March 28, 2006

Zacarias Moussaoui, who is facing the death penalty for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, took the witness stand in his own defense Monday, only to bolster the government's case by unhesitatingly acknowledging the charges in the indictment against him and adding a few new, self-incriminating statements. Mr. Moussaoui said he knew in advance of Al Qaeda's plans to fly jetliners into the World Trade Center and asserted that his role on that day was to have been to fly another plane into the White House. He said he was to have been accompanied on the suicidal mission by Richard C. Reid, the so-called shoe bomber who was convicted in a separate failed effort to blow up a plane in flight.

George Mason University men's basketball team prepares for NCAA tournament Final Four appearance and chance to play on national stage; photos (M)

With Republicans deeply divided, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Monday to legalize the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants and ultimately to grant them citizenship, provided that they hold jobs, pass criminal background checks, learn English and pay fines and back taxes. The panel also voted to create a vast temporary worker program that would allow roughly 400,000 foreigners to come to the United States to work each year and would put them on a path to citizenship as well.

Sinkhole develops on Brooklyn street, causing traffic and subway disruptions; photos; map (M)

New York Gov George E Pataki and developer Larry A Silverstein move closer to agreement on rebuilding at World Trade Center site; proposal would free Silverstein from building Freedom Tower, give him rent reduction and he would retain right to develop three office towers; board of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is to consider agreement, though several major issues remain unresolved (M)