Lawyers with nearly two dozen firms around the country hope to consolidate their claims that Toyota Motor Corp.'s recalls have cost customers billions of dollars.

P. Tim Howard, a Northeastern University law professor leading the group seeking class-action status for numerous existing lawsuits, said Wednesday that the more than 8 million vehicles recalled by Toyota have collectively lost more than $2 billion in resale value because of the recalls.

Kelley Blue Book and other automotive guides have warned that the recalls begun in November are eroding the value of Toyotas. The car appraisal guide estimated Wednesday that the resale value of recalled cars and trucks will fall another 1.5 percent. That's on top of a drop of 1 percent to 3 percent Blue Book analysts forecast last week.

Howard, who litigated against tobacco companies in the 1990s, also said he will seek damages for Toyota drivers who have decided not to use their recalled vehicles, although the value is more difficult to determine.

When his corruption trial begins in June, Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, wants jurors to be allowed to hear all of the audio recordings — some 500 hours’ worth — that federal authorities secretly made of his telephone conversations.

In papers filed here on Wednesday, Mr. Blagojevich asked Judge James B. Zagel of Federal District Court to allow far more than just snippets of the calls, some of which have been made public.

“Play all the tapes,” Mr. Blagojevich told reporters after a hearing. He said that he planned to testify at his trial, and that all the tapes — not just parts — would provide the full picture and prove his innocence. “Play the truth, and play the whole truth,” he said.

A lawyer for Mr. Blagojevich, Sam Adam Jr., said jurors did not necessarily have to hear all of the tapes, which were made in Mr. Blagojevich’s home and campaign offices and on cellphones in the three months leading up his arrest in December 2008 on bribery, racketeering and a host of other charges.

But, Mr. Adam said, the defense team does want to play any parts that are related to the charges against Mr. Blagojevich or that give context to any of his statements on the tapes.

That prospect, political analysts here said, was likely to cause queasiness for Illinois politicians, some of whom are thought to be heard on those audio recordings and might have hoped their comments would never become public. In a year when the state is electing a new governor and a United States senator, such an open airing of hundreds of hours of tapes — even for those who did nothing criminal — might be especially awkward.

A court in Beijing denied an appeal by one of China’s best-known democracy advocates on Thursday and upheld his 11-year prison sentence, human rights activists said.

The Beijing Municipal Higher People’s Court upheld the conviction and unusually harsh sentence of the advocate, Liu Xiaobo. Mr. Liu, a Beijing scholar, played an important role in organizing a document called Charter 08 that called for political and legal reforms. Charter 08 was issued in December 2008; Mr. Liu was subsequently convicted of “inciting subversion of state power.”

The denial of Mr. Liu’s appeal marks the third judicial setback this week for activists in China and the latest signal that China’s leaders remain leery of tolerating greater pluralism.

Tan Zuoren, an activist who said the poor quality of the construction of public buildings contributed to the death toll in the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for sending e-mail messages with comments about the military crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is heading to court to answer revised charges that he schemed to sell or trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and swap official favors for campaign money.

Marshals have warned they will not tolerate the kind of swirling crowd at Blagojevich's arraignment Wednesday that swallowed the former governor last time he was in court.

Curiosity about Blagojevich is guaranteed to bring out a heavy media contingent, but defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky says the arraignment is likely to be routine — a simple not guilty plea.

While the indictment against Blagojevich has been revised, the allegations of misconduct on his part are no different that the ones in the old version.

A North Carolina court has temporarily stopped the security rules that a judge issued for the retrieval of the John Edwards sex tape.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a stay on Tuesday without giving a reason. The court, however, did not halt an initial order that requires former Edwards aide Andrew Young to turn over the tape by Wednesday afternoon.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones last week ordered that Young's copies of the tape be turned over so they can be placed under seal. Jones has threatened Young with penalties if he doesn't hand them over.

Jones later ordered that a security official accompany Young to collect the video from a safety deposit box in Atlanta, a requirement that Young's attorneys protested.

China's highest court has issued new guidelines on the death penalty that instruct lower courts to limit its use to a small number of "extremely serious" cases.

The Supreme People's Court told courts to use a policy of "justice tempered with mercy" that takes into consideration the severity of the crime, the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted court spokesman Sun Jungong as saying in a report late Tuesday.

The guidelines reflect the court's call last July for the death penalty to be used less often and for only the most serious criminal cases. China executes more people than any other country, but the high court has been more outspoken recently about the need to tone it down.

The court reviews all death sentences from lower courts before they are carried out, and its comments have indicated more of those death sentences could be overturned.

Still, China faced strong international criticism at the end of December when it executed a British man accused of drug smuggling, despite a plea for mercy from the British prime minister and concerns that the man had mental problems.

Rights group Amnesty International has said China put at least 1,718 people to death in 2008. China does not release an official count.