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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has declared tomorrow a day of national mourning as the country prepares for the arrival of the first bodies of victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The country's king and queen will be at an air base to greet two military planes that are scheduled to arrive in the afternoon, carrying the first victims' remains. They were brought into Ukrainian-controlled territory today in refrigerated railroad cars.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli officials are urging foreign airlines to reverse their decision to cancel flights into Israel's main airport. All U.S. airlines and some in Europe and Canada suspended those flights after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the airport today, wounding one Israeli. The country's Transportation Ministry insists that the airport is safe and completely guarded. And it says there's no reason to reward Palestinian militants by stopping the flights.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli airstrikes continue to pound a wide range of locations in Gaza, even as diplomatic efforts intensify to end the fighting that has killed more than 600 Palestinians and 29 Israelis. The U.N. office of humanitarian affairs estimates that at least 75 of the Palestinian deaths were civilians. Israel insists Hamas has put those civilians in danger by carrying out attacks from residential areas. Israel also announced today that one of its soldiers is missing after a weekend battle in Gaza.
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Christians who fled the northern city of Mosul rather than convert to Islam by a deadline imposed by extremist militants say they had to leave most of their belongings behind. And they say gunmen stole much of what they did manage to take along. They're describing a dismal situation in the ancient community, which had struggled to survive in the midst of a mainly Muslim country. Mosul is Iraq's second-largest city. Most Christians left the city after the Islamic State group and other Sunni militants captured it last month.
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's president has met today for the first time with parents of 219 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, and with dozens of their classmates who managed to escape from Islamic extremists. A spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan says he assured them that he's determined to see that those who are still in captivity are "brought out alive." Reporters weren't allowed to speak to the girls and their parents after the meeting.
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