Congressional report presses for e-cigarette rules

RICHMOND, Va. -- Concerns about electronic cigarettes, including flavors and marketing that could appeal to young people, underscore the need to regulate the fast-growing industry, according to a Congressional report released Monday.

The report written by the staff of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, California Rep. Henry Waxman and others highlights several issues including the lack of age restrictions and no uniform warning labels for the are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution and create vapor that's inhaled.

While the Food and Drug Administration plans to set marketing and product regulations for electronic cigarettes in the near future, for now, almost anything goes. A 2009 law gave the FDA the power to regulate a number of aspects of tobacco marketing and manufacturing, though it cannot ban nicotine or cigarettes outright. The agency first said it planned to assert authority over e-cigarettes in 2011 but hasn't yet. The proposed FDA regulation was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review in October.

"I can't understand why the FDA is taking this long," Durbin said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It is clear that the longer they wait, the more young people will be addicted."

The report follows an investigation launched by the congressional delegation in September into the practices of nine e-cigarette makers. The staffs surveyed the companies for information on their marketing practices, steps taken to restrict sales to minors, types of warning labels and touting claims of health benefits or reduced exposure to potentially harmful or addictive substances.

Among the findings, the report says six of the companies surveyed spent more than $59 million on advertising and promotion of their e-cigarettes in 2013. Several of the companies reported that their marketing spending more than doubled between 2012 and 2013, and two of the companies' marketing expenses increased more than 300 percent during that time. Sales of e-cigarettes, which are sold under more than 200 brand names, are estimated to have reached nearly $2 billion in 2013.

Durbin said that if the agency "accepts responsibility for this product as they have for tobacco," it can start establishing standards for sales and marketing.

"If they fail to do that, I'm afraid it's going to continue reach into the ranks of our children," he said.

Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, echoed those concerns in a statement, urging regulators to stop marketing practices that already are illegal for traditional tobacco products.

Michael Felberbaum can be reached at http://bit.ly/1dbspXO .

Army demands camp hand over shooting suspect

SIDON, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army Monday blocked roads leading to the Palestinian refugee camp of Bass in the southern town of Tyre, demanding the handover of a shooting suspect.

The military tightened its cordon around the camp, blocking its entrance and several inner streets leading to it, a security source told The Daily Star.

The measures are aimed at pressuring the camp’s residents to hand over a suspect involved in a recent shooting.

A Lebanese and Palestinian family engaged in a personal dispute Sunday night, renewing clashes between the two over financial issues.

No casualties were reported.

The dispute is between a man from the Beit Hajjo family and his cousin from the Palestinian Dreiz family.

Ghanem, Aoun oppose amending Constitution for election

BEIRUT: Presidential hopeful MP Robert Ghanem said Monday he and MP Michel Aoun oppose amending the Constitution to elect a civil servant, referring to the possible nomination of Army Chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.

His remarks came after his meeting with Aoun, another nominee for the country’s top Christian post.

"After consultations with [former General] Michel Aoun, [we found] we had similar opinions: That it is our right to hold the election on time and to confront [attempts to] amend the Constitution," Ghanem told reporters following the meeting.

"It is not personal, but the issue concerns state building. This Constitution cost us some 200,000 lives to stop the war. It has not been fully implemented and we have amended it on several occasions,” he said.

"Since 1996, when we began amending the Constitution, the state has been in decline,” he added.

Neither Salameh or Kahwagi have announced their candidacy for the presidency, but the two figures are seen as consensus candidates compared to other nominees.

Constitution stipulates that judges and grade one public sector employees seeking nomination should quit their posts two years prior to the election.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara said said Bkirki would only support amending the Constitution to elect Salameh or Kahwagi if lawmakers agreed on their nomination.

During his brief chat with reporters, Ghanem, an independent MP allied with the March 14 coalition, refused to answer questions as to whether he considered himself a consensus candidate.

Lebanon, Jordan to coordinate on refugee crisis

BEIRUT: Lebanese and Jordanian officials will discuss ways to coordinate on the Syrian refugee crisis when Social Affairs Minister Radhid Derbas visits Amman this week.

Derbas will travel to Jordan Monday on a three-day trip when he will hold talks with Jordanian officials and representatives of Arab and international organizations, the National News Agency reported.

Derbas is scheduled to hold a meeting with Jordan’s Interior Minister, Hussein al-Majali, and to visit the Zaatari refugee camp on the border with Syria, which hosts around 100,000 refugees.

During his trip to the camp, Derbas will meet with officials from the UNHCR.

The minister will also hold talks Wednesday with Jordanian Foreign Affairs Minister Naser Joudeh to "coordinate each country’s stance on the political level with regards to the Syrian crisis," the state-run agency said.

The number of refugees in Lebanon has hit the one million mark while Jordan hosts some 588,900, according to U.N. figures.

As Election Nears, Congress Is Expected To Be Less Productive

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

If anything, 2014 has been marked with a flurry of show votes. Those are votes on bills that have no realistic hope of passing Congress, but are done to make political points.

Spain eyes stronger economic ties with UAE visit

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- King Juan Carlos of Spain has begun a visit to the United Arab Emirates by telling the oil-rich nation that it is at the top of his country's political and economic agenda.

The Spanish head of state made the comments at the start of an economic forum on Monday in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Spanish government ministers and representatives of major Spanish companies.

The king's visit is expected to focus in large part on boosting trade with the Gulf region as Spain struggles to grow its economy and battle near-record levels of unemployment.

The king will visit Kuwait next, and plans to return to the region over the coming months for visits to Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Minden Bancorp declares dividend

MINDEN, La. -- The board of directors of Minden Bancorp Inc. has declared a dividend off 9.5 cents per share on its common stock.

The dividend is payable April 29 to shareholders of record on April 18.

Minden Bancorp is the parent of MBL Bank.

The company reported assets of $288.9 million at the close of 2013.