Newscast for Wednesday, January 28, 2009

• Indigenous activists weigh in at World Social Forum
• First trial underway at International Criminal Court
• Public transportation receives slight increase in economic stimulus
• Conyers Reintroduces single-payer insurance bill
• California's budget shortfalls may impact the neediest

Indigenous activists weigh in at World Social Forum
Pan-Amazon issues were the focus at the World Social Forum in Brazil today. It's the first time organizers have dedicated an entire day to local issues. Indigenous activists from the Amazon region gathered in Belém to debate and denounce the numerous environmental threats they are facing back home. FSRN's Natalia Viana reports.

First trial underway at International Criminal Court
It's been half a dozen years since it opened its doors, but the first war crimes trial is underway at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Congolese national Thomas Lubanga plead not guilty Monday to charges that he recruited child soldiers as young as nine years old, who were often raped and forced to kill and pillage. The children were forced into combat between 2002 and 2003 – one of this trial's distinctions is that more than 90 survivors are participating in the trial, and are being represented by their own lawyers. Lubanga was set to be tried in July, but judges said the prosecution misused key evidence; the trial was delayed is finally underway. Aura Bogado spoke with Richard Dicker, Director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch about the significance of this first trial.

Public transportation receives slight increase in economic stimulus
In its final hours of debate in the House of Representatives, few changes were made to the $825-billion economic stimulus. One of the proposed changes was to add an additional $3 billion dollars for mass transit programs. As FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, mass transit received more priority than it has in years past.

Conyers Reintroduces single-payer insurance bill
FSRN reported yesterday on the way in which laid-off workers are coping with inadequate healthcare coverage options after losing their jobs... Some say that establishing single-payer national health insurance would tackle the current healthcare structure and guarantee coverage for all. Michigan Democrat John Conyers has reintroduced a bill in Congress that would mean that the close to 50 million people currently uninsured would be covered. Sam Greenspan reports from Capitol Hill.

California's budget shortfalls may impact the neediest
While Congress wrangles over what should and should not be included in a federal stimulus package, many states are facing serious budget shortfalls: 31 states have reported budget gaps, and 22 states have already cut more than $12 billion from their budgets this fiscal year. Many states have made tough choices to meet requirements for balanced budgets. California faces a $42 billion deficit – as Africa Jones reports, programs that help the most vulnerable could be delayed or cut altogether.