Belgian denies UK charge:

A Belgian man accused of giving money to a key suspect in the Brussels and Paris terror attacks took the stand in his British trial Thursday to protest his innocence and condemn Islamic State militants as “worse than animals”.

Zakaria Boufassil, who lives in Birmingham in central England, is accused of handing £3,000 ($3,770, 3,550 euros) in cash to Mohamed Abrini when the latter visited the city in July 2015, with the knowledge that it would be used for terrorism.

Testifying at Kingston Crown Court near London, the 26-year-old admitted to meeting Abrini and to holding a bag of money for his alleged conspirator, Mohamed Ali Ahmed, but said he had “no idea” of its intended use. (AFP)