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Feds arrest two men accused of smuggling Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box

Authorities say this Dec. 30, 2019, image from security camera video shows Michael Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Taylor, a former Green Beret and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box in December 2019, while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. / Getty Images   WASHINGTON — A former Green Beret and his son were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and Peter Taylor, 27, are wanted by Japan on charges they helped Ghosn escape the country in December after he was released on bail. The men were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Harvard and were expected to appear before a judge via videoconference later Wednesday. The tale of the daring escape began on Dec. 28, 2019, when Peter Taylor arrived in Japan and met with Ghosn at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo for about an hour, authorities said. Just before 10 a.m. the next day, Michael Taylor flew into Osaka, Japan, on a chartered Bombardier Global Express jet from Dubai with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes with them. The elder Taylor was experienced with sticky situations. Over the years, he has been hired by parents to rescue abducted children, gone undercover for the FBI in a sting on a Massachusetts drug gang and worked as a contractor for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last assignment had landed him in a Utah jail for 14 months, caught in a federal contract fraud case that upended TaylorÂ’s family and finances before he agreed to plead guilty to two charges. It's not clear yet how Ghosn hooked up with Taylor. At their arrival, Taylor and Zayek, his Lebanese-born colleague, told airport employees they were musicians carrying audio equipment. Meanwhile, Ghosn, who was out of custody on a hefty bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor in his hotel room, authorities said. The elder Taylor and Zayek joined after a brief stop to rent a separate room near the airport. And soon after their arrival, the group left the Grand Hyatt and split up.

Nissan to present Vision Gran Turismo concept at Goodwood?

Power up your PlayStation and pop in any edition of Gran Turismo and you'll have hundreds of cars to choose from. But arguably few have managed to bridge the gap between that virtual world and reality than Nissan.
The Japanese automaker is the one responsible for putting the best gamers behind the wheel of actual race cars with its GT Academy, co-sponsored by Nissan and Gran Turismo. Yet while the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi have already revealed their Vision Gran Turismo concepts specifically designed for the game, Nissan has been left behind. And as it is apt to point out in its latest infographic, that's not a position to which it's accustomed.
The graphic outlines all 148 Nissan vehicles you can drive in Gran Turismo, but leaves the last one under wraps, identified only by the date June 10, 2014. That's this Tuesday, when Nissan is hotly anticipated (thanks in no small part to the Tweet below from Nissan VP Andy Palmer) to reveal its own Vision Gran Turismo concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Nissan recalls nearly 20,000 NV vans over gearshift issue

Nissan is recalling 18,800 NV vans built between December 20, 2010 and January 4, 2013. Certain 2012 and 2013 models equipped with a steering-column-mounted transmission shift levers may have been built with improperly installed shift mechanisms.
If the NV's gear selector plate lock clip wasn't installed correctly, normal road vibration could result in a gear position indicator that does not match the actual gear selection. As a result, when the driver selects 'park,' the transmission could still be in gear or in neutral, and roll away. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says this condition greatly increased the risk of accident and injury.
Nissan will inspect the gear selector lock clip and replace the part if necessary free of charge. Owners can expect to be notified once the recall campaign begins on April 8, 2013. Read the full recall notice below for more information.