GM, Isuzu issue recall for 258,000 SUVs

GM, Isuzu issue recall for 258,000 SUVs

detroit

General Motors and Isuzu are recalling more than 258,000 SUVs in the U.S. and Canada to fix short-circuits in power-window and door-lock switches that can cause fires.

The recall covers Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 97-X SUVs from the 2006 and 2007 model years. The SUVs were sold or registered in 20 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Canada, where salt and other chemicals are used to clear roads in the winter.

GM has reports of 28 fires, and it doesn’t know of any injuries caused by the problem.

Airstrike kills 8 in Syria

beirut

A Syrian warplane on Saturday bombed a small town partially controlled by anti-regime fighters near the Turkish border, killing eight people and wounding at least 20, the latest escalation in the use of air power by President Bashar Assad’s government in the Arab nation’s civil war.

The afternoon airstrike, reported by activists in the area as well as the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, was one of at least two that took place Saturday.

The increased use of airstrikes by the regime is taking its toll on civilians, and, in the eyes of activists, is evidence of its insensitivity to civilian casualties as it battles for survival against the rebels.

Russian clerics forgive band for Putin rant

moscow

Russia’s top Orthodox clerics on Saturday asked for mercy for the punk band Pussy Riot for its anti-government protest in a Moscow cathedral, but the church’s forgiveness is unlikely to change the band’s punishment in a case that caused an international furor over political dissent.

Despite its plea for clemency for the three rock activists, a leading cleric called the demonstration “awful” and defiant of the powerful church that is the heart of Russia’s national identity.

The case, which ended Friday with the three band members’ conviction for hooliganism and sentence to two years each in prison, became an emblem of Russia’s intolerance of dissent and was widely seen as a warning that authorities will tolerate opposition only under tightly controlled conditions.

US drone kills 5 militants in Pakistan

islamabad

A missile launched from a U.S. drone struck a suspected militant hideout in a tribal region in northern Pakistan where allies of a powerful warlord were gathered Saturday, killing five of his supporters, Pakistani officials said.

The strike in North Waziristan against allies of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant commander whose forces frequently target U.S. and other NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan, comes amid speculation over whether Pakistan will launch an operation against militants in the tribal region.

Police officer finishes shift, is shot and killed

philadelphia

A police officer was shot to death blocks from his precinct house just after he finished his shift early Saturday in what authorities suspect was a street robbery. Police announced rewards totaling $30,000 to help them make an arrest.

Officer Moses Walker Jr., 40, was shot several times around 6 a.m. about four blocks from his station in north Philadelphia, police said. He wasn’t wearing a uniform.

The 19-year-veteran, who was unmarried and had no children, was pronounced dead at a hospital in a city where on average nearly one person has been slain every day this year.

Associated Press