Midday Roundup: Danes arrest four suspected ISIS recruits

Terror recruits. Police in Denmark arrested four men today suspected of being Islamic State (ISIS) recruits. After taking the men into custody, investigators discovered ammunition and weapons. Officials believe the suspects were plotting a terror attack in Denmark. They have not released any information about their identity or nationality. Meanwhile, prosecutors in neighboring Sweden charged a 20-year-old man for allegedly building a suicide bomb he intended to use in an attack there. Danish officials say 125 people from Denmark have joined ISIS to fight in Syria and Iraq. At least 27 are believed to have died. But so far, only one Dane has been charged as an ISIS recruit.

The man in the hat. Belgian officials are making a new appeal for help finding the would-be suicide bomber who escaped from the Brussels airport after his two accomplices detonated their bombs. The attacker, dubbed “the man in the hat,” walked out of the airport with victims fleeing the carnage he helped orchestrate. He then walked back into the city, a trek that took him about an hour. Investigators released footage from security cameras along his route, in hopes people who might have seen him can help shed light on where he went. Along the way, he shed the light-colored coat he was seen wearing in footage taken at the airport, but he continued to wear his dark hat throughout. A camera in the Schaerbeek neighborhood captured the last image of him. After that, he vanished.

Sordid details. Although federal prosecutors have revealed few details in the hush-money scheme involving former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the Chicago Tribune claims it has identified three of the four men accusing the once-powerful politician of sexually abusing them when they were high school students. Hastert worked as a high school teacher and wrestling coach in the 1970s before getting into politics. One of the three alleged victims died of AIDS in 1995. The second, who received $1.7 million from Hastert to keep quiet, declined to be interviewed or named. But the third talked to the paper at length about his relationship with Hastert. He also asked not to be named but said he might testify during Hastert’s sentencing hearing on April 27. Hastert pleaded guilty in October to hiding the hush-money payments from banking officials and lying to the FBI. He has not admitted to any sexual abuse.

Reverse exodus. Migrants are protesting in Greece as the European Union implements a new policy of returning Middle Eastern refugees to Turkey. Officials sent back about 200 so far this week. EU leaders are implementing the policy as a new EU report concedes that it cannot fully track the 1.8 million refugees who entered Europe during the past year. The report also notes a “staggering number” of Europeans have joined terrorist groups and then returned home. Zhudi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy said it’s not only the sheer number of refugees overwhelming Europe’s security operations but also the lack of ideological profiling. “We do not, and the European Union does not, vet for political ideology as far as Islamists or jihadism,” he said. Two of the men who participated in the November attack in Paris entered Europe through Greece, using fake Syrian documents and posing as refugees.

Still waiting. The IRS denied tax-exempt status to 57 religious and charitable organizations in 2015, out of more than 90,000 applications. But thousands remain in limbo. More than 6,000 tax-exempt applications from last year are still waiting for IRS approval. The agency chalks up the long wait times to incomplete forms, but Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, who represents conservative and non-profit organizations targeted by the IRS, said that excuse can only go so far. Though the IRS claims it’s stopped discriminating against conservative groups, Sekulow is skeptical. He insists the agency is incapable of fixing itself and needs a complete overhaul.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard and Christina Darnell contributed to this report.