Recall issued for 38,000 GM vehicles in Canada over software safety glitch
Transport Canada has issued a recall for 38,000 General Motors (GM) vehicles for safety risks related to a software glitch, the agency reported in a notice on Wednesday.
Two German-run migrant rescue ships carrying nearly 300 rescued people were waiting off the eastern coast of Sicily on Saturday, one with permission to disembark the most vulnerable migrants while the other's request for a safe port have gone unanswered despite "critical" conditions on board.
The situation describes the chaos and uncertainty resulting from the decision by Italy's far-right-led government to close its ports to humanitarian rescue ships.
More than 1,000 rescued migrants were aboard four ships run by European charity organizations stuck in the Mediterranean Sea, some with people rescued as long as two weeks ago amid deteriorating conditions on board.
Both the Humanity 1 and Rise Above, run by separate German humanitarian groups, were in Italian waters: the Humanity 1 carrying 179 migrants has received permission to disembark minors and people needing medical care, but the Rise Above's request for port for its 93 rescued people has so far gone unanswered.
Two other ships, the Geo Barents with 572 migrants and the Ocean Viking with 234, also have repeatedly asked permission to access a port to disembark the rescued migrants.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday that the Humanity 1, run by the German organization SOS Humanitarian, would be allowed in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people in need of urgent medical care. The measure was approved after Germany and France each called on Italy to grant a safe port to the migrants, and indicated they would receive some of the migrants so Italy wouldn't bear the burden alone.
No such provisions have been offered to the other three ships.
Italy's new far-right-led government is insisting that countries whose flag the charity-run ships fly must take on the migrants. Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Piantedosi described such vessels as "islands" that are under the jurisdiction of the flag countries.
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his anti-migrant stance as interior minister from 2018-19, cheered the new directive in a Facebook video.
"We stop being hostage to these foreign and private NGOs that organize the routes, the traffic, the transport and the migratory policies," Salvini said.
Nongovernmental organizations stridently oppose that interpretation, and say they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress, no matter how they learn of their plight, and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.
The situation on the Rise Above was particularly desperate after rescuing 95 people, two of whom have been evacuated because of medical emergencies. Spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann described a "very critical situation (Friday) that ... led to very great tensions" on board, because passengers saw land and didn't understand why they weren't docking.
She said the crew was able to handle it, they spoke with the passengers and the situation is "stable again."
The head of mission on the vessel, Clemens Ledwa, demanded a port of safety immediately, citing also bad weather that was forecast overnight and the limited capacity of the small ship.
"This is not a wish. This is everyone's right," he said Friday night.
Emily Schultheis reported from Berlin.
Transport Canada has issued a recall for 38,000 General Motors (GM) vehicles for safety risks related to a software glitch, the agency reported in a notice on Wednesday.
About 10 senior Hezbollah commanders were killed along with Ibrahim Aqil, leader of the movement's Radwan special forces unit who was attacked in an Israeli air strike in Beirut on Friday, Israel's military spokesperson said.
An 11-year-old boy died Monday after subway surfing in New York City. He's the fourth person to die from subway surfing in the city this year.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service's performance ahead of a July assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof.
An Ontario man says he’s still waiting for a vehicle he purchased on Kijiji to be delivered to his home. But after more than a month, he says he’s losing hope that the car will arrive and believes that he is a victim of a scam.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
Israel’s military has struck the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, in a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.