US immigrant's dream ends with genocide allegation

CONCORD, N.H. Beatrice Munyenyezi brought her three daughters to the United States from war-ravaged Rwanda in 1998 and focused on the American Dream: private schooling for her girls, a home with a swimming pool, a sport utility vehicle.Before long, she had a $13-an-hour job at Manchester’s Housing Authority in New Hampshire, her children were enrolled in Catholic school, and she was on her way to financing a comfortable American lifestyle through mortgages, loans and credit cards.

Now the 40-year-old mother sits behind bars, held without bond while she awaits trial on federal citizenship fraud charges for allegedly lying about involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when at least 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.Authorities say she was an extremist Hutu who killed and enabled the rapes of untold Tutsi victims – not the innocent refugee she claimed to be in 1995 to gain U.S. entry, when she applied for a visa and for citizenship.

Munyenyezi (moon-yehn-YEH’-zee) has pleaded not guilty to two counts of lying to obtain U.S. citizenship on her refugee and naturalization applications, by denying any role in the Rwanda genocide. She is scheduled for trial in May 2011.Her dream life apparently ended, it started falling apart years earlier. She filed for bankruptcy in May 2008, walking away from hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt: a $222,000 mortgage, $14,125 in student loans, $4,198 in municipal taxes and fees and $30,000 in credit card and other unsecured debt.

“She lived here for probably two years without paying her mortgage; she didn’t pay her bills for a good two years,” said Tom Prince of Manchester, who lived across the street from Munyenezi. “We all feel she took advantage.”Assets she listed included $1,500 in a checking account, $2,000 worth of furniture and $500 in clothing. She also owned a 2000 Toyota 4Runner valued at $12,000.

Her bankruptcy lawyers did not return calls seeking comment.In early 2003, she was sworn in as a U.S. citizen and bought a three-bedroom home on Howe Street for $190,000 in November, according to city records. She refinanced it three years later for $235,000.

She worked full time from 2001-2005 as a family services coordinator for the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Director Dick Dunfey would not comment on Munyenyezi, citing office policy.When she first moved in, Prince helped her clean out a backyard pool and get its filter in working order. Next door neighbor Scott Silver helped with moving things, including her new wide-screen TV, and cleared her walkway of snow.

“She knew nothing about owning a home,” Prince said. “She never said, ‘Thank you.'”When she didn’t need their help, Munyenyezi was quiet and kept to herself. They described her three daughters as polite, smart girls who played basketball. Now teenagers, they are living with relatives in the U.S.Both men said they saw large scars on Munyenyezi’s shoulders and arms when she wore halter dresses. At least once a year she traveled to Africa for two to four weeks at a time, they said. Her Rav4 vanity plate was “Shalom,” her husband’s name.

Silver, a real estate agent, said he was shocked when Munyenyezi refinanced her modest home. He said she had consulted him in advance about refinancing, and he told her he didn’t think she had a shot.”How in the world she ever did that, I don’t know,” Silver said. “She knew how to work the system.”In a 2005 interview with New Hampshire Public Radio, Munyenyezi gave a glimpse of her determination.”I am a fighter,” she said. “I like to be independent. I worked so hard to be here. I do what I have to do to survive.”Last year, Munyenyezi obtained an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Manchester Community College.

By the time she filed for bankruptcy, Munyenyezi was working at Elliott Hospital in Manchester as a nurse’s aide. Leanne Quartorchi of the medical staffing firm MAS Home Care of New Hampshire considered her reliable.Quartorchi said she was “floored” by Munyenyezi’s indictment. “She was so quiet and mild-mannered.”Cathy Chesley, director of immigration and refugee services for Catholic Charities of Manchester, said the agency provided Munyenyezi a standard refugee allotment when she became their client in 1999.

“We didn’t provide relief to Beatrice,” Chesley said. “We didn’t have any background information (on her). We rely on the federal government for clearance of all refugees who come through.”Federal prosecutors decline to say how Munyenyezi came to their attention. But in court documents, immigration agents describe interviews with alleged witnesses to the atrocities. A federal affidavit says Munyenyezi and her husband, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali, were extremist Hutus who participated in roadblocks and ID checks that resulted in numerous Tutsi rapes and killings.Court papers give a graphic account of Munyeynezi allegedly striking a young Tutsi boy so hard in the head with a wooden club that he died instantly.

Ntahobali and his mother, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, are prominent defendants in the United Nation’s international crimes tribunal on Rwanda, both charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. Incarcerated in Tanzania, they await a verdict this fall.Munyenyezi testified as a defense witness at her husband’s trial in 2006. In her bankruptcy filing, she described herself as single but her criminal attorney, David Ruoff, said last month she was still married.

Ruoff said he may depose witnesses in Rwanda to prepare her defense.”I’m obviously concerned about the legitimacy of any witness statements coming out of Rwanda, from what I’ve heard anecdotally from other prosecutions,” Ruoff said. “If she’s convicted and her citizenship is stripped, she’ll be deported to Rwanda and she’ll be in custody the rest of her life.”(AP)

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Toyota stopping production at its factories in France and Britain for a total of nine days

TOKYO  Toyota said Friday it is stopping production at its factories in France and Britain for a total of nine days amid falling sales that the company partly attributed to its recent recall woes.The world’s No. 1 automaker will suspend output at it plant in France for four days starting April 6, said spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi. Toyota will also stop production at its two factories in Britain for five working days sometime in May.”In France, we’re reviewing production because of the impact of recall problems,” Takeuchi said. The closures in Britain were part of previous plans, she said, but also due to sluggish car sales in Europe.

In early June, Toyota also plans to halt one of its two assembly lines at its Burnaston plant in Britain for another five working days, Takeuchi said.

The stoppages come after Toyota recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally over braking problems in its Prius hybrid, sticky gas pedals and pedals that can get stuck under floor mats.Toyota’s sales in the 27-nation European Union sank 20 percent in February from a year earlier – even though overall EU car sales rose 3 percent.In the U.S., the automaker’s sales fell 9 percent in February, prompting the company to launch a slew of incentives to lure back buyers.To beef up quality controls following the spate of safety problems, Toyota has formed a quality review committee that will meet regularly with President Akio Toyoda. The first meeting will take place Tuesday in Japan.(AP)

Toyota has told dealers it will provide replacement accelerator pedals to owners

WASHINGTON, Toyota has told dealers it will provide replacement accelerator pedals to owners who are unsatisfied with their repairs under the massive recall following dozens of complaints about the fix.The Japanese automaker said in a memo obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press that if a customer is unhappy with the feel of the accelerator after the car is repaired, dealers can provide a replacement pedal at no charge. Dealers have been inserting a piece of metal into the gas pedal mechanism to eliminate friction that was causing the pedal problem on more than 4 million vehicles involved in a January recall.

“A replacement pedal should only be offered to a customer after the reinforcement bar has been installed and the customer has expressed dissatisfaction with the operation and/or feel of the pedal,” Toyota said in a memo to dealers, service manager and parts managers.

The memo, dated February 2010, said the pedal replacement “is based upon specific customer request only. Dealers are not to solicit pedal replacement.” The memo was first reported by The New York Times.

An AP analysis of government data found that more than 100 owners have complained to the government about problems with sudden acceleration after Toyota dealers fixed their vehicles. Toyota has said it is confident in its repairs and has found no evidence of other problems, such as faulty electronics.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles globally over sticky pedals and accelerators that can become entrapped in floor mats, tarnishing the company’s safety reputation and leading to government investigations and congressional hearings.

The memo addresses Toyota vehicles that were listed in the January recall. The vehicles include: the 2005-10 Avalon; 2007-10 Camry and Tundra; 2009-10 Corolla, Matrix and RAV4; 2008-10 Sequoia and 2010 Highlander.

“If a customer is not satisfied with the operation and/or the feel of the accelerator pedal after the reinforcement bar has been installed, please assist us by assuring a replacement pedal is provided at no charge to these customers,” the company said in the memo.

Officials with Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not immediately comment.

A group of consumer advocates and engineers who contend Toyota has discounted potential electronic problems in problem vehicles planned to hold a news conference Tuesday on the massive recalls. Toyota has said it has found no evidence that electrical issues are behind the recalls.

Kristen Tabar, an electronics general manager with Toyota’s technical center in Ann Arbor, Mich., said in a video clip posted by the company on Monday that the automaker has eight labs in Japan that it uses to bombard vehicles with electronic interference.

She said Toyota ensures that “every system in the vehicle operates properly under those conditions.”(AP)

WASHINGTON Some Toyota dealers are rattled by the company's recall problems

WASHINGTON Some Toyota dealers are rattled by the company’s recall problems.Some dealerships nearly hired the crisis public relations firm that represented socialite Paris Hilton, singer Chris Brown – and a company that California has called the state’s worst inland polluter.

Toyota is running a lobbying and advertising battle to protect its name. Meanwhile, many dealers are taking matters into their own hands.

A group in Southern California almost retained that crisis PR firm. Insiders say the idea was nixed after Toyota officials said the company should speak with one voice – theirs.Dozens of dealers will lobby members of Congress this week as two House oversight committees hold hearings on the recall. (AP)

Boeing X-37 The USAF's Secret Spaceplane

It’s been a long wait—in some ways, more than 50 years—but in April 2010, the U.S. Air Force is scheduled to launch an Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the newest U.S. spacecraft, the unmanned X-37, to orbit. The X-37 embodies the Air Force’s desire for an operational space-plane, a wish that dates to the 1950s, the era of the rocket-powered X-15 and X-20. In other ways, though, the X-37 will be picking up where another U.S. space-plane, NASA’s space shuttle, leaves off.

With a wingspan of 15 feet and a length of 27.5 feet, the X-37 looks like a tiny space shuttle. It has a blunt (though windowless) nose, and one rocket engine bell instead of the shuttle’s three. Two cargo doors open just as the shuttle’s do, revealing a four- by seven-foot bay. Like the shuttle, the X-37 was designed for low Earth orbits—in the latter’s case, altitudes of 125 to 575 miles. And the craft will fly like a shuttle, reentering the atmosphere with the orbiter’s 40-degree nose-high attitude. After reentry, it will change to a 20-degree nose-down glide and, flying at up to 220 mph, land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with Edwards Air Force Base as an alternate.

But as for the period between launch and landing, no one, save for a select few in the Department of Defense, knows exactly what the little Boeing-built space-plane will do, or for how long. The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, which is running the program, says only that the orbital test version, the X-37B, will take a suite of next-generation technologies to orbit and will break new ground in the realm of launch, recovery, and reuse, all with an unmanned twist that the shuttle never offered.

At a 2008 Space Foundation breakfast in Washington, D.C., Gary Payton, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space programs, recalled the X-37’s origins. Payton started the program while at NASA. “Then, the X-37 was intended to be a testbed for new technologies that could retrofit into the shuttle: predominantly guidance, navigation, and control, and [thermal protection system] technologies,” he said. In that era, planners imagined the shuttle carrying the X-37 to space in its cargo bay and releasing it.

Now, with the shuttle’s retirement looming, it appears the X-37 will have an independent, post-shuttle life. Payton envisioned such a role for the X-37, saying: “It would be really advantageous in my mind if we had a system you could launch, recover, change out the payload bay quickly, and put into a different orbit, and do all that measured in weeks instead of decades.” David Hamilton, director of the Rapid Capabilities Office, says in an e-mail: “Eventually, I see the unique possibility to operate X-37B more like an aircraft and explore the needs of responsive, reusable spacecraft.” Unlike a satellite, he points out, the space-plane returns, enabling “detailed inspection and significantly better learning than can be achieved with [a satellite’s] remote telemetry alone. Experiments can be modified and re-flown, with the objective of shortening the technology maturation time line.”

“The space shuttle was designed to be a very heavy payload lifter, and it has performed that job extremely well,” says Mark Lewis, a University of Maryland hypersonic expert who recently completed a four-year appointment as chief scientist for the Air Force. “But you don’t need to send a Mack truck into space when a Toyota Celica will do.”The question is: Will do what? Lewis, whose enthusiastic speech barely keeps pace with his mind, is happy to talk about the skin-deep similarities between the shuttle and the X-37. (“A lot of the basic reentry physics is treated the same way,” he says. “Blunt configurations. The shuttle has very blunt leading edges.”) But when he’s asked about anything more than the X-37’s aerodynamics, he clams up.

So does everyone else. “While some aspects of the…program have been designated as unclassified and been released to the public; information regarding specific technical and performance capabilities will not be released at this time,” writes David Hamilton. “Hide it in plain view,” says one observer of the Air Force’s practice of letting out just a little about the X-37, enough to make it seem like it will never be more than a research tool.

Hamilton does say that “once declared operational, the X-37B could have applications to support missions such as space situational awareness; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; on-orbit servicing and repair; and satellite deployment and/or retrieval.”

It’s possible the space-plane could have a role in national security, particularly since China, India, Japan, and even Iran have begun to exploit space. In December 2007, photographs of an unmanned, classified Chinese space-plane, the Shenlong, or “Divine Dragon,” began to appear on Chinese Web sites. Though hitched to the underside of a bomber, rather than perched atop an expendable booster, the mysterious Shenlong has a blunt nose and single rocket engine bell, making its appearance strikingly similar to the X-37’s.

The U.S. program started out relatively open to view, a research effort jointly shaped by the Air Force, NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Boeing. The Air Force ordered the first prototype, the X-40A, from Boeing in 1996. When it came time to produce the next iteration, the X-37A drop-test vehicle, NASA had the company increase the size by about 20 percent.

But since then, the X-37 has taken a winding and perplexing path among NASA, DARPA, and the Air Force. From 2004 to 2006, DARPA oversaw it. Along the way, both the X-40A and the X-37A have been drop-tested (first over New Mexico in 1998 and California in 2006, respectively), which proved their automated approach and landing abilities. Finally the program was taken over by the Air Force. Today, call up any of these organizations and say “X-37” and it’s like spraying a garden hose at housecats.

Toyota Will Fix or Replace 4 Million Gas Pedals

DETROIT — Toyota said Wednesday it would have to fix the gas pedals of about four million vehicles, including the Camry, to resolve a widespread problem with unintended acceleration.The announcement was another setback for Toyota, which until last year appeared all but unstoppable. Its disciplined business approach, surging profits and reputation for quality helped it take market share from troubled competitors, and win from General Motors the title of world’s largest automaker.But the global downturn has battered Toyota, along with most car companies. And Toyota, which has issued other recalls in recent years, risks losing its standing in the eyes of many consumers as the benchmark for reliability.Three weeks ago, the company said it would recall only driver-side floor mats, which it said could get stuck on the accelerator and cause an accident.Since then, federal regulators have pressured Toyota to do more to insure the safety of several models, including the Camry, three Lexus sedans and its Prius hybrid.

Safety experts said the huge recall could do more damage to Toyota’s reputation, much as Ford and Firestone suffered from rollover problems earlier this decade with the Ford Explorer.“Clearly Toyota has its back up against the wall like it never has before,” said Sean Kane of Safety Research and Strategies, a consulting firm in Rehoboth, Mass.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started scrutinizing the issue of jammed gas pedals after a high-speed crash in August near San Diego. A Lexus ES350 hit another vehicle at more than 120 miles per hour, killing four people.

Moments before the crash, a passenger called 911 and said the gas pedal was stuck and the driver could not stop.On Nov. 2, Toyota said it would voluntarily recall floor mats that could interfere with the operation of the gas pedals if they became unmoored.

It also said that federal safety administration officials had found no other defect — a statement that the agency quickly noted was “inaccurate and misleading.”Under the new recall, Toyota will shorten gas pedals by three-quarters of an inch, starting in January, and in some cases remove padding from the floor to prevent the pedals from getting stuck on floor mats.The models covered include the 2007-10 Camry sedan and Tundra pickup trucks, 2005-10 Avalon sedan and Tacoma pickup, 2004-9 Prius hybrid, and three models from its Lexus division: the 2007-10 ES350 and 2006-10 IS250 and IS350.

The affected models compose nearly half of all the Toyotas sold in the United States over the last several years.The company also said it would develop replacement pedals that would be available by April, and provide modified floor mats. In addition, Toyota said it would start installing “brake override” systems — which can slow a vehicle down even if its gas pedal is stuck — as standard equipment on many of its new 2010 models.In a statement, the company vowed to continue to investigate the acceleration issues.“The safety of our owners and the public is our utmost concern and Toyota has and will continue to thoroughly investigate and take appropriate measures to address any defect trends that are identified,” the company said.While federal regulators have attributed only a few accidents to unintended acceleration from floor mats, there have been hundreds of reports of incidents linked to problems with Toyota’s gas pedals.Independent vehicle-testing firms have found that acceleration problems can occur in Toyotas even when floor mats were not present.When a car is speeding out of control, some drivers can panic and not know how to react, said Jake Fisher, a senior engineer with Consumer Reports magazine. Part of the problem, he said, is Toyota’s use of a push-button ignition system in many models.“It’s pretty frightening,” said Mr. Fisher. “It’s not easy to control that situation.”A spokesman for Toyota, Irv Miller, said the company had “no indication” that acceleration problems were caused by anything other than floor mats jamming gas pedals.“We are very, very confident that we have addressed this issue,” Mr. Miller told reporters in a conference call on Wednesday. He said the addition of brake override systems would “add that extra level of confidence.”Some consumers question the floor-mat explanation.Sandra Reech, owner of a 2008 Tacoma, said she was driving on an expressway near Pittsburgh in March when her accelerator got stuck.

“I was careening down the highway at well over 100 miles per hour,” she said. “I was standing on the brake and it wouldn’t slow down.”She eventually got the car into neutral and pulled off the road. She then checked the floor mat, and it “wasn’t in the way of the gas pedal,” she said.Mrs. Reech has since removed her floor mats, but still worries. “Every time I get in this vehicle I am afraid of it,” she said.Several lawsuits have been filed against Toyota, including a class-action suit in California. “We feel that Toyota has known about this problem for a long time,” said David Wright, whose firm filed the class-action case on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles.Toyota’s United States sales have dropped 25 percent so far this year, the same as the overall market. But the latest recall could hurt it at a time when it is trying to come back.“Often when people buy a Toyota, they are buying it because it’s trouble- free,” said Mr. Fisher. “If all of a sudden there’s this perception that Toyota isn’t flawless, you may see people think twice.”

motoman sda5d Hiro robot – a humanoid that can identify colours

For as long as anyone can remember, the Tokyo International Robot Exhibition has been a showcase for Japan at its wackiest: stern industrial machines lurked backstage as waltzing, noodle-making or ping-pong-playing humanoids stole the limelight.But in recessionary 2009, with Japanese industry writhing in pain, the national robot obsession has turned serious. For the first time, the show explained how the machines really are going to take over.A new mood was in the air: the downturn, said one Tsukuba University engineer, had honed Japanese robotics research and forced it to be more practical. Companies and universities that were once given unlimited budgets to push the boundaries of robotics were now being told to come up with something usable and commercial and fast.

Toyota’s recent decision to pull out of Formula 1 was a hot topic of discussion: would its next cost-cutting move be to close the robotics division or would it still throw millions into perfecting a trumpet-playing automaton?The fun stuff, accordingly, was downplayed while potential applications were pushed to the front. That gave many of the companies a chance to show that, quietly but steadily, the technology has been improving by leaps and bounds.Getting a cute humanoid robot such as Honda’s Asimo to go from walking to running took decades of effort, said one Tokyo University engineer, but the work of making a machine into a better pizza-maker than a human moved much faster.

Japanese robots are being built with open software codes, to encourage outside programmers to come up with ideas to make them even more useful. It is all working rather too well.Perhaps disturbingly for workforces around the world, there is a fast-growing list of human jobs that robots can do quicker and better.The show marked the debut of Kawada Industries’ Hiro robot – a humanoid that can identify colours, shapes and human faces and boasts some of the most dextrous mechanical paws ever created.

Asked what purpose it might serve, Hiro’s handler explained that at the Nissan factory, the production line already consists almost entirely of robots. However, occasionally they have to bring in a human. “This robot could replace that person,” the handler said.Kawada was not the only company whose work may soon inflate global unemployment numbers. Yaskawa, occupying the largest booth at the show, proudly touted its Motoman series of assembly robots. These, claimed the company, would soon be “replacing people without taking up too much space or requiring any change in the layouts of production lines”.

In the next booth, a representative of Yaskawa’s fiercest competitor, FANUC, said: “What’s amazing is their [the robots’] speed. They can achieve the speed of the most experienced workers. We don’t need to worry about the employment issue … When they’re not required to work, we just turn off the switch.”Kawada and Yaskawa’s main business until now has been producing robots for the auto industry. The priority now is to push the machines into more areas of the manufacturing and services industries. As well as spot-welding a Toyota Prius, Motoman can be retooled to perform routine blood tests faster than a team of nurses.

The service and nursing industries are the primary target. As the Japanese population continues to age, robotics companies have spotted a potential market. This year, developers touted an array of robotic guide dogs, nurses, cleaners, firemen and even robots that can fold and press towels.

A Kawada engineer speculated that human workers and robot workers may soon be working face to face; a practice currently prohibited by Japanese trade ministry regulations.“As things stand, robots and humans don’t work together and are separated by fences,” he said. “We are working on the assumption that those barriers will be gone in the future … our society has fewer children, and a lot of people want robots to do the hard work.”Robots that were once there for laughs are now being programmed to take jobs or, as the legend on one pair of steely hands had it: “Diverse performances of this dual-arm, multi-functioning robot enable the automation of human work.”