Archive - Mar 1, 2010

• Earthquake that hits Chile ‘unparalleled,’ recovery ongoing
• Aftershocks complicate relief efforts in Chile
• Obama announces plan to confront rising high school drop out rates
• North Carolina policy on undocumented students points to need for federal reform
• Nigeria’s oil development threatens water resources for local communities

• US Supreme Court rules on Uighurs at Guantanamo Bay
• Former Enron CEO appeals prison sentence
• New IAEA chief says Iran is not co-operating with nuclear inspections
• Iraqi Prime Minister accused of buying votes with guns
• Controversy over UN bias towards GMO’s
• Storms kill dozens in Western Europe
• Deadly flooding in Haiti is a sign of pending rainy season

The death toll from Saturday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Chile is rising, and now exceeds 700 people.

Officials say some 350 died in Constitucion, a small port and resort town. The mayor said the town center was completely destroyed and many people remain missing. Another coastal town Dichato was largely destroyed after giant waves swept in after the earthquake, tearing down buildings and power lines, and sweeping away boats and vehicles.

The Chilean Red Cross has branches operating in the region of the epicenter. And the Pan American Disaster Response Unit, based in Panama, says they have teams ready to be deployed. To hear about the regional relief effort, we're joined by Rodolfo Vergandino. He's spokesperson for the International Red Cross, based in Panama.

In Washington, DC today President Obama announced more funding for high risk schools. The proposal will aim to tackle the skyrocketing drop out rates of American teenagers. As FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, the proposal is one of a list of federal initiatives aimed to boost public schools.

Advocacy groups continue to push for federal immigration reform legislation that would increase opportunities for undocumented students to enter higher education. An estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduate from American high schools every year, according to New York's College Board, but only a fraction continue their education. In the absence of federal legislation, some states are taking action on their own.

In North Carolina, the state’s board of community colleges is currently hashing out its decision to allow undocumented students to apply to its system. But immigration advocates say the policy is a double-edge sword as undocumented students are bumped to allow citizens a seat in a classroom. FSRN’s Lynda-Marie Taurasi reports.

Nigeria’s Niger Delta region is a fertile business environment where multinational oil companies make millions of dollars yearly. But very little of the region’s wealth is directed to local communities where basic needs like water are in scarce supply. For many, rivers are the only sources of drinking water. Now there is a growing health risk because multinational oil companies in the region are making the rivers increasingly unsafe for communities that depend on them. FSRN's Sam Olukoya reports from Bayelsa State.