Christmas Eve worshippers to face security screening at Cologne cathedral as police cite attack risk

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Police in Cologne, Germany, say indications of a possible attack have led them to search the country’s landmark cathedral with sniffer dogs. They add that worshippers attending Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday in the Cologne landmark will undergo security screening before being allowed in. Meanwhile, police in Vienna, Austria, also said Saturday that they are taking heightened security measures around churches and Christmas markets, deploying both uniformed and plainclothes officers. Neither police agency has specified the threat. But the dpa news agency says police detected signs of a possible attack by Islamic extremists, without citing a specific source.