UNGA creates body to probe fate of Syria’s missing

THE United Nations General Assembly on Thursday created an independent body to “clarify” the fate of thousands of people who remain missing in Syria since war broke out in 2011, overriding objections from Damascus. According to non-governmental groups, some 100,000 people have disappeared since the start of a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. More than half a million people have been killed.

“After 12 years of conflict and violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, little progress has been achieved in alleviating the suffering of families by providing answers as to the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons,” said the resolution, which passed with 83 votes in favor, 11 opposed and 62 abstentions.

The Independent Institution on Missing

Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic will “clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons” in the country and “provide adequate support to victims, survivors and the families of those missing.”

But Syria, along with Russia, China and Iran, objected to the new body, saying it had not been consulted on the resolution.

AFP

“It’s been our assessment now that it did not collect while it was transiting the United States or overflying the United States,” said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder. Ryder said the US “took steps to mitigate” intelligence collection by the balloon.

“Certainly the efforts we made contributed” to that, Ryder said, without further explanation.

The huge balloon with a large payload of electronics flew over the United States from Alaska in the northwest to South Carolina in the east from late January to early February this year, crossing above sensitive military installations and prompting concerns Beijing was scooping up vital intelligence. It was shot down on February 4 just off the South Carolina coast, and was recovered from the Atlantic ocean by the US military, which has been studying its contents since. AFP

Extreme heat

kills

over 100 in Mexico

MEXICO CITY—More than 100 people have died due to extreme heat in Mexico in June, the government said, following a series of heatwaves in the Latin American nation.

Scientists say global warming is exacerbating adverse weather, with many countries experiencing record high temperatures.

Over 1,000 heat-related emergencies were reported in Mexico between June 12 and 25, of which 104 resulted in deaths, according to health ministry figures released on Wednesday.

Authorities had already reported eight deaths between April 14 and May 31, bringing the total to 112.

The main cause was heat stroke, followed by dehydration, according to the health ministry.

Mexico’s northern regions reported the most fatalities, with 64 deaths recorded in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon and 19 in neighboring Tamaulipas, bordering the US state of Texas, which has also been hit by extreme heat. AFP