Two men arrested in Berlin police terror raids

POLICE raided the cultural centre in western Berlin and arrested two men aged 28 and 48 at a separate location in the south of the capital on Thursday.

Police also tweeted that in Britz, “some houses are now being evacuated as a precaution for the forensic examination of the suspicious object”.

Meanwhile, Belgian authorities have reduced the terror alert in Brussels, five days after it was raised to the highest possible level.

Schools, municipal buildings, some public transport and tourist attractions were closed from Saturday in the Belgian capital because of intelligence indicating a “serious and imminent” threat. The government’s national security council was meeting to discuss concrete measures to be taken.

The two leaders earlier laid flowers at Place de la Republique in Paris, which has become a tribute site for the 130 people massacred in the November 13 attacks which has been claimed by ISIL fighters.

The city was locked down with armed police and troops patrolling near deserted streets and the metro system completely shut down, while schools stayed shut on Monday and Tuesday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Paris on Wednesday and was asked by French President Francois Hollande to do “even more” in the fight against the militants, who have seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq.