France seeks new sanctions on Iran

France seeks new sanctions on Iran

PARIS

France has asked its European Union partners to consider new sanctions on Iran for its recent missile tests, officials have told The Associated Press, even as Paris welcomed the president of the Islamic Republic, which is flush with funds from the lifting of other sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The ambiguous signals emerging Wednesday from France came as President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in 2013, signed billions of dollars in business deals on an earlier stop in Italy and met with Pope Francis in the first such Iranian foray into Europe since 1999.

France hopes for similarly lucrative deals during Rouhani’s two-day visit, along with regional peacemaking efforts as the once-pariah state emerges from decades of isolation.

5 arrested in probe of Calif. jail break

LOS ANGELES

The investigation of a daring California jail break has led to the arrests of five people, with more expected soon, but the three inmates who escaped remain at large, the Orange County sheriff said Wednesday.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said she definitely believes the inmates had assistance from the outside, and that the investigation is focusing on a local Vietnamese gang.

Those in custody – none of whom are jail employees or insiders – may not all have had direct ties to the escape, but the investigation of the breakout led to their arrest, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

UN: 18 besieged Syrian communities

UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations says the number of besieged areas in Syria’s conflict has risen to 18, up from 15 earlier this month, with as many as half a million people now affected.

As the U.N. hopes to get Syrian parties to begin peace talks Friday, the organization’s humanitarian chief and the head of the World Food Program on Wednesday called upon Syria’s government to allow sustained access to besieged areas and to the estimated 4.5 million people in hard-to-reach areas.

Officials said the rare convoys that reached a few besieged communities earlier this month, after images of emaciated Syrian children were widely shared online, are not enough and that the food delivered will run out soon.

Calif. adopts energy standards for lights

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

California on Wednesday became the first state to set energy-efficiency standards for household LEDs and smaller track-lighting-style light bulbs – a move that could save consumers billions in utility bills and prompt lawmakers and manufacturers to adopt them nationwide.

The California Energy Commission approved new requirements for general-purpose light-emitting diodes – the LEDs used in household lamps and chandeliers – and directional lamps that have a diameter of 2.25 inches or less. They often are used in track lighting by stores, hotels and museums.

Ferguson deal on police overhaul

ST. LOUIS

The Ferguson Police Department has agreed to overhaul its policies, training and practices as part of a sweeping deal with the Justice Department after the 2014 fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, city and federal officials announced Wednesday.

The recommendations, detailed in a 131-page proposed consent decree, are meant to correct problems identified in a scathing Justice Department report last year that identified unconstitutional and discriminatory practices across the city police force and municipal court system.

Associated Press