6 - Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
6 - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
S
New York poised to be the first
to pass post-Newtown gun bill
Legislature close
to a vote on revised
state gun laws
ALBANY, N.Y. - New York
lawmakers were poised to vote
Monday night to enact tougher
anti-violence legislation in what
would be the nation's first gun
control measure following last
month's Connecticut school
shooting.
"I think when all is said and
done, we are going to pass a
comprehensive gun bill today,"
Sen. Jeffrey Klein told report-
ers. "I'm very excited about it. I
am very confident we are going
to vote on a comprehensive bill
that will be agreed on by the
governor, the Senate and Assem-
bly."
People familiar with closed-
door negotiations told The Asso-
ciated Press a tentative deal was
struck over the weekend fol-
lowing the push made by Gov.
Andrew Cuomo last week in his
State of the State speech. The
people spoke on condition of
anonymity because the proposal
had not been discussed among
rank and file legislators.
The package hits on several
fronts including a much tighter
assault weapon ban and restric-
tions on .ammunition and the
sale and storage of guns, accord-
ing to final provisions obtained
by The Associated Press. The
package would also create a
mandatory police registry of
assault weapons under a more
restrictive definition.
All private 'sales would be
subject to a background check
done through a licensed dealer
and the bill would require the
reporting of mentally ill people
who say they intend to use a gun
illegally, according to the provi-
sions confirmed by five legisla-
tive officials.
The package is part of Gov.
Andrew Cuomo's gun control
bill and priorities of Democrat-
ic and Republican legislators in
the Assembly and Senate. The
officials spoke on the condition
of anonymity because rank-
and-file lawmakers were still
signing off on some provisions.
Under current state law,
assault weapons are defined
by having two features spelled
out in law. The proposal would
reduce that to one feature and
include the popular pistol
grip.
Private sales of assault weap-
ons to someone other than an
immediate family would be
subject to a background check
through a dealer. Also Internet
sales of assault weapons would
be banned, and failing to safely
store a weapon could be subject
to a misdemeanor charge.
' Ammunition magazines
would be restricted to seven
bullets, from the current 10,
and current owners of higher-
capacity magazines would have
a year to sell them outof state.
An owner caught at home with
eight or more bullets in a maga-
zine could face a misdemeanor
charge.
SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J) left, confers with Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) center, as
the House Rules Committee sorts through dyzens of amendments on an aid package,
Conse'rvtives balk at $50
billion Sandy aid-package
Conservative Reps.
go after FEMA.
emergency budget
WASHINGTON - House
conservatives opposed to more
deficit spending tried Monday
to chip away at the $50.7 billion
Superstorm Sandy aid package by
requiring offsetting spending cuts
to pay for recovery efforts and by
stripping money for projects they
say are unrelated to the Oct. 29
storm or not urgently needed.
The push by budget hawks for
amendments sets up a fight with
Northeast lawmakers in both par-
ties eager to provide recovery aid
for one of the worst storms ever
to strike the region as the House'
moves toward expected votes
Tuesday on the emergency spend-
ing package.
The base $17 billion bill by the
House Appropriations Commit-
tee is aimed at immediate Sandy
recovery needs, including $5.4
billion for New York and New
Jersey transit systems and $5.4
billion for Federal Emergency
Management Agency's disaster
relief aid fund.
Northeast lawmakerswill have
a chance to add to that bill with
an amendment by Rep. Rodney
Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., for an
additional $33.7 billion, including
$10.9 billion for public transpor-
tation projects.
The Club for Growth, a conser-
vative group, on Monday urged
lawmakers to oppose both Sandy
aid measures.
"Congress shouldn't keep pass-
ing massive 'emergency' relief
bills that aren't paid for, have lit-
tle oversight, and are stuffed with
pork," the club said in a statement.
Sandy aid supporters, none-
theless, voiced confidence Mon-
day they would prevail. The
Senate passed a $60.4 billion
Sany aid package in December
with bipartisan support.
"We have more than enough
votes, I'm confident of that," said
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., claim-
ing a base of strong support from
Democrats as well as Republicans
from the Northeast and other
states for both the base $17 billion
bill and the amendment for the
additional $33.7 billion.
King said GOP leaders told
him to expect 12 to 15 amend-
ments on the floor. The House
Rules Committee was deciding
which among more than 90 pro-
posed amendments, many from
conservatives seeking to strike
additional aid for past disasters
and some projects not directly
related to Sandy, would advance
to the floor for consideration.
"With that many amendments,
one could sneak through," King
said. "We should be able to
defeat the important amend-
ments, though."
Gunshots fired at Greek party HQ
No injuries at New
Democracy Party
in Athens.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A
gunman fired a spray of bullets at
the headquarters of Greece's gov-
erning center-right New Democ-
racy party near central Athens
early Monday, with one hitting
an office occasionally used by the
prime minister, officials said. No
one was hurt.
A government spokesman said
the shooting was part of an effort
to "terrorize" Greek society,
which is struggling through its
worst financial crisis in two gen-
erations amid a drastic fall in liv-
ing standards and a record rise in
unemployment.
Police cordoned off the area
where unknown gunman shot at
least nine automatic rifle rounds
at the building on the capital's
busy Syngrou Avenue, south of
the city center.
No group claimed responsi-
bility for the pre-dawn attack,
which follows a renewed wave of
low-scale politically motivated
violence by small'anarchist and
far-left militants.
The belt-tightening, amid
widespread disgust with an
incompetent and often corrupt
political establishment blamed
for the country's woes, has boost-
ed extremists both to the left and
right of the political spectrum. A
fringe ultra-right group accused
of fostering violent attacks on
dark-skinned immigrants is rep-
resented in Parliament and regu-
larly polls as the country's third
most popular party.
All political parties con-
demned Monday's attack.
"No act of terrorism is going
to scare us," said Makis Voridis,
a spokesman for New Democ-
racy. "Our efforts to restore law
and order ... will continue unob-
structed."
His comments appeared to
be a reference to recent police
evacuations of anarchist squats
in Athens, which triggered
a series of firebomb attacks
on journalists' homes, local
branches of parties in Greece's
governing coalition and cash
machines.
Government spokesman
Simos Kedikoglou said a "sym-
bolic" bullet went through
the window of the office used
occasionally by Prime Minister
Antonis Samaras and was found
inside the room.
"There is a new worrying
increase in efforts to terrorize
our society," Kedikoglou said.
No party officials were in the
building at the time. The offi-
cial prime minister's office is at
another building in central Ath-
ens, where he spends most of his
time.
"Of course there could have
been (victims). There could have
been a cleaner in the prime min-
ister's office or a security guard
at the site," Kedikoglou said.
Police said the attacker was
believed to have had at least
one accomplice, while experts
were examining a car found
abandoned and burned near the
scene. The anti-terrorism squad
is heading the investigation.
New Democracy heads a
three-party coalition govern-
ment formed after elections in
June and is -leading Greece's
painful economic recovery effort
to cut its high public debt and
budget deficit through deeply
resented spending cuts and tax
hikes.
The austerity measures were
demanded by international cred-
itors in exchange for the vital
bailout loans that have shielded
Greece from bankruptcy since
May 2010.
For decades, Greece was
plagued by deadly far-left
political violence that targeted
police, government officials,
businessmen and financial
institutions.
0
Assad bombs Damascus
suburbs to keep rebels at bay
Civilian casualties
in government air
raid Monday
BEIRUT (AP) - The Syr-
ian government bombed areas
around Damascus on Monday
as part of its push to keep rebel
fighters out of the capital, leav-
ing many children among the
dozens killed, anti-regime activ-
ists said.
An international aid organiza-
tion cited such raids, along with
rape and widespread destruc-
tion, as key factors in the exo-
dus of more than a half-million
Syrians to neighboring coun-
tries since the conflict began in
March 2011.
The International Rescue
Committee said it could be
"months, if not years" before the
refugees can return home and
warned that Syria's ci'il war
could enflame tensions in the
Middle East.
After nearly two years of vio-
lence, it appears unlikely that
the war will end soon. Although
rebels seeking to oust President
Bashar Assad have made gains in
the country's north and east and
outside of Damascus, they have
yet to seriously challenge his
hold on the capital or other parts
of the country.
Earlier this month, Assad dis-
missed calls from the U.S. and
others that. he step down and
vowed to keep fighting until the
country is free of "terrorists" -
his government's shorthand for
rebels.
International diplomacy has
done little to bridge the gap.
In a report released Monday,
the International Rescue Com-
mittee painted a grim picture of
what life has become for Syrians
in war-torn areas.
Syrians face brutal killings,
arbitrary arrests, torture, fre-
quent airstrikes, sexual violence
and diminishing medical servic-
es, the report said.
The 32-page report, based on
interviews with Syrian refugees
in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and
Iraq in November 2012, said-that
many who fled the country cited
rape as a primary reason.
"Many women and girls
relayed accounts of being
attacked in public or in their
homes, primarily by armed
men," the report said. "These
rapes, sometimes by multiple
perpetrators, often occur in
front of family members."
The group did not say if the.
alleged perpetrators were rebels
or government forces.
Anti-regime activists have
reported rapes by government
soldiers or pro-government
thugs, and U.N. war crimes
investigators reported in August
that government forces and
allied militias were responsible
for murders, rapes and indis-
criminate attacks on civilians.
The report warned that vio-
lence could keep Syria's refu-
gees in neighboring countries
for years, taxing the resources of
host governments and enflam-
ing domestic tensions, particu-
larly in Jordan and Lebanon. It
called for greater international
aid in and outside of Syria as
well as open borders to allow
those threatened by violence to
escape.
Violence continued inside
Syria on Monday, as government
fighter jets carried out lethal air-
strikes on rebellious areas near
the capital, Damascus.
One strike hit the suburb of
Moadamiyeh, blasting the walls
off apartment blocks and scatter-
ing rubble in the streets. Activ-
ist videos posted online showed
residents searching for survi-
vors and wrapping dead bodies
in blankets. One video showed
two corpses lying face down,
one covered in gray cement dust.
Another showed the bodies of
six children laid out on a floor.
The videos appeared genuine
and corresponded to other Asso-
ciated Press reporting.
The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights
said 13 people were killed in the
Moadamiyeh blast, eight chil-
dren and five women. The group,
which relies on contacts in Syria,
also reported deadly airstrikes
in two other suburbs, saying at
least 45 people were killed in
and around the capital Monday,
including 10 rebel fighters.
The Syrian government
offered its own account of the
blast in Moadamiyeh, saying
"terrorists" fired a shell at the
neighborhood, hitting a resi-
dential building and causing an
undefined number of casualties.
The destruction in the vid-
eos, however, appeared consis-
tent with an airstrike, not a shell
attack.
Rebel fighters said the strike
on Moadamiyeh came amid a
government offensive to push
rebel fighters from there and the
adjacent southwest suburb of
Daraya.
Rebels moved into the two
suburbs weeks ago, but have
been bogged down in clashes
with government troops since
then. Both areas put rebel forces
within striking distance of a key
military airport in the Mezzeh
neighborhood.
The Observatory said Monday
that the government had blown
up homes between the airport
and the neighborhoods to estab-
lish a buffer zone.
One fighter in the area
reached Monday said the gov-
ernment appeared set on push-
ing the rebels out.
"The noise from the bom-
bardment is astounding today,"
said the fighter, who gave only
his first name, Iyad, for security
reasons. "The regime is using all
kinds of weaponry."
The U.N. says that more than
60,000 people have been killed
since Syria's crisis began with
anti-regime protests. The con-
flict has since descended into
civil war, with rebel brigades
across the country fighting
Assad's forces.
International diplomacy has
failed to end the conflict.
On Monday, the secretary gen-
eral of NATO said the alliance
had no plans to intervene in Syria,
warning that foreign interven-
tion could have "unpredictable
regional repercussions."
Coroner releases new report on
Natalie Wood's mysterious death
Possibility of
violence before
drowning in 1981
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Some
of the bruises found on Natalie
Wood's body may have occurred
before the actress drowned in the
waters off Southern California
more than 30 years ago, accord-
ing to a newly released coroner's
report on one of Hollywood's
most mysterious deaths.
The case took another twist
Monday when officials released a
10-page addendum to Wood's 1981
autopsy that cites unexplained
bruises and scratches on Wood's
face and arms as significant fac-
tors that led to officials chang-
ing her death certificate last year
from a drowning to "drowning
and other undetermined factors."
Officials were careful about
their conclusions because they
lacked several pieces of evidence
for their review.
Bruises on Wood's arms, a
scratch on her neck and superfi-
cial abrasions to the actress' face
may have occurred before Wood
ended up in the waters off Cata-
lina Island in November 1981,
but coroner's officials wrote they
could not definitely determine
when the injuries occurred.
The findings have not altered
a sheriff's department investiga-
tion into Wood's death, which a
spokesman described as ongoing.
Wood, 43, was on a yacht with
her actor-husband Robert Wag-
ner, co-star Christopher Walken
and the boat captain on Thanks-
giving weekend in 1981 before
somehow ending up in the water.
A dinghy that had been attached
to the boat was found along the
island's shoreline, but investiga-
tors could not locate it to review
it last year.
Investigators initially reported
that there were scratches on its
hull, but Wood's fingernails were
not preserved for analysis.
The initial autopsy report said
it was likely the bruises happened
when Wood drowned. "Most of
the bruises on the body are super-
ficial and probably sustained at
the time of drowning," the initial
autopsy report stated.
Several of the original coro-
ner's investigators who worked on
the case were re-interviewed, and
officials attempted to test some
items taken during the investi-
gation into Wood's death and an
autopsy, but they could not be
located.
"The locationofthe bruises,the
multiplicity of the bruises, lack of
head trauma, or facial bruising
support bruising having occurred
prior to entry in the water," the
amended report states. "Since
there are unanswered questions
and limited additional evidence
available for evaluation, it is
opined by this Medical Examiner
that the manner of death should
be left as undetermined," Chief
Medical Examiner Dr. Laksh-
manan Sathyavagiswaran wrote
in the report completed in June.
Officials also considered that
Wood wasn't wearing a life jack-
et and had no history of suicide
attempts and didn't leave a note
as reasons to amend itsreport and
the death certificate.
The report was released
Monday after sheriff's officials
released asecurityhold.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve
Whitmore said the agency has
known about the findings in the
newly released autopsy report for
several months and it does not
change the status of the investi-
gation, which remains open. He
said Wagner is not considered a
suspect in Wood's death and the
agency hasn't said they have any
suspicions about Walken or the
boat captain, Dennis Davern.
Wood, famed for roles in such
films as "West Side Story" and
"Rebel Without a Cause," was
nominated for 'three Academy
Awards during her lifetime. Her
death stunned the world and has
remained one of Hollywood's
most enduring mysteries. The
original detective on the case,
Wagner and Walken have all said
they considered her death an acci-
dent.
Conflicting versions of what
happened on the yacht have con-
tributed to the mystery of how
the actress died. Wood, Wagner
and Walken had all been drink-
ingheavily in the hoursbefore the
actress-disappeared.
The newly released report
states there are conflicting state-
ments about when the boat's
occupants discovered Wood was
missing. The report estimates her
time of death was around mid-
night, and she was reported miss-
ing at 1:30 a.m.
'
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