Dutch probe: Buk missile downed Malaysian jet in Ukraine ADVERTISING Dutch probe: Buk missile downed Malaysian jet in Ukraine GILZE-RIJEN AIR BASE, Netherlands (AP) — The missile shot skyward from war-ravaged eastern Ukraine. With deadly accuracy more than six miles
Dutch probe: Buk missile downed Malaysian jet in Ukraine
GILZE-RIJEN AIR BASE, Netherlands (AP) — The missile shot skyward from war-ravaged eastern Ukraine. With deadly accuracy more than six miles up, it detonated just in front of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner, sending hundreds of jagged steel shards ripping through its aluminum skin at up to 5,600 mph and shearing the cockpit from the rest of the plane.
The two pilots and purser in the cockpit died instantly, and the Boeing 777 disintegrated and fell to earth, killing the rest of the 298 men, women and children aboard Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, Dutch investigators said Tuesday in a long-awaited report.
Some of the victims may have been conscious for 60 to 90 seconds, the Dutch Safety Board said, but they probably were not fully aware of what was happening in the oxygen-starved, freezing chaos. The tornado-like airflow surging through the doomed jet as it came apart was powerful enough to tear off people’s clothes and leave naked corpses amid the fields of sunflowers.
The 15-month Dutch investigation blamed a Soviet-made surface-to-air Buk missile for downing the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight, but it did not explicitly say who had fired it. It identified an area of 320 square kilometers (120 square miles) where it said the launch must have taken place, and all of the land was in the hands of pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukrainian forces at the time of the disaster, according to daily maps of fighting released by the Ukrainian National Security Council.
Russian Embassy shelled in Syria as insurgents hit back
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Russian Embassy in Damascus was shelled Tuesday as pro-government demonstrators gathered outside, and Syria’s largest insurgent coalition announced an offensive to counter Moscow’s airstrikes that have injected new fury in the conflict.
Al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, meanwhile, released an audio message purportedly from its leader urging Muslims in the former Soviet Union to attack Russian civilians if Russia targets civilians in Syria.
The developments underscored the complications brought about by Russia’s military intervention in Syria, which is fueling an already brutal conflict with a multitude of radical groups.
No one was hurt in the embassy shelling, officials said, and it was not the first time the compound has been hit during the civil war. The attack came as hundreds of people were gathered outside to thank Moscow for its military intervention.
Planned Parenthood changes fetal-tissue reimbursement policy
NEW YORK (AP) — Responding to a furor over undercover videos, Planned Parenthood says it will maintain programs at some of its clinics that make fetal tissue available for research, but will cover the costs itself rather than accepting any reimbursement.
Anti-abortion activists who recently released a series of covertly filmed videos have contended that Planned Parenthood officials sought profits from their programs providing post-abortion fetal tissue to researchers. Planned Parenthood said the videos were deceptively edited and denied seeking any payments beyond legally permitted reimbursement of costs.
The new policy — forgoing even permissible reimbursement — was outlined in a letter sent Tuesday by Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, to Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health.
“Planned Parenthood’s policies on fetal tissue donation already exceed the legal requirements,” Richards wrote. “Now we’re going even further in order to take away any basis for attacking Planned Parenthood to advance an anti-abortion political agenda.”
Twitter purging up to 336 workers as new CEO slashes costs
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter is laying off up to 336 employees, signaling CEO Jack Dorsey’s resolve to slash costs while the company struggles to make money.
The cutbacks announced Tuesday could equate to about 8 percent of Twitter’s workforce of 4,100 people.
The purge comes two weeks after Twitter brought back one of its co-founders as permanent CEO in hopes that Dorsey would be able to resolve problems that have slowed user growth at the messaging service and compounded an uninterrupted cycle of financial losses.
Cutting costs can boost profits but at Twitter, it has also raises uncertainty about the future, the company’s pursuit of faster growth and its ability to attract a bigger audience.
The layoffs may be a sign of desperation at a sinking company, said Edison Investment Research analyst Richard Windsor.
“It is important to run a tight ship, but simply cutting jobs is often the action of a company that does not know what else to do,” Windsor said.
