Bush: I’ll be tougher on Putin aggression

Bush: I’ll be tougher on Putin aggression

BERLIN

Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush is warning Russia that if he becomes president, the U.S. will do more to tamp down Vladimir Putin’s aggression, especially in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, and to “isolate his corrupt leadership from his people.” But Bush did little to tip his hand on what those steps would be.

In his first foreign speech of the 2016 campaign, Bush criticized what he called dramatic declines in U.S. military spending, suggesting that has undercut credibility as Washington and its allies confront threats in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Putin, he said, must know in advance that there will be consequences to his actions, because the Russian president is a ruthless pragmatist who “will push until someone pushes back.”

Famed prosecutor of Manson dies at 80

LOS ANGELES

Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who gained worldwide fame for his successful prosecutions of Charles Manson and his followers for the brutal 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others, has died. He was 80.

Bugliosi, who went on to become a best-selling true- crime writer, co-authoring the compelling account “Helter Skelter” about the Manson murders and the sensational trial that followed, died Saturday in a Los Angeles hospital.

He had had health issues in recent years and the cancer that he had overcome three years ago recently had returned and metastasized, according to his wife, Gail.

US near decision on Iraqi training

JERUSALEM

The Obama administration is nearing a decision on how to improve and accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces in light of recent setbacks against the Islamic State, including the possibility of setting up new training camps in Anbar Province, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

U.S. officials said the administration was considering sending up to 500 additional U.S. troops. The changes are aimed at bolstering the participation of Sunni tribes in the fight, but the plan is not likely to include the deployment of U.S. forces closer to the front lines to either call in airstrikes or advise smaller Iraqi units in battle, officials said.

FDA panel backs cholesterol drug

GAITHERSBURG, Md.

Federal health advisers Tuesday recommended approval for a highly anticipated cholesterol drug from Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, but with the caveat that more data are needed about its long-term ability to reduce heart attacks.

The expert panel recommended by a 13-3 vote that the Food and Drug Administration approve the injectable drug, called Praluent.

But in an unexpected development, a number of panelists said the drug should be used only in patients with abnormally high cholesterol levels caused by an inherited disorder.

Woman gives birth after transplant of ovarian tissue

LONDON

A woman who had ovarian tissue removed and frozen during childhood has given birth to a baby after the tissue was successfully transplanted back into her, enabling her to get pregnant.

The woman, now 27, was only 13 when doctors stored some of her tissue because she was about to have a medical treatment that likely would leave her infertile. Doctors described her case as the first time tissue was removed from someone so young and ultimately led to the birth of a healthy baby.

Combined dispatches