March 22, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web (Updated)

The big news story today is, of course, the terrorist attack in Belgium. Will Europe draw the connection between certain of the powerful Islamist sects (particularly Wahhabism) and terrorism? (Obviously not all Islam is implicated--we don't see, for instance, Yazidi terrorists). Also, Zika spreads to Bangladesh.

Brussels Attack:

• "Brussels attacks: At least 31 dead at Zaventem and Maelbeek"--BBC News.

At least 31 people have been killed and many seriously injured in attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station.

Twin blasts hit Zaventem airport at 07:00 GMT, killing 11 and injuring 81, Belgium's health minister said.

Another explosion struck Maelbeek metro station an hour later with 20 people killed, the Brussels mayor said.

• "Around 35 dead in Brussels attacks horror"--Expatica (BE).
• "Brussels Airport and Subway Explosions Kill 34"--New York Times. From the story:

A series of deadly terrorist attacks struck Brussels on Tuesday, with two explosions at the city’s main international airport and a third in a subway station at the heart of the city, near the headquarters complex of the European Union.

At least one of the two airport explosions was touched off by a suicide bomber, officials said. At least 34 people were killed — 14 at the airport and 20 at the subway station — and many more wounded, including 92 at the airport and 106 at the subway station.

“We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened,” Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium said at a news conference, calling the attacks “blind, violent, cowardly.”

On Twitter, he called on the population to “avoid all movement,” as the authorities braced for the possibility of additional violence.

* * * 

The Paris attacks showed that the scale and sophistication of the Islamic State’s efforts to carry out operations in Europe were greater than first believed, and analysts have also pointed to Europe’s particular vulnerabilities. They include the huge flow of undocumented migrants to the Continent from the Middle East last year, the movement of European citizens between their home countries and Syria to fight with the Islamic State, and persistent problems with intelligence sharing among European countries and even between competing security agencies in some nations.

Few countries have been more vulnerable than Belgium. It has an especially high proportion of citizens who have traveled to Syria or Iraq, insular Muslim communities that have helped shield jihadists, and security services that have had persistent problems conducting effective counterterrorism operations, not least in its four-month effort to capture Mr. Abdeslam.

The attacks on Tuesday put the Belgian capital in a state of virtual lockdown, with the threat level raised to its highest possible level. Frédéric Van Leeuw, the Belgian federal prosecutor, said that border controls had been strengthened and extra police officers mobilized.

All flights to and from Brussels Airport were canceled indefinitely, with flights scheduled to land there diverted. Subway, tram and bus travel was shut down. Eurostar canceled its trains connecting Brussels with London. Thalys, which runs high-speed trains linking dozens of cities in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, suspended service. Cellphone lines were jammed as panicked travelers and Belgians tried to make calls.

• "Chilling footage shows moment terrified passengers cower under desks and run for their lives after suicide bomb blasts rock Brussels Airport in series of attacks that killed 34 across the city"--Daily Mail.
• "BREAKING NEWS: Three American Mormon missionaries seriously injured in Brussels attacks"--Daily Mail. "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Richard Norby, 66, Joseph Empey, 20, of and Mason Wells, 19, all from Utah, were caught up in the blasts while at Brussels Airport, where 11 people died."
• "Hunt for Brussels terrorists: Armed police arrest two men but more suspects are on the run as it's revealed security services already have CCTV of bombers"--Daily Mail.
• "Belgium warned of more terror before airport attack"--Chicago Tribune. "Abdeslam told Belgian authorities while in custody that 'he was ready to restart something from Brussels,' Reynders said. Belgian intelligence determined that Abdeslam had built a new network of support in Brussels in the four months since the Paris attacks, expanding to include criminal networks that worked with the terrorists to share apartments and leverage connections to procure weapons."

Other News and Items:

• "Bangladesh reports Zika virus in patient with no travel history"--Outbreak News Today. "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), from 1 January 2007 to 16 March 2016, Zika virus transmission was documented in a total of 59 countries and territories."
• "The U.S. military has a lot more people in Iraq than it has been saying"--The Washington Post. "The U.S. military has around 5,000 service members in Iraq, officials said on Monday, far more than previously reported, as the Obama administration quietly expands ground operations against the Islamic State."
• "No Doubt About It — We’re Back in a Ground War in Iraq"--National Review. "Without much fanfare, Obama has dramatically reversed his Iraq policy — sending thousands of troops back in the country after he declared the war over, engaging in ground combat despite initially promising that his strategy 'will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.' Well, they’re on foreign soil, and they’re fighting."
• A new Woodpile Report for this week.

Update: Some more stuff:

• "You’re Either A Globalist Or A Nationalist"--Roosh Valizadeh at Return of Kings.
• "Bombs in Belgium"--Bayou Renaissance Man. Peter Grant provides some analysis and reviews of past statements showing that authorities were aware following the Paris attacks that there was a larger network in Belgium providing logistical support to the Paris attackers.
• "Debt Is Building Everywhere"--The Anonymous Conservative. China and other countries are selling off U.S. debt in order to raise cash to stimulate their own economies. But it is not just central banks. The author quotes from one article: "Things have gotten so bad that in 2015, Chinese firms issued $1.2 trillion in new debt just so they could service their existing loans. In other words, China’s entire corporate sector is quickly becoming one giant ponzi scheme."
• "Shoot What the Banger’s Shoot"--Angry White Dude. A look at the types/models of firearms seized by the Chicago PD from criminals.
• "War and the Reshaping of Societies"--Sense of Events. Another article that notes that defeating an enemy requires one to destroy the enemy people's will to fight.
• "Male model Fabio becomes a naturalized US citizen and the long-haired 1990s idol declares it the 'happiest day of his life'"--Daily Mail.