Immigration rally set

Immigration rally set
CHICAGO -- From huge factories to small hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, employers plan to give employees Monday off so they can join the national immigration rights protests that day. Edvin Escobar, above, was working this week on signs for the demonstration. "We think this is critically important," said Gilberto Villasenor, general manager of V & amp;V Supremo Foods in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. He plans to give his more than 200 employees the day off with pay so they can attend the marches, speeches and rallies planned for Chicago. Businesses are responding to a national phenomenon that has had a stunning lift-off. In recent weeks hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters have marched in cities around the country, showing their opposition to proposed laws that would make it a crime for undocumented aliens to live here.
Lobbying bill squeaks by
WASHINGTON -- A Republican-backed lobbying overhaul bill narrowly survived Thursday, averting what would have been a stunning blow to the party's drive to repair the scandal-tarnished reputation of Congress before the fall elections. The 216-207 House vote to advance debate on the bill came after GOP leaders spent hours urging their own members not to abandon them on the legislation. The turning point came when they persuaded Republican members of the Appropriations Committee to go along with measures in the bill to limit earmarks, or special interest projects.
Teenage boy pleads guiltyin dismembering case
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- A teenager accused of helping his ex-girlfriend kill and dismember a 16-year-old classmate pleaded guilty to murder Thursday in a deal with prosecutors that could shorten his sentence by decades. Cory Gregory, 18, had led authorities to the girl's remains, which had been chopped up, burned and dumped in two counties, Rock Island County State's Attorney Jeff Terronez said. He faces 20 to 40 years in prison at his sentencing July 10, plus two to five years for an earlier plea to concealing a homicide.
Moussaoui case to resume
WASHINGTON -- A federal jury weighing whether Zacarias Moussaoui should be executed for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was sent home Thursday morning without reaching a verdict, after a juror failed to show up at the Alexandria, Va., courthouse because he was ill. The panel will resume deliberations this morning if the ailing juror feels up to it, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said.
Miracle baby turns 2
LIMA, Peru -- Smiling, blowing kisses and taking small assisted steps, Peru's "miracle baby" celebrated her second birthday Thursday nearly a year after doctors successfully performed risky surgery to separate her fused legs. Milagros Cerron, whose name means "miracles" in Spanish, was born with a rare congenital defect known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome." The condition is almost always fatal. Milagros, above, with her mother, Sara Arauco, however, has survived and grown into an alert, vivacious little girl. "She can take steps holding onto furniture or a chair," said Dr. Luis Rubio, head of a team of surgeons who operated on her in June 2005.
Trial starts for mothercharged in 9 baby deaths
FRANKFURT AN DER ODER, Germany -- A woman accused of killing nine of her newborn babies went on trial Thursday in a bizarre case that shocked Germany. Police arrested Sabine Hilschinz after discovering the remains of the nine infants in July buried in flower pots and a fish tank in the garden of her parents' home in a village in eastern Germany near the Polish border. Hilschinz, 40, appeared Thursday before a state court where she faces eight charges of manslaughter. She could be jailed for up to 15 years if convicted.
Combined dispatches