French prosecutors said on Thursday that a wing part found on Reunion Island in July belongs to the missing flight MH370. The wing section was examined in France by international aviation experts. French authorities launched searches on and around Reunion for more debris but found nothing. The Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people veered off its course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.
China to cut 300,000 troops
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Thursday that he would reduce the country’s military personnel by 300,000. He used a speech marking 70 years since the end of World War II to present the People’s Liberation Army as a force for peace and regional stability. The Chinese military has over two million members, and Xi has embarked on an accelerated modernization of the armed forces.
Bomb attacks in Baghdad kill 12
At least 12 people were killed on Thursday in bomb attacks in commercial and residential neighbourhoods across Baghdad. Three people were killed and 10 wounded by a blast at a market in the eastern district of Ameen. Two others were killed and seven wounded in Zaafraniya in southern Baghdad, while a blast in the northern area of Suleikh killed two more. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the incidents took place in Shi'ite areas often targeted by Sunni insurgents from the Islamic State group.
Refugee crisis: Europe must do more than get emotional, says Renzi
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Thursday that Europe could not limit itself to an emotional reaction to pictures of asylum-seekers dying, but had to act. "Europe cannot just get emotional," Renzi said after a photograph of a toddler's lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach shocked the continent. "Faced with these images which tear and move the hearts of every father, we must be aware that we need a global strategy and Europe cannot lose face," he said.
Migrants refuse to leave train near Hungary camp
Scuffles broke out in Hungarian capital, Budapest, after police tried to force migrants off a train at a refugee camp on Thursday. The train had left Budapest hours after police let migrants into the railway station following a two-day stand-off. There have been sharp disagreements among European leaders over how to deal with the crisis.