Included are 2006- to 2010-model-year Jeep Commanders and 2005 to 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokees, of which about 295,000 are in the United States, 28,500 are in Canada and 4,200 are in Mexico. The remaining 141,000 are outside of North America.

Chrysler was aware of 26 accidents and 2 injuries related to the gearshift problem but no fatalities, a company spokesman said.

It was Chrysler's largest recall since more than 900,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs were recalled worldwide in November to fix a part that could cause airbags to deploy inadvertently.

Chrysler, an affiliate of Italy's Fiat SpA , also said it is recalling 532 2013-model-year Ram 1500 pickup trucks in the United States and Canada, a third of which remain in dealer inventories, to inspect and possibly replace windshield defrosting and defogging components.

Additionally, the company said it is recalling about 5,330 right-hand-drive 2008 to 2012 Jeep Wranglers to install dust shields to prevent dust buildup that could compromise airbag operation. All of the vehicles, used mostly for rural mail delivery, are in the United States.

Chrysler said it was unaware of any accidents or injuries linked to the Ram and Wrangler recall issues.

The company said it will directly contact affected customers and make the repairs for free.

Chrysler, which emerged from a government-sponsored bankruptcy four years ago, last month reported a steep drop in quarterly profits due to an aggressive new-vehicle launch schedule, but said it was on track to meet its business targets, expecting a strong second half of 2013.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and its Italian parent Fiat, which currently owns a 58.5 percent share of the U.S. automaker, said there was a 50-50 chance that Fiat's buyout of Chrysler would be finalized by June 2014.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Mark Potter and Jackie Frank)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corprefuses to be tempted away from its low-risk growth strategy, even as the world's bestselling carmaker met its mid-term profit goals in the year ended March, and foresees even higher earnings this fiscal year.

The company has exceeded the target President Akio Toyoda set two years ago: to make 1 trillion yen in annual operating profit, and do so with a 5 percent margin. Its manufacturing arm in Japan also made a profit for the first time in five years, a symbolic triumph for a titan of Japanese industry.

This year, the company will concentrate on sharpening productivity in order to become more competitive, Toyoda said.

Mindful of lessons learned from huge losses run up in 2008 after a period of boom and rapid expansion, it sees high profits as no reason to launch into a building program - even as some rivals do exactly that.

"The wind that was blowing against us is calming down, and we can hear some saying that it is the time for us to take the offensive. But I think we are just standing at the startline of sustainable growth", the 57-year-old grandson of the founder of Toyota's automotive business told reporters on Wednesday.

Toyota expects to make operating profit of 1.8 trillion yen ($18.17 billion) in the fiscal year that ends March 2014, which would be below its peak of 2.3 trillion yen in the year ended March 2008

Powering that will be another year of record group sales in calendar year 2013, the company believes, reaching 9.91 million vehicles. It could become the first carmaker in history to sell more than 10 million vehicles in a year.

Since Toyoda took helm in 2009, when profit margins were thin, the automaker has focused on cutting costs and improving profitability.

Evidence of Toyoda's caution is his fresh policy to build no new factories for the next three years, a sharp contrast with Honda Motor Cowhich is rapidly adding to its production power around the world.

"Expansion of volume does not equate to growth. The driving force of sustainable growth comes down to making ever better cars," Toyoda said.

PILLAR OF JAPANESE INDUSTRY

Toyota posted on Wednesday an annual operating profit of 1.32 trillion yen with an operating margin of around 6 percent, beating a market that had expected 1.26 trillion yen profit, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine's SmartEstimates. SmartEstimates place emphasis on timely forecasts by top-rated analysts.

It said it expects to sell 2.2 million vehicles in the United States in 2013, up from about 2.1 million in 2012. The company is expected to release the Corolla compact car in the United States this year.

"While the fierce competitive landscape (in the U.S.) will likely mean that Toyota may see growth taper off in the short term, new product launches later this year should help to give sales a boost," said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

In Japan, where automotive-related jobs account for 8.7 percent of the workforce, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, it is becoming more profitable to make and export goods as a result of a yen that has weakened by around 15 percent against the dollar since January.

Toyoda repeated his vow to continue making 3 million vehicles a year in Japan. The company exports 60 percent of its Japan-made vehicles.

Despite building no new plants Toyota, which currently has an annual production capacity of around 9 million vehicles, will still be able to make more cars.

It will stick with pre-existing plans to build new factories such as in Thailand and Indonesia and will also add capacity at plants already running, for example at its Kentucky plant in the United States.

After recovering from a damaging safety recall in 2010 and a huge earthquake in 2011 in Japan that disrupted supply chains, Toyota booked record group-wide sales of 9.7 million vehicles in 2012, beating General Motors Coand Volkswagen AG .

Shares in Toyota have risen 37 percent since the beginning of 2013, outperforming the Nikkei index that has rose about 34 percent in the same period.

Toyota released its results after the close of trade on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd , which makes Subaru cars, booked record annual operating profit of 120 billion yen for the year ended in March, more than double last year's figure. The company also announced a plan to spend $400 million on expanding capacity in the United States, its biggest market.

(Additional reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

Mothers, children and others who have been affected by gun violence will gather Saturday in Atlanta for a walk and rally to raise awareness about the effects of gun violence on mothers and children.

Last month Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson were among those who voted against bipartisan legislation proposed by NRA A-rated Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey that would have closed the loopholes that make it easy for criminals and dangerous people to get guns. Recent independent polls that have found that 91 percent of Georgians support background checks for all gun buyers.

Georgians can sign a Mother's Day card urging their Senators to take action on gun violence

In addition, to mark Mother's Day, Roxanna Green, whose nine year-old daughter Christina-Taylor Green was killed in the 2011 Tucson mass shooting, released a video message. Link to the video

Event details are below.

What:Moms Demand Action Mother's Day Walk and Rally Against Gun Violence

Who:Co-chapter head of Moms Demand Action of Georgia Piyali Cole, Co-chapter head of Moms Demand Action of Georgia Melinda Ennis, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and concerned Georgians

Where: Piedmont Park, 400 Park Dr. NE, Atlanta

When: Saturday, May 11, 11:00 a.m.

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 950 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns. Learn more at

MEDIA CONTACT Christina Freundlich:or 314-302-0602Kate Downen:or 406-224-5056

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

The FDA said the results of a recent study showed that children exposed to valproate products in the womb had lower IQ at the age of six than children who were exposed to other antiepileptics.

Drugs containing valproate are used to prevent migraine headaches, treat epileptic seizures and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder.

Abbott Laboratories' Depacon, Depakote, Depakote CP, Depakote ER and Depakene, and Noven Therapeutics LLC's Stavzor and their generics contain valproate. (http://r.reuters.com/nej87t)

Drugs containing valproate already carry a boxed warning for birth defects.

"Valproate medications should never be used in pregnant women for the prevention of migraine headaches because we have even more data now that shows the risks to the children outweigh any treatment benefits for this use," FDA's Director of the Division of Neurology Products, Russell Katz said.

This is the second time the FDA has warned on drugs containing valproate. In a June 2011 press release, the regulator had issued interim results of a study showing reduced cognitive functions in three-year-old children exposed to valproate.

(Reporting By Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday proposed a comprehensive plan to fix the state's sagging public pension system - the worst-funded state pension system in the country - with only a month to go in the legislature's spring session.

The 271-page measure sets a cap on salaries used to determine pensions, limits cost-of-living adjustments on pensions for future retirees, increases retirement ages for workers currently under 45 years old, and hikes worker pension contributions by 1 percent over each of the next two fiscal years.

The measure aims for "100 percent funding in 30 years" of a state pension system that is underfunded by $100 billion, according to a bill summary from Madigan's office.

Additionally, the measure exempts pension changes from collective bargaining.

"We think this is a bill that has a good chance of getting through both chambers and onto the governor's desk," said Steve Brown, Madigan's spokesman.

One controversial measure not in Madigan's amendment - shifting teacher and higher education pension costs to local school districts, universities and community colleges - will be in a separate bill, according to Brown.

The Madigan proposal - the most far-reaching pension reform plan to date - does not estimate the total savings for Illinois, and Brown declined to estimate the savings.

The political viability of the Madigan plan was not immediately clear, though it is the first of several pension bills in the 2013 legislative session presented by Madigan as a comprehensive approach to pension reform. Madigan, speaker of Illinois' House for more than 25 years, has developed a reputation for bringing forward major legislation only when he has lined up enough votes for passage.

A coalition of state public labor unions slammed the proposal.

"While we want to work together to solve the pension problem, the amendment filed today by the House Speaker represents the same illegal approach to slashing hard-earned life savings protected by the Illinois Constitution," a statement from We Are One Illinois said.

The group also warned that if the measure becomes law, "we believe a successful legal challenge is all but certain, with the bill saving nothing and the state's budget problems made worse."

The state's constitution prohibits any diminishment of public employee pensions, and leaders of Illinois' public employee unions have indicated they will go to court to prevent enactment of any new laws that are perceived as reducing pension payments and retirement benefits promised to their active workers and retirees.

Senate President John Cullerton, a Democrat, said through a spokeswoman that the Madigan plan is not constitutional. "Cullerton still prefers a plan that is clearly constitutional," said the spokeswoman, Rikeesha Phelon.

"The Speaker and Cullerton have the same goal with different approaches. While the House has been focused on unilateral changes, Cullerton has worked to build consensus for a plan that is clearly constitutional," Phelon added.

The Madigan bill encompasses some of the reform measures that have surfaced in the House and Senate. Madigan introduced his plan as an amendment to a bill first put forward in the upper chamber by Cullerton.

The Madigan bill is designed to replace the most far-reaching aspect of Cullerton's plan. That proposal, which applies only to the state's public-school teachers, would give employees a choice between retaining their 3 percent annual cost-of-living increase in retirement but foregoing state-sponsored health care, or agreeing to a lower cost-of-living increase and retaining health care.

A House bill that would cap cost-of-living increases for retirees has not yet received a hearing in any Senate committee. That bill was estimated to save the state $100 billion over 30 years. The Madigan plan retains a cap on cost-of-living increases.

The Senate previously voted down a more comprehensive pension measure that included some of the components in Madigan's bill.

Four of the state's five pension funds - covering more than 190,000 retirees and nearly 270,000 active workers - would be affected by measures in Madigan's bill. Those funds cover teachers outside of the Chicago Public Schools, state university and community college workers, state employees and legislators.

The fund covering judges in the state court system is not included in the bill. Any legal challenge to the measure likely would be heard in state court.

Illinois' state legislature has taken on significant public policy issues since the spring session began in January: the concealed carry of handguns, medical marijuana, and same-sex marriage. But pensions have been the dominant issue in policy circles and have been the focus of hearings in both the House and Senate committee rooms.

Under the Madigan proposal, the state would be required to use a new actuarial cost method that averages costs evenly over a workers' employment for determining its annual pension contribution, according to the summary. The current method requires the state to make higher contributions closer to an employee's retirement.

Those contributions would be bolstered by $1 billion a year once the state's pension debt is retired in 2019. If the state falls short on its pension payment or fails to allocate the additional $1 billion, the pension funds would be empowered to take the state to court.

A preamble to Madigan's bill lays out in grisly detail Illinois' financial woes, including the lowest credit rating among states and a backlog of unpaid, overdue bills that exceeds a fourth of the state's annual general revenue. The preamble also details actions the state has taken to curb spending and notes that past pension reform actions fell short in solving the problem.

It also warned of "devastating and dramatic" spending cuts that could impact the state economy.

"This harm could include significant economic contraction, which would in turn exacerbate the underlying fiscal challenge, resulting in a downward spiral of standard of living and likely leading to an eventual inability of the state to meet its short term statutory and Constitutional responsibilities," the bill said.

(Reporting by Karen Pierog, editing by David Greising, Jim Marshall and Bob Burgdorfer)

The bones, all from not-yet-hatched embryonic dinosaurs, are among the oldestever found. What's more, the embryo fossils came from separate nests and the dino embryos were at different stages of development when they died two discoveries that will enable researchers to study how dinosaurs developed before hatching.

"It tells us quite a bit about early embryonic stages and changes that occur in the embryonic life of these animals something we haven't really seen before," said study researcher Robert Reisz, a paleontologist at the University of Toronto.

In addition to discovering evidence of in-egg kicking, the researchers found that the embryos, which probably belonged to the long-necked Lufengosaurus, grew faster than the embryos of any birds or mammals alive today. []

Tiny-bone find

Timothy Huang, a chemist at National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan and an amateur archaeologist, discovered the embryonic bones about three years ago in Yunnan Province, China. The bone bed has an area of about 3 square feet (1 square meter) and a thickness of about 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). In this small patch, the researchers eventually uncovered more than 200 itsy-bitsy bones.

A geological analysis of the spot revealed that slow flooding probably smothered the eggs, which seem to have been laid in a colonial nesting site. After the flood, the embryos and eggs rotted and fell apart, leaving a mound of disarticulated bones. The bones date to the Lower Jurassic period, or between 199.6 million and 175.6 million years ago. That makes them just as ancient as the , which were discovered at a nesting site of long-necked Massospondylus dinosaurs in South Africa.

It was a boon for science that the dino embryos had fallen apart, instead of fossilizing inside their eggs, Reisz told LiveScience.

"People are extremely possessive and fond of their embryos imagine us asking them to take pieces out and do the sections on them and cut them, and essentially do damage to them," he said. "These bones are completely disarticulated, and we have a lot of them so it's not unreasonable to be able to take a few and cut them, and see what their internal anatomy is like."

How baby dinos grew

The bone bed contained spinal bones, limb bones, shoulder blades and even a few fragments of skull, but Reisz and his team focused their analysis on the most prevalent and best-preserved bones: femurs, or thigh bones. These little leg bones ranged from 0.5 to 0.9 inches (12 to 22 millimeters) in length, shorter than matchsticks.

The bones were porous, filled with cavities that would have once allowed blood to flow to the growing tissue. The size of the cavities is determined by how fast the animal grows which made researchers realize these embryos

"They grow very fast faster than we expected, and faster than most other dinosaurs that have been studied this way," Reisz said.

The fast growth rate makes sense, given that Lufengosaurus grew to 20 feet (6 meters) in length.

The researchers also found an asymmetrical thickening in the femurs associated with muscle action on the bone. The finding suggests thewere kicking and twitching inside their eggs.

The team also discovered evidence of organic material probably collagen, part of the connective tissue that forms ligaments and tendons. If the material isn't too deteriorated, it could be compared to collagen in living animals, thus providing a new way to look at relationships between modern creatures and the extinct dinosaurs, Reisz said.

"We're setting a new benchmark as to what can be done in dinosaur embryology," Reisz said. He and his colleagues report their findings Thursday (April 11) in the journal Nature. An upcoming goal, Reisz said, is to give the embryos their first dental exam.

"One of the things we may try in the near future is to look at the embryonic teeth themselves," he said. "They're very cool."

Follow Stephanie Pappas on and . Follow us , & . Original article on LiveScience.com.

Plenty.

Let me start with the drunks and new parents. Monday night I boarded a very delayed flight fromto . Behind me were four 20/30-somethings boisterously swigging from "coffee" cups. (Our gate was across from a Cantina and you could practically smell the tequila in their paper cups.)

As the boarding continued they grew increasingly animated. Their frenetic energy seemed to wind up not just each other but everyone around them. Fellow passengers were visibly agitated.

Just before the plane doors closed, a young couple came on with a sleeping baby. The last two open seats were amongst this motley crew.

Suddenly, everything changed.

The presence of the earnest and exhausted parents had an immediate calming effect on both the inebriated passengers and those around them. It was as if a mirror had been placed in the center of the plane to remind us all of our humanity.

Enter, Jo Piazza's delicious new book, .

To me, this book is the figurative version of the newborn's parents getting on the plane. It serves as a mirror reflecting back the reality what's in the "coffee" cups of the celebrity scene.

That got me wondering what other financial lessons the author of Celebrity, Inc. might have stumbled across while writing this fascinating book. Thankfully, Jo Piazza was willing to share with us...

Q: Of the celebrities you profile in Celebrity, Inc. whose money attitude were you most impressed with and why?

(2) What surprised you the most about the money habits you observed during your Celebrity, Inc. research?

(3) What personal finance lessons do you think the rest of us can take away from the way famous people live their lives?

In many ways our celebrity culture is like a group of chaotic drunk people. It lurches rapidly from one topic and fad to the next. In the heat of the excitement money can feel like no object. But the financial hangover of being, or trying to emulate, that lifestyle can result in a serious financial crash.

So pick up a copy of Celebrity, Inc. and tell me what you think. Does our national obsession with the lifestyles of the rich and famous ever cause you to do things with your money that you later regret?

[This post originally appeared at .] For more MoneyZen in your life, follow Manisha on Twitter aton Facebook ator sign up to receive Manisha's MoneyZen blog via email .

SEATTLE (AP) -- Students heading off to college in Washington state next fall will have to wait awhile to find out how much tuition they'll be paying.

Since the Legislature was set to go home without finishing the state budget, no one is sure whether Washington students will be getting a tuition increase, a cut, or neither. All three ideas have been proposed this year.

If you go to the University of Washington or Washington State University, tuition and mandatory fees already add up to nearly $13,000 a year, so plus or minus $390 may not seem like a lot to individual students or their parents.

But students aren't the only ones waiting for a decision from the Legislature. The state's college and universities are also on hold.

They can't finish putting together their budgets for next year until the Legislature finishes its work. Depending on the choices lawmakers make when they return to Olympia soon, universities are waiting to hear whether they'll get millions more from the state this year and next.

Officials at all Washington's public colleges and universities will likely have to wait a few weeks or even a few months longer before they can set tuition for next year.

For the most part, college officials say they're not chewing their fingernails over the delay.

"It's not that unusual in the first year of a biennium," said Todd Sprague, spokesman for The Evergreen State College.

Although trustees of the Olympia college usually make their tuition decision in June, they also have a July meeting scheduled and can add a special meeting if they need one, Sprague said.

"We wouldn't do anything without getting direction from the Legislature," he said.

Until then, curious students and parents can get an estimate of next year's tuition bill on the school's website, where administrators have used a 5 percent increase to help estimate costs this fall. Sprague emphasized that number is just an example, not a guess.

The college has raised tuition about 14 percent during each of the past four years, under the guidance of the Legislature.

State government support for higher education has been cut about in half over the past decade. Before the legislative session began in January, a group of college presidents said they would agree to freeze tuition if lawmakers pumped $225 million back into Washington's higher education system.

This year, the three primary budget proposals before the Legislature estimate tuition will go up 3 percent in the fall, go down 3 percent or stay the same. Lawmakers will likely return to Olympia later this spring or summer for a special session to finish the state budget and set tuition for the next two years.

The Legislature gave the state's four-year schools tuition-setting authority in 2011. Double-digit tuition increases have nearly doubled tuition at Washington schools over the past five years. While the schools now have the authority to set their tuition as high as they want, most have continued to defer to the Legislature, which has put double-digit tuition increases into recent state budgets.

Central Washington University may use that flexibility to start to build back up its own budget over the next two years, said college spokeswoman Linda Schactler.

CWU officials were expecting the Legislature to authorize a modest tuition gain of up to 5 percent and were looking at the possibility of raising tuition by an additional 3 to 7 percent depending on how much money the state allocates for the university, she said.

"We're really looking for some opportunity to start to gain ground again," Schactler said.

UW is planning to set its tuition where the state Legislature decides and the university's staff is doing some budget modeling based on all the proposals in Olympia, said UW spokesman Norm Arkans.

Although the UW regents usually set tuition in June, in other years they haven't finished their budget until July. Arkans said they need more clarity from Olympia before they can move forward.

Western Washington University also is in wait-and-see mode, said spokesman Paul Cocke, but WSU is on its own tuition path this spring.

Washington State University President Elson Floyd has promised tuition won't go up any more than 2 percent this fall. If the Legislature creates a budget based on less than a 2 percent increase, WSU will follow their lead, said Colleen Kerr, WSU assistant vice president for external affairs and chief legislative officer.

___

Contact Donna Blankinship through Twitter at https://twitter.com/dgblankinship

Hollande's government had planned last year to raise capital gains tax on business owners early in its mandate, but backed down after a high-profile revolt and warnings the move would drive start-up companies abroad.

But the episode, and increases in other business taxes, have created a climate of mistrust for the government among business owners at a time when leaders need them to help kick-start the stagnant economy and create jobs.

Eager to dispel the bad blood, Hollande is set to announce plans to reduce the taxable amount of their capital gains by up to 65 percent, Les Echos business newspaper reported on its website on Friday.

Under special cases such as a business owner retiring, the deduction could reach as much as 85 percent, the daily said.

The presidency official did not confirm the numbers but insisted that Hollande wanted to encourage businesses to be set up and help risk-taking investors that finance new firms.

With the thinnest profit margins in the euro zone, corporate confidence has fallen to levels not seen since the 2008-2009 financial crisis as firms face plunging demand and high taxes.

Hollande's Socialist government is struggling to win back corporate France's confidence, with many business people fearing more tax hikes are in store as the state battles to bring down its budget deficit.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault acknowledged last week that the government's flagship measure for companies, a tax credit aimed at cutting their wage bill indirectly, had received a tepid reception so far.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Leigh Thomas)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock band Paramore knocked Justin Timberlake off his three-week reign at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday to score its first No. 1 album, while country singer Brad Paisley took the No. 2 spot.

"Paramore," the band's fourth studio album, sold 106,000 copies in its first week according to figures on Wednesday from Nielsen SoundScan.

Paramore's last album, 2009's "Brand New Eyes," scored higher sales of 175,000 in its first week but that wasn't enough to top the chart at the time, debuting at No. 2.

Paisley, who performed with John Mayer at the Academy of Country Music awards earlier this month, notched the No. 2 slot with his latest album "Wheelhouse," which sold 100,000 copies.

The country singer has yet to score a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 charts, but "Wheelhouse" did land at the top spot of the Billboard Country Albums chart.

Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience," which was released on March 15, slipped to No. 3 after three weeks at No. 1.

Eric Church, who won Album of the Year for 2011's "Chief" at the Academy of Country Music awards, landed at No. 5 this week with new album "Caught in the Act."

Other debuts in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 include rapper Tyga at No. 7 with his third album "Hotel California" and Danish metal-rockers Volbeat at No. 9 with "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies."

Iowa-based alt-metal band Stone Sour rounded out the top ten with "House of Gold & Bones Part 2."

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Vicki Allen)