Belgium
Package ‘neutralized’
Belgian authorities summoned soldiers to examine the contents of a package left outside the offices of the Turkish Federation in Brussels, amid fears it might have been a bomb. Brussels prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said an army team was called in Friday and “they neutralized” the package. Police are now testing samples taken from bag for explosive material, but Van Wymersch said it was probably meant “to scare people rather than someone who has actually made a bomb.”
Philippines
Large haul of meth seized
Philippine authorities seized more than half a metric ton of suspected methamphetamine Friday in suburban Manila and arrested six people in what could be one of the largest drug seizures under President Rodrigo Duterte. National Bureau of Investigation agents initially seized about 220 pounds of the substance, locally known as shabu, in six bags and arrested four Filipinos in a car in the upscale Greenhills residential district, metropolitan Manila police spokeswoman Kimberly Molitas said. Almost simultaneously, other agents raided a nearby house and found about 1,100 pounds of meth and arrested two suspects believed to be Chinese. An initial estimate placed the street value of the suspected meth at more than $60 million.
Austria
Documents made public
In an unusual move, Iran and six world powers have made public previously restricted documents about their nuclear deal to defend their contention Tehran is not circumventing limits on enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons. The agreement stipulates that Iran can possess only low-enriched uranium, which is not suitable for weapons. Iran is also limited to possessing a maximum of 660 pounds at any time.
Australia
Possible bomb plot foiled
Police in Australia detained five men suspected of planning a series of Christmas Day attacks using explosives, knives and a gun in the country’s second-largest city, officials said. The suspects were inspired by the Islamic State group and planned attacks on Melbourne’s Flinders Street train station, Federation Square, a bar and restaurant precinct, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, Victoria state Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.
Compiled from wire reports