Update: Belgian media have withdrawn a report claiming that Najim Laachraoui has been arrested.
Hours after two explosions ripped through the Brussels airport on Tuesday morning killing 10 and wounding scores more, a grainy image was released by authorities that appeared to show three suspects.
Following two days of rangebound moves, where Monday's modest market rebound was undone by the Tuesday just as modest decline (despite the early surge higher on the latest "bullish for stocks" European terrorism), overnight equity action continued to be more of the same, and as of this moment S&P 500 futures were unchanged, while European stocks were modestly higher.
Russian security chief, Franz Klintsevich, has warned that the terrorist attacks in Brussels may just be a ‘training exercise’ in the run up to a much larger terrorist attack in Europe in the coming months. Klintsevich thinks that the UEFA European Championships this June may one of the possible targets ISIS are planning to attack.
Following the Brussels terrorist attacks on Tuesday, two MPs from Turkey made shocking remarks on Twitter, mocking Belgium and the rest of Europe. Kaan Albur, from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) shared a photograph of the Brussels airport shortly after the attacks which was joined by a photo of a pro-Kurdish tent with Kurdistan Worker’s Party flags on it set up next to the EU council building in Brussels. Albur commented: “Life is like a boomerang, what you do will return to you”.
Submitted by Shelley Kasli via OrientalReview.org,
Russia’s decision to greatly reduce its military presence in Syria, coming as it did with little warning, has left the world struggling for explanations. Russia is to maintain a military presence at its naval base in Tartous and at the Khmeymim airbase. In fact Russia is “withdrawing without withdrawing”.
The partial withdrawal is seen by many as a message to the Assad government to not take Russia’s military aid for granted, and to be more flexible in the upcoming peace negotiations.