Norway to take in 20 rescued migrants from France

Norway's foreign ministry said on Saturday that the country would take in 20 of the migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking NGO, who disembarked in France after Italy blocked access to its ports. The Ocean Viking, a Norwegian-flagged vessel operated by a French NGO, had picked up 234 migrants at sea near the Libyan coast before spending weeks seeking a port to accept them. After pleading for days to be allowed to dock in Italy, the Ocean Viking was allowed to dock at the French port of Toulon earlier in November in what the French government called an "exceptional" decision. Around 40 minors have been placed in social care, while 189 adults were brought to a retention centre to evaluate the validity of their asylum requests, a French interior ministry official said on Friday.