MH17 Probe Implicates Putin |
International prosecutors say Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to have approved a decision to supply long-range missiles to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014 and killed nearly 300 people on board.
The implication comes from an international team tasked with investigating those responsible for launching the missile (see background). The team said they had documented indications of Putin\'s role in the downing through recorded phone conversations of Russian officials, but the evidence wasn\'t complete enough to initiate a new prosecution.
The conclusion follows a Dutch court ruling in November, which sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist in absentia to life in prison for shooting down the plane. The incident happened amid a separatist struggle in eastern Ukraine, facilitated by Russia seeking control of the Crimean Peninsula.
Moscow has denied involvement in the plane\'s destruction and maintains the verdicts are politically motivated. |
Several European leaders signaled an openness to send fighter jets to Ukraine yesterday, as Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy made a surprise tour of London and Paris to make the request. The campaign for more weapons follows Russian claims Monday that it is adding tens of thousands of troops in eastern Ukraine ahead of a planned offensive in the next month.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia currently holds air superiority over the front lines, although Russia’s fleet outmatches Ukraine’s older aircraft in number and capacity. The air parity results from Ukraine’s effective use of surface-to-air missile systems as well as a low Russian missile success rate, according to analysts. Ukrainian jet fighters would need to be trained to use Western aircraft, a roughly six-month process on average.
While leaders in the UK and France expressed willingness to send jets, both Germany and the US ruled out the option for now. See more updates on the war here. |
CVS Health, the parent company of the nationwide pharmacy chain, announced a $10.6B deal yesterday to acquire Oak Street Health, one of the country\'s largest primary care health networks focused on older adults. The deal is the latest—and CVS Health\'s first step—in the trend of large pharmacy chains moving into the primary care market.
In addition to nearly 10,000 pharmacies, CVS Health owns insurance giant Aetna, which provides coverage to more than 40 million people under various medical and dental plans. The deal would allow CVS Health to manage health services from the insurer through point-of-care for millions of older patients. Company officials say the move helps meet the government\'s goal of having more patients in value-based care arrangements—where providers are paid based on health outcomes.
Rivals Walgreens, UnitedHealth, and others have made similar recent moves. |
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