Briefs

Toyota announced on Nov. 14 that it will recall 2.77 million vehicles after finding defects in steering and water-pump systems. The latest recall covers 14 models, including the Prius and Corolla, and is the second in two months for Asia’s largest automaker. Last month, Toyota recalled 7.43 million vehicles over a possible flaw that could lead the power-window switch to melt or catch fire. In 2009 and 2010 the company called back more than 10 million cars for problems with unintended acceleration. The Japanese company says the latest defects may cause “a reduction in steering response” though it hasn’t received any reports of crashes resulting from them.

In its latest Transparency Report, Google said government requests to remove content from its search results rose 71 percent in the first half of 2012 as political leaders become more aggressive in their attempts to control information on the Web. The world’s largest search engine said that there were 1,791 requests through June of this year, up from 1,048 during the second half of 2011. Turkey leads the list, with 501 requests, followed by the U.S. and Germany. Google says it complied with 52 percent of all requests.