Nation in brief

Gunmaker protection passes Senate test

WASHINGTON - Legislation that protects gun manufacturers and distributors against lawsuits over gun crimes passed its first Senate test Wednesday.

Democrats said the cost to Republicans will be public votes on extending the assault weapons ban and requiring comprehensive background checks at gun shows.

The bill providing for immunity from suits won the support of 75 senators in a test vote and opponents acknowledge it has the backing to pass.

"We all know this underlying bill has legs. That's why we want to get some amendments on there," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Democrats want to add a plan that deals with gun shows, where unlicensed sellers do not have to check buyers' backgrounds. They also want to extend for 10 years the ban on assault weapons, which expires in September.

The White House, which has indicated support for the assault weapons ban and the gun show measure, called on the Senate to pass the legislation without amendments.

WASHINGTON - The embattled director of the National Zoo resigned Wednesday after the release of a report critical of care at the park and a string of high-profile animal deaths over the past several years.

Even as she defended what she called "exceptional animal care," zoo director Lucy Spelman said she has become "a lightning rod for too much attention."

Spelman's resignation becomes effective at the end of the year.

A National Academy of Sciences panel of veterinarians, zookeepers and others began investigating the Washington, D.C., zoo last year after several well-publicized animal deaths, including two red pandas that succumbed after eating rat poison buried in their yard by exterminators trying to get rid of rodents.

LOS ANGELES - A burglary suspect was shot to death by police after a car chase that ended when he backed his vehicle into their patrol cars, a sequence of events broadcast live on local TV stations.

Police and the district attorney's office are investigating the actions of three officers who fired into the suspect's car.

Police began chasing Nicholas Hans Killinger early Monday after he allegedly tied up a gas station attendant and stole $180.

After a 90-minute chase that was covered by television helicopters, Killinger, 23, was shot by Los Angeles police in front of Santa Monica High School. He died about an hour later.

"The suspect could have ended this situation at any time," Lt. Art Miller said. "But instead he chose to reverse his car into the officers."

MISSISSIPPI RIVER OPENS PARTIALLY: The lower Mississippi River was partially reopened to heavy ships Wednesday after crews moved a sunken vessel that had been blocking the river's only deep opening into the Gulf of Mexico.

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