Islamic State Flag Found At Terror Raid Scene

An Islamic State flag and a jihadist manual have been found at the scene of a Brussels anti-terror raid, according to prosecutors.

Four police officers were injured after gunmen opened fire on Tuesday during a Belgian-French operation linked to November's Paris attacks.

One man armed with an assault rifle was shot dead during the shoot-out with police. He has been identified as 35-year-old Mohamed Belkaid.

Belgian federal prosecutor Thierry Werts said Belkaid was an Algerian who was living in Belgium illegally.

He added that an Islamic State flag, a Salafist Muslim book and a Kalashnikov assault rifle were discovered in the suspect's home.

Police have detained two men, one of whom was admitted to hospital near Brussels with a broken leg, and are assessing whether they were connected to the shooting.

Belgian media reported one of the suspects was detained on Tuesday night, while the other was arrested early today.

Police came under fire the moment the flat's door was opened by security forces during Tuesday's search.

Five hours later, officers stormed the building and the suspect was killed.

Some reports said the suspect was "neutralised" after being spotted in a nearby garden by a police helicopter.

Witnesses reported a heavy exchange of fire lasting several minutes.

People in two schools and two nurseries nearby were asked to remain indoors and the security cordon around the area was extended, the local mayor's office said.

The incident happened across the street from an Audi car plant and train lines leading to the Gare du Midi railway station, where trains run to London and Paris.

Mass Murderer Breivik Will Fight 'To The Death'

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has told a court he would fight "to the death" for Nazism.

The 37-year-old right-wing extremist is suing the Norwegian authorities over his prison conditions, arguing he is the victim of inhuman and degrading treatment by being kept in isolation since the 2011 massacre in which he killed 77 people.

Although he has the run of three cells and access to a television and games console, Breivik claimed the state had been "trying to kill me for five years" with his solitary confinement.

The government has rejected his claims and says the conditions are appropriate for a dangerous fanatic.

On the second day of the case, brought by Breivik, he obeyed a judge's order not to make a Nazi salute, as he had at the opening hearing.

The gesture fuelled concerns he would use the proceedings, being held at Skien prison in the south of the country, as a platform for his extremist views.

Judge Sekulic told him she would intervene if his explanation strayed from his description of his prison conditions.

When she asked his job description, Breivik said it was "party secretary of the Nordic State".

The case is being broadcast on Norwegian television, but his testimony is not being aired out of respect to the families of the victims and the survivors, and to prevent him from sending any coded messages to his supporters.

Breivik is serving a maximum 21-year sentence for killing eight people in a bomb attack outside a government building in Oslo in July 2011, then murdering another 69 people, most of them teenagers, in a shooting rampage at a Labour Youth camp on the island of Utoya.

The killing spree lasted more than an hour as he methodically stalked and killed his victims.

He blamed Norway's dominant political party for the rise of multiculturalism.

Breivik's prison sentence can be extended if he is still considered a danger to society.

Defending the state, Adele Matheson Mestad argued Breivik had received and sent about 4,000 letters, and only 15% of them had been stopped by prison authorities.

She said Breivik was trying to correspond with known Nazis and sympathisers.

"Among them could be a new Breivik," she added.

Instagram is changing the way your feed displays things

Instagram has revealed it is to change the way it displays photos in your feed.

The photo sharing app is adding an algorithm which will rank posts and show you what it "believes you care about the most".

It currently orders them from most recent to oldest in a timeline.

The news was confirmed in a blog post on Tuesday and follows similar moves by Facebook and Twitter in the past few years.

"To improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most," reads the blog post.

"The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you'll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post."

The change seemed inevitable after Instagram's parent company Facebook made similar changes to its timeline.

But Instagram bosses have promised to take time and "listen to your feedback along the way".

The new experience will go live in the coming months and follows another significant development with the app.

In February, Instagram confirmed it was letting its users switch between different accounts more easily.

Australia Dumps Controversial 'Backpacker Tax'

A proposed tax on foreign travellers who work in Australia has been scrapped amid concerns from farmers about a labour drought during harvest times.

The 'backpacker tax' would have required travellers on working holiday visas to pay 32.5% on every dollar earned, when they previously paid no tax on income up to $18,000 (£9,500).

But with backpackers currently making up the bulk of fruit pickers during harvest times, farmers say the change could affect their supply of "backpacker labour".

Backpackers have long been encouraged to work in Australia on special visas which allow them to stay for a second year if they work for three months in rural areas.

Farmers have expressed concerns the changes would lead to labour shortages

They spend around AU$4.3bn (£2.3bn) every year in Australia, and concerns have been raised about the tax's long-term impact on tourism.

Farmers are already struggling to find enough workers during harvest times, and have argued that a further shortfall might see fruit simply drop off trees and rot.

Tourism minister Richard Colbeck said the country needs to pursue the right policy to support both tourism and agriculture.

"Concerns have been raised about the impact of the 2015 Budget measure on tax arrangements for Working Holiday Makers, particular our global competitiveness as a backpacker destination," he said.

"We have therefore decided that the proposed tax arrangements require further discussions to ensure Australia does not lose market share in backpacker visitation."

Nigeria: 22 killed in mosque bombings

Nigerian rescue officials say two female bombers have killed at least 22 worshippers in an attack on a mosque.

The attack took place on the outskirts of the northeastern city of Maiduguri - the birthplace of the Boko Haram armed group.

Abdul Mohammed of the State Emergency Management Agency told The Associated Press news agency that another 17 people were wounded in the explosions early on Wednesday.

Coordinator Abba Aji of the civilian self-defence Vigilante Group says one bomber blew up inside the mosque and the second outside as survivors tried to flee.

Aji says the mosque is in Umarari on the outskirts of the city that is now the command centre of the Nigerian military's war against Boko Haram Islamic insurgents.

Several bombers have exploded themselves in recent months at roadblocks into the city manned by the military and vigilantes.

Extra £450k Pledged To Find Missing Ben Needham

South Yorkshire Police have been given £450,000 by the Government to fund the search for Ben Needham, the toddler who went missing in Greece almost 25 years ago.

The force had been granted £700,000 by the Home Office last January to commit further resources to the investigation, but that money would have run out by the end of this month.

Alan Billings, South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, has said the latest instalment will allow work to continue until October - enabling the team "to be strengthened with experienced detectives who will follow up new leads".

Ben was 21 months old when he disappeared on 24 July 1991 after travelling to the Greek island of Kos with his mother and grandparents.

He would now be 26 years old, and there have been several possible sightings and a plethora of theories about what happened to the youngster.

"I fully support South Yorkshire Police in their ongoing pursuit of the facts," Dr Billings said.

"They have worked hard in facilitating the Greek authorities' investigation into Ben's disappearance. They have unearthed many new witnesses and have been able to rule out other lines of inquiry.

"Along with the Chief Constable, I remain committed to finding Ben. We remain hopeful that this will lead to a resolution one way or another."

His mother, Kerry Needham, had said: "Please end the pain my family are suffering. I know he's out there somewhere, please call the detectives and put an end to it."

During the broadcast, she described the heartbreak she had felt when DNA tests carried out on young men who had come forward to the police were unsuccessful.

In 2012, land was excavated near the farmhouse where Ben vanished, but no trace of the little boy was found.

The Home Office's Special Grant Funding was first requested by South Yorkshire Police in order to follow up leads that Ben's family believed had never been properly investigated.

UK May Send 1,000 Troops To Libya, MPs Claim

One thousand British ground troops could be deployed to conflict-hit Libya as part of an international force of 6,000, a group of MPs have been told.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said it had become aware of the apparent plans during a visit to Egypt and Tunisia earlier this month.

It said it had been told the force would train the Libyan army and provide security for the government.

Libya's newly-formed UN-backed Government of National Accord, currently based in Tunisia's capital Tunis, is also set to request airstrikes against Islamic State targets, according to the MPs.

But a Government spokesman said what the committee had been told on their recent visit was "wrong on a number of counts".

re are no plans to extend airstrikes to Libya nor are there plans to send British troops to provide security on the ground in Libya.

"It is therefore also wrong to suggest the Defence Secretary will agree any UK contribution this week."

In a letter to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, committee chairman Crispin Blunt said: "We heard that the GNA's (Government of National Accord's) likely first formal action will be to request that the UK and its allies conduct airstrikes against ISIL (IS) targets in Libya."

Mr Blunt said the "pre-emptive deployment of UK military forces is now a matter for the House of Commons" and he urged Mr Hammond to make a statement to Parliament on the issue.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was expected to agree Britain's contribution to the force at a conference in Europe this week, the committee added.

Libya descended into chaos after dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in 2011 which allowed extremist organisations, including IS, to gain significant ground.

It left the country deeply divided and ruled by two parliaments: an internationally recognised body based in the eastern city of Tobruk and a rival government, backed by Islamist-allied militias, that controls Tripoli.

Western countries have agreed that action is needed to push out IS jihadists from Libya, but world powers have said they wanted a national unity government to request help before formally intervening.

On Saturday, Libya's UN-backed unity government said it was taking office, with the US describing the new body as "the only legitimate government in Libya".

The Government of National Accord said the majority of the previous, internationally backed government in the country's east had endorsed it.

But there are concerns over its chances of successfully operating in Tripoli.

Italy has agreed to lead a UN-mandated international stabilisation force, but the sticking point has been getting credible backing from a national authority.