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ByElaineGanleyand Nicole Winfield The Associated Press PARIS After years of ten- sions over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Europe is ush- ering in a new era of rela- tions with the once-pariah state, welcoming Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Italy and France with high expectations that he can set in motion lucrative business deals and regional peacemaking. But there's also a note of caution, notably about Iran's human rights record and geopolitical goals. The end of economic sanctions after six nations struck a deal to curb Iran's nuclear activities means the country of 80 million will soon be flush with funds, allowing Tehran to spend and, some Europe- ans hope, end its isolation from the West. The visits to Italy and France are also part of ef- forts by Iran to reach out to its old partners to bal- ance its diplomatic reach with eastern partners like China and Russia. Iran signed billions of euros in deals during Rou- hani's first stop in Italy — which also prompted con- troversy when officials cov- ered up naked statues in a Rome museum in an appar- ent effort to avoid offend- ing the Iranian leader. Ita- ly's culture minister called the move "incomprehensi- ble." At a press conference Wednesday in Rome, Rou- hani invited American businessmen to join their European counterparts in investing in Iran and tak- ing advantage of the new era of "win-win" collabora- tion after years of mutual losses. "It's possible, but the key is in Washington, not in Tehran," he said. "At the same time today, if Ameri- can investors and the heads of the American economy want to come to Iran and invest in my country, there are no problems from our point of view." Rouhani, a relative mod- erate elected in 2013, flew to France later Wednes- day and was meeting with Economy Minister Emman- uel Macron and a group of French business leaders. He's expected to oversee the signing Thursday of a bevy of contracts, includ- ing a possible deal with Airbus to renew Iran's fleet of passenger jets as Teh- ran looks to push tourism. Iran's aviation industry has suffered due to sanc- tions over the past three decades. Out of Iran's 250 commercial planes, only about 150 are flying. Oil giant Total, engi- neering group Alstom and carmakers PSA Peugeot- Citroen and Renault-Nis- san, with a past presence in Iran, are among companies that could clinch deals, too. In Italy, the government and private companies inked more than a dozen accords with Iran cover- ing the metals industry, oil services, rail transport and shipbuilding. Decades of sanctions have starved the Iranian economy and isolated Iran. The last Iranian head of state to visit France was moderate President Hassan Khatami in 1999 — and he was the first since the 1979 Iranian revolution. France showed its ea- gerness to take up where it left off in Iran as soon as the July nuclear deal was signed. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius visited Teh- ran, as did an important delegation of France's main business group, known as Medef. Yet there are sticking points like Iran's poor hu- man rights record, which is marked by hundreds of ex- ecutions. Iran is also an ac- tive supporter of the gov- ernment of Syrian Presi- dent Bashar Assad, who France firmly opposes. France wants Iran to play a "positive role" in the Syrian war and become a partner in peace to resolve the conflict, Foreign Min- ister Laurent Fabius said. Rouhani was originally scheduled to visit Paris in November but the trip was called off after Nov. 13 Is- lamic extremist attacks that killed 130 people. Rouhani told reporters that he and Pope Francis discussed the need for reli- gious leaders to speak out against extremism and terrorism during their au- dience Tuesday. But in an apparent reference to the French satirical newspa- per Charlie Hebdo, at- tacked by extremists a year ago for lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, Rouhani said freedom of expression "doesn't mean offending that which is sacred to other people's faith." While saying that ex- tremist violence must be condemned, the Iranian leader insisted that "all re- ligions are to be respected, their books and the mil- lions of people who follow the faith." Insulting them "creates division and doesn't help anyone," he added. Winfield contributed from Rome. NEW ERA OF RELATIONS Eu ro pe w el co me s Ir an ia n le ad er R ou ha ni CHRISTOPHEENA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Supporters of Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, demonstrate against the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit in Paris, on Wednesday. GERALD HERBERT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Firefighters battle a fire on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans on Wednesday. By Kevin Mcgill The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS A stub- born fire that blanketed part of the city in smoke and forced the closure of historic Canal Street is not believed to be the result of arson, the city's fire chief said Wednesday. The blaze broke out in a largely empty four- story building and spread to an adjacent building. Flames were no longer visible and smoke had greatly diminished by daybreak, but firefight- ers kept steady streams of water pouring onto the structures from lad- der trucks and from the street. The fire was de- clared under control shortly before noon. McConnell said his department was not yet ready to release a report on the suspected cause but arson was not sus- pected. Some lanes of Canal Street, which is lo- cated between the city's central business district and the French Quar- ter, re-opened Wednes- day evening and McCon- nell said streetcar traffic was resuming. But the stability of the structure was being in- vestigated and the dam- age could result in some minor changes in the route of Mardi Gras sea- son parades that will roll down the famous boule- vard over a 12-day period beginning Friday. None hurt as fire closes historic Canal Street NEW ORLEANS By David Eggert and Mike Householder The Associated Press FLINT, MICH. Environmen- tal and civil rights groups want a federal judge to or- der the prompt replacement of all lead pipes in Flint's water system to ensure that residents have a safe drinking supply, a demand that Gov. Rick Snyder said on Wednesday might be a long-term option but not an immediate one. A lawsuit filed Wednes- day seeks an order forcing city and state officials to remedy alleged violations of the federal Safe Drink- ing Water Act, including a failure to properly treat the water for corrosion, test it for lead, notify res- idents of results and accu- rately report if the correct sample sites are being se- lected. Flint residents are currently unable to drink unfiltered tap water, and tests have shown high lead levels in some children's blood. "The only way to per- manently and completely fix the problem of lead in drinking water is to con- duct the full replacement of the lead-containing pipes and solder in a water sys- tem," said Sarah Tallman, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Coun- cil. The group filed the complaint on behalf of cit- izens along with the Amer- ican Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, the Concerned Pastors for Social Action and Melissa Mays, a Flint resident. Snyder's administra- tion has estimated it could cost up to $55 million to repair what officials have estimated are 15,000 dam- aged lead service lines leading from water mains to homes and other build- ings. The complaint says the pipes should be re- placed at no cost to cus- tomers. The governor, speaking at a news conference in Flint, said "a lot of work is being done to even understand where the lead services lines fully are. ... The short-term issue is about recoating the pipes and that will be based on third-party experts say- ing the water is safe." He announced that the state will have an increased administrative presence in Flint and called it the be- ginning of a long-term ef- fort. And Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said she hired a Vir- ginia Tech professor whose extensive testing helped bring the city's lead prob- lems to light. Marc Edwards will over- see all water testing done by the state and federal gov- ernments. She added that he will be "fully indepen- dent," report to her and get paid through private dona- tions. She also touched on the issue of residents' wa- ter bills. A House-passed spending bill pending in the state Senate includes $3 million to help the city with unpaid water bills. "Flint residents should not have to pay for water they did not and are not us- ing," Weaver said. "Once we have more accurate num- bers from the Flint water department, we will revisit what is right for our citi- zens." It remains unclear when residents will be able to re- sume drinking unfiltered water. State Department of En- vironmental Quality In- terim Director Keith Cre- agh said water samples show "things are trending better," but he stressed they are not statistically valid because he cannot guaran- tee homeowner-provided samples are from homes at more risk — those with lead pipes or with no filters. "Now we need to figure out ... is there a protective barrier" being recoated on the inside of the lead lines by anti-corrosion chemi- cals, Creagh said. "Yes or no? ... We're not going to guess." He said officials are work- ing to identify neighbor- hoods with no lead pipes, so those residents can get the all clear on their water. It remains unclear how badly the pipes were dam- aged after the decision in 2014 to use the Flint River as the city's drinking wa- ter source without adding a chemical to control cor- rosion. That caused lead to leech into the water for a year and a half and contrib- uted to the spike in child lead exposure before state and officials fully acknowl- edged the problem in early October. Flint has reconnected to Detroit's water system while awaiting the comple- tion of a new pipeline from Lake Huron. The suit expresses doubt about whether the city can maintain optimal corrosion treatment when it switches to the new water source later this year. Much of the blame for the emergency has been put on the state Department of Environmental Quality be- cause staff told Flint water officials not to treat it for corrosion until after two six-month monitoring pe- riods. But the suit also fo- cuses on problems with the city's monitoring of lead. It alleges the city is not pro- viding comprehensive, reli- able information to identify locations with lead lines and is under-testing homes with a higher risk of lead exposure. The U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency last week issued an emergency order directing the state to take actions to protect pub- lic health and said it would begin sampling and analyz- ing lead levels. At least three other suits have been filed since the crisis was exposed in the fall. Two seek class-action status and financial com- pensation; another asks a judge to declare that users do not have to pay their wa- ter bills. CONTAMINATION La ws ui t se ek s re pl ac em en t of Flint's faulty lead pipes CARLOS OSORIO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Registered Nurse Brian Jones draws a blood sample from Grayling Stefek, 5, at Eisenhower Elementary School, Tuesday in Flint, Michigan. The students were being tested for lead a er the metal was found in the city's drinking water. By Alan Scher Zagier and Eric Tucker The Associated Press ST. LOUIS The Ferguson Police Department has agreed to overhaul its pol- icies, training and prac- tices as part of a sweep- ing deal with the Justice Department following the 2014 fatal police shoot- ing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, city and federal of- ficials announced Wednes- day. The recommendations, detailed in a 131-page pro- posed consent decree, are meant to correct prob- lems identified in a scath- ing Justice Department re- port last year that identi- fied unconstitutional and discriminatory practices across the city police force and municipal court sys- tem. 2014 FATAL SHOOTING Ferguson, US reach tentative deal on police overhaul NorthStateRealty(NSRE) 2515 Park Marina Drive#102 Redding California 96003 (530) 518-8275 (office) jaredchaffin@hotmail.com Jared Chaffin DRE lic. #01460126 530-518-8275 3 bd, 2 ba 1560 sqft. Completely remodeled ranchette backing up to open pasture with detached garage/shop sitting on almost an acre of property. New from top to bottom including, new roof, granite countertops, stainless appliances, new floor coverings, and remodeled bathrooms. With all the work done, this home is move in ready with a huge private back yard for your gardening, R.V.'s, toys, animals, or hobbies. $225,000 Dream ranch property on over 3 acres with two homes, horse arena, stocked pond and 2 barns on two separate parcels!! This beautiful property comes with a custom steel built 90'X150' covered arena with additional 90'X225' sand arena. Next to the arena sits a 84'X34' horse lovers barn with tac room hay loft and 9 stalls along with additional 16'X24' covered panel barn & stall area. If you like bass fishing then bring your pole because there is an amazing huge stocked year around pond with geese, frogs, fish, and fun! Also for sale separately is an adjoining 61 acres that is completely fenced for horses, but also has orchard potential. $265,000 THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 7 B