Headlines for Thursday, March 18, 2010

Gaza-fired rocket kills one in Israel
A newly established Palestinian resistance faction in Gaza fired a homemade rocket on southern Israel today, leaving one dead.  The ruling Hamas party in Gaza blamed Israeli settlement plans and protest crackdowns in East Jerusalem for the latest escalation, while Israeli officials vowed to retaliate.  FSRN's Rami Almeghari reports.

Following the rocket attack, Israeli warplanes flew over Gaza causing sonic booms.  The rocket attack, which killed a Thai agricultural worker, has been claimed by an Islamist group calling itself Ansar Assunah.

The last time Gaza rocket fire caused a casualty was in January of 2009, when a dozen Israeli soldiers and two civilians were killed by Palestinian fire.  Since then, Gaza-based resistance factions, including Islamists and leftist, have fired dozens of homemade rockets into Israel, despite Hamas' repeated calls for ceasefire.

Tomorrow, representatives from Russia, the United States, EU and UN will be in Moscow for the Quartet Meeting.  There they will discuss next steps in trying to usher in Middle East peace.

In addition, Reuters is reporting that US Envoy George Mitchell plans to return to the region Sunday to resume peace efforts.  The diplomat had delayed his trip because of Israel’s recently announced plans to build more settlements.  Rami Almeghari.  FSRN.  Gaza.

Election violence erupts as Mexico campaign season heats up
Electoral violence has erupted in Southern Mexico with an opposition figure dead and a mayoral candidate in critical condition.  Shannon Young reports from Oaxaca.

Two political opposition figures were targeted in separate attacks this week as election season here shifts into full gear.  In the first incident, Sotico López Quiroz, a municipal-level leader of the center-left PRD party, was shot dead during an ambush as he traveled home from a late night meeting in the Oaxacan coastal town of San Andrés Huaxpaltepec.

Four parties from the political left and right have formed an alliance in Oaxaca to challenge the PRI, a party that has dominated state politics for 8 consecutive decades.  This hegemony was a frequent complaint among protesters in the social uprising that gripped the state for much of 2006.

In the neighboring state of Veracruz, a mayoral pre-candidate from the opposition PRD party is in critical condition.  Unidentified gunmen opened fire against him and a local PRD organizer Tuesday night.  Martín Aburto López reportedly received an anonymous death threat last week warning him to step out of the race.

Voters in both states head to the polls on July 4th.  Shannon Young, FSRN, Oaxaca.

Senate passes cocaine fair sentencing law
The US Senate has passed the Sentencing Fairness Act that would lessen the sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine offences.  Currently being in possession of five grams of crack carries the same sentence as possessing 500 grams of powdered cocaine.  The Senate bill would lower the disparity to a 1:20 ratio.  Democrat Dick Durban is the sponsor of the bill.

“Disproportionately, African-Americans who are addicted use crack cocaine.  The use of powdered cocaine is spread across the population with white, Hispanic and others.  So the net result of this was that the heavy sentences that we enacted years ago took its toll primarily in the African-American community.”

Durban went on to say African-Americans make up about 30% of total crack users, but 80% of those incarcerated on crack offenses.  The bill will now go to the House, which has already passed its own version that totally eliminates the disparity in crack and powdered cocaine sentencing.

Residents on high alert in Midwest as flooding begins
Residents in the northern Midwest are preparing for flooding, as rivers begin to overflow their banks.  The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings from North Dakota southward and along the Mississippi River to Tennessee.  Communities are laying sandbags and many have evacuated ahead of the expected floodwater crest this weekend.

Wayne Collett, athlete banned from Olympics, dies at 60
A US track athlete who won silver at the 1972 Munich Olympic games, but was then banned by the IOC for protesting during the medal ceremony, has died.  Wayne Collett was a UCLA track star.  During the Olympic medal ceremony he and his fellow teammate, who won gold, did not salute the US flag.  Instead they stood casually and talked among themselves; as they left Collett gave the Black Power salute.  Collett later said he couldn’t stand there and sing the anthem because he didn’t think its words were true in light of civil rights issues in the US at the time.  He later said he did not believe America had lived up to its promise.  Collett died of cancer.  He was 60 years old.