Thursday, July 1 2021

Hundreds of deaths linked to historic heatwave in the Pacific Northwest, and US court overturns Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction *) Hundreds of deaths could be linked to Northwest heatwave Chief coroner in Canada's British Columbia province says they've received reports of at least 486 “sudden and unexpected deaths” between Friday and Wednesday. Normally, she said about 165 people would die in the Canadian province over a five-day period. LaPointe said in a statement: “While it is too early to say with certainty how many of these deaths are heat related, it is believed likely that the significant increase in deaths reported is attributable to the extreme weather” *) Syria aid: Turkey in talks with Russia, UNSC members as deadline looms Turkish FM Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Lavrov have discussed the issue of continuing cross-border humanitarian aid to millions of Syrians in need. Millions of people depend on the humanitarian aid currently funnelled from a single border crossing in Turkey into northwest Syria. Cavusoglu said the mandate, which expires July 10, should be extended. *) UN court convicts former Milosevic aides of war crimes in Balkan conflict Two former Serbian spy chiefs in Slobodan Milosevic's regime have been convicted of war crimes in the last and longest-running trial at the UN tribunal over the 1990s Balkans conflict. Jovica Stanisic, former head of Serbia's state security service, and his subordinate Franko "Frenki" Simatovic were sentenced to 12 years in jail. It is the first time that Serbian officials have been convicted by a UN court of involvement in crimes in Bosnia. *) Death toll from Miami condo collapse rises as rescuers find more bodies Six more bodies have been discovered in the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Florida, authorities said. The official death toll now stands at 18 after most of a building in the Miami-area town of Surfside suddenly collapsed early last Thursday. The search for more than 140 people unaccounted for entered its seven