Gun ban would protect lives

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' latest crack at a new assault weapons ban would protect more than 2,200 specific firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle that is nearly identical to one of the guns used in the bloodiest shootout in FBI history.

One model of that firearm, the Ruger .223 caliber Mini-14, is on the proposed list to be banned, while a different model of the same gun is on a list of exempted firearms in legislation the Senate is considering. The gun that would be protected from the ban has fixed physical features and can't be folded to be more compact. Yet the two firearms are equally deadly.

"What a joke," said former FBI agent John Hanlon, who survived the 1986 shootout in Miami. He was shot in the head, hand, groin and hip with a Ruger Mini-14 that had a folding stock. Two FBI agents died and five others were wounded.

Hanlon recalled lying on the street as brass bullet casings showered on him. He thought the shooter had an automatic weapon.

Both models of the Ruger Mini-14 specified in the proposed bill can take detachable magazines that hold dozens of rounds of ammunition. "I can't imagine what the difference is," Hanlon said.

President Barack Obama has called for restoring a ban on military-style assault weapons and limiting the size of ammunition magazines.

A bill introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. would ban 157 specific firearms designed for military and law enforcement use and exempt others made for hunting purposes. It also would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

Yet there are firearms that would be protected under Feinstein's proposal that can take large capacity magazines like the ones used in mass shootings that enable a gunman to fire dozens of rounds of ammunition without reloading.

Feinstein said in a written response to questions from The Associated Press that the list of more than 2,200 exempted firearms was designed to "make crystal clear" that the bill would not affect hunting and sporting weapons.

The December shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 students and educators dead forced Washington to focus on curbing gun violence, a risky political move not tried in decades. The gun industry, which is fighting any sort of ban, says gun ownership in the U.S. is the highest it's ever been, with more than 100 million firearms owners.

Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden have traveled around the country in an effort to gain support for new laws. Feinstein's proposal is the only sweeping piece of legislation designed to ban assault weapons currently being considered. But some gun experts say the lists of banned and exempted firearms show a lack of understanding and expertise of guns.

"There's no logic to it," said Greg Danas, president of a Massachusetts-based expert witness business and firearms ballistic laboratory. "What kind of effect is it going to have?"

Feinstein's bill defines an assault weapon as a semi-automatic firearm with a detachable magazine that has one of several military characteristics that are specified in her legislation. Examples of those characteristics include a pistol grip, which makes a firearm easier to hold, and a forward grip, which makes the firearm easier to stabilize to improve accuracy. The definition is similar to the one in Congress' original ban on assault weapons, which went into effect in 1994 and was widely criticized for outlawing firearms based on cosmetic features.

Feinstein was behind the 1994 law which, at the time, protected more than 600 firearms. The current bill would exempt by name and model more than 2,200 firearms by name and model. Feinstein said her staff had worked for more than a year to draft updates for the ban that expired in 2004, and it was apparent in the wake of recent mass shootings that now was the time to introduce a new bill. She said her staff consulted with law enforcement agencies and policy experts for months to create the expanded list.

Naming firearms that would remain legal under an assault weapons ban is a politically motivated gesture that was used to help pass the original ban in the early 1990s, people familiar with the process said.

Any firearm that does not fall within the law's definition of an assault weapon would not be banned. As a result, the list gives vulnerable politicians cover from constituents who do not want to give up their firearms.

G20 defuses talk of ‘"currency war"

MOSCOW, Feb 16 — The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no 'currency war' and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets in an indication of concern about the fragile state of the world economy.

Japan's expansive policies, which have driven down the yen, escaped criticism in a statement agreed in Moscow by financial policymakers from the G20, which groups developed and emerging markets and accounts for 90 percent of the world economy.

After late-night talks, finance ministers and central bankers agreed on wording closer than expected to a joint statement issued last Tuesday by the Group of Seven rich nations backing market-determined exchange rates.

A draft communique seen by delegates on Friday had steered clear of the G7's call for fiscal and monetary policy not to be targeted at exchange rates but the final version included a G20 commitment to refrain from competitive devaluations and stated monetary policy would be directed at price stability and growth.

"The language has been strengthened since our discussions last night," Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters. "It's stronger than it was, but it was quite clear last night that everyone around the table wants to avoid any sort of currency disputes."

The communique, seen by Reuters ahead of publication, did not single out Japan for aggressive monetary and fiscal policies that have seen the yen drop 20 percent.

The statement reflected a substantial, but not complete, endorsement of Tuesday's statement by the G7 nations - the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.

"We all agreed on the fact that we refuse to enter any currency war," French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici told reporters.

No fiscal targets

The text also contained a commitment to credible medium-term fiscal strategy, but stopped short of setting specific goals. A debt-cutting pact struck in Toronto in 2010 will expire this year if leaders fail to agree to extend it at a G20 summit of leaders in St Petersburg in September.

"Advanced economies will develop credible medium-term fiscal strategies ... by the St. Petersburg summit," the communique said.

The United States, which has resorted to massive monetary stimulus and higher government borrowing to drive growth and cut jobless queues, blocked a push from Europe to commit to reducing budget deficits.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the G20 had failed to reach agreement on medium-term budget deficit levels.

"We expect by April countries will have made progress on reaching a balanced approach to establishing new budget indicators on both, deficit and the level of government debt," Siluanov said.

Russia, this year's chair of the G20, also expressed concern about ultra-loose policies that it and other big emerging economies say could store up trouble for later.

Siluanov said a rebalancing of global growth required more than an adjustment of exchange rates.

"Structural reforms in all countries, either with a positive or negative balance of payments, should play a bigger role," he said, adding that spillover effects of unconventional monetary policy, conducted by central banks in some countries, should be closely monitored.

The G20 put together a huge financial backstop to halt a market meltdown in 2009 but has failed to reach those heights since. At successive meetings, Germany has pressed the United States and others to do more to tackle their debts. Washington in turn has urged Berlin to do more to increase demand.

On currencies, the G20 text reiterated its commitment last November, to move towards "exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying fundamentals and avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments".

"The G7 made a very clear statement this week. I think you'll see the G20 echo what was said, and say that currencies should not be used as a tool of competitive devaluation," Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, said in Moscow.

"Countries shouldn't make the mistake of the past of using currencies as a tool of economic warfare." — AFP-Relaxnews

Xenophon Expulsion Is Legal In Malaysia

PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA, Feb 16 — The Election Commission (EC) defended today Australian Senator Nick Xenophon’s deportation from Malaysia, saying that immigration authorities were merely performing their duty.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar also said that it was unjust to judge the fairness of Election 2013 based on Xenophon’s expulsion.

“I think it’s an insult to the intelligence of Malaysians,” Wan Ahmad told reporters here today.

“They don’t have to rely on the opinion of this one fellow to make a conclusion,” he said.

Xenophon was detained at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang this morning and will be deported later tonight. Xenophon had planned to meet Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz and EC officials next week to discuss the country’s electoral system, according to Anwar’s chief of staff, Ibrahim Yaacob.

Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has lambasted Xenophon’s deportation as a move that showed the government’s “paranoia” about the coming national polls. Several other Twitter users joined Ambiga in raining scorn on the government’s decision, with the subject spawning a hashtag #xenophon.

But Wan Ahmad stressed that there was nothing to hide as Malaysians were free to observe Election 2013.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad said earlier today that Xenophon was deported because the senator had made statements that allegedly tarnished Malaysia’s image. Alias highlighted Xenophon’s remarks about the Malaysian government being “authoritarian” in handling last April’s Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections.

Xenophon, who had observed the mass protest, noted that the police had fired tear gas and chemical-laced water in what had been a largely peaceful protest. Alias added that the Australian senator was barred from entering Malaysia under the Immigration Act 8(3).

Ibrahim said today that other Australian MPs and senators, who were due to arrive here, have cancelled their plans. Wan Ahmad, however, said that the EC was willing to meet foreigners who wished to monitor the coming Election 2013 as long as they contacted the EC directly.

“I’ve never received his (Xenophon’s) call. The EC chairman also did not receive any call,” said Wan Ahmad.

He added that Xenophon had made an appointment with a senior EC official through a third party, but did not specify further. Wan Ahmad also questioned Xenophon’s intention in coming here, saying: “We don’t know what (is) the agenda in his mind.”

He urged foreigners not to disparage Malaysia’s democratic process as it was based on Malaysian law, not Australian or European law.

“I think we have laws in this country. If people don’t respect the laws, I think the majority of the rakyat will not like it,” said Wan Ahmad.

Australia’s Foreign Ministry has expressed its disappointment with Xenophon’s detention. News of Xenophon’s detention has also been picked up by international press.

“I am effectively a prisoner here,” he was quoted as saying in the Australian newspaper The Sunday Mail.

The paper reported the Australian lawmaker managed to slip through a phone call when he was left unattended in the interrogation room.

“I’m being held in an area with all these holding cells which are full of women. They have basically told me I am an enemy of the state. They are trying to get me on the next plane out of here and back home".

“I was even meeting members of the government, I mean, the whole situation is ridiculous, we are meant to be the closest of friends with Malaysia,” he told the paper.

“We are meant to be having a people swap deal on asylum seekers but so far it looks like the only person being swapped is me,” he was quoted as saying.

The paper also reported Xenophon as saying he believed a recent piece he had written for Fairfax newspapers last month, which was critical of human rights here, may be a reason for the authorities to refuse him entry.

We have laws in this country. If people don’t respect the laws, I think the majority of the rakyat will not like it. — Wan Ahmad Wan Omar

Xenophon came to Malaysia last April as an election observer after being invited by Anwar.

The Australian senator was part of a seven-member international team of election observers who later met Nazri. Despite being invited by Anwar, the group insisted they were independent, claiming that their expenses for the fact-finding mission were borne by themselves or their respective governments.

Xenophon had said that fundamental concerns regarding Malaysia’s electoral roll, campaign period, media access and other issues pertaining to electoral reforms were raised with Nazri.

The senator was portrayed by local English daily the News Straits Times (NST) last year as anti-Islam in an article that falsely quoted him as calling Islam a “criminal organisation” during his 2009 speech in Australia’s Parliament. Xenophon later said he would sue the NST after the newspaper admitted its mistake.