Israel receives remains of possible hostage and plans to reopen Gaza crossing into Egypt

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has received remains in Gaza of a possible hostage and says it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave the war-torn territory through a border crossing with Egypt. The remains will be examined to determine whether they belong to either of the two last hostages in Gaza. It was not immediately clear when the Gaza border crossing would be opened. Egypt wants Palestinians to immediately be able to return to Gaza through the crossing. Israel says it won’t allow two-way crossings until all the Gaza hostages are returned. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday an attack by militants that wounded four Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza was a violation of the ceasefire and that Israel “will respond accordingly.”

Europeans accuse Putin of feigning interest in peace after talks with US envoys

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and its European allies have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of feigning interest in peace efforts after five hours of talks with U.S. envoys at the Kremlin produced no breakthrough. Ukraine’s foreign minister urged Putin to “stop wasting the world’s time.” The remarks reflect the high tensions and gaping gulf between Russia on one side and Ukraine and its European allies on the other over how to end the war. Moscow started the conflict when it invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago. On Tuesday, Putin accused the Europeans of sabotaging the U.S.-led peace efforts and warned that, if provoked, Russia would be ready for war with Europe.

Marine robotics firm will resume search for MH370 plane that vanished a decade ago

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s transport ministry said Wednesday that a private firm will resume a deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 later this month, more than a decade after the jet vanished without a trace. The search will be carried out by Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity, which signed a new “no-find, no-fee” contract with Malaysia’s government in March. It is unclear if the company has new evidence of the plane’s location. Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Punkett reportedly said last year that the company had improved its technology since 2018, when the firm made its first seabed search operation under a similar deal and found nothing. Punkett has said the firm is working with many experts to analyze data and had narrowed the search area to the most likely site.

Rescue teams racing after last week’s flooding in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand

BATANG TORU, Indonesia (AP) — Rescue teams are racing to reach communities isolated by last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand as over 800 people remained missing. The economic damage was becoming more clear Wednesday. And concerns have emerged in Indonesia, the hardest hit country, that deforestation may have contributed to the disaster. Residents and emergency workers in the capital of West Sumatra said large piles of neatly cut timber were found among the debris. A minister said the government was investigating alleged illegal logging operations that could have worsened the impact along with extreme weather.