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Reuters live coverage of events around the world. Follow @ReutersWorld on Twitter for top news and @ReutersLive for live video events.
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Belgian interior minister offered resignation over attacks - media
Belgian Interior Minster Jan Jambon has offered his resignation over the Brussels attacks but it was rejected by Prime Minister Charles Michel, Belgian media said on Thursday.
Belgian authorities are facing embarrassment after Turkey said on Wednesday that last year Ankara expelled back to Europe Ibrahim El Bakraoui, one of the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on Tuesday, and warned Belgium he was a militant.
"Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter," President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday -
Brussels Airlines restarts flights as airlines scramble to reroute
Brussels Airlines is restarting some commercial flights from Belgium on Thursday, using the airports of Liege and Antwerp, while its main hub in the Belgian capital remains closed following Tuesday's attacks.
Belgian police were hunting on Thursday for a "third man" filmed with two Islamic State suicide bombers at Brussels Zaventem Airport as evidence accumulated that the same jihadist network was involved in the deadly Paris attacks last November.
The airport, which serves over 23 million passengers a year, remains closed until further notice, forcing airlines to scramble to reroute over the busy Easter weekend.
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Turkish government official says one of the Brussels attackers, Ibrahim el Bakraoui, entered Turkey a second time and was deported again in August 2051 . -
Surviving Paris attacks suspect wants to return to 'explain himself' - lawyer
Reuters UKSalah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect in November's Paris attacks, will no longer fight extradition to France as he had vowed to do but instead now wants to return to "explain himself", his lawyer said on Thursday. -
Masked Belgian police secure the area around the Palais de Justice courthouse in Brussels -
Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam wants to return to France 'As quickly as possible' according to lawyer on BFM TV
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Turkey says Brussels attacker deported in 2015, Belgium ignored warning
Reuters UKOne of the attackers in the Brussels suicide bombings was deported last year from Turkey, and Belgium subsequently ignored a warning that the man was a militant, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. -
A large crowd gathers in central Brussels to pay tribute to the victims of the deadliest attacks in Belgium's history
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Belgium names Brussels bomber brothers, key suspect on run
ReutersBelgium's chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic State suicide bombers who killed at least 31 people in the most deadly attacks in Brussels' history but said another key suspect was on the run. -
Belgian flags seen at a street memorial service near the old stock exchange in Brussels following Tuesday's bomb attacks in Brussels. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
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A woman attends a street memorial service in Brussels following Tuesday's bomb attacks in Brussels. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
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People attend a street memorial service near the old stock exchange in Brussels following Tuesday's bomb attacks in Brussels. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
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Over several days of raids, Belgian prosecutors have been uncovering a web of interconnected people and safe houses that seem to tie the Brussels bombings to last year’s assault on Paris and several other attacks.
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BREAKING: Second Brussels suicide bomber identified as Najim Laachraoui: local newspaper
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Turkish presidency says El Bakraoui was later released by Belgian authorities as "no links with terrorism" found.
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BREAKING: Militant detained by Turkey in June 2015 identified as Ibrahim El Bakraoui: Turkish presidency
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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill visit the Belgian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to sign the condolence book following the Brussels attacks:
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Did a mix-up by the taxi dispatcher limit the Brussels bombings?
This CCTV image from the Brussels Airport surveillance cameras made available by Belgian Police, shows what officials believe may be suspects in the Brussels airport attack on March 22, 2016. REUTERS/CCTV/Handout via ReutersA mix-up by a Brussels taxi dispatcher may have prevented more carnage at the city's airport on Tuesday, Belgium's DH newspaper reported, saying the cab firm sent a smaller car to pick up the bombers than the one ordered.Citing unidentified sources, DH said Ibrahim El Bakraoui and two other men suspected of carrying out the attack had called for a minivan to take them to Zaventem airport, laden with bags, early on Tuesday from an apartment in the north of the city.
When the driver turned up in a saloon, the three found they could not fit all four heavy holdalls into the trunk. They left one behind.
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Fear and defiance in Brussels a day after attacks
Brussels resident Aurelie Cardon says she will avoid taking the metro from now on. Or maybe move abroad.Her eardrums were perforated when a bomb exploded in the metro carriage next to hers on Tuesday and doctors had to pull a piece of burned plastic out of the corner of her eye.
"There will be other attacks, so I want to find a way not to take this (metro) line anymore. Maybe I'll buy a bike or a motorcycle," she told Reuters from hospital, using Facebook because she cannot hear.
A day after 31 people were killed and 260 injured in attacks on the Maelbeek underground railway station and the Zaventem airport, the mood was a mixture of shock and defiance in the eerily quiet city of 1.2 million people, headquarters to the European Union and NATO.
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Security Situation in #Brussels/Belgium, March
23, 2016. #Belgium remains at level 4. https://t.co/z3x2HWrQyG https://t.co/XFAtTsfIsI
3:45 PM - 23 Mar 2016- Reply
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Belgian troops search people entering a subway station in Brussels. REUTERS/Eric Vidal
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Names, details of Brussels attack suspects emerge
Reuters TVBelgian police have identified a prime suspect in Tuesday's Brussels blasts and two suspected suicide bombers, linking them directly to Islamic State militants. -
Belgium 'underfunded' security prior to attacks
Reuters TVBelgium has announced 400 million euros of extra spending to upgrade its security capabilities since it emerged that the country of 11 million people served as the base for the Paris attackers who killed 130 people. But Tuesday's bombings at home show how much further it still has to go -
EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers to meet on Thursday in Brussels.
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Factbox: Suspects linked to the Paris and Brussels attacks
Following Tuesday's Islamic State attacks in Brussels, below and continued through the link, is a list of the principal suspects and their links to the Nov.13 Paris attacks:
* Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, Belgian, blew himself up on a Brussels metro train at Maelbeek station on Tuesday, prosecutors said.
He was handed a five-year prison sentence for car-jacking in 2011. Belgian media have cited police sources saying he used fake ID to rent the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where police hunting the prime surviving suspect of the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, killed a gunman in a raid last week.
* Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, Belgian, blew himself up at Brussels airport on Tuesday, prosecutors said. He was with two other unidentified men caught on CCTV at the airport. One of the others also blew himself up and the third man is being hunted.
Bakraoui was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for shooting at police officers during an attempted robbery. He has been on the run since breaching parole terms last year.
The Bakraoui brothers may have fled last week's shootout at the flat in Forest. In the raid, investigators found an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later. Read more here.
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Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini pay tribute to the victims of a blast in the metro station of Maalbeek in Brussels.
REUTERS/Thierry Roge/Pool -
The flags at Áras an Uachtaráin are at half mast today for those who died in #Brussels and #Buncrana. https://t.co/WsasAyKLNy10:49 AM - 23 Mar 2016
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U.S. ready to give 'anything we have' to help Belgium after attacks
The United States is prepared to give Belgian authorities a range of support to help its European ally fight and prevent acts of terrorism following the deadly attacks in Brussels, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.
"We are prepared to provide any and all information, capability, technology, anything we have that can be value-added to their fight," Biden said during a visit to Belgium's embassy in Washington to sign a condolence book in the wake of Tuesday's attacks.
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Shaken residents in Brussels head to work on the morning after deadly attacks in the Belgian capital, as police hunt for a suspect linked to the bombings. Yiming Woo reports.
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Always on the run, not knowing what to do anymore, being looked for everywhere, not being safe any longer and that if he waits around any longer he risks ending up next to the person in a cell."
- Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw quotes from the will he said was left on a computer by airport bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui -
U.S. Vice President Biden says U.S. is prepared to provide 'anything we have' to help Belgium prevail in fight against terrorism.
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Belgian Minister of Health and Social Affairs Maggie De Block, Belgian Queen Mathilde, Belgian King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (L-R, on right) meet with doctors following bomb attacks in Brussels metro and Belgium's National airport of Zaventem, at Erasme hospital in Belgium March 23, 2016.
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Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, tweeting a picture of himself with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.Translation: Meeting this afternoon with Prime Minister Manuel Valls. The fate of Europe is peace and security.Réunion ce midi avec le Premier ministre @manuelvalls. Le destin de l'Europe, c'est la paix et la sécurité. https://t.co/rsfTooXipY
1:21 PM - 23 Mar 2016- Reply
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Men identified as Khalid El Bakraoui (L) and Najim Laachraoui, suspected of involvement in the Brussels attacks, are seen in this combination photo. REUTERS/Interpol/Belgian Federal Police/Handout via Reuters
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Germans injured, possibly killed, in Brussels attacks - German official
German citizens were among the injured in attacks at Brussels airport and on the metro on Tuesday, a German foreign ministry official said on Wednesday, adding that it was also possible that Germans had been killed.
"We must unfortunately confirm that German citizens are among the injured in the terror attacks, among them at least one seriously injured person," said the official.
The official said based on the information currently available, it cannot be ruled out that Germans lost their lives in the attacks.
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Trump 'plain wrong' to say Muslims not helping on extremists: UK minister
Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May arrives to attend a cabinet meeting at Number 10 Downing Street in London, Britain March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan WermuthBritain's interior minister said U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was "just plain wrong" to say that Muslims in Britain were failing to report suspicious activity by extremists."I understand he said that Muslims were not coming forward in the United Kingdom to report matters of concern. This is absolutely not the case - he is just plain wrong," Theresa May said in Britain's parliament.
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Trump says Muslims not doing enough to prevent attacks
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to the media during a news conference in Washington, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jim BourgU.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Muslims were not helping to prevent attacks such as those that killed at least 30 people in Belgium, drawing a rebuke from Britain's government and from Muslim groups in the country.In an interview broadcast on Britain's ITV television on Wednesday, Trump was asked what his message was for British Muslims after Tuesday's bombings in Brussels and the attacks in Paris last November.
"When they see trouble they have to report it, they are not reporting it, they are absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem," Trump said.
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A man, whom Interpol said is named Khalid El Bakraoui, is seen in this undated photo issued by Interpol on their website and obtained March 23, 2016, after he was suspected of involvement in the Brussels airport and metro attack. REUTERS/Interpol/Handout via Reuters
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A German police officer poses as he uses his signal during a speed control and security check to provide security at Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, March 23, 2016, following Tuesday's attacks in Brussels:
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch -
Masked Belgian police secure the entrance to a building in Anderlecht while colleagues carry out a serach in an apartment following Tuesday's bomb attacks in Brussels:
REUTERS/Charles Platiau -
German foreign ministry official says Germans were among those injured in attacks in Brussels, cannot rule out that German citizens are among the dead.
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It's a very fluid situation on the ground there. We're still getting information, we're still trying to seek out the whereabouts of American citizens ... Obviously, Brussels on any given day, is chock full of American citizens."
- State Department spokesman Mark Toner, speaking to CNN about information on Americans who were in Brussels during Tuesday's bomb attacks -
Some U.S. citizens still missing after Belgium attacks - official
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is still working to account for all Americans who were in Brussels during Tuesday's bomb attacks in the city, a spokesman said on Wednesday, as local media reported that family members were seeking news of missing relatives.
At least 31 people were killed and 260 wounded in the attacks on Brussels' airport and subway. U.S. officials said on Tuesday that eight Americans, including three Mormon missionaries and a U.S. Air Force airman and four members of his family were injured in the bombings.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner told CNN on Wednesday that it now appeared that about a dozen Americans were injured. He could not confirm whether any U.S. citizens had been killed.
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Belgian FA says the Belgium friendly international against Portugal is to be played in Leira in Portugal on Tuesday.
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The only international number for general information and concerning the victims is 0032 78 15 1771 #Brussels12:56 PM - 23 Mar 2016
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Le seul numéro d'information général et pour les victimes est le 1771 #Bruxelles12:50 PM - 23 Mar 2016- Reply
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Biden says United States would come to Taiwan's defense
BALTIMORE (Reuters) -The United States would come to Taiwan's defense and has a commitment to defend the island China claims as its own, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday, though the White House said later there was no change in policy towards the island.