-ranking Iranian lieutenant colonel, identified as Mahmoud A., arrived recently in Lebanon to provide counsel as Hezbollah radically reforms its security apparatus.

The changes are a response to violations committed within party ranks, documented by Israeli as well as Western intelligence, as well as the party’s missteps in dealing with the sensitive security situation in Lebanon – not to mention the conflict in neighboring Syria, where the party has suffered from almost daily information leaks.

The colonel is expected to be involved in a series of changes and new appointments in a number of leading security posts, as well as reorganizing groups and cells in line with amendments relating to the party’s communication structure.

Information made available by reliable sources said that Hezbollah arrested one of its field commanders in Syria, after it was alleged that he was dealing with the Israeli Mossad and played a role in leaking information to agents, leading to the Israeli raid on the Janta area.

The commander has been moved to Haret Hreik and his case – supervised by the Iranian colonel – is being investigated.

The sources also confirmed that Hezbollah’s security apparatus was able to detect a cell within the party working for Israeli agents. The cell included a Lebanese man identified as M.A., who hails from the southern Nabatieh town of Harouf, and is thought to be a notorious Israeli informant within the party’s electronic communications department.

The sources said the detainee’s maternal uncle was assassinated in Germany by jihadist organizations charged with working for Israel after he fled Lebanon following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon in 2000.

His grandfather was also assassinated by a Palestinian resistance faction in 1980.

According to the information available, among those involved with working for Israel is a Hezbollah sheikh who is still being investigated but whose name has not yet been released, because identifying him publicly could have a negative impact on the party’s political, military and social environment.

The sources add that an Iranian intelligence official, known as “Habari,” was the one who first relayed information about these informant cells to the party. Habari also discovered that Russian intelligence had uncovered a Palestinian double agent working for both Mossad and Russian intelligence services.

In the meantime, Hezbollah has worked to reinforce its positions in Yabroud after taking control of the border city, and has placed Burkan rockets and military units in the area.

Additionally, an engineering team is working to clear landmines placed in the area by Syrian rebels. The party has also found tens of stolen cars carrying Lebanese license plates, some of which had already been rigged with explosives and were ready to be detonated by suicide bombers.

Hezbollah has also been able to apprehend Abu Zahraa, a Nusra Front leader whose real name is Mahmoud Abdallah and who is believed by Iran to be in possession of “delicate information.”

Meanwhile, a number of Iranian military officials reached Yabroud to study how the geography of the area can be exploited in the future. Hezbollah sources believe the city could be a valuable launching pad for military operations toward Rankous and Flita, as well as a strategic stronghold vis-a-vis the Lebanese village of Arsal.

Global stocks mostly up after Yellen comments

SEOUL, South Korea -- Asian stocks were mostly higher Monday on expectations China and Japan will take new steps to spur economic growth.

South Korean stocks were an exception, losing ground as the country's military returned fire into North Korean waters after shells from a North Korean live-fire drill fell south of the rivals' disputed western sea boundary.

Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.6 percent to 14,784.45 as investors anticipated the government or the Bank of Japan would announce measures to offset the impact of a sales tax hike. Japan's sales tax will increase to 8 percent from 5 percent on Tuesday, a move needed to help stabilize government finances but also a possible setback to economic recovery.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.3 percent to 22,127.25 and China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1 percent to 2,043.41. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent to 5,405.20.

Investors increasingly expect that China's government will take measures to prevent a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy from accelerating.

An official manufacturing survey due Tuesday might cement those views after another survey released last week show China's manufacturing at an eight month low.

Seoul's Kospi dipped 0.2 percent 1,976.65 as the two Koreas exchanged artillery shells in waters south of the rivals' disputed western sea borders, following Pyongyang's announcement that it would conduct live-fire drills. Residents on front-line South Korean island evacuated during artillery exchange.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.4 percent higher on Friday. The broader S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent as an upbeat report on U.S. consumer spending underpinned investor sentiment.

In energy markets, benchmark crude for May delivery was down 24 cents at $101.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 39 cents to close at $101.67 on Friday.

In currencies, the dollar inched up to 102.87 yen from 102.84 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.3755 from $1.3753.

Indian finance minister says fundamentals improved

NEW DELHI -- India's finance minister says the fundamentals of Asia's third-largest economy have strengthened since the country faced a potential crisis last year.

Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters that the worrisome current account deficit had narrowed to about $35 billion in the fiscal year that ended Monday from $60 billion the previous year. He said the fiscal deficit dropped to 4.6 percent of gross domestic product and foreign exchange reserves grew to $300 billion.

He said the improvements had lessened the threat of a downgrade from investor rating agencies.

The Indian rupee strengthened last week to an 8-month high after spiraling to a lifetime low of more than 68 per dollar in August.

Still, India is struggling to revive its previous strong economic growth rate of previous years.

Soda sales in US decline at faster pace

NEW YORK -- Americans cut back on soda again last year, extending a trend that began nearly a decade ago.

U.S. sales volume of carbonated soft drinks fell 3 percent in 2013, according to an annual report by Beverage Digest, an industry tracker. That represents a steeper drop than the 1.2 percent decline in 2012 and the 1 percent drop in 2011.

Carbonated soft drinks still represent the biggest category in the beverage industry. But the popularity of Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks is waning as alternatives like flavored waters pop up in beverage aisles. Soda's unhealthy image has also hurt sales.

Diet sodas are also falling at a faster rate than their regular counterparts. Industry executives blame the trend on worries people have about artificial sweeteners.

Mexican magnate's companies fight regulators

MEXICO CITY -- Two companies controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim filed an appeal against government regulators' decision to declare them "predominant" in telecommunications, an industry they say they don't even participate in.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute had declared the companies had majority market positions in the telecom industry early in March, even though neither is a telephone carrier or Internet provider.

The companies are Inbursa, a Slim-controlled bank, and his Grupo Carso diversified holding company.

Regulators had said that was because the two firms had ties to America Movil, which does have dominant market position in areas like cell phones.

The two companies notified the Mexican Stock Exchange Monday they have filed for an injunction against the measure, which makes them subject to special restrictions.

Who should get water deliveries divides California lawmakers

WASHINGTON -- Seasonal storms have exposed once more some perennial political divisions over California water.

Citing the latest rainfall, seven of the state’s lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to free up more irrigation deliveries for San Joaquin Valley farms. The muscular Capitol Hill lineup is noticeable both for who’s on it and who’s not.

In a telling alliance, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein joined with House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and four other House Republicans, as well as one House Democrat, in calling for increased deliveries.

“Based on historical weather patterns, these storms could be our last chance this year to receive, capture, and move a sizable amount of water to those farms and communities that desperately need it for public health and safety and for their livelihoods that are under severe threat,” the lawmakers wrote Thursday.

Pointedly, they cited “a significant imbalance of regulatory burdens” in declaring that “there is clearly no imminent threat” to federally protected fish species.

Those not signing the letter to the Interior and Commerce departments were equally telling.

Neither Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer nor any of the House Democrats whose congressional districts include the vulnerable Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta joined the letter. The only Democrat who did, Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno, was one of the few Democrats to vote for a far-reaching California water bill approved by the Republican-controlled House several weeks ago.

Some environmental advocates cast the latest division in stark terms.

“Sen. Feinstein along with her Republican colleagues have decided to further mug our native species and water quality to serve up more subsidies and water to the mega farms on the West Side,” said Patricia Schifferle, owner of the firm Pacific Advocates.

Feinstein has occasionally angered environmentalists, as well some Northern California Democrats, with some of her previous water proposals on behalf of San Joaquin Valley farms. At the same time, she has also positioned herself as a potential deal-maker.

On Friday, Boxer sent her own letter to the administration, urging officials to “take all prudent and responsible measures within current regulation and law.”

“We cannot miss opportunities to provide some immediate relief during these rain events, but we must also ensure that we meet health and human safety requirements in our state,” Boxer wrote.

On March 12, Feinstein privately met in her Senate office with McCarthy, Costa and three other GOP lawmakers to hash out legislative ideas that might be represent a compromise between the House-passed bill and a competing Senate bill co-authored by her and Boxer.

The behind-the-scenes session lasted over an hour, letting the members, some of whom have had past conflicts, both spell out priorities and develop a working relationship. Feinstein had previously met one-on-one with freshman Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., the chief author of the House’s California water bill.

So far, the meeting participants are trying to keep a low profile as they pursue a potential deal.

In a more public arena, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Feinstein next Wednesday will be able to press the California water questions on the heads of the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.

NHTSA to require rearview cameras in new vehicles

The U.S. Department of Transportation is issuing a final safety rule that requires rearview technology in many new vehicles. The move is an effort to reduce deaths and serious injuries caused by backup accidents.

The final rule issued Monday by the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require new vehicles under 10,000 pounds— including buses and trucks— to include rear visibility technology if they are manufactured on or after May 1, 2018. The rearview cameras expand the field of vision for drivers to include a 10-by-20-foot zone directly behind the vehicle.

Backup accidents cause an average of 210 deaths and 15,000 injuries a year, and victims often include children and the elderly, the government said.

Tripoli security plan welcomed by Jumblatt

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt welcomed the implementation of a long-awaited security plan in the northern city of Tripoli.

“The state along with the military and security forces should be firm, now more than ever, to put a decisive end to this bizarre situation, which is claiming the lives of dozens of innocent citizens for nothing,” Jumblatt wrote in his weekly opinion piece for his party’s electronic weekly Al-Anbaa.

“I salute the civil society of Tripoli, which has been continuously organizing initiatives and rallying to save the city and restore its security and stability. They are improvising peaceful means to express their rejection of the spilling of blood, the killing, the violence, and the sniping,” he added.

During its first session Thursday, the Cabinet approved the plan in a bid to end the state of chaos and sectarian fighting between gunmen in the Sunni majority Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood and their rivals in the Alawite Jabal Mohsen district.

The security plan calls for the Lebanese Army and security forces to control the situation in Tripoli by preventing the use of arms, seizing stockpiled weapons in the city and implementing judicial warrants for individuals wanted in relation to kidnappings, car thefts and forgeries in the northern Bekaa Valley area.

Machnouk: Industrial development should spare environment

BEIRUT: Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk Monday called for the protection of natural resources in tandem with industrial development plans.

Machnouk made the remarks during a committee meeting he chaired for the Environmental and Social Assessment of the Lebanon Pollution Abatement Project. The meeting was attended by representatives of the World Bank and the Italian Embassy, who are funding the project, as well as officials from the relevant ministries.

“This project, which the Environment Ministry has worked hard to plan for four years, wouldn’t have seen light if not for the support of all the organizations and associations that are here today,” Machnouk said, addressing the participants of the committee meeting.

“This project is one of environmental risk management,” he said of the scheme. “Whether it relates to dealing with the products of registered industrial companies, or managing solid waste or water scarcity.”

“This committee was formed to guide the general policies of the project, which aims to fight environmental pollution and secure coordination among the relevant ministries and organizations overseeing the work process,” he explained.

“In Lebanon, we are familiar with the European approach to environmentalism. In Europe, the environment ministry is the mother of all ministries and has the last word. Dealing with the environment doesn’t end at the doorstep to our homes, we have to accommodate industrial development with the protection of natural resources,” Machnouk said.

Machnouk also touched on the country’s waste management woes, namely the Naameh landfill.

“We have 736 random landfills and we have the Naameh landfill. We seek to devise a plan along with the ministerial committee that was formed by the Cabinet to regulate matters once the landfill is closed, for its closure will not solve the problem. The question is, where will the solid waste accumulated from the households go?” Machnouk said.

Berri’s panel consults Mikati, Rai and Frangieh on election

BEIRUT: A three-member committee from Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc met Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Monday to reinforce its calls on rival political leaders to discuss the upcoming presidential election.

The committee – comprising MPs Yassin Jaber, Michel Mussa and Ali Osseiran – also met with Zghorta MP Sleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada Movement, at his residence in Bneshaai, Zghorta, north Lebanon, for the same purpose.

It later met with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who called for the presidential election to happen on time.

“The priority is to hold the presidential election on time because adherence to the constitutional deadline reflects our commitment to democracy and the rotation of power,” Mikati said, according to a statement released by his office.

The committee’s meeting with Rai came days after the patriarch urged Berri to convene a Parliament session as soon as possible in order to elect a new head of state, rather than consult officials over the matter.

The influential Maronite Church, to which the Christian president belongs, usually has a major say in the presidential election.

The committee’s consultations with leaders on both sides of the political divide come after Lebanon last week entered the two-month constitutional period in which Parliament must meet to elect a new president.

Under the Constitution, Berri must convene Parliament to elect a new president within these two months, before the expiry of President Michel Sleiman’s six-year term in office on May 25.

Jaber said the committee had felt “a positive atmosphere” during its talks with various political leaders who said they were ready to attend a parliamentary session to elect a new president.

“Of course, everyone is expressing full readiness to attend a session. Everyone is demanding some time for good preparations and to ensure the success of the session,” Jaber told reporters after the committee’s meeting with Frangieh.

Frangieh said that Rai, along with the four top Maronite leaders – Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun; Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea; former President Amin Gemayel, head of the Kataeb Party; and Frangieh – were demanding the election of a strong president.

“How to reach this strong president, this is being studied,” Frangieh said, adding that the constitutional deadline for the presidential election should not be used as a “scarecrow.”

“A strong president is our goal, as it is the goal of all the Lebanese, particularly the Christian community and namely the Maronite sect,” Frangieh said.

Berri formed the committee to sound out the opinions of various political parties on their possible candidates to the presidency.

The committee has also met with Aoun, Geagea, Gemayel, Metn MP Michel Murr, and Aley MP Talal Arslan, head of the Lebanese Democratic Party.

Separately, Berri has met at his Ain al-Tineh residence with Progressive Socialist Party MP Walid Jumblatt and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the parliamentary Future bloc, to discuss the presidential election.

The speaker’s ongoing consultations with the heads of parliamentary blocs are aimed at securing a quorum for a parliamentary session to elect a new president.

During the 2008 presidential election, Parliament was unable to meet after deep political differences between the March 8 and March 14 parties resulted in a lack of quorum, even though Berri had called for around 20 parliamentary sessions.

Political and religious leaders across Lebanon, as well as foreign countries, have called for the election of a new president on time in order to avoid a vacuum in the country’s top post.

Bomb at Akkar home revives local land feud

AKKAR, Lebanon: A building still under construction in Akkar was blown up Monday by a huge quantity of explosives, reviving historical tensions between the villages of Fnaydeq and Akkar al-Atiqa over the ownership of the Qamoua plain, security sources said.

Hussein Abu Baker’s 500-meter-square property in Qamoua plain, located in the mountainous areas of Akkar-Qaitaa, was almost entirely destroyed by the huge explosion. The perpetrators have yet to be identified by security forces, which launched an investigation.

The head of the Union of Qaitaa Municipalities, Abdelilah Zakariya, and Fnaydeq’s mayor, Khaldoun Taleb, visited the site.

“The explosion in Qamoua is denounced by all, especially as this area is surrounded by neighborhoods from all sides,” Zakariya said, adding that the perpetrators “want to cause civil strife between the neighboring villages.”

He recalled that a similar incident occurred two months ago, in which a room built for a project to channel the water of al-Farrouj spring from the outskirts of the village to Fnaydeq was also blown up. The perpetrators were never identified.

In the early 20th century, dozens died in clashes between Fnaydeq and Akkar al-Atiqa over the Qamoua plain. Though both are majority Sunni villages, tensions between the Future Movement and March 8 supporters have run high. The two villages are located on the border of the majority Shiite area of Hermel.

“Do the perpetrators want to turn Fnaydeq into another Arsal?” Zakariya asked. “That’s why we want the security forces to intervene and the Army to restore the checkpoint that used to be in the Qamoua region. ... Residents of Fnaydeq will not remain silent and they insist on knowing the identities of those who want to incite civil strife,” he added.

Taleb said the explosion did not target the home of Hussein Abu Baker, but all the residents of Fnaydeq.

“There is a property dispute between us and Akkar al-Atiqa and we consider this explosion an attempt to cause a rift with our neighbors, and we don’t want this,” he said.

“We abide by the rule of law and the word of the judiciary on this issue. However, we will rebuild the house and we ask the security forces not to prevent us from doing this,” he said.

“Since the explosion we have blocked the road between us and Akkar al-Atiqa and we want this road to stay blocked to prevent clashes,” he added.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk instructed the security forces to launch an immediate investigation into the explosion and uncover the perpetrators of the attack. He also asked the residents of Akkar to resist attempts to divide them.

“The residents of Akkar should stay unified and abort attempts to cause civil strife among them in this region, which is known for coexistence and tolerance among all sects,” Machnouk said in a statement issued by his office.

A Rising GOP Star In Oklahoma Aims For The U.S. Senate

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hide captionT.W. Shannon speaks before a joint session of the Oklahoma House and Senate in Oklahoma City on Feb. 3.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

T.W. Shannon speaks before a joint session of the Oklahoma House and Senate in Oklahoma City on Feb. 3.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

The announcement by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn that he is resigning his seat at the end of the year has set up a spirited battle among Oklahoma Republicans to replace him.

Leading the pack are Rep. James Lankford and former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon. At age 36, Shannon is an up-and-coming star in the GOP, and if elected he would become the third African-American in the Senate — two of them Republicans.

On Saturday night, the Comanche County Republican Party held its annual barbecue. Along with the ribs and potato salad there was an auction, and of course, politicking, from candidates for everything from state representative to U.S. Senate.

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hide captionThe youngest-ever Oklahoma speaker of the House, T.W. Shannon has rubbed some constituents the wrong way with his quick rise to prominence.

Brian Naylor/NPR

The youngest-ever Oklahoma speaker of the House, T.W. Shannon has rubbed some constituents the wrong way with his quick rise to prominence.

Brian Naylor/NPR

T.W. Shannon was there, signing T-shirts.

His arrival was a bit delayed after a late flight from a fundraiser he attended in Florida. Shannon is riding a wave right now: His Senate candidacy has been endorsed by Sarah Palin and also by the Senate Conservatives Fund. He was a featured panelist at the recent CPAC conference outside Washington. But he says he's most happy here in Lawton, with his family and friends.

"This is my hometown. My house is just 2 miles west of here," Shannon said.

So what does he want to go to Washington for?

"I'm concerned about the direction of the party. I'm concerned that if we continue the trajectory that we're on, that my kids and grandkids are going to inherit a lower standard of living than I did. I hope to go to Washington, D.C., and teach the rest of the politicians there that conservative principles are what lead to prosperity," he said.

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hide captionShannon greets voters at the Comanche County, Okla., GOP barbecue on March 29.

Brian Naylor/NPR

Shannon greets voters at the Comanche County, Okla., GOP barbecue on March 29.

Brian Naylor/NPR

Among those conservative principles, Shannon sponsored a measure to require able-bodied food stamp recipients in Oklahoma to work 20 hours a week. Shannon downplays his ethnicity — he is African-American and part Chickasaw Indian.

"Yeah, my heritage is a part of who I am but it doesn't define who I am and it certainly doesn't limit me and that's what the Republican Party is about. It's about freedom and liberty," he said.

But the diversity that Shannon represents has not been the Republicans' strength. University of Oklahoma political science professor Keith Gaddis says that's what makes Shannon's candidacy so vital to the GOP.

"The Republican Party is not going to be a viable entity in the United States as a whites-only club. They need African-American, Hispanic- and Asian-American votes. There are as many Indian voters as African-American voters in this state. So Shannon is important for that reason."

Before running for office himself, Shannon worked for GOP Rep. Tom Cole and former GOP Rep. J.C. Watts. Watts served four terms in the House, the only African-American Republican then in Congress.

Watts, who spoke at the Comanche County barbecue, says the GOP would be well-served by Shannon, because the party doesn't know how to connect with black voters. He compared it to Thanksgiving dinner.

"Most white people eat pumpkin pie for dessert; most black people probably eat sweet potato pie. Now that doesn't mean that we can't be together on smaller taxes, smaller government, strong education and strong national defense. But the party keeps trying to feed me pumpkin pie. I don't eat pumpkin pie; I eat sweet potato pie. I don't eat stuffing; I eat cornbread dressing," Watts said.

Shannon's victory in the June primary is by no means ensured. Polls have him trailing Lankford, although the gap appears to be narrowing.

His quick rise to prominence rubs some of his current constituents the wrong way. Terry Bashon says he plans to vote for Lankford because Shannon is too often missing from local events.

"He seems to be a national person. He's a local state representative but his focus seems to be national so we don't see him at the county meetings for his constituency but you see him on Fox the next day, you see him in New York the next day, so that's why," Bashon said.

But if he gives the impression of a young man in a hurry, Shannon says it's because the stakes are high.

"When I was elected the speaker of the House, I was elected the youngest speaker of the Oklahoma House, elected the youngest speaker in state history and I think if elected to the Senate, I would be the youngest member of the U.S. Senate and I think that's important. Because again, people from my generation and below — the ones I talk to — recognize that were going to be the ones paying for this out-of-control entitlement mentality. We've got to change that," he said.

Sabres sticking with Nolan, who signs 3-year deal

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo Sabres interim coach Ted Nolan will oversee the team's rebuilding plans beyond this season after signing a contract extension on Monday.

The team lifted Nolan's "interim" tag from his title by announcing the signing on its Twitter page. The Sabres' post included a picture of Nolan signing his contract alongside owner Terry Pegula and general manager Tim Murray.

The extension does not come as a surprise after both Nolan Murray indicated on several occasions in recent weeks that the two sides were close to completing a deal.

Nolan returned for a second stint in Buffalo in mid-November, when he was hired on an interim basis with the opportunity to keep job after the season. He took over for Ron Rolston who was fired along with GM Darcy Regier, after Buffalo got off to a franchise-worst 4-15-1 start.

Nolan is staying on even though Pat LaFontaine — the person who brought him on board — abruptly stepped down as Sabres president of hockey operations on March 1, after only 3-1/2 months on the job. The two were close, and LaFontaine's departure opened questions as to whether Nolan might follow him out.

Murray maintained his support for Nolan as someone capable of providing direction to a team that's essentially rebuilding from scratch.

The Sabres (20-45-9) remain in last place, where they are likely to finish with only two weeks left in the season. They're 1-10-1 in their past 12 games in preparing to host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

With 142 goals, Buffalo is flirting with setting an NHL single-season low for goals scored since the league expanded from its Original Six teams in 1967-68. The record in a non-lockout-shortened season is 151 goals scored set by the 1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning, according to STATS.

The Sabres' woes do not entirely reflect Nolan's coaching ability. He's been saddled with a team that's been beset by injuries and has traded away many of its key players over the past calendar year.

Murray completed a veteran purge in the days leading up to the league's trade deadline on March 5 by dealing away much of what was left of the team's aging core.

Goalie Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott were traded to St. Louis on Feb. 28. Then, in the hours leading up to the deadline, the Sabres made four more trades, including one that sent forward Matt Moulson to Minnesota.

Nolan previously went 73-72-19 in two seasons in his first tenure in Buffalo. He left following 1996-97 season because he was unhappy with the team's one-year contract offer after being selected the NHL's coach of the year.

Nolan then spent two seasons coaching the New York Islanders and led them to the playoffs in 2006-07, before being fired after the following season.

His coaching career has enjoyed a resurgence over the past year. Aside from the Sabres, Nolan enjoyed a successful stint at the Sochi Games, where he coached Latvia to an eighth-place finish — the country's best in five Olympic appearances.

High volume, long wait at California's health site

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's health insurance exchange is experiencing a high volume of users, leading to a sluggish website and long wait times as consumers make their final enrollment dash to avoid a tax penalty.

Midnight Monday marks the enrollment deadline under President Barack Obama's health reform law. Covered California, the state's insurance exchange, reported Monday that more than 1.2 million people have signed up for individual policies.

But the last-minute surge is slowing down the exchange's website and boosting the average wait time for those seeking help by phone to more than an hour.

Executive Director Peter Lee says officials have turned off the "preview plan" feature on the website to reduce congestion. The exchange also will ask consumers who start the enrollment process to return and finish their application later, when there is less traffic.

Californians who start the process by midnight will have until April 15 to complete their applications.

Road work lawsuit ends in award to contractor

OXFORD, Miss. -- A jury has found Chickasaw County owes Ausbern Construction $570,293 in costs and damages in lawsuit over road work in the county.

Ausbern Construction, owned by Terry Ausbern of Okolona, sought payment from the board of supervisors for work his company did over three years ago on a county road in northwestern Chickasaw County.

A jury in Lafayette County, where the trial was moved, found this past week that Chickasaw County must pay Ausbern $387,793 in construction costs and damages. The jury also awarded Ausbern $182,500 in damages from County Engineer Ed Springer.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1li3WpR ) the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors will Thursday in Okolona to discuss a possible appeal or how to pay Ausbern.

At the heart of the case was the payment for grading and resurfacing 1.39 miles of County Road 4. Ausbern's bid of $396,566 was awarded by the county on Nov. 23, 2010.

Ausbern's attorneys argued the company failed to get $14.9 million in potential projects due to the unpaid bill's impact on Ausbern's bonding capacity.

Ausbern Construction is owned by the family of former Chickasaw board of supervisors Attorney Elizabeth Ausbern. That circumstance prompted the county to hire an outside law firm. Ausbern no longer serves as the board attorney.

No more oil found near Indiana refinery spill

WHITING, Ind. -- The Coast Guard says crews didn't find any more oil during the latest search of the Lake Michigan shore following last week's spill at BP's northwestern Indiana refinery.

Officials say a Coast Guard, BP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assessment team checking the area near the Whiting refinery on Sunday spotted no visible oil on the shore or in the water. Cleanup workers spent last week removing oil from about a half-mile section of shoreline.

The Coast Guard says BP is being allowed to remove most of the containment boom from the lake some 20 miles southeast of downtown Chicago where a refinery malfunction discharged oil on March 24.

BP estimates between 15 and 39 barrels of oil were discharged into the lake. That's between 630 and 1,638 gallons.

Jury selection begins in Apple-Samsung case

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Jury selection began Monday in the latest legal battle between the fiercest rivals in the world of smartphones, with Apple and Samsung accusing each other, once again, of ripping off designs and features.

The trial in Silicon Valley marks the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between the two tech giants that underscore a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented.

"There's a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented," Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. "Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition."

The latest Apple-Samsung case will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay about $900 million but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology.

Dozens of attorneys gathered in U.S. District Court for the latest legal skirmish in which Apple Inc. accuses Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.

"Apple revolutionized the market in personal computing devices," Apple attorneys wrote in court filings. "Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple's innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices."

Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones.

"Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry," Samsung attorneys wrote. "Apple has copied many of Samsung's innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products."

In the current case, Apple claims Samsung stole a tap-from-search technology that allows someone searching for a telephone number or address on the Web to tap on the results to call the number or put the address into a map. In addition, Apple says Samsung copied "Slide to Unlock," which allows users to swipe the face of their smartphone to use it.

Samsung countered that Apple is stealing a wireless technology system that speeds up sending and receiving data.

The most attention-grabbing claim in the case is Apple's demand that Samsung pay a $40 royalty for each Samsung device running software allegedly conceived by Apple. The figure is more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies.

If Apple prevails in the case, the cost to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple's costs, if it loses the litigation, are expected to be about $6 million. The costs could be passed on to consumers, experts said.

"You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high," said German patent analyst Florian Mueller. "But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it."

The problem, he said, is that each smartphone has thousands of patented ideas in it; Apple is challenging just five.

Throughout the three years of litigation, Samsung's market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with a typically higher price, was second, with about 15 percent of the global market.

Apple claims the following Samsung products now infringe on Apple patents: Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1 and Stratosphere.

Samsung claims the following Apple products infringe on Samsung patents: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (fifth generation), iPod touch (fourth generation) and MacBook Pro.

With the San Jose federal courtroom just a 15-minute drive from Apple's Cupertino headquarters, even jury selection can be difficult. In the previous case, several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.

Exxon: Highly unlikely world limits fossil fuels

NEW YORK -- Exxon Mobil says that global policies to combat climate change won't be strict enough to stop the company from selling all of the oil and gas it has found — and all that it will find in the foreseeable future, It says the fuels are too important for global economic development.

Exxon issued a report Monday on the risks that climate change policies could pose to the company's assets and future profitability in response to shareholder concerns that the assets that underpin the company's value will be worth less as society restricts consumption to fight climate change.

Exxon's report, the first detailed response to these concerns by a major oil company, says governments are "highly unlikely" to adopt policies that sharply cut emissions because they would choke economic growth.

In Case You Missed It: Vice President Biden Talks About the Need for Immigration Reform

Last Thursday, Vice President Biden spoke to 350 Hispanic businessmen, entrepreneurs, and community leaders at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Legislative Summit.

During his speech, he spoke passionately about the need for immigration reform and thanked the Chamber for their continued leadership on this issue.

The Vice President stated, “The single most important thing we can do for our economy, for America’s future, is pass immigration reform now.”

He cited the findings of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the economic benefits of the immigration reform bill (S. 744) the Senate passed in June and similar legislation recently introduced by House Democrats. The CBO determined common-sense reform would increase our gross domestic product by $1.4 trillion and reduce the deficit by $850 billion over the next 20 years.

The Vice President offered several examples to illustrate why our current broken immigration system is damaging our economy.

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Cause For Hope And Frustration In the Shadow Of ACA Deadline

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

As the Affordable Care Act's midnight deadline draws near, there has been a surge in last-minute signups. The heavy traffic has caused both glitches in the website and optimism from some forecasters.

The Saga Of The Civil Rights Act, An Idea Whose Time Came 50 Years Ago

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Author Todd Purdum talks about his book documenting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the legislative maneuvering behind it and the people who steered the bill to passage.

In The Midst Of A Boom, Dallas Outgrows Some Old Notions

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Outdated stereotypes may have some thinking that Dallas is just a town of cowboys, highways and football. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings corrects the record, describing the city's lively arts and culture.

Army dismantles explosive-rigged vehicle in northeast Lebanon

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Lebanon takes preventative measures against Ebola

BEIRUT: Medical teams examined arriving passengers at Beirut airport Monday as part of the Health Ministry's measures to prevent the transmission of the deadly Ebola virus.

“The medical teams are examining the passengers coming from Africa, particularly those who have symptoms of fever, diarrhea, cough, shortness of breath or throat pain,” said a statement by the Health Ministry.

The World Health Organization said Sunday that Liberia had confirmed two cases of Ebola virus while the outbreak has killed at least 70 people in Guinea.

Over a dozen deaths in Sierra Leone and Liberia are suspected to be linked to Ebola, an extremely lethal virus.

Medical teams at the Rafik Hariri International Airport are instructed to immediately transfer any person suspected of having the infectious disease to a hospital for “emergency treatment.”

“In addition, flyers are being distributed to raise awareness of the disease, its symptoms and risks, and ways to prevent the transmission by those arriving or departing [Beirut],” the ministry said.

The first breakout of Ebola, a virus spread by close contact, was in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo. There is no vaccine or drug that fights the virus to date.

US stocks head for a fifth quarterly gain

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks are moving higher as the market heads for a fifth straight quarterly gain.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,870 as of midday Eastern time. The index is up 1.2 percent for the first quarter of the year, which ends Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 105 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,427. The Nasdaq composite rose 47 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,203.

Microsoft rose 3 percent, the most in the Dow, after its Office for iPad software was released last week to highly positive reviews.

Traders were encouraged by remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who said she thinks the U.S. job market should continue to be supported by low interest rates for some time.

Mass. gas prices trickle down a penny

BOSTON -- The price of a gallon of gas in Massachusetts has trickled down by a penny.

AAA Southern New England reports Monday that self-serve, regular is down to an average of $3.51 per gallon from last week.

The current price is a full nickel below the national average and 8 cents below the average at the same time last year, but still 3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.

AAA found self-serve, regular selling for as low as $3.37 per gallon and as high as $3.69.

Deadline extended for Ohio energy assistance

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The long, cold winter has been a drain on many household budgets in Ohio, so the state is extending the deadline for lower-income people to apply for heating assistance.

Nearly 134,000 customers have received $34 million in help with heating bills through Ohio's Home Energy Assistance Winter Crisis Program. Because of the severity of the winter, the program has extended the deadline to apply to April 15. Typically, it's March 31.

David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency, told The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1iRcMdg ) that the extension allows people who didn't think they would need the help to apply for it.

Officials say they are seeing lots of people who had never before sought heating assistance. They say disconnects can usually be stopped by enrolling people in one or more energy-assistance programs.

Because of the cost of heat, Charlie Rehl, 68, of Grove City, a Columbus suburb, said he didn't touch the thermostat all winter, opting for thermal underwear instead.

"I've really got to watch my money," said Rehl, a military veteran and retiree going through a divorce. He said his first electricity bill in his new apartment bit deeply into his fixed income, causing him to seek help from the program.

The Winter Crisis Program offers a one-time payment of up to $175 for families at or below 175 percent of the poverty level. The Percentage of Income Payment Plan, which is available year-round, helps make payments affordable and includes opportunity for debt forgiveness.

Columbia Gas disconnect notices increased to 33,000 statewide from November through February — compared with about 32,000 last winter, company spokesman Steve Jablonski said.

The frigid weather, however, appears to have staved off the actual disconnects because shutoffs don't take place when the forecast calls for temperatures of 20 or below, Jablonski said.

Actual terminations were short of 8,000, compared with nearly 13,000 during the same period last year, he said.

Stocks open higher, heading for quarterly gain

NEW YORK -- Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as the market heads for a fifth straight quarterly gain.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,868 in the first few minutes of trading. The index is up 1.1 percent for the first quarter of the year, which ends Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 114 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,436. The Nasdaq composite rose 29 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,185.

Johnson & Johnson rose 1 percent after the company accepted an offer of about $4 billion from the private equity firm Carlyle Group to buy its Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics business.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen is speaking this morning to community development professionals in Chicago at the National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference.

After more than a century, a jewel of ocean research targeted for closure

WASHINGTON -- For more than a century, federal scientists have worked on Pivers Island near the historic town of Beaufort, N.C., and the beaches of Emerald Isle studying the ocean, and the fish, turtles and dolphins of its sea grass estuaries and rocky reefs.

Surrounded by three university labs, it’s one of a handful of oceanography hubs in the nation and the only government research center between New Jersey and Miami studying Atlantic fish populations.

So it came as a surprise recently that the federal government has proposed doing away with the ocean science laboratory, which opened in 1899.

Tucked in President Barack Obama’s 218-page proposed budget for 2015 was a one-sentence mention of a plan to close one lab to save money. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration subsequently identified it as North Carolina’s historic research station.

“NOAA’s Beaufort lab has conducted valuable fisheries and coastal science for more than 100 years,” said NOAA spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton. “However, this aging facility requires infrastructure repairs and improvements exceeding agency budget resources now and for the foreseeable future.”

The coastal and ocean agency plans to shift instead to grants to non-agency scientists. Closing the lab would mean the loss of 108 jobs locally. NOAA intends to relocate the federal scientists. What will happen to the lab’s 31 government contractors is less clear.

Members of the North Carolina congressional delegation say they’ll fight to keep the lab open, but its prospects are unclear. It’s one of few cuts proposed in the Commerce Department’s $8.8 billion budget.

Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican who represents the coastal district that includes Beaufort, was building a coalition to oppose the closure, said his spokeswoman, Sarah Howard.

“I am seriously troubled by the fact . . . President Barack Obama has proposed closing a research lab in eastern North Carolina while continuing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure projects in Afghanistan,” Jones said in a statement.

Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said she’d fight the closure to protect jobs and research that helps preserve coastal marine life. Rep. David Price, a Democrat from Chapel Hill and a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said he’d be “sharply questioning” the decision when the committee reviews the budget on Monday.

“The NOAA Beaufort Laboratory is a prime location and provides the only federal access to the most diverse marine ecosystem in the United States,” David B. Eggleston, a professor at North Carolina State University and director of its Center for Marine Sciences and Technology, wrote the committee.

Eggleston’s letter cited examples of the lab’s contributions, including pioneering work on harmful algal blooms that made forecasting them possible and the first study of invasive lionfish in the U.S. South Atlantic.

The lab sits just inside Beaufort Inlet, one of a handful of safe deepwater passages through the state’s barrier islands to the open sea. Duke University has a research station next door. North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill labs are a short drive away.

Most people in the state think of coastal Carteret County, with its beaches, rental cottages and Beaufort’s historic district, as being all about tourism. But marine science has grown into a major local employer. Between them, NOAA and the three universities have 163,000 square feet of research buildings and 40 labs. All told, marine science directly employs more than 500 people locally and injects $58 million into the economy, according to the county economic development council.

NOAA has said that the lab needed $55 million in work, though the lab’s supporters contend that the costs are overstated.

An engineering report showed the facility is structurally sound, they said. NOAA has invested some $14 million in upgrades in recent years, including a new administrative building in 2006 and a new bridge to the island, a cost shared with Duke.

The Beaufort lab over the decades has been known for work on Atlantic menhaden _ a silvery herring _ and sea grass, said Charles H. “Pete” Peterson, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City.

“It’s more costly and less in your mind if you’re separated from the problems or assets you’re charged with to protect or research,” he said.

In addition, the lab should remain at Beaufort because the North Carolina coast is one of the three places _ along with south Florida and the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana_ where global climate change has the potential to cause radical changes from storms and sea level rise, Peterson said.

Mike Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president for public affairs and governmental relations, said that the university’s scientists were working with NOAA scientists on several important projects, including one involving salt marshes and another on how to analyze data to make better environmental decisions, a project that also includes the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune.

“We hope that the federal government carefully considers all the impacts before it makes its decision,” Schoenfeld said.

The lab also is headquarters for staff of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and Natural Estuarine Research Reserve. Teacher training workshops take place here. So do school field trips. Five minutes away by boat is the Rachel Carson Reserve, named for the author of “Silent Spring,” who worked in the lab.

Patricia Tester, who came to Beaufort as an Oregon State University graduate student in 1976, married a local man and ended up working for NOAA as a scientist for 33 years, said the lab has done practical work solving fisheries problems in North Carolina and beyond.

Tester said that after the lab studied harmful algal blooms that caused the “red tide” of 1987, the Quinault Indians of La Push, Wash., asked for help to develop a new type of test they needed for their shellfish harvests.

“The problems were intractable with the skill sets we had at the time, but we incorporated molecular work and were able to help the Quinaults,” she said.

Tester retired but has returned to the lab as a contractor and continues her research. She said she’d never move, because she and her husband have made their lives in Beaufort.

Conservation and fishing groups also want Congress to keep the lab open and are calling lawmakers.

The North Carolina chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, a group devoted to protecting the coast for the general public, was calling on Congress to keep it running, said the chapter’s chairman, Greg Hurt.

“Our organization and its members firmly believe that the future of fishing and the health of our states’ marine resources depend upon access to the best scientific data available,” he said.

Closing the lab would worsen the problem of getting timely assessments of the health of fish stocks, he said, adding that the NOAA Beaufort lab “has an excellent reputation for providing high quality data for management.”

Jerry Schill, interim executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing trade group, agreed.

“All we expect from these people is objectivity,” he said. “With the National Marine Fisheries Service Beaufort lab, we got it.”

Jackie Savitz, acting vice president for U.S. oceans at the conservation group Oceana, said NOAA “is the braintrust in helping us understand the impacts of what we do in our oceans.”

“We need more Beaufort labs, not fewer,” she said.

Cabinet convenes at Baabda Palace

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Cabinet convened Monday at Baabda Palace to discuss 30 items on its agenda, including the renewal the Central Bank's vice governors' four-year terms.

"There will be discussion over the oil decrees, renewal of the vice governors' terms, and other appointments," Health Minister Wael Abu Faour told reporters before stepping into the 5:30 meeting.

Abu Faour also said that the draft law for the new public sector salary scale will be debated in light of the Union Coordination Committee’s general strike this week.

Angered by the Parliamentary committee’s failure to approve and put to a vote the government proposal to raise the salaries of civil servants, the UCC called for a general strike Wednesday along with a protest outside Parliament.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said the government was also scheduled to appoint Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous as the head of the Internal Security Forces.

Basbous became acting ISF chief after Rifi retired from his post last year.

Other ministers said the Cabinet will discuss the recently drafted plan to restore security to the northern city of Tripoli and the Akkar region.

Yellen: Job market needs low rates 'for some time'

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made clear Monday that she thinks the still-subpar U.S. job market will continue to need the help of low interest rates "for some time."

Yellen's remarks signaled that even after the Fed phases out its monthly bond purchases later this year, it has no plans to raise a key short-term rate anytime soon. The bond purchases have been intended to keep long-term loan rates low.

Her remarks sent a reassuring message to investors, many of whom had grown anxious that the Fed might raise short-term rates by mid-2015. Their concerns were stirred last month when Yellen suggested that the Fed could start raising short-term rates six months after it halts its bond purchases, which most economists expect by year's end.

A short-term rate increase would elevate borrowing costs and could hurt stock prices.

But on Monday, Yellen made clear that the Fed still thinks rates should remain low to stimulate borrowing, spending and economic growth.

"I think this extraordinary commitment is still needed and will be for some time, and I believe that view is widely held by my fellow policymakers at the Fed," Yellen said in her first major speech since taking over the Fed's leadership in February.

Stocks, which had been up before Yellen began speaking, rose further on her remarks. Low rates tend to lead some investors to shift money into stocks and thereby raise stock prices.

Speaking to a national conference on community reinvestment in Chicago, Yellen described the U.S. job market as being less than healthy despite steady improvement since the recession ended nearly five years ago. She says the difficulty many people are still having finding full-time work shows that low rates are still needed to encourage borrowing and spending.

In an unusual touch for a speech delivered by a Fed chief, Yellen described the personal stories of three people who had lost their jobs during the recession and struggled to find work.

"They are a reminder that there are real people behind the statistics," Yellen said.

"The past six years have been difficult for many Americans, but the hardships faced by some have shattered lives and families," she said. "Too many people know firsthand how devastating it is to lose a job at which you had succeeded and be unable to find another; to run through your savings and even lose your home."

Sabres sign coach Nolan to 3-year extension

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo Sabres interim coach Ted Nolan will oversee the team's rebuilding plans beyond this season after signing a contract extension on Monday.

The team lifted Nolan's "interim" tag from his title by announcing the signing on its Twitter page. The Sabres' post included a picture of Nolan signing his contract alongside owner Terry Pegula and general manager Tim Murray.

The extension does not come as a surprise after both Nolan Murray indicated on several occasions in recent weeks that the two sides were close to completing a deal.

Nolan returned for a second stint in Buffalo in mid-November, when he was hired on an interim basis with the opportunity to keep job after the season. He took over for Ron Rolston who was fired along with GM Darcy Regier, after Buffalo got off to a franchise-worst 4-15-1 start.

Nolan is staying on even though Pat LaFontaine — the person who brought him on board — abruptly stepped down as Sabres president of hockey operations on March 1, after only 3-1/2 months on the job. The two were close, and LaFontaine's departure opened questions as to whether Nolan might follow him out.

Murray maintained his support for Nolan as someone capable of providing direction to a team that's essentially rebuilding from scratch.

The Sabres (20-45-9) remain in last place, where they are likely to finish with only two weeks left in the season. They're 1-10-1 in their past 12 games in preparing to host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

With 142 goals, Buffalo is flirting with setting an NHL single-season low for goals scored since the league expanded from its Original Six teams in 1967-68. The record in a non-lockout-shortened season is 151 goals scored set by the 1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning, according to STATS.

The Sabres' woes do not entirely reflect Nolan's coaching ability. He's been saddled with a team that's been beset by injuries and has traded away many of its key players over the past calendar year.

Murray completed a veteran purge in the days leading up to the league's trade deadline on March 5 by dealing away much of what was left of the team's aging core.

Goalie Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott were traded to St. Louis on Feb. 28. Then, in the hours leading up to the deadline, the Sabres made four more trades, including one that sent forward Matt Moulson to Minnesota.

Nolan previously went 73-72-19 in two seasons in his first tenure in Buffalo. He left following 1996-97 season because he was unhappy with the team's one-year contract offer after being selected the NHL's coach of the year.

Nolan then spent two seasons coaching the New York Islanders and led them to the playoffs in 2006-07, before being fired after the following season.

His coaching career has enjoyed a resurgence over the past year. Aside from the Sabres, Nolan enjoyed a successful stint at the Sochi Games, where he coached Latvia to an eighth-place finish — the country's best in five Olympic appearances.

No more oil found near Indiana refinery spill

WHITING, Ind. -- The Coast Guard says crews didn't find any more oil during the latest search of the Lake Michigan shore following last week's spill at BP's northwestern Indiana refinery.

Officials say a Coast Guard, BP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assessment team checking the area near the Whiting refinery on Sunday spotted no visible oil on the shore or in the water. Cleanup workers spent last week removing oil from about a half-mile section of shoreline.

The Coast Guard says BP is being allowed to remove most of the containment boom from the lake some 20 miles southeast of downtown Chicago where a refinery malfunction discharged oil on March 24.

BP estimates between 15 and 39 barrels of oil were discharged into the lake. That's between 630 and 1,638 gallons.

Security forces confiscate 10 stolen vehicles in Arsal

BEIRUT: Security forces have confiscated 10 stolen vehicles after raiding a private garage and a Syrian refugee camp in the northeastern town of Arsal, the Internal Security Forces said Monday.

In a statement, the ISF said a police unit reclaimed six stolen four-wheel drive vehicles from a garage in Wadi Hmayyed in Arsal on March 29.

“After receiving additional information [about stolen vehicles], a unit in Arsal raided a Syrian refugee camp in the town and confiscated four stolen vehicles,” the statement said.

The vehicles were identified as a white Opel, a white Chevrolet pick-up truck, a black Kia, and a silver Renault with a license plate.

The investigation is ongoing under the supervision of the judiciary to verify the owners of the vehicles.

Most of the vehicles used in previous car bombings in the past few months were stolen and some of them were rigged with explosives in Arsal, where town officials enjoy close links with the Syrian opposition.