Newscast for Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Haiti’s president meets with Obama and US lawmakers over debt relief and reconstruction
Hait's President Rene Preval and First Lady Elizabeth Preval are in Washington today. Rene Preval met with President Obama and members of Congress to discuss relief efforts in his country. At least 200,000 Haitians are estimated to have died as a result of the January 12th earthquake and thousands are still in need of shelter and food. Now, the Haitian government, along with aid organizations and international leaders, is starting to plan reconstruction. Preval's meeting with Obama focused on how the US can contribute, primarily through development planning and debt relief. FSRN's Matt Pearson reports.

Congress debates ending Afghan war
For the first time since its beginning eight years ago, Congress had a debate on the war in Afghanistan. Representative Dennis Kucinich forced the House to debate the issue. He offered a resolution to withdraw troops by the end of the year. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Israeli construction in East Jerusalem threatens renewed peace talks
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Vice President Joe Biden is in the Middle East this week to promote a restarting of the stalled peace talks in the region. Today, he met with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. But the meeting was dominated with Tuesday's news from Israel that it had approved and planned to move forward with the construction of 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem. The building violates international law and is widely condemned by the international community. It came just hours after Biden had met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday. Now, the announcement appears to threaten the peace talks even before they are set to begin.

To get a deeper look at these events, we're joined by Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer.

Transition of power in Chile as country continues recovery from earthquake
Today marks the last full day in power for Chile's President Michelle Bachelet. Tomorrow, she hands over leadership to the incoming right-wing administration of Sebastián Piñera. That transition comes at a delicate moment, as the country still struggles to recover from the massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that left the country's central region in a precarious state. As of Tuesday, the powerful earthquake had killed 452 people and some 180 are still missing. Since then, Bachelet has been consumed with recovery efforts and has drawn criticism from some - including Piñera, who has said that his administration will be "the government of reconstruction." From Santiago, FSRN's Jorge Garretón has more.

Exiled Tibetans in India mark key anniversary with calls for action
Today prayer meetings and protest rallies across the world marked the 51st anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising. In India, home to many Tibetan exiles and the Dalai Lama, demonstrations took place across the country. Bismillah Geelani has the story.