Bomb defused near Manila US embassy

Police defused a bomb near the US embassy in the Philippine capital yesterday, with militants who had declared allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group likely behind the attempted terrorist attack, authorities said. A taxi passenger dropped the mortar bomb with a mobile phone detonator in a rubbish bin about 200 metres (650 feet) from the embassy along one of Manila's busiest roads, but a street sweeper found it and alerted authorities, police said. It was defused immediately.