U.S. to give $6.6 million to U.N., Syrian rescue group

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will release $6.6 million (£5 million) to a Syrian group that rescues civilians caught up in fighting and a United Nations group that monitors human rights abuses, the State Department said.

The funds will go to the Syrian Civil Defense fund, commonly known as the White Helmets and the U.N. International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, which collects and analyses evidence of violations of international human rights laws, it said.