Newscast for Thursday, March 4, 2010

Strong aftershock hits Chile as troops deploy to damaged areas
Residents of Concepcion, one of the worst hit areas in Chile after last Saturday's earthquake, have finally begun to receive food and water. Local media also report that electricity has been restored, at least partially, in the area. President Michelle Bachelet extended a strict curfew to noon yesterday and thousands of troops remain in the region. According to the Associated Press, soldiers can be seen on nearly every corner of the damaged city.

Meanwhile, a 6.1 magnitude aftershock hit central Chile late last night. In the capital, Santiago, authorities have identified buildings at risk of collapse in nine different municipalities and have ordered some evacuations, according to the newspaper El Mercurio.

We go to Santiago, where earlier today we spoke with FSRN reporter Daniel Hernandez. He's also a contributor to the Los Angeles Times. He began by describing his visit yesterday to the outer areas of the city, home to many of the capital's poorer communities.

Students and teachers protest cuts in education in national day of action
Today, students, staff and parents across the country are taking part in protests as part of a national day of action for public education.  In California, thousands of protesters are demanding a reversal of steep budget cuts, fee hikes, furloughs and overcrowded classrooms. The cuts are hitting public education from kindergarten to the university system. Eric Klein was on the UC Berkeley campus this morning and files this report.

CEO of Citi faces government panel after billions of taxpayer bailout
On Capitol Hill, the CEO of Citigroup updated congress on the billions of bailout funds that the bank received. Vikram Pandit thanked the public for the 45 billion taxpayer dollars the bank was given in 2008. As part of the deal, the government got a share of ownership of the company. The CEO joined the assistant secretary of financial stability for the Treasury Department, Herbert Allison, Jr, today before a TARP congressional oversight panel. He said that changes had been made to insure that taxpayers won't have to fund another bailout in the future. But the panel was skeptical. FSRN's Karen Miller has more.

In the House today, lawmakers scuttled their larger 150 billion dollar jobs package, and passed a much smaller version authored by the Senate. The 15 billion dollar jobs measure is mostly tax breaks for small businesses to hire unemployed workers. The bill is likely to go the Presidents desk to be signed into law before the end of the week.

New head of powerful congressional committee takes over for Rangel
Tuesday Charlie Rangel resigned from leading the powerful Ways and Means committee in the House of Representatives. Wednesday Pete Stark was named interim. Today he resigned. And now, a third lawmaker is up for the job. Seventy-nine year old Sander Levin is the new, new head of the committee responsible for tax and spending issues. As FSRN‘s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, Sander Levin has been critical of US trade policy.

Kucinich introduces resolution, pushing congress toward debate over ending Afghan war
Also, in Washington DC today, Congressmember Dennis Kucinich of Ohio introduced a resolution to the House of Representatives to end the war in Afghanistan.

"I'm bringing a privileged resolution to the floor to get out of Afghanistan and I urge your support."

House Resolution 248 would use the power of Congress to direct the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan by no later than thirty days from the date the resolution is adopted. In effect, it would force representatives to vote for or against the war in Afghanistan on record.

In introducing the resolution Kucinich said that Congress must fulfill its constitutional responsibility to decide when to declare war. He said that the money used for a war with "no clear objective" and with "no end in sight" should be used instead to create jobs, rebuild American cities and improve education.

The resolution calls for three hours of debate to take place next Wednesday, March 11th.

To read a copy of the resolution: http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=174654

Journalists condemn new media restrictions in Afghanistan
Meanwhile criticism is growing inside and outside of Afghanistan over new media restrictions announced by government officials this week. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said media outlets could no longer provide live coverage of militant attacks and threatened arrests for those that did. President Karzai says it's not censorship, but an effort to protect national security information and journalists themselves. But press freedom groups, US officials and even the Taliban are condemning the move. In a statement, the group called it a "a flagrant violation" of freedom of speech. To find out more about the local response, FSRN sent our Kabul reporter Mujahid Jawad to talk with Afghan journalists and residents for this edition of Street Beat.

That last voice was Kai Edie, the UN's special representative to Afghanistan, responding with journalists and residents to the government's announcement this week of restrictions on media outlets showing live coverage of militant attacks. FSRN's Mujahid Jawad recorded and produced this segment.