Obama told me so: 07/13/14

Sunday, 13 July 2014

INFLUENCE GAME: Shaping railroad safety rules

WASHINGTON -- A string of fiery train derailments across the country has triggered a high-stakes but behind-the-scenes campaign to shape how the government responds to calls for tighter safety rules.

Billions of dollars are riding on how these rules are written, and lobbyists from the railroads, tank car manufacturers and the oil, ethanol and chemical industries have met 13 times since March with officials at the White House and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Their universal message: Don't make us pay for increased safety because that's another industry's problem.

The pitches illustrate why government officials, who must show that safety benefits outweigh the economic costs of rules, often struggle for years, only to produce watered-down regulations.

The Association of American Railroads, for example, is pushing for tougher safety standards for tank cars than the current, voluntary standards agreed to by industry in 2011. Railroads, though, typically don't own or lease tank cars and so wouldn't have to buy new cars or retrofit existing ones. The oil and ethanol industries that own the cars want to stick with the voluntary standards, also known as "1232" tank cars.

The railroads argue that better tank cars are needed because the kind of crude oil being produced in the oil boom Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana and in some other parts of the country is more likely to ignite if a tank car is punctured or ruptured in an accident. They want regulators to require that cars for crude have a thicker shell, an outer layer to protect from heat exposure, an outer "jacket" on top of that, and a better venting valve, among other changes.

Since 2008, there have been 10 significant derailments in the U.S. and Canada in which crude oil has spilled from ruptured tank cars, often resulting in huge fireballs. A year ago this month, a runaway train with 72 tank cars of crude en route from the Bakken to a refinery in Canada hurtled into the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, exploded and killed 47 people.

The American Petroleum Institute, however, says Bakken crude is no different from other light, sweet crude oils and doesn't need special containers. The institute wants the government to adopt what are now the voluntary standards even though "1232" tank cars have ruptured in several accidents.

"We have billions invested in tank cars," said Bob Greco, a senior official with the American Petroleum Institute. "Every day new, modern 1232 tank cars are coming into service." By the end of next year, about 60 percent of the oil industry's 74,000 tank cars will be 1232s, each bought with the expectation that they would be in use for decades, he said.

The ethanol industry faces a similar quandary. It would cost about $3 billion to retrofit or replace the industry's 30,000 tank cars to make them tougher, said Bob Dinneen, head of the Renewable Fuels Association.

From 2006 to 2012, there were seven train derailments in which tank cars carrying ethanol ruptured. Several crashes caused spectacular fires that emergency responders were powerless to put out, including one near Cherry Valley, Illinois, that consumed a van with a family inside. A woman was killed, her husband suffered burned and their pregnant adult daughter miscarried.

The ethanol industry, including agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland, has told regulators that if tank car standards must be strengthened, the new requirements should apply only to crude oil, Dinneen said. He blamed poor communication by railroads for the Cherry Valley accident.

The chemical industry, which ships both flammable and nonflammable liquids in tank cars, has told regulators that if they propose a new tank car standard, it should be phased in, starting with oil shipments. Deadlines for chemical shipments would come later. The industry also questions whether the safety benefits justify the cost of upgrading existing tank cars to meet new standards.

Rather than new rules for tank cars, the oil and ethanol industries want regulators to turn their attention to whether railroads should do more to prevent accidents. "Keep these cars on the tracks and nobody has a problem," Dinneen said.

The government may try to do just that.

Edward Hamberger, head of the Association of American Railroads, said he is dismayed that regulators are considering lowering oil train speeds to 30 mph. Railroads already have voluntarily lowered speeds from 50 mph to 40 mph in urban areas, he said.

Lowering the speed of oil trains, some of which are 100 cars long, would slow overall freight traffic by about 10 percent and reduce the capacity of the nation's freight network by the same amount, Hamberger said. That's because 83 percent of the network is single track, with passing tracks located from 5 miles to 50 miles apart. Virtually every industry that ships freight by rail would be affected, he said, along with Amtrak, which widely uses freight tracks.

Burlington Northern-Santa Fe estimated that reducing speeds to 30 mph on just one portion of its network — its Aurora, Illinois, to Spokane, Washington, line — would cost the company $800 million.

Shippers that use a combination of trains and trucks to move products may switch to trucks, Hamberger said, putting more of those on the road.

Railroads also worry that regulators will require trains to have electronically controlled brakes that would cost the industry $12 billion to $21 billion, according to a CSX estimate.

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Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://bit.ly/1nyMjSr

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Online:

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration: http://bit.ly/1mLyoe5

Association of American Railroads: http://bit.ly/1owgMzW

Renewable Fuels Association: http://bit.ly/1mLyoe7

EDITOR'S NOTE - An occasional look at how behind-the-scenes influence is exercised in Washington.

Massachusetts approves 2-month tax amnesty program

BOSTON -- A tax amnesty sponsored by House Republicans could help Massachusetts collect millions in overdue tax revenues.

The program, signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick, is available to taxpayers who failed to file a timely tax return or underreported their income.

Taxpayers who failed to pay any outstanding tax liability or failed to pay the proper amount on a required estimated tax payment are also eligible.

Those who pay their taxes and interest within the designated two-month amnesty period will not be assessed penalties. The waiver won't apply to any individual who is the subject of a tax-related criminal investigation.

The program is expected to collect an estimated $35 million in back taxes.

House Republican Leader Brad Jones said $5 million of the taxes collected will go toward the state's Substance Abuse Services Fund.

UNIFIL urges calm on the border

TYRE, Lebanon: U.N. peacekeepers urged the Lebanese and Israeli militaries Sunday to exercise “maximum self-restraint” and cooperate with UNIFIL to maintain calm on the border hours before rockets were fired from Lebanese territory into Israel, raising tensions between the two countries.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon described the firing of rockets into Israel as “a grave violation” of Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon.

Two rockets fired from south Lebanon struck northern Israel Sunday night, triggering Israeli retaliatory artillery fire on the outskirts of the Lebanese village of Rashidiya, Lebanese security sources said. No casualties were reported.

Three rockets had been fired from the same area a day earlier.

On Friday three other rockets were also fired toward Israel from the village of Mari in Hasbaya.

Acting Force commander Brig. Gen. Tarundeep Kumar immediately established contact with senior commanders of the Lebanese and Israeli armies and urged them “to exercise maximum restraint, to cooperate with UNIFIL in order to prevent further escalation,” according to a UNIFIL statement.

Efforts to locate the launch pads of rockets fired at northern Israel Saturday turned out to be an arduous task with the Lebanese Army only discovering them Sunday afternoon, security sources told The Daily Star.

The sources said the Army found the launch pads in a banana orchard in the valley of Ras al-Ain, 3 kilometers away from the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh in Tyre.

Lebanese troops also found an unexploded bomb that was taken from the area by a military expert, the National News Agency reported.

The UNIFIL statement said the peacekeeping force, in coordination with the Lebanese Army, is maintaining enhanced operational presence on the ground, and has intensified patrols across the area of operations to prevent any further incidents.

“The parties have reaffirmed their commitment to the cessation of hostilities and are fully cooperating with UNIFIL in efforts to prevent any further incidents along the Blue Line,” the statement said.

UNIFIL explained that the situation in the area was calmer, adding that it has launched an investigation into the incident “that amounted to a grave violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and endangered human lives.”

Sirens sounded across the Israeli settlement of Nahariya, 12 kilometers from the Lebanese border, after the rockets were fired from the valley of Qulayleh in the Tyre region.

Israel swiftly responded with artillery fire on Zebqin and Qulayleh in the Tyre region. The area houses two Palestinian refugee camps: Bass and Rashidieh.

Mariam Atallah, a woman from Qulayleh, criticized the random firing of rockets into Israel. “We are not against fighting Israel. But the firing of rockets should be controlled with the resistance [Hezbollah] and the Lebanese Army. All of us are with Palestine and Gaza,” she said.

But farmer Mustafa Hammoud from the village of Debbine disagreed. “Let rockets be fired toward the positions of the usurper Israelis wherever they are found and let them be burned all of them. Israel is an enemy that understands only the language of fire. We have tried the [Israeli] aggression. Long live Gaza.”

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket attack and Hamas issued a statement denying that its armed wing, the Ezzeddine al-Qassam Brigades, carried out Saturday’s attack.

The Israeli military said that two rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel late Saturday. No casualties were reported.

Friday, a member of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya fired rockets at Israel, sources told The Daily Star. They said the man acted of his own volition in solidarity with the people of Gaza against the ongoing Israeli offensive.

Friday’s attack drew Israeli retaliatory artillery shelling of the Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba and heightened tensions on the generally calm border between the two countries.

Engineering company Aecom to buy URS for $4B

LOS ANGELES -- Engineering design company Aecom Technology Corp. said Sunday it is buying URS Corp. for $4 billion in cash and stock, or about $56.31 per URS share.

The price is 8 percent above URS's closing stock price of $52.02 on Friday, but 19 percent above the average price for the last 30 days. Shares spiked and retreated on Friday on a report that URS was looking to sell.

The California-based companies said the combination was necessary to building an integrated infrastructure services company that can operate globally and provide services including design, financing, construction and operation of buildings. The combined firm will be headquartered in Los Angeles.

The companies had worked together on projects such as the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the World Trade Center in New York.

Aecom CEO Michael Burke said the deal will give Aecom a broader portfolio of services and access to URS' strong client relationships in the oil and gas, power and government services sectors.

The offer includes $33 per share in cash and 0.734 Aecom shares for every URS share.

URS CEO Martin Koffel said in a conference call the deal gives its shareholders "a right on the future as well as a cash takeout."

Shareholders can elect to receive all cash or all stock, although stock proceeds are expected to be tax-free, the companies said.

Aecom expects annual cost savings of $250 million by the end of the fiscal year through September 2016. The deal is expected to boost per-share net income in the year through September 2015.

With 95,000 employees in 150 countries, the combined company would have had revenue above $19 billion last year and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $1.3 billion.

After the transaction is completed, expectedly in October, Aecom expects its total debt will jump to $5.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion at the end of March. It plans to use free cash flow to pay it down over time.

Aecom shares closed at $31.76 on Friday.

AP News in Brief at 5:58 p.m. EDT

Kerry arrives in Vienna as world powers, Iran appear set for nuclear talks extension

VIENNA (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and fellow foreign ministers are adding their diplomatic muscle to nuclear talks with Iran, with a target date only a week away for a pact meant to curb programs Tehran could turn to making atomic arms.

Deep differences separate the two sides and six world powers and Iran appear set to extend their talks past July 20. That would give more time to negotiate a deal that would limit the scope of such programs in exchange for a full lifting of nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Tehran.

Kerry arrived Sunday. Britain, France and Germany also sent their foreign ministers to Austria's capital for talks over the next few days, as has Iran. But the top diplomats from China and Russia are sending lower-ranking officials instead. That may reflect their view that an extension is unavoidable.

Still, the most important disputes over how deeply Iran must cut its nuclear program are between Washington and Tehran, so Kerry's presence is crucial. He will be able to talk directly to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is at the Vienna negotiations.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke Saturday of "huge and deep" differences. But he told Iranian TV that "if no breakthrough is achieved, it doesn't mean that (the) talks have failed."

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Israel calls for north Gaza residents to evacuate after brief ground raid as offensive widens

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel briefly deployed ground troops inside the Gaza Strip for the first time early Sunday as its military warned northern Gaza residents to evacuate their homes, part of a widening campaign against militant rocket fire that's killed more than 160 Palestinians.

Neither Israel nor Palestinian militants show signs of agreeing to a cease-fire, despite calls by the United Nations Security Council and others to end the increasingly bloody six-day offensive. With Israel massing tanks and soldiers at Gaza's borders, some fear that could signal a wider ground offensive that would cause heavy casualties.

Early Sunday, Israeli troops launched a brief raid into northern Gaza to destroy what it described as a rocket-launching site, an operation the military said left four soldiers slightly wounded.

The Israeli air force later dropped leaflets warning residents to evacuate their homes ahead of what Israel's military spokesman described as a "short and temporary" campaign against northern Gaza to begin sometime after 12 p.m. (0900 GMT). The area is home to some 100,000 people.

It was not clear whether the attack would be confined to stepped-up airstrikes or whether it might include a sizeable ground offensive — something that Israel has so far been reluctant to undertake.

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NYC-bound Delta flight from Israel has mechanical problem, returns to Tel Aviv; lands safely

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York-bound Delta Air Lines flight from Israel declared an emergency and returned to Tel Aviv early Sunday after developing a mechanical problem, vexing passengers already on edge as Palestinian militants launched rocket attacks on the city.

Flight 469 — a Boeing 747 with 370 passengers and 17 crew members aboard — landed safely back at Ben Gurion Airport around 2:30 a.m. local time after flaps on the jumbo jet failed to retract properly on takeoff about two hours earlier, the airline said.

Delta spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said the crew made the emergency landing "out of an abundance of caution." She said there was no indication the plane's problem was related to the Israeli-Palestine conflict or terrorism.

Passenger Michael Simon said the crew disclosed an unspecified problem with the plane about a half-hour into the flight. The mood on board, he said, "was not so much panic as bewilderment and frustration."

"Obviously it has been a tense week in Tel Aviv," he said.

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Massachusetts Sen. Warren becoming prized campaigner as Democrats hope to keep Senate control

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is quickly becoming a top Democratic fundraising and campaigning powerhouse, hitting the road on behalf of candidates in key races the party will need to win to retain control of the U.S. Senate in November.

Since March, the Massachusetts Democrat has stumped for candidates in Ohio, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Kentucky and has trips planned this week for West Virginia and Michigan. It's a hefty schedule for a freshman senator who not long ago was teaching law at Harvard.

Along the way, Warren has found her brand of economic populism resonating far from her home in the liberal enclave of Cambridge, Mass.

Part of Warren's economic pitch is legislation she sponsored that would let college graduates refinance their student loans at lower interest rates, an effort blocked by Senate Republicans.

Warren found a receptive crowd during a recent campaign stop at the University of Louisville with Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state hoping to unseat Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

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North Korea launches 2 ballistic missiles into the sea, the latest in a series of test-firings

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, South Korea said, the latest in a series of test-firings seen as expressions of anger over the North's failure to win talks on receiving outside aid, and over U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The missiles, believed to be of Scud variations, were fired from the North Korean city of Kaesong near the border with the South and had a range of about 500 kilometers (311 miles), said a South Korean military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department rules.

North Korea experts said it was highly unusual for Pyongyang to fire missiles from a city just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the heavily fortified border separating the two Koreas. The North usually test-fires missiles launched from its eastern port city of Wonsan, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the border.

"It is remarkable that missiles were fired from Kaesong, a symbol of North-South cooperation," said professor Yang Moo-jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies. The jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Complex brings together South Korean-owned companies with North Korean labor. "Such action can mount tensions as it suggests that these missiles ... can target the entire Korean Peninsula. "

North Korea regularly conducts test-firings, but this year has seen an unusually large number of launches. South Korean officials have confirmed about 90 test-firings of missiles, artillery and rockets by the North since Feb. 21. More than 10 of them have been ballistic launches.

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Iraq's Sunnis say they have agreed on a candidate for parliament speaker as lawmakers to meet

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi parliament's Sunni blocs have agreed on a candidate for the post of parliament speaker, paving the way for the legislature to take the first formal step toward forming a new government.

The legislature is scheduled to meet Sunday amid pressure to quickly agree on new leadership that can hold the country together in the face of a Sunni militant offensive. Lawmakers failed to make any progress in parliament's first session on electing a new speaker, president and prime minister, and deadlock prompted the second session to be postponed until Sunday.

Sunni lawmaker Mohammed al-Karbooli said in a statement late Saturday that Sunni parties decided on Salim al-Jubouri as their nominee for speaker. He said al-Jubouri promised not to support a third term for embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is under pressure to step aside.

Under an informal arrangement that took hold after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the speaker's chair goes to a Sunni, the presidency to a Kurd and the prime minister's post to a Shiite.

If parliament has a quorum Sunday, it could vote on al-Jubouri's nomination.

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Romania: ex-communist prison commander to go on trial for 1st time for crimes against humanity

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — For the first time since communism collapsed in Romania 25 years ago, a former prison commander goes on trial Monday charged with being responsible for the torture and murdering prisoners considered a threat to the country's old order.

Survivors say the delay in bringing perpetrators to justice was a cynical tactic by Romania's new rulers, some of whom held senior positions under the communist regime, to avoid accountability.

"These criminals were left in peace on purpose and most died in their beds. now they are bringing some of the crimes to light and it is important," said Octav Bjoza, director of the Association of Former Political Prisoners in an interview with The Associated Press.

Alexandru Visinescu, 88, goes on trial charged with crimes against humanity for deaths that happened under his command at Ramnicu Sarat prison from 1956 to 1963. Since authorities brought charges against him, Visinescu says people in the street have shoved him to the ground and called him a criminal. He has pleaded not guilty and calls himself a scapegoat.

"I only followed orders. They should ask those that gave the orders," he told the AP on Friday. "I am convinced they will do anything to take revenge.

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Anybody home? Exodus from Niue, other Pacific islands raises prospect of vanishing cultures

ALOFI, Niue (AP) — It was a school once, but there are no children here anymore. The lonely building on this remote Pacific island now contains only a punching bag that someone has strung from the classroom rafters, and a note scrawled on the chalkboard in Niuean: "Keep this place clean," it says, "so it stays beautiful."

While much of the world worries about how it will accommodate rapidly growing populations, some islands in the Pacific face the opposite dilemma: how to stop everybody from leaving.

The population decline on Niue, a lush coral atoll about the size of Baltimore, has been steady and relentless. In the 1960s, there were more than 5,000 people living here; today, there are fewer than 1,600. Fifteen times as many Niueans, some 24,000, now live across the ocean in New Zealand, 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) away.

The stories, songs and language that developed into the Niuean culture over more than 1,000 years are at risk of vanishing.

Speedo Hetutu, 54, attended the old school in the town of Avatele before it was abandoned and later used for workouts. There used to be six primary schools on the island; now there is only one. Other buildings where people used to work, pray or live now sit empty and in disrepair.

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Ukraine government denies president will be at World Cup final in Brazil

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko won't be attending the World Cup final in Brazil on Sunday, a government statement said, denying assertions by Brazilian officials that he would be there.

On Saturday, a Brazilian official said Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin would be in a VIP area at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro for the match pitting Argentina against Germany — a situation that could have paved the way for an encounter for renewed peace talks on ending the conflict between pro-Russian and pro-Western forces in Ukraine.

But while Ukraine's official presidential website said Poroshenko was invited by Brazil's president, like other heads of state, it said he wouldn't be going.

"However, considering the situation that Ukraine now finds itself in, the head of state believes it is not possible to attend the final of the World Cup," the statement said.

A Brazilian government official had earlier said Poroshenko was persuaded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fly to Rio and watch the match with her. Merkel, along with French leader Francois Hollande, are the key European leaders trying to broker peace in Ukraine.

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Expected World Cup protests fizzled out, but anger remains over Brazil's economic woes

IRAJA, Brazil (AP) — The protesters who many feared would wreck Brazil's World Cup party failed to show up. While the national team fell short of claiming the coveted championship, the country at least can say the tournament that wraps up with Sunday's title game has gone off with only scattered demonstrations.

Brazil avoided a repeat of last year's Confederations Cup when violent protests broke out in several cities and more than a million people took to the streets on just one night to demand the government spend on improvements for education and other public services instead of soccer. But the absence of conflict during the World Cup came less from dissipated anger than attention being glued to the games and police cracking down on even small demonstrations.

Paulo Cavalcante, a 50-year-old public servant, shouted himself hoarse during last year's protests, even bringing his teenage daughter along on the marches. But during the World Cup, like many other Brazilians, he chose to stay home.

"The police had orders to break the demonstrators," he said, referring to the early days of the monthlong tournament when officers turned tear gas and powerful stun guns on even small crowds of protesters. "I couldn't put my family in harm's way."

For Sunday's final between Argentina and Germany in Rio de Janeiro, authorities ordered the deployment of more than 25,000 officers and soldiers, the largest security detail in Brazil's history. On Saturday, police arrested 19 people suspected of vandalism and seized gas masks, fireworks and firearms, according to local media reports.

Whiting to top Bakken oil firms in $6B Kodiak buy

DENVER -- Whiting Petroleum Corp. said Sunday it is buying Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. for $6 billion in stock, worth $13.90 per share, in a deal that will make it the largest producer in the booming Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana.

The combined company had over 107,000 barrels of oil equivalent production per day in the first quarter.

The merger is meant to take advantage of cost savings through technological expertise, complementary drilling areas and better access to capital. It also gives it a stronger credit profile.

Whiting CEO James Volker said both companies' shareholders will benefit from the combination. Next year, the company is expected to produce 152,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, he said.

The deal will increase earnings per share starting in 2015.

Kodiak shareholders will get 0.177 shares of Whiting stock for every share they hold. The value is about 5 percent above the average price over the last 60 trading days. After the transaction, Whiting shareholders will own about 71 percent of the company, while Kodiak shareholders will own about 29 percent.

The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.

Whiting shares closed at $78.54 on Friday, down 1.8 percent from the previous close, while Kodiak shares closed down 2.3 percent at $14.23.

Mayor: Cop killer said he was 'going to be famous'

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- A gunman who killed a rookie officer responding to a report of an armed robbery at a drugstore early Sunday never tried to rob the store and instead lay in wait for police, telling a witness to watch the news because he was "going to be famous," authorities said.

Lawrence Campbell shot Officer Melvin Santiago in the head shortly after he and his partner arrived at the 24-hour Walgreens at around 4 a.m., Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said. Other officers returned fire at Campbell, killing him.

Campbell, 27, of Jersey City, was one of three suspects wanted by police for a prior homicide, Fulop said.

Fulop said Campbell was carrying a knife when he walked into Walgreens and asked for directions to the greeting card aisle. He assaulted an armed security guard at the store and snatched his gun, Fulop said. He waited for officers to arrive, then shot Santiago with what police believe was the guard's weapon.

"Today was a horrible day for Jersey City," Fulop said.

Dozens of officers stood single file at the entrance of the hospital and saluted as Santiago's flag-draped body was carried into an ambulance. A handful of younger officers consoled one another as they walked away. Santiago, 23, graduated from the police academy in December.

Fulop was there when Santiago's body arrived at the hospital. As Santiago's mother identified the body, Fulop said, she "just keep repeating the badge number and saying that it's not possible."

Santiago is the first Jersey City officer killed in the line of duty since Detective Marc DiNardo died in July 2009 during a raid on an apartment while searching for suspects in a robbery.

"It is a tragic situation when any officer is killed in the line of duty," Fulop said. "Melvin was an officer who represented everything one would want to see in a police officer. I know the entire city's thoughts and prayers are with the Santiago family during this difficult time and we mourn together."

Jean Belviso, who has been delivering newspapers for 10 years, was driving through the Walgreens parking lot when she said saw a man wearing burgundy sweatpants and a baseball cap walk out of the store. A police cruiser pulled up in front of Walgreens, and the suspect began shooting, the 61-year-old Belviso said.

"We thought he was running, coming toward us," said Belviso, who was riding along with a friend. "He kept on shooting."

Bullets flew through the cruiser's windshield, 13 in all. The suspect was shot multiple times, and officers slapped handcuffs on him, Belviso said.

Campbell's body remained on the ground next to the bullet-riddled cruiser for more than five hours after the shooting before it was placed in a coroner's van and taken away.

Markeisha Marshall, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said the company was "deeply regretful" over the officer's death and extended its sympathies to his family and friends. The store has round-the-clock armed security, Marshall noted.

Police are also searching for another man who they believe was involved in the previous homicide with Campbell, Fulop said. They have been aggressively seeking Daniel Wilson for the last three days, Fulop said.

The Jersey City Police Benevolent Association said in a statement that their hearts were heavy over Santiago's death.

"Patrolman Santiago knew the risks associated with this job, yet he put himself in front of danger in order to keep Jersey City safe," the association said. "Words cannot adequately express our feelings about this senseless tragedy."

The officer's stepfather, Alex McBride, said Santiago was "very proud" to be a police officer, following in the footsteps of his uncle. McBride said he had been in Santiago's life for 14 years, noting that his stepson had wanted to be a police officer since playing the "Call of Duty" video game.

"Melvin was the best kid," he said, choking up as he sat hunched over on a plastic crate in an alley outside the family's apartment. "I watched him graduate from high school. He joined every sport, everything. He never did no harm to nobody. And he was full of life."

Gary Nahrwold, 24, recalled his friend Santiago first saying a decade ago that he wanted to become a police officer. Nahrwold also hopes to join the force and said he won't be discouraged by Santiago's slaying.

"It just gives me more purpose to do it," he said. "I'm not going to be deterred by some senseless crimes."

Associated Press writers Julio Cortez in Jersey City and Ashley Thomas in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

ECB under pressure to get growth-sapping euro down

LONDON -- The European Central Bank is coming under increasing pressure to do more to stem the strength of the euro currency, which is hurting exporters and keeping a lid on the region's recovery from recession.

ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to face questions on what can be done to reduce the value of the euro when he faces lawmakers at the European Parliament on Monday.

At around $1.36, the euro has come down from its 2014 high of just below the $1.40 mark in May. Even so, the currency remains well above its historic average. That's a problem for the region's exporters as they try to drum up business in the growing global economy. Carmakers from Germany to Greek yoghurt makers find it more difficult to sell their wares when the euro is so strong.

With the economy barely growing and not creating many jobs, politicians are piling on the pressure on the central bank.

On Thursday, French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said the ECB should do more to weaken the euro to boost growth, which would help bring down the sky-high unemployment rate, particularly among the young. The ECB frowns upon such interventions by politicians as it does not want investors to doubt that it is able to set its policies independently of government pressure.

If needed, the ECB could further loosen its monetary policy through interest rate cuts or launch a monetary stimulus similar to those undertaken by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. Those programs involve injecting new money into the economy by buying large amounts of bonds and other financial assets.

Few economists think Draghi and the ECB want to go down that route, partly because of technical problems such as how to buy assets — and which ones — across a currency bloc comprising 18 countries. However, Draghi has said such a program, called quantitative easing, or QE, is within the bank's mandate and could be used if needed.

And therein lie potential problems for Draghi and the ECB, according to Gary Jenkins, chief credit strategist at LNG Capital.

Having been told that QE is a possibility, Europe's politicians may get increasingly exercised by the failure of the ECB to use such a program to help the economy, especially if growth remains anemic and inflation, at 0.5 percent, stays below the ECB's target of just below 2 percent.

"Unless growth returns, I expect that European politicians will start to put him under more pressure to implement unconventional policy measures such as QE," said Jenkins. "These wolves will huff and puff until they blow the ECB's defenses down."

Draghi is also likely to be grilled about the health of Europe's financial system days after concern over a Portuguese bank caused market gyrations.

The ECB has certainly been active over the past few months to heal the economy and the banks. It is reviewing the finances of Europe's largest financial groups and given them cheap loans to help get credit to businesses. It has reduced its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 0.15 percent. It also set a negative rate for the deposits bank keep at the central bank in the hope that pushes them to lend more to businesses and households instead.

It may seem counter-intuitive that the euro has been strong, particularly against the dollar, over the past few years, at a time the eurozone was embroiled in a debt crisis that threatened the single currency's very future and the Fed pumped billions of dollars every month into the U.S. economy.

Its recent resilience has been partly a by-product of Draghi's comment nearly two years ago that the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro. Since then, European markets have improved markedly, with government borrowing rates in indebted countries like Greece and Spain falling sharply.

However, the high value of the euro can work against the ECB's ambitions of shoring up the recovery and getting inflation back toward the target. It can stifle growth by hurting exports and rein in inflation by reducing the price of imports.

Without actually saying what he considers to be fair value for the euro, Draghi has made some forays into the debate. The euro, he insists, is "not a policy target" but has become "very important for our outlook on price stability."

For now, Draghi is expected to resist the pressure and continue down the same line.

"For the time being it seems likely that Draghi will stick with attempting to talk the euro lower," said Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International.

FBI cyber expert is ex-discount furniture salesman

PITTSBURGH -- J. Keith Mularski's world has expanded greatly since he stopped selling discount furniture to join the FBI 1998. Especially since he transferred from Washington, D.C., in 2005 to fill a vacancy in the Pittsburgh field office's cyber squad — which he now heads.

Since then, Supervisory Special Agent Mularski has been recognized as a foremost expert on cybercrime. His profile has risen even more since the Justice Department used Mularski's sleuthing to bring two indictments with worldwide ramifications.

In May, five Chinese Army intelligence officers were charged with stealing trade secrets from major manufacturers including U.S. Steel, Alcoa and Westinghouse.

In June, a Russian man was charged with leading a ring that infected hundreds of thousands of computers with identity-thieving software, then using the stolen information to drain $100 million from bank accounts worldwide.

Mularski, 44, said in April during an oral history interview for the National Law Enforcement Museum that he became a furniture salesman out of college because jobs were hard to come by then. He spent about five years in the business before joining the FBI.

"I was in private industry beforehand. But I've kind of always liked computers," Mularski told The Associated Press during a recent interview.

All 56 FBI field offices have cyber squads. Mularski chose Pittsburgh largely because of family considerations — he grew up in suburban White Oak, the son of a steelworker.

"It kind of looked like cyber was the wave of the future," Mularski said. "The majority of all my computer training was just on-the-job training at the bureau."

It has proved remarkably effective.

Even before the Chinese and Russian cases made worldwide headlines, Mularski was making cyber waves.

He made his reputation infiltrating Dark Market in 2006. The worldwide Internet forum allowed crooks to buy and sell stolen identity and credit card information.

Mularski infiltrated the network by pretending to be a notorious Polish computer hacker using the screen name "Master Splyntr" — a takeoff on the cartoon rat who guides the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Mularski was inspired while watching the cartoon character with his young son: "He's a rat that lives underground. It was perfect," he said.

Mularski befriended the criminal mastermind behind the site and persuaded him to let Mularski move the operation onto new computer servers. The servers happened to belong to the FBI, which led to more than 60 arrests worldwide.

Misha Glenny, a British journalist who specializes in cybercrime, wrote a book about the case called "Dark Market, How Hackers Became the New Mafia."

"Keith Mularski is not without technical ability, but his real talent lies in convincing experienced cybercriminals that he is one of them and not a law enforcement officer," Glenny told the AP.

His aw-shucks demeanor also makes him an ideal team player.

"He has an understanding of the whole grid, and then he develops relationships, whether it's with victims, the private sector, and our international partners," said David Hickton, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh.

Those partnerships are important because the United States doesn't have extradition treaties to bring the Chinese and Russian suspects here for prosecution. Those defendants could be arrested if they travel into areas that cooperate with the U.S., but Hickton and Mularski said that's not the only purpose served by those indictments.

"The best result is to be able to get cuffs on a guy," Mularski said. "But you have to measure how you can impact each (criminal) organization."

In the Russian case, Mularski got a federal judge in Pittsburgh to allow the Justice Department to monitor some 350,000 computers infected with malicious software, so the thievery could be stopped.

The Chinese indictment, meanwhile, was a "put up" to the Chinese government's rumblings that the U.S. government should "shut up" about ongoing cyberspying allegations unless they could be proved, Mularski said.

Some cases produce a more tangible result.

The Dark Market case led Mularski to Max Ray Butler, a San Francisco hacker whose home computer was found by the FBI with 1.8 million stolen credit card numbers on it. Butler, who changed his name to Max Ray Vision, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 years in prison — the longest sentence yet handed down in a U.S. hacking case. He was also ordered to repay banks $27.5 million, the cost of replacing all the cards he stole.

"This was all just really organized crime with a computer," Mularski said. "It's traditional sleuthing but in a 21st-century way."

Monroe officials to meet with United Airlines

MONROE, La. -- Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo and other local officials are scheduled to meet Monday with United Airlines to talk about a direct flight between the Monroe and Denver.

Monroe passengers currently must pass through United's Houston hub to get to Denver.

CenturyLink, which is headquartered in Monroe, also has a large regional office in Denver. It is working with the city on non-stop service.

Mayo tells The News Star (http://tnsne.ws/1y8WtiR ) the city will offer incentives but wouldn't elaborate on the specifics of the proposal.

Monroe Regional Airport Manager Ron Phillips says about 6,500 passengers fly from Monroe to Denver each year. Phillips says those passenger numbers will increase with a direct flight.

Delta and American offer service to Denver from Monroe, but no direct flights.

UNIFIL urges calm on the border

TYRE, Lebanon: U.N. peacekeepers urged the Lebanese and Israeli militaries Sunday to exercise “maximum self-restraint” and cooperate with UNIFIL to maintain calm on the border, days after rockets were fired from Lebanese territory into Israel raising tensions between the two countries.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon described the firing of rockets into Israel as “a grave violation” of Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon.

Three rockets fired from south Lebanon hit northern Israel Saturday night, triggering Israeli retaliatory artillery fire on the outskirts of the Lebanese villages of Zebqin and Qulayleh, Lebanese security sources said. No casualties were reported. The incident came a day after three rockets were fired toward Israel from the village of Mari in Hasbaya.

The sources said the Army found the launch pads in a banana orchard in the valley of Ras al-Ain, 3 kilometers away from the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh in Tyre.

Lebanese troops also found an unexploded bomb that was taken from the area by a military expert, the National News Agency reported.

Sirens sounded across the Israeli settlement of Nahariya, 12 kilometers from the Lebanese border, after the rockets were fired from the valley of Qulayleh in the Tyre region.

Israel swiftly responded with artillery fire on Zebqin and Qulayleh in the Tyre region. The area houses two Palestinian refugee camps: Bass and Rashidieh.

Mariam Atallah, a woman from Qulayleh, criticized the random firing of rockets into Israel.

“We are not against fighting Israel. But the firing of rockets should be controlled with the resistance [Hezbollah] and the Lebanese Army. All of us are with Palestine and Gaza,” she said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket attack and Hamas issued a statement denying that its armed wing, the Ezzeddine al-Qassam Brigades, carried out Saturday’s attack.

The Israeli military said that two rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel late Saturday. No casualties were reported.

Friday’s attack drew Israeli retaliatory artillery shelling of the Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba and heightened tensions on the generally calm border between the two countries.

We have to live with Sykes-Picot: French ambassador

BEIRUT: More than 20,000 French citizens in the country celebrate France’s National Day Monday, with Ambassador Patrice Paoli using the occasion to call for the respect of international borders and Lebanese unity to prevent the country from being drawn into regional conflicts.

“We support a citizen-based vision [for Lebanon] which is tolerant of religious and cultural differences, and in which minorities are respected,” he told The Daily Star last week.

The National Day will be marked at the ambassador’s Residence des Pins, the same place where in 1920 French General Henri Gouraud first defined the modern borders of Greater Lebanon, one of many Middle Eastern nation states carved out of the fallen Ottoman Empire by France and Britain following the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916.

Today, as areas of Iraq and Syria increasingly fragment into warring fiefdoms controlled by sects, the wisdom of those borders is increasingly being called into question.

“It’s a statement of fact, not a condemnation of the British or us, that there are certain areas in Syria and perhaps in Iraq that are currently under the control of certain factions, others under control of the state,” said Paoli. “For us the solution lies in respecting recognized states and internationally delineated borders.”

“We can judge the history behind these borders, but there is also a time when we must take a political and legal approach to the matter,” he added. “It’s not our objective to preserve a dated accord but we must live with its heritage.”

Critics accuse the Sykes-Picot pact of inadvertently stoking religious strife by forcing different confessions together in heterogeneous states, but Paoli countered by saying that Lebanon – a melting pot of sects – was an example for religious tolerance in the region. He pointed specifically to the country’s dynamic Christian population as evidence of Lebanon’s commitment to protecting minorities.

“The circumstances in Iraq, in Syria and to an extent in Egypt have led [the international community] to be concerned for the future of Christians in the region,” he said.

“It’s not a foreign intervention or protection of the army that will reassure them [Christians] but rather governments that can guarantee the security of all their citizens. It is states that afford people the right to practice their own beliefs freely. We think that Lebanon has the keys to do that.”

A shrewd diplomat with an avuncular smile, Paoli insists that France’s vision for Lebanon has been constant throughout the decades.

His words mirror, almost exactly, Lebanon’s 1926 Constitution, which was inspired by the French Third Republic. At the time, Lebanon was part of the French Mandate, the latter’s hefty colonial sphere of influence in the Middle East.

But gone are the days when French diplomats played kingmaker in the Lebanese political scene. Rather, Paoli insists, the French government’s primary concern is to bolster Lebanese institutions for the benefit of the people.

In this respect, France is particularly concerned about the presidential vacuum.

“It’s not [France] that determines what is good or bad for Lebanon,” said Paoli. “But it is illusory to think that Lebanon’s institutions can function properly without a president.”

Yet Paoli insisted that France had no preferred candidate in the election.

He had a clear message for Lebanese politicians, who are at odds over the selection of a candidate for the country’s top Christian post: “You have the keys, use them.”

Paoli further added that France had no position with regard to amending the Lebanese Constitution, describing the matter as “an internal affair.”

He vehemently denied that France had suggested amending the Taif Accords – the 1989 peace agreement that helped bring Lebanon’s 15-year civil war to an end – as Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah accused Paris of doing in a recent speech.

“ France never suggested any changes to Taif, although the subject was raised in discussions with other international actors. France has always supported Taif. We have never called for a new national pact,” he said.

Deep fissures in the political arena pose a threat to the country’s stability and solvency, Paoli warned.

“Today, the Lebanese political process is totally blocked,” he said. “We know that such divisions affect the security apparatuses. We’re seeing news from Tripoli that is not encouraging.”

“The regional situation shows how dangerous divisiveness can be,” he added.

However, the ambassador said that the creation of a national interest government in February was a positive sign.

“The best example that Lebanon can give to the region, and which the creation of the national unity government illustrated, is that people can get along with one another. What we see in Iraq today is the negation of this idea.”