Nation/world in brief: GM will repay loan even earlier

DETROIT – General Motors Co. will fully repay the $6.7 billion loan portion of its U.S. government aid earlier than its previously promised payback date of June, a person briefed on the plans said Monday.

GM CEO Ed Whitacre will announce details of the repayment during a visit Wednesday to the company’s Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kan., said the person, who did not want to be identified because the announcement has not been made.

The company has received a total of $52 billion in U.S. government aid, with the $6.7 billion considered a loan. The rest would be repaid when the company sells stock to the public, perhaps later this year.

Chavez presides over bicentennial

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez marked the 200th anniversary of Venezuela’s independence movement Monday with celebrations and meetings with his closest Latin American allies.

Chavez greeted Raul Castro of Cuba, Evo Morales of Bolivia and other leaders as he presided over a parade that included troops, Amazonian Indians carrying bows and arrows, flag-waving supporters and civilians who have joined government militias.

Wearing the trademark red beret of his army paratrooper years, Chavez reiterated his accusations of U.S. government meddling in Latin America while praising Venezuela’s move toward “democratic socialism.”

Americans could still be charged

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The Haitian judge investigating 10 American missionaries accused of kidnapping for trying to take a busload of children out of the country says no decision has been made on whether to drop any charges.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil tells the Associated Press that he is still considering the legal fates of detained group leader Laura Silsby and her nine freed compatriots.

The office of U.S. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho and the U.S. State Department said last week that the charges had been dropped against the nine freed Americans.

However, Saint-Vil on Monday called such pronouncements premature.

Study questions lung cancer scans

NEW YORK – Screening smokers for cancer with lung scans can lead to a high rate of false alarms, unneeded tests and biopsies, a new study suggests.

Some hospitals are promoting lung cancer screening with a special X-ray called a CT scan.

Scientists with the National Institutes of Health say doctors and people considering lung scans should take into account the high risk of false alarms in their study of 3,200 people.

For those who got CT scans, the risk of a “false-positive” was 21 percent after one scan and 33 percent after two. For chest X-rays, the risk was 9 percent after one, and 15 percent after two.

Anything suspicious detected through screening often needs to be followed up with more tests, biopsies and even surgery to find out if it really is cancer. Complications can include lung collapse, bleeding and infection.

The study’s findings are published in today’s Annals of Internal Medicine.