BRUSSELS – The terrorists who carried out the March 22 attacks on the Brussels airport and metro had initially planned an attack on France instead, the Belgian federal prosecutor announced Sunday.
A cell of terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State had largely conceived and executed the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris from the Belgian capital, where many of them were reared. According to the prosecutor’s office, members of this cell were apparently “surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation” and decided to attack locally instead.
Exact details of the abandoned French attack remain unclear, and prosecutors declined to give further information.
Sunday’s announcement came two days after Belgian authorities arrested Mohamed Abrini and three other suspects, all of whom were charged with participating in “terrorist murder” and the “activities of a terrorist group.”
HIROSHIMA, Japan – Secretary of State John Kerry will focus on the vision for a nuclear-free future and will not apologize while he is here for the atomic bomb that the United States dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, killing 140,000 people, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Kerry arrived in Hiroshima on Sunday morning to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries, who discussed the war in Syria and the refugee crisis sweeping Europe. On Monday, the diplomats will go as a group to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and lay a wreath at an altar commemorating the conflagration.
Later in the day, he is expected to comment on the experience of visiting the museum, which vividly depicts the effect on the city and its inhabitants.
A State Department official, speaking with reporters who are accompanying Kerry, said that he will not specifically apologize for the bombs that the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but that he will address the human dimensions.
SALT LAKE CITY – Like a magic hat trick, a large rabbit named Dolly Parton who disappeared from a Salt Lake County farm has suddenly reappeared.
KSL-TV of Salt Lake City reports that Wheeler Historic Farm announced Dolly’s return Sunday morning. Employees at the working public farm discovered the rabbit missing around noon Wednesday. Murray police say the lock on Dolly’s cage had been cut, leading investigators to believe the bunny-napping was premeditated.
Program coordinator Raegan Scharman said Sunday a farmer found Dolly hopping around in her cage. The rabbit appeared to be in good condition.
Farm officials say they don’t know how or when she was returned. But they’re thankful to whoever brought her back. Dolly is one of three Flemish giant rabbits at the farm.
Associated Press & Washington Post
