Toyota, in the midst of one of the largest recalls in automotive history, has now been formally subpoenaed by a federal grand jury as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The automaker, which surpassed GM as the world’s largest last year, continues to be hammered by Congressional panels over faulty accelerator pedals which are being blamed for at least one fatal crash.

The President began what may be a final push towards a health care overhaul on Monday in announcing his own legislative plans ahead of a bipartisan health care summit scheduled for Thursday.  Mr. Obama’s plan, which hues closely to the Senate version already passed, will cost $950 billion over ten years and seeks to cut the federal deficit by $100 billion.  The plan, posted to the White House website, is the first time that President Obama has specifically laid out his own priorities and will likely face widespread opposition from Congressional Republicans.  Things, as if they weren’t already, are about to get interesting.

In what appears to be a widening international dilemma for Israel, Dubai has disclosed that at least two more Britons had their identities stolen in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, further infuriating the UK’s foreign minister David Milliband.  In a joint statement draw up at a hastily assembled meeting, EU foreign ministers said that the killing raised “profoundly disturbing” issues and that they “strongly condemn the use of EU member states’ passports” in this assassination.

Separately, Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, denied any Israeli involvement but is being pressed by Britain, Ireland, France, and Germany to cooperate more fully with the ongoing investigation.

In a report authored by the Civic Federation, a new analysis shows that the State of Illinois is on the verge of bankruptcy should it continue in its profligacy.  With a record $12.8 billion budget deficit, the report’s author—Laurence Msall, the group’s president—says “Doomsday is here for the State of Illinois.”

The report recommends that the state increase income tax from 3% to 5% for individuals, that pensions and Social Security be taxed for the first time at the same rate as regular income, and that cigarette taxed be raise another $1 per pack to close the budget gap.

The proposed measures come as Illinois has already cut support for public universities and schools, mass transit, and social service programs throughout the state and particularly in the Chicagoland area.  One may look at the bright side and simply be thankful this isn’t California, where budgets must be passed by a two-thirds majority and are often repealed by voter initiative.  Though, in times like these, that is rather cold comfort.

According to Wired, federal analysts have identified a Chinese security consultant as a suspect in last year’s hacking attempts on Google. He is suspected to have authored key portions of the spyware program involved in those attacks.  While the creator is not explicitly employed by the Chinese government, the report shows that Chinese officials had “special access” to his programming software and that he had worked closely with Beijing on other matters in the past.

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court showed its willingness to allow a group of African-Americans to sue the city of Chicago for discrimination in a case that bares startling resemblance to one decided last year, creating, in effect, dueling rulings.

The case, Lewis v. Chicago, echos a recent decision that pitted the city of New Haven, CT against white firefighters who sued when they were not promoted after the city cancelled the results of a promotion test that it deemed adversely discriminated in outcome against blacks.  The city had done so in an attempt at preventing a lawsuit from African-Americans who would have been denied a promotion as none qualified.  In this instance, the Supreme Court sided with the white firefighters and allowed them to sue New Haven for discrimination.

The shoe is now on the other foot as Chicago is being sued by black applicants who were denied jobs as firefighters after a similar test rated them “qualified” when only those who were “well-qualified” were hired; of those who were “well-qualified,” only 11% were black and more than 60% were white while almost equal numbers of each group applied.  A decision is expected by fall.

A military coup in Niger toppled the government of President Mamadou Tandja on Thursday, according to Le Monde. In television and radio announcements, a spokesman for the ousters – who call themselves the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD) – said that the constitution had been suspended and all state institutions dissolved.

Soldiers captured Mr. Tandja after a gun battle in the streets as he was presiding over his weekly cabinet meeting.  Reports say that he, along with several government ministers, are being held in a barracks 13 miles west of the capital, Niamey.  The coup comes after tensions began mounting last year when President Tandja was widely criticized for changing the constitution to allow himself to stand for another term.

In what promises to be an international incident as riveting as one of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne novels, the United Arab Emirates is probing five U.S.-issued credit card accounts used by 11 suspected Israeli assassins in the killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai.  The incident left Mahmoud al-Mabhouh – who is a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group – dead in his hotel room on January 20.  While it was not caught on tape, the quick departure of the suspects from his room was, as well as their trip from Dubai to various European countries.

The accusation of Israeli government involvement brought howls of protest from European capitals, as the accused seemingly stole the identities of citizens from the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France.  In what may soon turn into a diplomatic nightmare for Israel, the leaders of the UK, Ireland, and France all summoned their respective Israeli ambassadors for an explanation; Germany says it will do so over the weekend.  Interpol has also issued international arrest warrants for the suspects.

In an unsurprising turn of events, snowboarder Shaun White took a second Olympic gold medal with his signature move, the Double McTwist 1260, a trick that involves 3 ½ twists combined with two head-over-heels flips performed midair.  White, who had already been assured of a gold medal after his first run on the halfpipe, capped a day in which the United States Olympic Team took 6 medals in various sports, the most a nation has won in a single day at the Winter Games.

A man flying a single-engine airplane crashed into an Austin, Texas federal building that houses IRS offices on Thursday, setting off a massive fire according to NPR.

The pilot, Joseph Andrew Stack, was a 53-year-old software engineer and reportedly posted an anti-government manifesto to his Internet site on Thursday morning in which he suggested that he had planned the attacked.

“Violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer… Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.”  He signed off by including his name and what appears to be his birth and death years: 1956–2010.

The Obama administration reiterated that the incident “does not appear” to be terrorism, but one wonders from what definition of terrorism they are working: The Oxford American Dictionary defines it as “the use of violence or intimidation in pursuit of political aims;” I’m not sure what this act was if not terrorism.