AFP, Berlin
Police have arrested two brothers on suspicion of planning to attack one of Germany’s biggest shopping centres, authorities said Friday, four days after a jihadist killed 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market.
Police said they had arrested two men, aged 28 and 31, originally from Kosovo, and were trying to establish how advanced the plot was and whether other people were involved. Acting on a tip-off from the intelligence services, police were deployed to the shopping complex and a nearby Christmas market in the western city of Oberhausen late Thursday, they said.
Spicer named White House spokesman
Reuters, Washington
The Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer will serve as US President-elect Donald Trump’s press secretary in the White House when he takes office next month, Trump announced on Thursday. To round out his communications team, the president-elect appointed loyalists from his upstart presidential campaign. Hope Hicks, Trump’s sole spokeswoman when he began what was considered a longshot candidacy in June 2015, will be director of strategic communications.
Christmas bomb plot foiled in Australia
Reuters, Sydney
An ISIS-inspired Christmas Day terror plot targeting central Melbourne with explosives has been foiled after raids across the city resulted in seven arrests, police said on Friday.
Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton alleged those detained planned to attack high-profile locations including Melbourne’s iconic train station, Federation Square and St Paul’s Cathedral.
Three PIA flights to Karachi diverted due to fog
Dawn.com, Karachi
Three flights of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) scheduled to land in Karachi were diverted to other cities due to heavy fog on Friday morning, leaving relatives of passengers in a state of confusion.
Flights PK-214 from Dubai to Karachi and PK-307 from Lahore to Karachi were diverted to Muscat while PK-732 from Jeddah to Karachi was diverted to Lahore, PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani said in a statement.
