Archive - Apr 29, 2010

• Paramilitary group attacks humanitarian caravan in Oaxaca, Mexico
• Oil spill off Gulf coast worsens as federal agencies move in
• Lawmakers introduce bill to oversee political ads during campaign
• House considers measure to allow Puerto Rican vote on status
• Groups announce legal challenges to Arizona immigration law
• Hundreds gather in honor of civil and women’s rights pioneer, Dorothy Height

• EU countries promise Greek aid package
• Thai Protesters want international observers on ground to prevent human rights crackdown
• Laptops delivered to refugee Palestinian children
• Florida Governor Charlie Crist expected to make Senate run as Independent
• UC Berkeley Israel divestment proposal fails

In Mexico, two are confirmed dead and 4 remain missing after a paramilitary attack on a humanitarian caravan. The caravan was headed to a blockaded rural village in a remote conflict zone in the southern state of Oaxaca. Shannon Young has the story.

Federal authorities are now mobilizing to assist in the effort to contain the massive oil spill off the Gulf Coast. The US Coast Guard says that the oil leaking from a damaged rig could be releasing nearly five times more than previously thought - up to 5,000 barrels per day.

In Washington, lawmakers introduced a bill that would change the way political advertisements are seen during a campaign.  The proposal is in response to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United - that allowed corporations to spend freely in political elections. But as FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, the legislation is being dismissed as partisan politics.

Today the House of Representatives considered a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to hold elections to define its relationship with the U.S. The former colony is considered a commonwealth. Opponents of the bill call it an out-of-line appeal for Puerto Rican statehood, a claim that advocates on both sides of the aisle deny.  FSRN’s Matt Pearson reports.

Today a coalition of civil liberties and immigrant rights groups announced that they will file a legal challenge to Arizona's new harsh immigration law. The law requires local police to question people who they suspect of being undocumented. The groups challenging the law say that it promotes racial profiling, endangers public safety and is unconstitutional. Supporters call it a necessary step to fight violence along the border and to fix failed policy on immigration.

To hear more about the legal challenge, we're joined by Karen Tumlin. She's the managing attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, one of the groups leading the effort.