Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Toyota plans recall of 3.8 million vehicles
WASHINGTON — Toyota says it will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the United States to address problems with a removable floor mat that could interfere with the vehicle’s accelerator and cause a crash.
The company says it will be the largest U.S. recall in its history. Owners could learn about the safety campaign as early as next week.
Toyota and the government warned owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about safety problems tied to the removable floor mats. They say the mats could interfere with the vehicle’s accelerator and cause a crash.
The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.
Owners should take out the floor mats on the driver’s side and not replace them.
Innocent plea in bomb plot
NEW YORK — An Afghan immigrant pleaded innocent Tuesday to planning a New York City terrorist attack with bombs made from beauty-supply chemicals — an alleged plot authorities say was helped by at least three accomplices whose whereabouts and level of involvement haven’t been revealed.
“The conspiracy here is international in scope,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Knox told a federal judge in Brooklyn.
Najibullah Zazi, wearing a blue jail smock, never spoke and showed no emotion as his lawyer entered the plea in a packed courtroom. He was ordered held without bail.
Bill seeks 20% cut in greenhouse gases by 2020
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are pushing for a 20 percent cut in greenhouse gases by 2020 — deeper than what the House has passed and what President Barack Obama wants — according to a long-awaited bill that will test how serious the U.S. is about slowing global warming.
The Democratic bill is to be released today by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, with a vote by the panel likely in late October.
House Democrats could win passage of only a 17 percent emission cut by 2020 and Obama originally had sought only a 14 percent cut. However, aides who worked on the Senate version said it includes measures that will make the Senate’s target easier to achieve and cheaper for consumers.
The bill obtained by The Associated Press remains subject to change. But the overall carbon-reduction requirements are expected to stand.
Cuban, US officials talk
NEW YORK — A senior American diplomat has taken part in unannounced, high-level talks in Havana with the Cuban government, three State Department officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday, raising hopes for a thaw in long-icy relations.
The talks were the first of their kind in years between representatives of the U.S. and Cuban governments, the bitter Cold War rivals among whom trust appears to be gradually building.
Bisa Williams, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Dagoberto Rodriguez, visited an area affected by hurricanes in the Western province of Pinar del Rio and toured a government agricultural facility during a six-day trip to Cuba this month, the officials told AP.
Ex-Dem fundraiser sent to prison for 24 years
NEW YORK — Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison Tuesday by a judge who accused him of funding his fraud by manipulating the political process in a way that “strikes at the very core of our democracy.”
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero sentenced the 58-year-old Hsu to 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to fraud charges and an additional four years and four months for his conviction at trial for breaking campaign-finance laws.
Troops returning from Iraq
WASHINGTON — The top general in Iraq is sending home thousands more U.S. troops by the end of October as the American military pulls back from the six-year war.
Army Gen. Ray Odierno said in remarks prepared for a congressional hearing today that the number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq will total about 120,000 over the next month.
He said that will mean about 4,000 fewer troops than are in Iraq now — about the size of an Army brigade.
Associated Press