Toyota poised to slash production

Toyota is poised to slash production by as much as 580,000 vehicles — or almost 6 percent of global capacity — in an effort to stem losses amid the sharp downturn in car sales. Japan’s largest carmaker, which is forecasting its second consecutive net loss this year, said it would shut a production line in western Japan from next spring through to the second half of 2011, reducing output by 220,000 vehicles.

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Attorney gives Jena 6 teen counsel, chance at new life

Jesse Ray Beard said he was constantly in trouble, even when he behaved. It took being accused of the racially charged attempted murder of a white classmate in the Deep South to turn his life around. Beard, 18, now interns at a New York law firm as he prepares for his senior year next month at Canterbury School, a Connecticut prep academy where Beard is highly regarded among peers and teachers

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What’s a planet? Debate over Pluto rages on

For one of the farthest, coldest places in the solar system, Pluto sure stirs a lot of hot emotions right here on Earth. It was three years ago Monday that the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet, a decision that made jaws drop around the world. An outcry followed, textbooks had to be rewritten, long-held beliefs were shattered, and many people felt our cosmic neighborhood just didn’t seem the same with eight — instead of nine –planets in the solar system

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Pakistan: Arrests thwart Karachi attacks

Seven members of a banned militant group with links to al Qaeda and the Taliban were arrested with explosives and narcotics over the weekend in Karachi, Pakistan, and their planned attacks were thwarted, authorities said. The group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf banned in 2001, was planning to conduct attacks in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, according to Police Chief Waseem Ahmad. The suspects were arrested in Karachi on Sunday

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Former president and Nobel laureate laid to rest

South Korea bade farewell to former President Kim Dae-jung Sunday in a ceremony attended by thousands of citizens, dignitaries and politicians. The solemn Sunday afternoon ceremony was held outside parliament, with a large portrait of Kim placed on a shrine surrounded by flowers. The funeral followed six days of mourning for Kim, who died Tuesday of a heart failure

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Report: Koreas hold rare high-level talks

South Korea’s unification minister met with North Korea’s unity leader Saturday in another sign that icy relations between the two rival nations could be thawing, the South’s state media reported. The meeting was the first high-level cross border contact in nearly two years, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea’s Unification Minister Hyun In Taek held talks with Kim Yang Gon, head of the North’s Workers’ Party unification, the agency reported

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Brief History: Secret CIA Missions

— A federal study of mercury contamination released Wednesday found the toxic substance in every fish tested at nearly 300 streams across the country, a finding that underscores how widespread mercury pollution has become. The study by the U.S. Geological Survey is the most comprehensive look to date at mercury in the nation’s streams.

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