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Possible missile parts found at Ukraine crash site

 
Published Aug. 12, 2015

Ukraine

Possible missile parts found in MH17 crash

Investigators have found what could be parts from a Buk surface-to-air missile system in eastern Ukraine, the area where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down last year. Dutch prosecutors said it could help provide clues for a criminal investigation. The plane was traveling to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, from Amsterdam on July 17, 2014, and all 298 people on board were killed. The jet was widely believed by Ukraine and some Western countries, including the United States, to have been destroyed by a surface-to-air missile fired from eastern Ukraine in territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Russia has emphatically denied any involvement in the crash, and Russian officials have said that the plane was shot down by a Ukrainian missile or warplane.

Colorado

Foul waters from mine spill are expanding

More than 3 million gallons of sludge tainted with lead, arsenic and other heavy metals released from an abandoned mine in Silverton, Colo., in the San Juan mountains has rolled down rivers reaching into the desert Southwest. Colorado and New Mexico declared stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers to be disaster areas as the orange-colored waste stream churned downstream. Communities and farmers along the rivers were forced to stop using river water, and it's unclear when it will be safe to resume irrigating. The tainted water is expected to reach Lake Powell, a reservoir of the Colorado River. The lower stretch of the river serves parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

Nation

Researchers say fetal tissue is essential

The furor on Capitol Hill over Planned Parenthood has stoked a debate about the use of tissue from aborted fetuses in medical research. But U.S. scientists have been using such cells for decades to develop vaccines and seek treatments for ailments ranging from vision loss and neurological disorders to cancer and AIDS. Anti-abortion rights activists set off the uproar by releasing undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials that raise questions about whether the organization is profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood denies any profit, saying it charges fees solely to cover costs. University labs that buy such cells strongly defend research. They say tissue that would otherwise be thrown out has played a vital role in lifesaving medical advances and holds potential for further breakthroughs.

Britain

Vote defends sex trade decriminalization

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has approved a resolution to recommend "full decriminalization of all aspects of consensual sex work." It argues its research suggests decriminalization is the best way to defend sex workers' human rights, rejecting complaints by women's rights groups who say it is tantamount to advocating the legalization of pimping and owning of brothels. The U.S.-based Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, which argued that although it agrees that those who are prostituted should not be criminalized, says full decriminalization would make pimps "businesspeople" who could sell the vulnerable with impunity.

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Elsewhere

Wisconsin: High-wire daredevil Nik Wallenda has completed his longest tightrope walk ever during an appearance at the Wisconsin State Fair. TV station WTMJ reports Wallenda on Tuesday evening crossed a 1,576-foot wire that was strung more than 10 stories above the Milwaukee Mile Speedway on the fairgrounds.

Times wires