Today in One Paragraph
Belgium’s border security is under scrutiny following this week’s deadly attacks in Brussels. The United States indicted seven Iranian hackers for cyber-attacks on U.S. banks and a dam. A special UN court found former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic guilty of genocide. And in the Middle East, Iraqi forces have started their campaign to liberate Mosul from ISIS insurgents, and Syrian government forces are making gains in the ISIS-controlled city of Palmyra.
Top News
Belgian Security Shortcomings? The European Union instructed Belgian authorities to tighten the country’s border security in the weeks before attacks in Brussels killed 31 people, according to a report in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. Belgium admitted to errors in monitoring one of the bombers after receiving warnings from Turkey. The Belgian interior and justice ministers offered their resignations, but were rejected. (USA Today; The New York Times)
Iranian Hackers Indicted. The U.S. charged seven hackers from two Iranian computer companies linked to the Iranian government with executing cyber-attacks on several banks in the United States, as well as a dam outside of New York City, according to documents unsealed Thursday. While the attacks did no harm, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a press conference that they “threatened our economic well-being and our ability to compete fairly in the global marketplace.” (Tami Abdollah and Eric Tucker, The Associated Press)