Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran for a one-day meeting with the Iranian leadership, Russia's TASS news agency is reporting,
Putin's aide, Yuri Ushakov, told TASS this morning that the meeting will focus on "topical issues," in particular "the resolution of the crisis in Syria" and "the fight against terrorism, in particular combating the IS group."
AFP deputy Brussels bureau chief Danny Kemp has just tweeted that the Belgian prosecutor's office are poised to put out a fresh statement about the antiterrorism operations in Belgium within the next hour.
On a lighter -- and very amusing -- note, Belgium's Federal Police have just tweeted a virtual bowl of cat food to thank "the cats who helped out last night."
Belgians began tweeting pictures of cats last night after the police requested Belgians refrain from tweeting details of the antiterror police operations across the country, likely to prevent suspects from obtaining information about the operations.
AP is reporting that NATO has asked some of its staff members in Brussels to work from home today and that external visits and visiting groups scheduled for today have been canceled in the light of the lockdown in the Belgian capital.
The information comes from a NATO official who is not authorized to make public statements and who spoke on condition of anonymity, AP say.
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin has been talking this morning about ways to crack down on terrorist financing in the wake of the November 13 attacks in Paris.
Sapin said that prepaid bank cards had played a role in the preparation of the attacks -- but did not give details.
The prepaid bank cards can be recharged without identity verification for transactions of up to 250 Euros for non rechargeable cards and 2,500 Euros a year for rechargeable cards. Sapin wants a Europe-wide initiative to check the identity of prepaid card users when they apply for and use the cards.
Sapin also said that Tracfin, the service of the French Finance Ministry that fights money laundering and terror financing, would have expanded powers including the ability to see the files of wanted suspects.
Belgian police have arrested five more people today in a new series of antiterror raids, AFP reports.
"Following the operation of last night, five more house searches were conducted in the Brussels region and two more in the Liege region. Five persons were arrested during these searches," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.
A total of 21 people have now been arrested and are currently being questioned by police, the statement says, adding that around 26,000 euros was seized in one of the searches.
AFP has photos of French jets launching for operations against IS in Syria and Iraq from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which arrived in the eastern Mediterranean today.
The Charles de Gaulle was despatched to the eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the November 13 Paris attacks, to boost France's air power for strikes against IS.
Hate crimes against British Muslims have soared by 300 percent in the week following the Paris attacks, according to The Independent, which has seen a report prepared for the British government's working group on anti-Muslim hatred.
There were 115 attacks reported in the week following the attacks, with most victims being Muslim girls and women aged 14 to 45 who wore traditional Islamic dress.
The Independent says the figures are likely a "significant underestimate" of the total and notes that most of the reported attacks happened in public places. Eight incidents involved young children.
As Belgians and others continue to flood Twitter with amusing pictures of cats following advice from Belgian police not to tweet details of police antiterror operations, the popular spoof account @DarthPutinKGB has shared this photoshopped image of Russian President Vladimir Putin riding a giant kitten.
Putin is currently meeting with the Iranian leadership in Tehran, where he is expected to discuss the Syrian crisis and in particular the fight against IS.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed on November 20 about contact between the Russian military and France regarding operations in Syria, Putin's press secretary Dmitri Peskov has told the Russian media today.
No further details were given.