Myanmar's Suu Kyi on first trip since release (AFP)

BAGAN, Myanmar (AFP) – Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi visited an ancient temple city in central Myanmar with her son Monday, in a tentative first test of her ability to travel following her release by the junta.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose previously announced plan for a political tour prompted stern warnings from the regime, was greeted at Bagan airport by crowds of journalists and what appeared to be plain-clothes police.

It is Suu Kyi's first venture outside the main city of Yangon since being freed from seven years of house arrest last November, but politics are not expected to be on the agenda.

Suu Kyi did not make any statements upon arrival and headed straight for her hotel with her youngest son Kim Aris, who told AFP he was "very happy" to be in Bagan, one of Myanmar's top tourist attractions.

"It's my first holiday in 13 years. She also needs a break. We're going to stay here for four days. I'm very happy," said the 33-year-old British national, who was reunited with his mother last year after a decade apart.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner's earlier plan to launch a political tour prompted a demand from the regime for her party to stay out of politics, and a warning that "chaos and riots" could ensue if she went ahead.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who met with Suu Kyi last week, urged Myanmar authorities to ensure her safety on her travels.

"I believe all governments around the world would be looking very carefully at how the security is provided for by the government," Rudd told reporters on Saturday during a stopover in Singapore.

Security is a major concern as Suu Kyi's convoy was attacked in 2003 during a political trip, in an ambush apparently organised by a regime frightened by her popularity.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 that was never recognised by the junta.

The party was disbanded by the military rulers because it boycotted the country's first election in 20 years, held in November, saying the rules were unfair.

The junta's political proxies claimed an overwhelming victory in the poll, which was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi on first trip since release (AFP)

BAGAN, Myanmar (AFP) – Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi visited an ancient temple city in central Myanmar with her son Monday, in a tentative first test of her ability to travel following her release by the junta.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose previously announced plan for a political tour prompted stern warnings from the regime, was greeted at Bagan airport by crowds of journalists and what appeared to be plain-clothes police.

It is Suu Kyi's first venture outside the main city of Yangon since being freed from seven years of house arrest last November, but politics are not expected to be on the agenda.

Suu Kyi did not make any statements upon arrival and headed straight for her hotel with her youngest son Kim Aris, who told AFP he was "very happy" to be in Bagan, one of Myanmar's top tourist attractions.

"It's my first holiday in 13 years. She also needs a break. We're going to stay here for four days. I'm very happy," said the 33-year-old British national, who was reunited with his mother last year after a decade apart.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner's earlier plan to launch a political tour prompted a demand from the regime for her party to stay out of politics, and a warning that "chaos and riots" could ensue if she went ahead.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who met with Suu Kyi last week, urged Myanmar authorities to ensure her safety on her travels.

"I believe all governments around the world would be looking very carefully at how the security is provided for by the government," Rudd told reporters on Saturday during a stopover in Singapore.

Security is a major concern as Suu Kyi's convoy was attacked in 2003 during a political trip, in an ambush apparently organised by a regime frightened by her popularity.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 that was never recognised by the junta.

The party was disbanded by the military rulers because it boycotted the country's first election in 20 years, held in November, saying the rules were unfair.

The junta's political proxies claimed an overwhelming victory in the poll, which was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation.

Utah case will be first Toyota suit to see court (AP)

LOS ANGELES. – After years of legal wrangling, the first of hundreds of lawsuits over acceleration problems against Toyota Motor Corp. has been scheduled for trial.

A crash that killed two people in Utah will be the first lawsuit to be weighed in court, a federal judge said Friday.

U.S. District Judge James Selna told attorneys the case of 38-year-old Charlene Jones Lloyd and 66-year-old Paul Van Alfen, whose Toyota Camry slammed into a wall in Utah in 2010, is scheduled to go to trial in February 2013.

The case — Van Alfen v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. — will be the first of several bellwether lawsuits, intended to determine how the rest of the litigation will proceed.

Selna wrote in a tentative order that he hoped the selection would "markedly advance these proceedings."

"The Court believes that selection of a personal injury/wrongful death case is most likely the type of case to meet that goal," Selna said.

Toyota said it welcomes the Utah case as the first suit to reach court.

"We are pleased that the initial bellwether will address plaintiffs' central allegation of an unnamed, unproven defect in Toyota vehicles, as every claim in the multi-district litigation rests upon this pivotal technical issue," the company said in a statement.

Toyota has previously argued the plaintiffs have been unable to prove that a design defect in its electronic throttle control system is responsible for vehicles surging unexpectedly. It has instead blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals.

The automaker's defense was buoyed earlier this year when U.S. regulators said electronic flaws weren't to blame for unintended acceleration. Plaintiffs' attorneys, however, want to look at Toyota's secretive source code that may provide more information about the system.

Van Alfen was driving the Camry on Interstate 80 near Wendover, Utah, on Nov. 5, 2010, when it suddenly accelerated, investigators said. Tire skid marks showed that Van Alfen tried to stop the vehicle as it exited Interstate 80, police said. The car went through a stop sign at the bottom of the ramp and through an intersection before hitting the wall.

Van Alfen and Lloyd, his son's fiancee, were killed. Van Alfen's wife and son were injured.

The Utah Highway Patrol concluded based on statements from witnesses and the crash survivors that the gas pedal was stuck.

The 2008 Camry Van Alfen was driving was subject to recalls focusing on all-weather floor mats interfering with accelerator pedals, unsecured mats entrapping the gas pedal and accelerators getting stuck.

Selna said a second bellwether case will be selected in September with trial to start in May 2013.