MOSCOW — A Russian reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by Syria forces responding to an Israeli airstrike, killing all 15 people aboard, in what President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday was “a chain of tragic accidental circumstances.”
The downing of the Il-20 highlighted the dangers posed by the conflicting interests of various powers in the crowded skies over Syria and threatened the close security ties between Russia and Israel.
In an effort to maintain that relationship, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly called Putin to express sorrow over the death of the plane’s crew, blamed the plane’s loss squarely on Syria and offered to send Israel’s air force chief to Moscow to share information about the incident.
The Russian military said the plane was hit 22 miles offshore late Monday night as it was returning to the Russian air base in Syria.
The incident triggered testy exchanges of blame between Israel and Russia.
HOUSTON — The arrest of a Border Patrol supervisor on allegations that he killed four women calls new attention to the agency’s problems keeping rogue officers off its force as it faces intense pressure to hire thousands more agents.
Juan David Ortiz, who worked in the agency’s Laredo sector, is accused of targeting women believed to be prostitutes in what prosecutors say is the work of a serial killer.
The Border Patrol and prosecutors portrayed Ortiz as an outlier who is not representative of the thousands of employees working for the agency around the country.
“I would hate for this to tarnish the great work that those men and women do,” Border Patrol chief Carla Provost said at a news conference.
But Ortiz’s arrest and allegations of violence involving other Border Patrol agents have thrown a spotlight on how the agency vets prospective hires at a time when President Donald Trump wants to bring on 5,000 more agents as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration. Congress has not funded the request.
SAN DIEGO — In a rare move, the U.S. government has approved the importation of marijuana extracts from Canada for a clinical trial, highlighting a new avenue for American researchers who have long had trouble obtaining the drug for medical studies.
The University of California San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced Tuesday the Drug Enforcement Administration has OK’d its plans to import capsules containing two key cannabis compounds — CBD and THC — from British Columbia-based Tilray Inc . to study their effectiveness in treating tremors that afflict millions of people, especially those over 65.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, making it impossible for researchers to simply obtain forms of the drug from one of the many medical marijuana programs approved by individual states — even a state with a pot culture as prevalent as California’s.
The University of California San Diego researchers said they needed marijuana extracts in capsule form because it’s easier to monitor the doses that patients receive, compared to having patients smoke or vaporize it.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles, one of the world’s major fashion centers and long a symbol of glitz and glamour, is taking steps to ban the sale of new fur products, a move that would make it the largest city in the U.S. to do so.
A proposal to ban the sale of fur products advanced in the City Council on Tuesday. The council voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance that will prohibit the manufacture and sale of new fur products. The ordinance must be presented to the council at a future date for final approval.
The vote also directed the city attorney to report back to the council on several issues, including how fur apparel is utilized by religious organizations, and possible exemptions, as well as potential conflicts with federal and state laws relating to sale of fur products derived from legally trapped animals.
From Associated Press