World News (April 15, 2016)

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BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgian authorities charged four more suspects with “participating in terrorist acts” linked to the deadly suicide bombings in Brussels, the federal prosecution office said. Arrested suspects Mohamed Abrini, Osama K., Herve B. M. and Bilal E. M. have all been charged with participating in “terrorist murders” and the “activities of a terrorist group” in relation to the March 22 suicide bombings at Brussels’ airport and subway, the prosecution office said.

The attacks killed 32 people and wounded 270 others. Two other suspects arrested in the last couple of days were released “after thorough interrogation,” it said. The statement said it was “not possible to confirm” if Abrini was the third suspect – dubbed “the man in the hat”  who escaped Brussels Airport while two suicide bombers he was seen on video with blew themselves up.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea’s latest belligerent declaration – that it successfully tested a new long-range rocket engine that could allow nuclear strikes on the U.S. mainland – leaves outsiders in a familiar predicament. With only a few details and no independent confirmation of what happened, there’s the usual skepticism.

But if only part of the long list of nuclear and missile work that the North has boasted of successfully completing since its fourth nuclear test in January is true, Pyongyang would seem to be barreling ahead toward its goal of nuclear-armed long-range missiles. The claim of a successful ground test of an intercontinental ballistic rocket engine, if true, would be another big step forward for young leader Kim Jong Un.

 

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hoped a brief stop in Afghanistan would help promote cooperation from a would-be “unity” government that has proved largely incapable of running the country less than two years after he worked to install the leadership team.

For America’s top diplomat, it was the second visit in as many days to a country that the United States long has wished to stabilize. While visiting Baghdad, Kerry backed efforts by Iraq’s prime minister to settle a political crisis and stressed the importance of having a “unified and functioning government” to confront the Islamic State group.