TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 340,000 gas-electric hybrid Prius cars around the world, 212,000 of them in Japan and 94,000 in North America, for a defect in their parking brakes.

Toyota says it has received reports of crashes, injuries and deaths. The Japanese automaker refused to provide details, saying it was still looking into the reports.

Toyota said the parking brake cable can disengage, causing the brakes to stop working properly. So if the car is left in any gear other than park, it could start rolling away, and possibly crash.

Toyota said 17,000 Prius vehicles were recalled in Europe, and the rest in Australia and other regions. The problem models were manufactured from August 2015 through October 2016.

The company says all the vehicles were manufactured in Japan.

UNDATED (AP) — Hurricane Matthew impaired or destroyed more than 1 million structures, forced businesses from Florida to North Carolina to close and put thousands temporarily out of work.

Goldman Sachs estimates the storm probably caused $10 billion in damage overall. Insurance companies will likely be liable for about $4 billion to $6 billion of that total, according to an estimate Saturday by CoreLogic, a real estate data provider.

In many affected areas, small-business owners were still assessing the damage, but figures suggest Matthew’s effect on the broader national economy will be minimal.

Though damage estimates are usually revised higher after more comprehensive assessments, the current figures would still make Matthew the 22nd-worst storm since World War II.

The Tar River in Greenville, North Carolina, is expected to crest Wednesday, as some 9,000 residents are being kept away from their neighborhoods.

Gov. Pat McCrory is urging people to heed evacuation orders, in hopes of preventing the death toll from climbing after Hurricane Matthew.

The storm has claimed at least 34 lives in the U.S., and half of them were in North Carolina.

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has rejected Tyson Foods’ request for a new trial in a case that awarded $5.8 million to thousands of employees at the company’s pork plant in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Tyson lawyers filed a brief in June saying a new trial was necessary to address liability and damages issues and ensure workers included in the suit are entitled to a share of the award.

Storm Lake employees sued Tyson in 2007 to collect pay for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective work clothes and equipment before and after their shifts.

U.S. District Judge John Jarvey said in his ruling Thursday that the payment method ensures workers not entitled to damages won’t receive a portion of the award.

The Supreme Court upheld the award in March.

Tyson spokeswoman Caroline Ahn declined to comment.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal court clerk has entered a default judgment against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach for failing to file a timely response to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law requiring prospective voters to prove they are U.S. citizens.

It remains unclear whether U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson will give Kobach more time to respond. Kobach is facing four separate lawsuits challenging aspects of that law.

If Tuesday’s judgment stands it would entirely strike down the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirement. The lawsuit contends it violates the U.S. Constitution’s protections against depriving a person of life, liberty or property without due process.

It also contends the state law discriminates against citizens born outside of Kansas.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Coast Guard says work to clean up 100 gallons of diesel fuel in the Missouri River is complete.

A towing vessel released the diesel fuel Monday after a fuel tank ruptured. A boom was placed around the vessel to contain the leaked fuel.

The Coast Guard said in a news release that the fuel was successfully cleaned up Tuesday. About 3,000 gallons of an oily-water mixture were removed from the river.

The spill was not expected to damage the environment. The Coast Guard said an investigation into what caused the tank to rupture is continuing.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas transportation officials say more than 300 people have died in traffic accidents this year, a 16 percent increase over the same period in 2015.

Kansas Department of Transportation traffic safety manager Chris Bortz says there was a 25 percent increase in traffic fatalities last year, with nearly 360 deaths.

Bortz says the increase is a national phenomenon and that distracted driving is likely one of the causes.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports 50 percent of traffic fatalities in Kansas involve people who weren’t wearing a seatbelt.

About a third involve people driving while distracted, and another third involve people driving while drunk or otherwise impaired.

Interim transportation secretary Richard Carlson says that even looking down at one’s cellphone for what seems like a short amount of time is dangerous.

NEW YORK (AP) McDonald’s says Ronald McDonald is keeping a low profile with reports of creepy clown sightings on the rise.

McDonald’s Corp. said Tuesday that it is being “thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events” as a result of the “current climate around clown sightings in communities.” The company did not provide any other details about how often its red-haired mascot makes appearances, and how that will change.

The burger chain’s decision comes after a rash of pranks around the country that have involved eerie clown sightings. The reports have forced police in some areas to respond.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually attacked and suffocated his daughter, a high school honors student, at a motel.

Forty-year-old Jerry Bausby entered the not-guilty plea last week in Jackson County on charges of first-degree murder, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse in the March death of 18-year-old Daizsa Laye Bausby.

Authorities say Daizsa Bausby’s body was found March 22 in a Kansas City motel room. A medical examiner concluded the teenager died of asphyxia by smothering.

Police say Bausby denied having sexual contact with his daughter, and that lab tests completed last month show genetic material swabbed from Jerry Bausby’s body matched the victim’s DNA.

Bausby remains jailed on $750,000 cash bond.

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Funeral services are planned for this week for a St. Louis County police officer who was fatally shot.

St. Louis County police say services for Officer Blake Snyder will start at 11 a.m. Thursday at a church in Chesterfield. Afterward a funeral procession will travel to a cemetery in Godfrey, Illinois.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar has said the 33-year-old Snyder was shot point-blank last week after encountering a man accused of causing a disturbance in a normally quiet, middle-class suburban neighborhood in Green Park. Snyder was married and the father of a 2-year-old boy.

Prosecutors have charged 18-year-old Trenton Forster in the killing. Forster was wounded by another officer before he was taken into custody. Forster and the officer who shot him are white, as was Snyder.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the head while in the drive-thru lane of a St. Louis restaurant.

The accident happened Saturday afternoon at a Steak ‘n Shake restaurant. The man survived and is hospitalized in stable condition.

Investigators say the 28-year-old man somehow accidentally shot himself while inside his vehicle. Police have not released further details, and it wasn’t clear if anyone else was in the car.