Wednesday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Brussels attacks: 34 dead, Islamic State claims responsibility, no confirmed Australian among casualties.

Brussels is starting to come out of a total lockdown after a series of terror attacks – two inside the Brussels airport and another at a train station — rocked the European capital killing at least 34 and leaving around 151 injured.

A suicide bomber detonated two bombs around 8am at Brussels airport and then another bomb exploded an hour later at Maelbeek, an inner city metro station.

Belgian Interior Ministry’s Crisis Center says about 10 people were killed in explosions at the Airport and about 20 people died in the metro attack.

A witness said the blasts occurred at a check-in desk at the airport.

Terror threat has been raised to the maximum level 4.

A third bomb — believed to have been a suicide belt — found at Brussels airport has been safely destroyed by security services, a provincial governor in Brussels later confirmed.

Dr Marc Decremer at KU Leuven hospital told media that he was treating patients wounded at the scene. “Men, women and three or four children.

“We have seen deep flesh wounds. That can be caused by flying glass thrown by the explosion, or by the bomb, or by particles in the bomb.

“Some people have had amputated legs,” he said, but was unable to say how many. “We are treating burns as well.

“Three are relatively critical, but if all goes well they will all get through.”

Hours later the city is starting to partially allow some movement with authorities telling parents its okay to pick up their children from school and some metro lines resuming.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said at a press conference, “What we feared has happened. I would like to tell you this time, this tragic moment, this black moment in our country, I would like to call on everybody to show calmness and solidarity.”

The attacks follow the arrest of Paris suspect and fugitive Salah Abdeslam in Brussels.

2. Brussels attacks: Islamic State claims responsibility.

Islamic State of Iraq and the “Levant” has claimed responsibility for the twin blasts in Brussels. In a statement the group said they targeted the airport and the metro.

“Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the center of the Belgian capital Brussels,” AMAQ agency said.

It added: “Islamic State fighters opened fire inside Zaventem Airport, before several of them detonated their explosive belts, as a martyrdom bomber detonated his explosive belt in the Maalbeek metro station.”

3. Belgium attacks: the Suspects.

Belgian authorities have published surveillance camera images of three suspects in the bomb attack.

The grainy picture shows three men pushing trollies with suitcases past the check-in area. Two have dark hair and one is wearing a hat.

The photo shows that the two men are each wearing just one glove. It is thought that this might have been used to hide trigger devices. Police are hunting for the man in the hat.

Around 5pm local time, police raided a home where they found an IS flag and a bomb.

The explosive device found at a house in the Schaerbeek municipality contained nails, Belgian prosecutors said. Some chemicals were also found during the search.

4. Brussels attacks: Australians in the city.

An Australian student caught up in Brussels has described the scene of terror before her as she travelled to the city.

WA exchange student Mia Egerton-Warburton, who flew into Brussels on Monday night from where she is studying in the UK, said she and her group of girlfriends had been warned to stay indoors and that all public transport had been shut down.

“We’re feeling a bit shocked, confused and wary of possible further attacks,” the 20-year-old told AAP.

“All our families are pretty panicked, basically telling us to get out of Belgium.

“To give you an insight into how tense it is, a car alarm just went off in the street outside our room and literally everyone was looking out their windows. People stopped walking.”

Another Australian, Peter Presnell, originally from Burnie, Tasmania, was in a plane that had just touched down when he heard the blasts.

“Explosion at Brussels airport just as we landed,” he wrote.

“Our plane had just landed. Airport is closed no takeoff so [sic] landings. Buildings evacuated.

“Communication at airport running amok. Unable to coordinate plans to deplane at commuter terminal.”

5. Brussels attacks: The world unites.

There is solidarity today as the world comes to terms with yet another terrorist attack in a Western city.

The Eiffel Tower has lit up in the colours of the Belgian flag:

Social media users have begun sharing the hashtag ‪#NousSommesUnis — “We are united.” And have begun adding a filter of the Belgian flag to their Facebook profile.

For more read this post here.

6.  “Baby of the family” more likely to be bottle fed.

A study by the University of Queensland School has found that while highly educated women are twice as likely to breastfeed their babies for the recommended six months, the youngest child is more likely to be bottle fed.

The Courier Mail repots that the study by Natalie Holowko is examining the link between socio-economic factors, birth order and breastfeeding rates.

“Breastfeeding reduces a child’s risk of being overweight or obese, making it one of the first lines of defence against the emerging obesity epidemic,” Ms Holowko told The Courier Mail.

“Breastfeeding was started with 83 per cent of newborns, but only 59 per cent of six-month-olds were still being breastfed.”

The study found that university educated women were almost twice as likely to initiate breastfeeding or to breastfeed for the recommended six months as women with only a high-school education.

However they found it didn’t hold true for the youngest baby of the family.

“We discovered that women – particularly those with a higher level of education – were less likely to breastfeed their youngest child,” she said.

“This may suggest that women are returning to work soon after reaching their desired number of children.”

7. Victoria toughens sex offender laws.

The Victorian Government has announced tougher laws for sex offenders in response to the random stabbing murder of Masa Vukotic last year by Sean Christian Price.

Yesterday, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that serious sex offenders who intentionally or recklessly breach supervision orders in Victoria will be locked up for 12 months, also new laws will let police hold serious sex offenders without charge for 72 hours, up from ten. Police will also have new search and seizure powers when supervising a serious sex offender.

“Dangerous offenders who are an unacceptable risk to the community should not be in the community and we’re toughening the laws to make sure that happens,” Mr Andrews said.

8. 11-year-old boy accused of murder cries in court.

A 11-year-old boy, the youngest person ever charged with murder in Australia, has cried in court during a bail application.

The boy is accused of killing Patrick “Paddy” Slater, 26, who died in hospital during a brawl near Elizabeth Quay Station in Perth in the early hours of January 27.

The boy is among five people charged with Mr Slater’s murder. He appeared in Perth Children’s Court via video link from Banksia Hill Detention Centre.

WA Today reports that the boy wiped tears and was cuddled by his mother as the case was adjourned.

The court previously heard the boy was already on bail over an aggravated robbery at the time of Mr Slater’s death.

9. Toddler dies in driveway accident.

A two-year-old has died after he was hit by a car in a driveway at a home in Queensland’s Whitsundays.

The toddler was struck by the vehicle on the property at Cannonvale, near Airlie Beach yesterday.

He was taken to Proserpine Hospital but later died.

The Whitsunday Times reports that the person behind the wheel was a family friend visiting the property. Whitsunday Police Station officer in-charge Senior Sergeant Nathan Blain said the Forensic Crash Investigation Unit are investigating but that at this stage it was a tragic accident.

“The person was leaving the property, but it’s still too early in the investigation to say exactly what happened.”

10. Telstra suffers yet another outage – the fourth in two months.

Telstra customers are furious after yet another outage – the fourth in two months.

Telstra customers took to social media yesterday to vent their frustration about another service outage which this time restricted them from making calls.

“We’ve received reports from some customers facing difficulties making voice calls on our fixed and mobile networks. We’re investigating as a priority,” a company spokesperson said.

It later tweeted that it had “resolved the issue” and that it was “sorry for any inconvenience”. However some Perth customers have since said they are having problems.

Vodaphone has taken advantage of the Telco’s troubles, announcing that it is offering one month of free access fees for any new customer that defects from Telstra.

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