Newscast for Monday, February 13, 2012

Obama to increase transportation funding in 2013; House bill poses deep cuts

Today, President Barack Obama unveiled his proposed budget for the year 2013. The plan includes both cuts to the Defense Department and the overall federal workforce, and significant investments in education and transportation. Public transit advocates say the funding is desperately needed to fix an aging and inadequate system. But competing bills in the House and Senate lay out different visions of what the country’s transportation system should look like, and who should pay for it. FSRN’s Alice Ollstein reports from Washington D.C.

Economic study projects job cuts, economic hit in Alabama from state immigration law

On Tuesday, immigrant rights advocates in Alabama will converge at the capital in Montgomery to draw attention to HB 56, the state’s new immigration law. The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice and the ACLU are calling on lawmakers to repeal the law, saying it has created an economic, moral and civil rights crisis in the state. Since its implementation the controversial law has drawn criticism for its effect on civil rights and housing, access to education and the impact on local businesses. A study from the University of Alabama has focused on the economic costs of the law and found that it could lead to a loss of tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in the state GDP. For the details, we’re joined by the author of the report, Dr. Samuel Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama.

To find the complete report from UA’s Center for Business and Economic Research: http://cber.cba.ua.edu/

In Syria, those injured struggle to access medical treatment

The UN’s Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay addressed the UN General Assembly today, saying that ongoing violence in Syria likely amounts to crimes against humanity:

PILLAY: “The Fact Finding Mission, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, and I myself have all concluded that crimes against humanity are likely to have been committed in Syria. I have encouraged the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. All member states must ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished. Yet these crimes continue to be committed as I speak.”

Pillay also said that the UN Security Council’s inaction has emboldened the regime of Bashar al Assad and noted that more than 18,000 people remain in arbitrary detention. Activists today report more deaths in Idlib, Damascus and Homs, where civilian neighborhoods have been hit by shelling for more than a week now. As the violence continues, many of those injured are unable to access medical treatment, fearing reprisals by state authorities at hospitals. Human rights advocates warn this is adding to an already dire humanitarian crisis and an international crime. UN Radio’s Dianne Penn reports.

Syria’s violence spreads across region, triggering fighting in Lebanon

As the violence continues in Syria, fighting has spread to others areas in the region. In northern Lebanon, fighting shook two neighborhoods in the city of Tripoli over the weekend. And militiamen are preparing for a worsening confrontation. FSRN’s David Enders reports.