Midday Roundup: Police search for another Brussels terror suspect
Most wanted. Police in Belgium are looking for another terror suspect who possibly fled the scene of a subway bombing in Brussels on Monday. In total, authorities suspect five men in the terror attacks. One of the airport attackers was ISIS bomb-maker Najim Laachraoui, whom police have been searching for since the arrest last week of Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam. Laachraoui died in the airport bombing, police said, along with Ibrahim El Bakraoui. Another suspect at the airport, the infamous man in the tan jacket seen in surveillance photos, remains at large. Of the two suspects at the metro station, Khalid El Bakraoui, brother of Ibrahim, died, and another unidentified man possibly escaped.
Presidential misstep? President Barack Obama will visit a Buenos Aires memorial to victims of a cruel Argentinian dictatorship today. The president wants to reach out to Argentines who blame the United States for supporting the 1976 military coup that led to the deaths of more than 10,000 people. The White House plans to declassify military records related to the coup as a gesture of reconciliation. Critics have blasted Obama for not canceling the visit to Argentina after this week’s terror attacks in Belgium. At the very least, he shouldn’t have been dancing the tango at a state dinner Wednesday night, Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, told MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “It’s fine to go to Argentina, you want to do the work, but you’ve got to be careful of these little photo ops and optics. Baseball games and tangos, that’s inconsistent with the seriousness of the day.”
Busted. The U.S. has indicted seven hackers with ties to the Iranian government over cyberattacks on American banks and infrastructure between 2011 and 2013. The Iranians worked regularly during that time to overwhelm the servers of financial institutions such as Bank of American and the New York Stock Exchange. They also tried to bring down the computer system at a New York state dam. Though the Iranian government won’t extradite the suspects to the United States for prosecution, the indictments send a message that the American government is capable of rooting out international cybercriminals.
Memorable character. Actor Ken Howard, president of the SAG-AFTRA screen actors’ union, has died at age 71. Howard starred in the 1970s TV drama White Shadow and remained a TV regular with roles on The West Wing, NYPD Blue, The Office, and 30 Rock, among many others. He won Tony and Emmy awards for his performances and was respected as a leader in the film industry.
Baseball’s finest. Joe Garagiola, the baseball-player-turned-sportscaster who became the voice of baseball on NBC, died Wednesday at age 90. After a modest baseball career that started with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, Garagiola kicked off a 57-year stint in broadcasting that made him one of the most popular figures in the sports world and beyond. He co-hosted the Today show on NBC between 1969 and 1973 and sometimes filled in for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. He was also known for his friendship with Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, who also grew up in St. Louis. Berra, who died last year, was often the subject of Garagiola’s good-natured jokes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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