Honda recalls nearly 1.7 million vehicles over steering problem that could lead to crashes

Honda Motor Co. is recalling close to 1.7 million vehicles due to a manufacturing issue that could make it difficult to steer the vehicles and lead to crashes.

Honda reported the recall last week to government regulators, who issued the recall order on Tuesday.

The safety recall order from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the steering gearbox assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly, potentially causing “excessive internal friction” that could make the vehicle difficult to steer and increase the likelihood of a crash.

The vehicles covered in the recall were from model years 2022 to 2025 and include certain Acura Integras, Honda Civics, Honda CR-Vs and Honda HR-Vs.

The NHTSA announced an investigation of the problem back in March after it received 145 complaints from Honda Civic drivers that their steering could stick, forcing them to exert extra effort to turn the steering wheel.

Notification letters are expected to mailed to the vehicle owners on Nov. 18.

Owners will be able to take their vehicles to dealers, who will replace the worm gear spring and reapply grease as necessary at no cost. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. The numbers for the recall are SJS, MJU, QJT and VJV.

GSK to settle 80,000 Zantac cases related to allegations of contamination for up to $2.2B

GSK Plc said it will pay as much as $2.2 billion to resolve about 80,000 U.S. court cases related to allegations that its old reflux medication Zantac was contaminated with a suspected carcinogen.

The cases represent about 93% of those against the company involving Zantac, GSK said Wednesday in a statement. Settling the cases is not an admission of liability, the company said.

Plaintiffs argued that the company knew that Zantac’s active ingredient, ranitidine, turned into the potential carcinogen NDMA under certain conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked companies producing Zantac to remove all ranitidine-based drugs from the market in 2020.

GSK is among a number of companies that made and sold versions of Zantac. Sanofi agreed in April to pay more than $100 million to settle about 4,000 Zantac-related lawsuits. Pfizer agreed to settle more than 10,000 related cases, Bloomberg reported in May.

X back in Brazil after complying with demands

The social media platform X began returning to Brazil on Wednesday, after remaining inaccessible for more than a month due to a clash between its owner, Elon Musk, and a justice on the country’s highest court.

Internet service providers began restoring access to the platform after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized lifting X’s suspension on Tuesday.

“TWITTER IS ALIVE,” Lucas dos Santos Consoli, known as luscas on X, wrote on the platform to his more than 7 million followers.“I’m happy that the platform decided to follow the laws of Brazil and finally adapted, after all I’ve been using the app for almost 15 years so I can’t deny that I was missing it,” the 31-year-old told The Associated Press.

De Moraes ordered the shutdown of X on Aug. 30 after a monthslong dispute with Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, although his rulings, including X’s nationwide suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers.

Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.