IN PHOTOS Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
A Canadian airline pilot who was detained in the Dominican Republic after he and his crew discovered more than 200 kilos of cocaine on board a flight to Toronto is seeking $16 million from the federal government and his former employer, Pivot Airlines.
A statement of claim, filed April 5 in Ontario Superior court, noted that Rob DiVenanzo continued to "suffer significant" physical, emotional and psychological harm stemming from what he had to endure while stranded in the Dominican Republic for nearly eight months in 2022.
"I'm never going to be the same," said DiVenanzo, who is being represented by high-profile lawyer Marie Henein, of Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP. "It's changed me. I really feel like I'm not as happy as I used to be. I've made great strides in the time that I've been back, but I'm definitely different."
Not long after they reported finding roughly $25 million in drugs on their charter plane, DiVenanzo and four other crew members were jailed for nine days before being released under house arrest in the Dominican Republic.
Under constant threat, they had to be moved to multiple safehouses and received around the clock armed security.
He and the crew got so desperate for help at one point several months in that they made a public plea to the prime minister for their release. Still, nothing happened.
Then, after more than seven months and days after a W5 team began asking questions while on the ground in the Dominican Republic, their case was mysteriously dropped and they were allowed to return home.
The claim cites numerous failures at all levels of government to protect and ensure his safety, noting the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs "did nearly nothing to secure Captain DiVenanzo's prompt return to Canada."
"If this could happen to five airline crew members, it could happen to any member of the public," DiVenanzo said. "I think that the public needs to know that. And I think the public and myself, we need answers. What happened? What went wrong? Why were we put in that position, and why did we not receive any help from anyone other than [W5]?"
W5 reached out to Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly for comment but did not receive a response before deadline.
The statement of claim also alleged the RCMP "put Canadian citizens at risk in a foreign country and took no reasonable steps to warn Captain DiVenanzo or protect him from this considerable danger."
A W5 investigation revealed that the RCMP knew about a potential cocaine shipment from the Dominican Republic to Toronto aboard a charter flight. The investigation also showed that the RCMP had been looking into at least two passengers on the chartered flights — with extensive ties to Alberta's drug trade — months before the incident in the Dominican Republic.
The RCMP said it was not in a position to comment because the matter is before the courts.
The filing also alleged his former employer, Pivot Airlines, was liable because it did "virtually no due diligence" to "ensure the safety of Pivot employees."
This stems from the approximately $200,000 Pivot Airlines received from a person named John Strudwick, the chief financial officer (CFO) of a company called Trust Capital for a series of charter flights from Toronto to the Dominican Republic in early 2022. W5 later revealed that the company and CFO were fake, and the payments were being made by an Edmonton man.
The lawsuit noted that Pivot Airlines "knew or should have known that Trust Capital was a sham company that had chartered Pivot airplanes to smuggle drugs into Toronto … they knew that Captain DiVenanzo was at imminent risk of arrest, serious bodily harm, or worse."
Pivot Airlines did not respond to W5's request for comment by deadline.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
When you're picking something up from the floor or bending over to tie your shoe laces, you're performing "the hinge move," according to movement trainers.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.