TOKYO (AP) - Toyota says it is recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems - the latest in a string of embarrassing safety lapses at the world's largest automaker. "I don't see Toyota as an infallible company that never makes mistakes," President Akio Toyoda said at a press conference Tuesday in Tokyo. "We will face up to the facts and correct the problem, putting customers' safety and convenience first."...

KABUL (AP) - Avalanches roared down a mountain pass north of Afghanistan's capital killing at least 28 people and stranding another 1,500 in their vehicles on snow-blocked roads, officials said Tuesday. Another 70 people were injured and transported to hospitals as the military and police continued rescue efforts to dig out those trapped in the snow, an Afghan Defense Ministry statement said....

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level Tuesday over the vociferous objections of the U.S. and its allies who fear the process could eventually be used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons. State television announced that the process began in the presence of inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Uranium has to be enriched to fuel nuclear power plants and Iran needs the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research reactor producing medical isotopes....

WASHINGTON (AP) - A second major snow storm in less than a week was blowing Tuesday toward the Mid-Atlantic region, where plows still hadn't touched some roads, utility workers were struggling to restore power and shovels were in short supply. The storm hit the Midwest early Tuesday, closing schools and greeting commuters with slick, slushy roads from Indianapolis to Chicago. Powerful wind and snow were expected to crawl into Mid-Atlantic states by the afternoon, and could leave as much as ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Even as Republicans publicly welcome President Barack Obama's call for a bipartisan confab on health care, some privately worry that he might be laying a trap to portray their ideas as flimsy. If so, a shaky showing by GOP leaders could possibly embolden congressional Democrats to make a final, aggressive push to overhaul the nation's health care system, with or without any Republican votes....