CNN 2008-03-02

I'm Asieh Namdar at the CNN.com newsroom in Atlanta. Here is a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

 Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants 1 is escalating 2 in Gaza. Palestinian medical sources say at least 45 people are dead. Among the victims, at least 9 militants, 7 children and 10 adult civilians 3. Israel says at least 2 of its soldiers were also killed. Israeli forces moved in Wednesday after militants had bombed southern Israeli communities near Gaza with rockets and mortars 4.

 Now, a brewing 5 political crisis in Armenia. The Associated Press reports the President has declared a state of emergency after violent protests by the opposition 6. Riot police in Yerevan clashed with hundreds of demonstrators who are upset about the recent presidential election. The opposition claims that February 19th election was rigged. Observers who monitored the votes say it was mostly in line with international standards.  

 There's been a deadly collision involving two small airplanes near Daytona Beach, Florida. The FAA says a low flying plane crashed into an aircraft on the ground killing 7 two people and injuring two others. One of the planes was described as experimental. Both were engulfed 8 in flames. The two survivors 9 are seriously burned and are now in the hospital.

 Police in Las Vegas are still trying to figure out how the deadly toxin 10 ricin ended up in a hotel room there. In the meantime, authorities have identified the last person to have stayed in the room since the poison was discovered. That man, 57-year-old Roger Von Bergendorff is in a coma 11 after phoning for an ambulance on Valentine's Day complaining of breathing problems. Authorities say he is not a suspect. Police also say they recovered guns from the room and an anarchist 12 textbook. 

 A Pennsylvania woman has sparked a food recall after she found pills in her frozen fish. Tracy Rowan says she found them in a batch 13 of Gorton's Crispy Battered 14 Fish Fillets.

"I pulled the pill out of my mouth first then and my daughter, (said) I said: 'Kid, you don't eat more the food, there is a pill on my food.' And that's when she said: 'Mummy, I have one, too.' Then she pulled it out of her mouth. And we both jumped up and ran down the hallway to my son, screaming: 'don't eat the fish!' "

Rowan's family did not get sick. Gorton says it recalled one thousand cases of the fish fillets in ten states as a precaution. They send the pills to a lab. Results could come next week. 

And those are the headlines this hour. For more on these stories and other news of the day, CNN is your source online, on TV or even when you are on the go.