American Scene

MONTGOMERY — Police arrested 13 protesters in Alabama’s capital Tuesday as they demonstrated against the state’s strict new law clamping down on illegal immigrants.

About 100 people, most of them Hispanic and college-aged, chanted slogans as they marched in light rain around the state Capitol. Police arrested demonstrators who sat down in a street.

Federal courts have blocked parts of the Republican-backed law from taking effect, but both supporters and critics still call it the nation’s toughest state law against illegal immigration. The Obama administration calls the law an overreach by the state.

MONTANA

Pipelines called at risk of failure in two states

HELENA — Federal safety regulators say they have found pipelines carrying oil and other hazardous liquids at risk of failure at seven major river crossings in Montana and hundreds of smaller crossings in Montana and northern Wyoming.

Chris Hoidal with the U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that erosion had exposed the lines or left them buried under minimal cover across the Missouri, Musselshell, Gallatin and other rivers.

He says the problems along the major rivers must be fixed by spring or the companies that own the lines will face enforcement actions.

Federal inspectors working with state officials surveyed the crossings after an Exxon Mobil pipeline break in July spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude into the Yellowstone River.

• From wire dispatches and staff reports