 French contradict Malaysian claims of more objects on Réunion; Australians say still some doubt over whether debris last week was from MH370 
 
 Families of those on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have demanded an end to mixed messages in the investigation after authorities in France, the US and Australia stopped short of confirming Malaysia’s claim that a piece of plane wing found on the island of Réunion last week came from the missing jet. Liow said the new debris has been sent "to the French authorities for verification," and that Malaysia has asked 
 
 to comb their beaches for possible debris. The claim was contradicted by French officials, who said no new material in the search for MH370 had been turned over to French authorities. Malaysia's transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, said Thursday that a team of investigators has collected more plane debris, including aircraft seat cushions, window panes and aluminum foil, on the French island of Reunion. "I can only ascertain that it's plane debris," Liow told reporters, adding that there were "many items" collected by the Malaysian team on the island in the Indian Ocean. But the minister said he could not confirm that the items belong to Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which went missing while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 with 239 people on board. Many of the passengers’ relatives, who have waited nearly 17 months for tangible evidence, said they were fed up with the mixed messages. Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said investigators on the French-governed island of Reunion had collected more aircraft debris, including a plane window and aluminum foil, but there was no confirmation they also belonged to the missing plane. However, deputy Paris prosecutor Serge Mackowiak said that there is a "very high probability" that the wing piece - a flaperon - is part of missing flight MH370, adding that examinations needed continue in order to verifiably rule the link.  KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia said on Thursday paint color and maintenance-record matches proved that a piece of wing found on the shore of an Indian Ocean island was part of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which vanished last year. "We appreciate the French team and their support and respect their decision to continue with the verification," Liow said, adding that Malaysian experts were convinced the flaperon was from MH370 because a seal on the part matched a maintenance record and the paint was the same color. In a statement, China’s foreign ministry expressed “grief and sorrow for those on board” and sent “profound sympathy and condolences to their families”. An initial search of a 60,000 sq km (23,000 sq miles) patch of sea floor has been extended to another 60,000 sq km.
– The piece of plane wing confirmed to be from MH370 has company. In addition to a suitcase, Malaysia's transportation minister says "many items," including seat cushions, aluminum foil, and a window, have washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, but experts have yet to prove the items are from the vanished jet, reports Deutsche Welle. "I can only ascertain that it's plane debris," he says. Malaysia yesterday confirmed the wing part, or flaperon, belonged to MH370 based on its paint color and a seal matching a maintenance record, reports Reuters. French experts who are continuing to study the flaperon, however, say there is simply a "very strong supposition" that it came from MH370. Malaysia has now asked neighboring areas, including Mauritius and Madagascar, to search for potential debris. Rather than bring closure, the find has incensed some Chinese relatives of those on board the Boeing 777 who streamed to the Beijing headquarters of Malaysia Airlines today, the Guardian reports. One woman says Prime Minister Najib Razak, who broke the news, was speaking "nonsense. I just want to kill him." "I don't believe it," says another, adding 515 days is "enough time for them to have produced fake debris." The Australian agency leading the search for MH370 says it will continue to focus on 46,000 square miles of seabed west of Australia, noting the debris is consistent with a crash site in that area. What's next for the flaperon? Investigators will likely analyze thin pieces under a microscope to see how it was broken, then "open it up to see if there's any internal damage," an expert says. The study could take "a month or months."