Debris to be tested for Flight 370 link
SYDNEY — Three pieces of debris that washed ashore in Mozambique and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius will be examined by investigators in Australia to see if they came from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, officials said Thursday.
Two of the pieces were found in Mauritius, and one was discovered in Mozambique, Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said. Other debris from the Boeing 777 that vanished two years ago has been found in both countries.
The Malaysian government is arranging to collect the items, Chester said in a statement. The debris will then be flown to Australia for examination.
Chester did not release details on what the items looked like or who found them, saying only that they are “of interest.”
Two weeks ago, officials said a piece of engine cowling found in South Africa and an interior panel piece from an aircraft cabin found on Rodrigues Island off Mauritius were almost certainly from Flight 370. Those parts were the fourth and fifth pieces of the plane that have been recovered since it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Syrian talks off for weeks, U.N. says
GENEVA — The United Nations envoy for Syria plans a resumption of peace talks “as soon as feasible” between the government and opposition, but he set no new date and expects that it will “certainly not” come within the next two to three weeks, his office said Thursday.
The talks were suspended last month with little to no progress.
Staffan de Mistura, in a closed-door videoconference briefing to the U.N. Security Council, “reiterated the need to see progress on the ground — particularly in reference to the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access,” his office said in a statement.
“He briefed on his intention to start the next round of talks as soon as feasible but certainly not within the next two/three weeks,” it said.
Speaking to reporters earlier Thursday, de Mistura noted a “sense of urgency” for resuming the talks before Aug. 1 — a previously announced deadline for an agreement.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in the first week of June, “will not be a factor” in determining the talks’ timetable, de Mistura added.
In New York, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said Washington shared the “frustrations and concerns” of de Mistura, and pointed a finger at Russia — which has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Israeli aircraft strike two Hamas sites
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli aircraft struck two Hamas militant sites in southern Gaza on Thursday in response to rocket fire toward Israel, the Israeli military said.
No one was harmed in Thursday’s airstrikes or in the rocket attacks that preceded them.
Gaza militants have carried out only sporadic rocket fire toward Israel since the end of a 50-day war in 2014. The military says nine rockets have struck Israel so far in 2016, a steep drop-off from previous periods.
Israel typically responds to the attacks with pinpoint reprisals against Hamas installations that cause no casualties in order to prevent a further escalation.
Recent rocket fire has often been carried out by other militant groups in the coastal strip that oppose Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Nonetheless, Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for any attacks coming from territory it controls.
U.K.’s 2015 net immigration: 333,000
LONDON — Official figures show Britain gained 333,000 people through immigration in 2015 — a near-historic high, though level from the year before.
Campaigners for exit from the European Union say Office for National Statistics figures released Thursday prove that Britain can’t control immigration unless it quits the bloc. Citizens of the 28 EU nations can live and work in the other member states.
The statistics office says the U.K. had 630,000 immigrants in 2015, while 297,000 people left. The net figure of 333,000 is 20,000 higher than in 2014 and the second-highest on record.