MELBOURNE, Australia — A 48-year-old man was charged on Thursday with mailing suspicious packages to foreign consulates in Australian cities this week, which the authorities said may have contained an unspecified hazardous material. The man, Savas Avan, was arrested on Wednesday night at his home in the city of Shepparton, about 120 miles north of Melbourne, the police said. He appeared Thursday morning before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, where he was charged with sending dangerous articles to be carried by a postal service. In total, 38 suspicious packages were delivered to consulates and embassies this week in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, the capital, including those of New Zealand and the United States. The police have not said what the packages contained, but Australian news reports said some of them included messages suggesting that they contained asbestos.

Source: New York Times January 10, 2019 06:32 UTC