Archive - Apr 15, 2010

• Rescue teams arrive in Western China after earthquake displaces thousands
• Foreclosure rate across US hits five-year high
• Tax funds go to military and stimulus spending
• UC Berkeley backs off resolution to divest from companies selling military tech to Israel
• SNCC anniversary marked by documenting early years of civil rights movement

• Obama blames Massey Energy management for WV mine explosion
• Historic Sudan elections close
• 100,000 homeless after cyclone in India
• Deposed Kyrgyz President flees country
• Hamas executes two for collaborating with Israel
• Okinawa base negotiations hit another snag

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Western China's Yushu County today, where officials said a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Wednesday morning. The US Geological Survey recorded the quake at 6.9 magnitude. Authorities today raised the death toll to more than 600, with an estimated 10,000 wounded. The China International Search and Rescue team has arrived in the region. According to state media, the team is bringing medical and rescue workers, sniffer dogs and 18 tons of medical equipment.

Video posted on the BBC showed dramatic footage of rescue crews pulling survivors from the rubble at a hotel in Yushu County.

Poor construction led to the collapse of thousands of homes and buildings in the area, leaving many homeless. The high altitutude and remoteness are making rescue difficult and temperatures dipped below freezing last night.

We're joined by Alex Mahoney, regional manager for the American Red Cross programs in Asia. The Chinese Red Cross has just sent two emergency teams to the area.

New figures show that home foreclosure rates in the month of March were the highest in 5 years. According to RealtyTrac, a California-based foreclosure consultancy, last month’s foreclosure filings totaled more than 367,000.  That means 1 in nearly every 140 homes in America is in default.  FSRN’s Matt Pearson reports.

On this tax day, do you know where your federal taxes go? Well, as FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, 31 cents of every dollar goes to the military. And just 2 cents to education.

The student senate at the University of California Berkeley has failed to affirm a controversial resolution urging the entire UC system to divest from two companies that sell military technology to Israel. As Sabrina Jacobs reports, the student senate met in an all-night session with a crowd of hundreds in attendance.

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first meetings on a college campus in Raleigh, North Carolina that led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, the grassroots organization that challenged racial inequality through non-violent action.