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Toll rises to 430 dead in Bangladesh building collapse; authorities say 149 are still missing
• DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- Rescuers found more bodies in the concrete debris of a collapsed garment factory building Thursday and authorities say it may take another five days to clear the rubble.
• In addition to the 430 confirmed dead, police report that 149 people are still missing in what has become the worst disaster for Bangladesh's $20 billion-a-year garment industry.
• Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hassan Suhrawardy, the commander of the area's army garrison supervising the rescue work, dismissed reports that up to 1,000 people were missing and accusations from some relatives that authorities are hiding the bodies to keep the death toll low.
• "Don't listen to such rumors," he told reporters.
• A mass Muslim funeral was held Wednesday for 34 victims whose bodies were too battered or decomposed to be identified. Cemetery workers have dug several long rows of graves where scores more unidentified bodies are expected to be buried in the coming days.
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Immigrants' rights activists cheer national push for state-level changes at May Day rallies
• SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- As Congress debates the first national immigration overhaul in decades, a state-level push advancing rights for people in the U.S. illegally has picked up momentum across the country.
• Among the patchwork changes to state law taking effect from Maryland to Oregon are provisions that lower tuition rates, advance employment opportunities and repeal hard-line regulations approved within the last decade.
• Crowds at May Day rallies across the nation cheered the developments and urged federal progress. Legislative action in several states, meanwhile, coincided with speeches and marches.
• "I have a message for Congress and the president," said Jeff Stone, representing Oregon's nursery industry at a rally of about 2,000 in Salem.
• "Stop talking, and start acting," he said.
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