The trio, all Australian nationals of Turkish descent, were detained by counter-terror police in overnight raids as they escalated preparations to attack crowded areas of Melbourne, according to police.

The three, two brothers aged 31 and 26 and 21-year-old, were later charged with planning a terrorist action, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, officials said.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the men were “certainly inspired by ISIS”, the Islamic State group, but had no known links to a specific organisation.

They had been under investigation since March but had become “more energised” since the IS-inspired stabbing attack in Melbourne on November 9, he said.

The men had sought to purchase semi-automatic .22 calibre rifles and police were concerned they could target upcoming Christmas season events that will see huge crowds gathering in the city.

“There was a view towards a crowded place, a place where maximum people would be attending, to be able to kill, we allege, as maximum an amount of people as possible,” Ashton told reporters.

The group had not yet picked a specific target or time for the attack, and Ashton added that police were confident Tuesday’s arrests had “neutralised any threat to the… community from this group”.

In the November 9 attack, a Somali-born Australian, Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, stabbed and killed one man and wounded two others in a central shopping area before being shot dead by police.

Coincidentally, the victim of that attack, Sisto Malaspina, 74, was honoured by a state funeral in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Melbournians and dignitaries attended a service at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral to bid farewell to Malaspina, the beloved owner of a local Italian cafe and a well-known figure on the city’s vibrant restaurant scene.

‘Potential loss of life’

The three arrested men were identified by local media as Ertunc and Samed Eriklioglu, aged 30 and 26 respectively, and Hanifi Halis, 21. Court officials could not immediately confirm their identities.

“If we had not acted early in preventing this attack, we’ll allege the consequences would have been chilling, with… a potential significant loss of human life,” said Ian Mccartney, a federal counter-terror police spokesman, in announcing the arrests.

Australian police have charged 90 people in relation to 40 counter-terrorism investigations since 2014, when the country’s terror alert level was raised to “probable”.

Melbourne has been the target for a number of attacks and plots.

In addition to the November 9 knife rampage, a 28-year-old man was convicted on six counts of murder last week for mowing down dozens of people in the same street in January 2017, and Shire Ali’s brother is in jail awaiting trial for a plot to cause mass casualties last New Year’s in the city’s Federation Square.

Shire Ali, like the three men arrested Tuesday, had his passport cancelled to keep him from joining ISIS in the Mideast, and Ashton said this may have led to their actions at home.

“Unfortunately, the ISIS propaganda machine and that of al-Qaeda promotes this type of activity so when people are prevented from travelling or it’s difficult to get to the conflict zone, often the view will be to change tack and commit an act in the country in which they live,” he said.

Police said the probe which led to Tuesday’s arrests had been complicated by the suspects’ use of encrypted messaging applications, prompting the government to renew calls for urgent action on controversial legislation that would allow authorities to break the encryption.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said nine out of 10 of the high priority intelligence investigations currently underway were being undermined by suspects’ use of encrypted messaging.

“That’s an unacceptable risk in this environment,” he said.

China won a windfall partner with the 2016 election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has rattled the Philippines’ century-old bond with the US while courting trade and investment from the rising American rival.

Manila has said it hopes the two-day stopover, the first from a Chinese president in 13 years, will finally net signed deals for investment in major infrastructure projects promised by Beijing when Duterte visited two years ago.

China has dispersed tens of billions of dollars in loans since 2013 as it expands its political influence globally, countering the American hegemony that characterised the post-World War II order, especially in Asia.

However, even before Xi’s expected arrival Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of protestors descended on the Chinese embassy to voice opposition to closer ties with Beijing.

“Philippines is not for sale,” the marchers chanted, as some brandished signs saying “China out of Philippine waters” in reference to a long-running dispute over the South China Sea.

Duterte has enthusiastically embraced Xi, even setting aside a key 2016 ruling from an international tribunal that declared as without basis Beijing’s expansive claim over the waterway.

At the same time, the mercurial leader has declared an end to what he characterised as the Philippines’ submissive relationship with the US, even calling then-US president Barack Obama a “son of a whore”.

But relations have been warmer since Donald Trump became US president and dropped American criticism of Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown that has killed thousands.

The dispute over the resource-rich South China Sea, a key transit route for billions in trade, led to a freeze in Manila-Beijing relations, which thawed with Duterte’s pivot.

Duterte taken for a ride?

China subsequently pledged $24 billion in loans and investments, but just a tiny portion has come through, prompting critics to say Duterte was tricked.

Meanwhile, others have warned of a “debt trap” citing China’s lending record with the rest of the developing world.

Filipino analyst Richard Heydarian said China’s pledges induced Manila to “soft-pedal” on the South China Sea issue, but Beijing failed to hold up its end of the bargain.

“We know there was a geopolitical calculation,” he told AFP. “What is the incentive to rush if Duterte has been giving them whatever they want?”

Filipino Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno conceded last week the delays were partly due to China’s unfamiliarity with the Philippine bidding process on big infrastructure projects, but didn’t hide his wish for things to accelerate.

“The visit of the head of state of China will put pressure on the team (in Beijing),” Diokno added.

Gregory Wyatt, director for business intelligence at PSA Philippines Consultancy, said big projects face many barriers in the Philippines, like right of way issues, regulatory approvals and political dissent.

“The foreign investment has come, the infrastructure loans have not,” he added.

Chinese investments in the Philippines surged more than five-fold in the first six months of the year after a 67 percent expansion last year, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a Manila visit last month.

Two-way trade also topped 10 percent over both periods, he added.

Chinese investors poured money into online gaming, real estate, service providers and stakes in existing Filipino firms, but not into large-scale infrastructure or manufacturing, Wyatt said.

While there was support in government for the latter, “that doesn’t mean that every bureaucrat, local politician, and the general public enthusiastically jumps on board”, Wyatt said.

Memories are still painfully fresh of the volcano’s eruption in June, which swept away villages and left nearly 200 people dead and 235 missing.

The Institute of Volcanology’s director Pablo Oliva said the volcano’s activity level had dropped significantly by late Monday.

A spokesman for Guatemala’s disaster management agency CONRED had earlier said it decided to evacuate the municipality of Escuintla and two other districts. Some 4,000 people were taken to temporary shelters as a precaution.

The spokesman, David de Leon, said the eruption became increasingly violent after it began Sunday morning, leading to fears for the safety of the thousands of people who live on the slopes of the 3,763 meter-high (12,246 feet) mountain.

A column of ash rose about 1,000 meters above the crater and areas west of the volcano — 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Guatemala City — were under a barrage of gas ash and fiery rocks, CONRED said.

As the volcano’s activity fell back to normal parameters, evacuees were asked for the sake of cautiousness to return home on Tuesday by bus.

A previous eruption on October 12-13 was characterized by increasingly loud booms and lava flow. On that occasion, 62 people were evacuated from their homes as a precaution and a highway around the mountain was closed.

Many of those evacuated on Monday said they had feared a repeat of the deadly June eruption.

“We were scared and that’s why we evacuated,” said Miriam Garcia, from the village of El Rodeo which was largely spared the deadly eruption.

Oscar Juarez from El Rodeo said: “You have to get out as soon as possible because when that (volcanic material) comes close, you no longer have time to leave, even if you run, because it comes very fast.”

Activity inside Guatemala’s two other volcanoes, Pacaya and Santiaguito, has increased in recent months but they have not entered the eruptive phase.