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4B – Daily News – Tuesday, April 6, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Afghans say Pres. Karzai threatened to quit politics KABUL (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai threat- ened over the weekend to quit the political process and join the Taliban if he continued to come under outside pressure to reform, several members of parliament said Monday. Karzai made the unusual statement at a closed-door meeting Saturday with selected lawmakers — just days after kicking up a diplomatic contro- versy with remarks alleging foreigners were behind fraud in last year’s disputed elections. Lawmakers dismissed the latest comment as hyperbole, but it will add to the impression the president — who relies on tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces to fight the insur- gency and prop up his govern- ment — is growing increasing- ly erratic and unable to exert authority without attacking his foreign backers. ‘‘He said that ’if I come under foreign pressure, I might join the Taliban’,’’ said Farooq Marenai, who represents the eastern province of Nangarhar. ‘‘He said rebelling would change to resistance,’’ Marenai said — apparently suggesting that the militant movement would then be redefined as one of resistance against a foreign occupation rather than a rebel- lion against an elected govern- ment. Record $16M fine leveled against Toyota WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is seeking to fine Toyota a record $16.4 mil- lion, accusing the Japanese auto giant of hiding a ‘‘danger- ous defect’’ in its slow report- ing of faulty gas pedals that have been blamed for unintend- ed sudden accelerations and motorists’ deaths. The proposed fine, announced Monday by Trans- portation Secretary Ray LaHood, is the most the gov- ernment could levy for the sticking gas pedals that have led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles. There could be fur- ther penalties under continuing federal investigations, and Toy- ota also faces private lawsuits seeking many millions more. Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 6 million vehicles in the U.S., and more than 8 million worldwide, because of acceleration prob- lems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid. Documents obtained from the Japanese automaker show that Toyota knew of the prob- lem with the sticking gas ped- als in late September but did not issue a recall until late Jan- uary, LaHood said. The stick- ing pedals involved 2.3 million vehicles. ‘‘We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations,’’ LaHood said in a statement. ‘‘Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dan- gerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families.’’ Aftershocks rattle US- Mexico border MEXICALI, Mexico (AP) — Aftershocks rattled the southwest Mexico-U.S. border on Monday morning in the aftermath of a major earth- quake that killed two people, blacked out cities and forced the evacuation of hospitals and nursing homes. Sunday’s 7.2-magnitude quake, centered just south of the U.S. border near Mexicali, was one of the strongest earth- quakes to hit region in decades, shaking at least 20 million peo- ple. It had a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). But the human toll was minimal in large part because the energy from the quake moved north- west of Mexicali toward a less populated area, said Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist from the U.S. Geological Survey. ‘‘We were just kind of lucky that the energy went the other way,’’ Sigala said. ‘‘With every earthquake, the earth starts moving a certain direction. It started south of Mexicali and the rupture moved northwest.’’ Building construction has also improved in northern Mexico, a region with a history of quakes, said Carlos Valdes, chief of the Mexican National Seismological Service. Taliban stage bomb-and- grenade attack on US consulate PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Islamist militants unleashed a car bomb and grenade attack against a U.S. consulate in northwestern Pakistan on Mon- day, killing four people and striking back after months of American missile strikes against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the region. Hours earlier, a suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded more than 70 at a rally by a secular political party in the northwest that has sup- ported recent Pakistani army offensives in the region close to Afghanistan, where the United States is battling a related insurgency. The attacks follow a lull in violence since the beginning of the year, illustrating the mili- tants’ resilience. The multi-pronged strike against the consulate in Peshawar city was the first direct assault on a U.S. mission in the country since 2006. Offi- cials said the four attackers in two vehicles hoped to breach the heavily fortified compound and kill people inside, but they failed to do that and caused only minor damage. They detonated their first suicide vehicle at a checkpoint some 20 meters (yards) from the entrance to the consulate, said Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali Khan. The second vehicle, which was carrying a larger amount of explosives, was stopped at another security barrier some 15 meters (yards) from the entrance, he said. Catholic priest charged with assault working in India still ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Top officials at the Vatican were warned more than four years ago about a Catholic priest later charged with sexu- ally assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Minnesota, according to newly released Vatican corre- spondence, but to this day he continues to work in his home diocese in India. Prosecutors in Minnesota said Monday they are trying to extradite the Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul. Jeyapaul denied the abuse allegations and said he has no plans to return to the United States to face the courts. The Vatican said Monday it has cooperated with U.S. law enforcement officials working to extradite Jeyapaul. In a state- ment to The Associated Press, Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena said the Holy See handed over the priest’s address in India. He said the Vatican had recom- mended Jeyapaul be defrocked, because it believed the charges were serious enough, but that his local bishop in India refused. The bishop, the Most Rev. A. Almaraj of the diocese of Ootacamund, said he had disci- plined Jeyapaul by sending him to a monastery for prayer. Jeyapaul was charged in Minnesota in 2007, more than a year after he returned to India. Officials in the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, had told him to stay there after allega- tions against him first surfaced. Lawyers for Ohio Christian teen say parents block efforts to stay in US COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A teenage girl who converted to Christianity and ran away from home is being blocked by her Muslim parents from fight- ing the possibility of deporta- tion, her attorney told a judge Monday in an ongoing custody dispute. Rifqa Bary, 17, who fled home last year and stayed with a Florida minister whom she met on Facebook, is an illegal immigrant and does not want to be returned to her native Sri Lanka because she fears being harmed or killed by Muslim extremists. Her attorney, Angela Lloyd, asked a judge to sign an order stating that reunification with her parents is not possible by her 18th birthday in August. The order would allow Bary, who is in foster care, to apply for special immigration status without her parents’ consent. Omar Tarazi, an attorney for the parents, objected, telling the judge that he had been unaware of this latest maneuver by Bary’s attorney to apply to an immigration court. He said the parents previously filed an immigration application for the whole family. Study shows age provides added wisdom WASHINGTON (AP) — It turns out grandma was right: Listen to your elders. New research indicates they are indeed wise — in knowing how to deal with conflicts and accepting life’s uncertainties and change. It isn’t a question of how many facts someone knows, or being able to operate a TV remote, but rather how to han- dle disagreements — social wisdom. And researchers led by Richard E. Nisbett of the Uni- versity of Michigan found that older people were more likely than younger or middle-aged ones to recognize that values differ, to acknowledge uncer- tainties, to accept that things change over time and to acknowledge others’ points of view. ‘‘Age effects on wisdom hold at every level of social class, education, and IQ,’’ they report in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Acad- emy of Sciences. In modern America, older people generally don’t have greater knowledge about com- puters and other technology, Nisbett acknowledged, ‘‘but our results do indicate that the elderly have some advantages for analysis of social prob- lems.’’ Arizona Sheriff has inmates pedal bikes to generate power for TV PHOENIX (AP) — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has started a program he calls ‘‘Pedal Vision,’’ in which inmates pedal stationary bikes to generate electricity for tele- vision sets. The bikes are cus- tomized to turn on connected TV sets once inmates at Phoenix’s Tent City Jail pedal enough to generate 12 volts of electricity. An hour of pedaling equals an hour of television. Arpaio said inmates only will be able to watch television if they choose to pedal. He said he started the pro- gram with female inmates because they seemed more receptive. Arpaio said the only exercise female inmates have been get- ting is speed-walking around the tent yard. He said Pedal Vision gives them a reason to get moving and a way to burn calories. Have a news tip? Call 527-2151, Ext. 112 LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF TRUSTEE'S SALE TS No. 09-0121939 YOU Title Order No. 4232002 Investor/Insurer No. 087991362 APN No. 006-330-21-1YOU ARE IN DE- FAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST, DATED 01/24/2005. UNLESS TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EX- PLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAW- YER." Notice is hereby given that RE- CONTRUST COMPANY, N.A., as duly appointed trustee pursuant to the Deed of Trust executed by AARON M SAVI- NO, A SINGLE MAN, dated 01/24/2005 and recorded 02/02/05, as Instrument No. 002313, in Book 2642, Page 494), of Official Records in the office of the County Recorder of Tehama County, State of California, will sell on 05/04/2010 at 2:00PM, At the main en- trance to the Tehama County Court- house, 633 Washington Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080 at public auction, to the highest bidder for cash or check as de- scribed below, payable in full at time of sale, all right, title, and interest con- veyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust, in the property situated in said County and State and as more fully described in the above referenced Deed of Trust. The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 16295 BUFFALO ROAD, COTTONWOOD, CA, 96022. The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common des- ignation, if any, shown herein. The total amount of the unpaid balance with in- terest thereon of the obligation secured by the property to be sold plus reasona- ble estimated costs, expenses and ad- vances at the time of the initial publica- tion of the Notice of Sale is $350,498.71. It is possible that at the time of sale the opening bid may be less than the total indebtedness due. In addition to cash, the Trustee will accept cashier's checks drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and author- ized to do business in this state. Said sale will be made, in an ''AS IS'' condi- tion, but without covenant or warranty, express or implied, regarding title, pos- session or encumbrances, to satisfy the indebtedness secured by said Deed of Trust, advances thereunder, with inter- est as provided, and the unpaid princi- pal of the Note secured by said Deed of Trust with interest thereon as provided in said Note, plus fees, charges and ex- penses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. DATED: 11/21/2009 RECONTRUST COMPA- NY, N.A. 1800 Tapo Canyon Rd., CA6- 914-01-94 SIMI VALLEY, CA 93063 Phone: (800) 281 8219, Sale Informa- tion (626) 927-4399 By: Trustee's Sale Officer RECONTRUST COMPANY, N.A. is a debt collector attempting to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.ASAP# 3506680 04/06/2010, 04/13/2010, 04/20/2010 YOUR