AP News in Brief

Toyota official said days before recall, 'We need to come clean' about pedal failures

WASHINGTON (AP) — Five days before Toyota announced a massive recall, a U.S. executive at the company wrote in an internal e-mail: "We need to come clean" about accelerator problems, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet," wrote Irv Miller, group vice president for environment and public affairs. "The time to hide on this one is over."

The recently retired Miller wrote the Jan. 16, 2010, e-mail as Toyota officials were on their way to Washington to discuss the problems with federal regulators. On Jan. 21, Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles to address sticking pedals in six vehicle models.

"We better just hope that they can get NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to work with us in coming (up) with a workable solution that does not put us out of business," Miller wrote.

The e-mail was addressed to Katsuhiko Koganei, executive coordinator for corporate communications for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

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AP Exclusive: Control of 1 branch of Kyrgyzstan security forces passes to opposition

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Thousands of protesters furious over corruption and spiraling utility bills seized internal security headquarters, a state TV channel and other levers of power in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday after government forces fatally shot dozens of demonstrators and wounded hundreds.

A revolution in the Central Asian nation was proclaimed by leaders of the opposition, who have called for the closure of a U.S. air base outside the capital that serves as a key transit point for supplies essential to the war in nearby Afghanistan.

The U.S. State Department said transport operations at the Manas base were "functioning normally."

This mountainous former Soviet republic erupted when protesters called onto the streets by opposition parties for a day of protest began storming government buildings in the capital, Bishkek, and clashed with police. Groups of elite officers opened fire.

The Health Ministry said 40 people had died and more than 400 were wounded. Opposition activist Toktoim Umetalieva said at least 100 people had died after police opened fire with live ammunition.

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Federal official says gas in W.Va. mine still too dangerous for rescue attempt of 4 miners

MONTCOAL, W.Va. (AP) — High levels of dangerous methane gas made it impossible for rescuers to venture inside a coal mine Wednesday to search for survivors of an explosion that killed 25 workers.

Crews drilled holes to release the gas, but by late afternoon the levels remained far too high for searchers to safely enter the Upper Big Branch mine to look for four people missing in the worst U.S. mining accident in more than two decades. They could not say when they might be able to go in.

Workers wanted to drill another hole so they could lower a camera into an airtight rescue chamber to see if anyone had managed to get inside, Kevin Stricklin of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said at a briefing Wednesday.

"If we're going to send a rescue team, we have to say it's safe for them to go in there," Stricklin said. "We want the air to be clear enough to let them go without being in smoke."

The disaster has brought new scrutiny for mine owner Massey Energy Co., which has been repeatedly cited for problems with the system that ventilates explosive methane gas and for allowing combustible dust to build up. The federal mine agency on Wednesday appointed a special team of investigators to look into the blast, which officials said may have been caused by a buildup of methane.

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FBI arrests San Francisco man for allegedly threatening Pelosi over health care

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The FBI says the suspect accused of making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a 48-year-old San Francisco man.

FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler identified the man as Gregory Lee Giusti. He was arrested at his home shortly after noon Wednesday.

Schadler did not disclose the charges against Giusti, but said he's due in court Thursday.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the suspect made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office. They say he recited her home address and said if she wanted to see it again, she would not support the health care overhaul bill that since has been enacted.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

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Recession, new tax credits have nearly half of US households paying no federal income tax

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it's simply somebody else's problem.

About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That's according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization.

Most people still are required to file returns by the April 15 deadline. The penalty for skipping it is limited to the amount of taxes owed, but it's still almost always better to file: That's the only way to get a refund of all the income taxes withheld by employers.

In recent years, credits for low- and middle-income families have grown so much that a family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009, as long as there are two children younger than 17, according to a separate analysis by the consulting firm Deloitte Tax.

Tax cuts enacted in the past decade have been generous to wealthy taxpayers, too, making them a target for President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress. Less noticed were tax cuts for low- and middle-income families, which were expanded when Obama signed the massive economic recovery package last year.

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Pain from torrent in Rio falls heavily on slums; at least 119 killed, 60 missing in mudslides

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rodrigo de Almeira had dug for 15 hours through mud and debris, and he looked like it. Auburn mud covered his head, his ripped shirt, his torn jeans and his rubber sandals.

When asked Wednesday if he had been able to save anyone from the massive landslide in the slum where he lives, he silently shook his head. Of the 119 people confirmed dead from Rio's heaviest rains on record, at least 18 died in his shantytown, Pleasure Hill.

"Right there at least 15 people I know died," Almeira said, staring at a massive mound of mud and debris. Wood planks — remnants of the shacks engulfed by the landslide — poked through the mud as 30 rescue workers gingerly dug at it with picks and shovels, still looking for survivors.

"We found a guy alive this morning, so we had hope," said Almeira, 28. "He didn't make it, we were told he died on his way to the hospital."

Because of the continuing rains, steep hillsides and loose earth, officials said there had been few successful rescues. One man, Carlos Eduardo Silva dos Santos, 24, was pulled alive from under a concrete wall in western Rio. Firefighters said they had no count on how many people had been rescued.

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GM posts $4.3B loss for July-to-December; plans early loan payoff, sees chance of 2010 profit

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co., steadily returning to health after its near-collapse in 2009, said Tuesday it plans to pay off its government loans by June — five years ahead of schedule — and could report a profit as early as this year.

GM said it lost $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 on revenues of $32.3 billion. But things are on the upswing. Sales and production have increased and GM has gained U.S. market share since the start of the year. The automaker will try to maintain that momentum while facing a stiff challenge from a revitalized Ford Motor Co.

For the period from July 10, when GM emerged from bankruptcy protection after shedding billions in debt, through Dec. 31, GM lost $4.3 billion on revenues of $57.5 billion. But much of that loss was for one-time items, including a $2.6 billion payment to the United Auto Workers union for retiree health care. The company also reported several indicators of improving health: It took in $1 billion more than it spent in the period and began this year with $36 billion in cash and $60 billion in debt. At the start of 2009, it had $14 billion in cash and $104 billion in debt.

"General Motors should never again be in the financial position it found itself in last year," GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said during a conference call with analysts and media.

Repaying $6.7 billion in government loans has been a top priority for CEO Ed Whitacre. The government's autos task force set a repayment deadline of 2015 as a condition of giving GM the loans last year. As of the end of March, GM has paid back $2.4 billion and Liddell said GM plans to pay the rest by June at the latest.

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Scientists confirm that huge lizard in forested mountains of the Philippines is a new species

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Researchers have concluded that a giant, golden-spotted monitor lizard discovered in the forested mountains of the Philippines six years ago is a new species, according to a study released Wednesday.

The 6.5-foot (2-meter) -long lizard was first spotted in 2004 in the Sierra Madre mountains on the main island of Luzon when local researchers saw local Agta tribesmen carrying one of the dead reptiles.

But it took until last year to determine it was a new species. After capturing an adult, researchers from the University of Kansas and the National Museum of the Philippines obtained DNA samples that helped confirm the lizard was new to science.

The Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard or Varanus bitatawa feasts on fruits and snails rather than carcasses, unlike many monitors, including its larger relative, the Komodo dragon, according to American and Filipino researchers who wrote about the discovery in Wednesday's peer-reviewed Royal Society journal Biology Letters. It spends much of its time in the treetops and has unique claws that allow it to reach its favorite fruits.

"I knew as soon as I saw the animal that it was something special," Luke Welton, a graduate student at the University of Kansas and one of the co-authors of the study, said in a statement.

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Bristol Palin speaks out about reality of being a teen mom

NEW YORK (AP) — Bristol Palin says that if girls knew how tough it was to be a mom, they'd think twice about having sex.

The 19-year-old daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she has chosen to practice abstinence herself, until marriage.

Bristol Palin, who once said it was unrealistic to ask young people to abstain from sex, said in an interview with The Associated Press that it's realistic for her personally.

"I know it's realistic to ask myself that, because I know I'm not going to until I'm married," she said.

Palin gave birth to a son, Tripp, in December 2008 and says she "wasn't prepared at all" for the dramatic changes in her life since then.

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Augusta chairman says Woods will be judged by his efforts to change

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The chairman of Augusta National Golf Club had harsh words for Tiger Woods, saying the world's best golfer disappointed everyone with his sex scandal and didn't live up to expectations as a role model.

Billy Payne said Wednesday that Woods won't be judged in the future solely on his performance as a golfer, but by the sincerity of his efforts to change as a person.

"As he now says himself, he forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility," Payne said during his annual state of the Masters news conference. "It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here. It is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids."

Woods is returning to competitive golf for the first time since a Thanksgiving night car crash unleashed reports of a secret private life that included numerous extramarital affairs. He was dropped by several major sponsors and spent 45 days in therapy.

"Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children," Payne said. "I hope he now realizes that every kid he passes on the course wants his swing, but would settle for his smile."

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