Brussels alert extended

Brussels will stay at the highest security threat level for another week over fears of an imminent attack, the Belgian government said Monday, as authorities charged a fourth suspect in connection with the terror assaults in Paris.

France meanwhile launched its first strikes against ISIS from a newly deployed aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, as the country ramped up its fight against the jihadist group that has claimed the November 13 gun and suicide bomb attacks.

On the third day of an unprecedented security lockdown in Brussels, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the city would be kept under the maximum level four terror alert for another week, but that schools and the metro system would reopen from Wednesday.

“The threat remains serious and imminent,” Mr Michel said, amid fears that the symbolic and institutional capital of Europe could face coordinated Paris-style attacks. Mr Michel said the Army and the armed police would remain on the streets in coming days and he advised people to stay away from crowded areas.

The security level will be reviewed again next Monday. The Belgian authorities have now charged four suspects over the Paris carnage.