Australia reduces national terrorism threat to ‘possible’

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The head of Australia’s main domestic spy agency says the country has downgraded its terrorism threat level from “probable” to “possible” for the first time since 2014. Australian Security Intelligence Organization Director-General Mike Burgess says the defeat of the Islamic State group in battle in the Middle East and an ineffective al-Qaida propaganda machine failing to connect with Western youth has resulted in fewer extremists in Australia. However, Burgess says there have been increases in radical nationalism and right-wing extremist ideology in Australia in the past couple of years. He says there have been 11 terrorist attacks and another 21 plots have been disrupted since the threat assessment was elevated from “possible” to “probable” in 2014.