Nation & World Digest || House OKs bill for young illegal immigrants

House OKs bill for young immigrants

WASHINGTON

The House has passed legislation to give foreign-born youngsters brought to the U.S. illegally a shot at legal status.

The vote Wednesday night was 216-198 to approve the so-called Dream Act.

In the Senate, however, Democrats are unlikely to muster the 60 votes needed to advance the bill past opposition from the GOP and a handful in their own party who view it as amnesty. A Senate vote is expected today.

Fire during prison brawl kills 81

SANTIAGO, Chile

A fire started during an inmate brawl swept through an overcrowded prison Wednesday, killing at least 81 people and seriously injuring 14. Chileans heard the screams of inmates after a prisoner using a contraband cell phone called state television for help. The early-morning blaze at San Miguel prison, which preliminary reports indicated may have been set intentionally, was the worst disaster in the history of Chile’s penitentiary system, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said.

Cops: Ex-con acted alone in slaying

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

A transient ex-convict riding around Beverly Hills on a bicycle killed a Hollywood publicist as she drove home from a movie premiere in what police said Wednesday was a robbery gone bad.

The disclosure marked a major break in the investigation that has baffled detectives for nearly a month and stunned Hollywood after Ronni Chasen was gunned down in November.

It came a week after suspected gunman Harold Martin Smith killed himself in the lobby of a seedy apartment building as investigators acting on a tip closed in on him.

Beverly Hills Police Chief David Snowden said the gun used by Smith to commit suicide appears to have been used to kill Chasen.

Chinese award counters Nobel

BEIJING

China is awarding a peace prize to counter the Nobel recognizing imprisoned democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo.

Organizers of the Confucius Peace Prize will honor former Taiwanese vice president Lien Chan in Beijing today for his efforts at building peace between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The prize named after the philosopher is intended to give the Chinese “viewpoint of peace.” The awards committee says Lien, the honorary chairman of Taiwan’s Nationalist Party, was selected from eight nominees.

Lien’s office in Taipei said Wednesday he had received no formal notification of the award.

The Chinese award ceremony comes a day before the Nobel ceremony in Oslo. China has villified Liu, cracked down on fellow dissidents and urged other countries not to attend.

Teen arrested in hot-spinach attack

ROSEVILLE, Calif.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested for what police initially described as a prank gone wrong at a California restaurant drive-through.

Police say a 21-year-old worker at a Boston Market in Roseville suffered second-degree burns when someone threw a creamed-spinach dish at his face Friday night.

Roseville police Lt. Michael Doane says the attack appeared to be a prank known as “fire in the hole,” in which people video-record themselves throwing food or drinks into the faces of drive-through workers.

The Sacramento Bee reports the teen turned himself in Wednesday, accompanied by his parents. He was booked on suspicion of committing battery causing great bodily harm.

Associated Press