SLAUGHTER AT THE ALTAR Shocking CCTV shows moment suicide bomb blast rips through Egyptian Coptic Christian church as two ISIS attacks leave 47 dead and hundreds injured.
Coptic churches in Alexandria and Tanta targeted by ISIS in blasts as Egyptian Christians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday - the Sunday before Easter.
HORRIFYING CCTV footage shows the moment a blast from a suicide bomber ripped through a church in Alexandria as attacks on two religious sites in Egypt claimed the lives of at least 47 people.
Hundreds were injured as bombs ripped through two churches within hours of each other, in attacks claimed by ISIS.
The first deadly explosion took place this morning at St George's Coptic Church in Tanta, 70 miles north of Cairo, killing 29 people and wounding 78 others.
Officials said the blast happened ''in the front rows, near the altar, during the mass'' as worshippers celebrated Palm Sunday - the Sunday before Easter, which marks the start of Holy Week for Christians.
Horrifying footage and images posted on social media appears to show the aftermath as crowds gathered around dead bodies and large blood stains on the pews and church walls.
Hours later, a suicide bomber carried out the second attack outside St Mark’s Coptic Cathedral in the coastal city of Alexandria - killing 18 people and injuring 66 others, the Egyptian health ministry confirmed.
CCTV footage shows the moment the blast ripped through the church sending bricks and wood flying.
Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic church, had earlier attended mass in Alexandria - he was not harmed in the attack.
Three Egyptian police officers were among those killed in Alexandria, after they stopped a suicide bomber from entering the cathedral.
The dead officers, including a policewoman, were named Ahmed Ibrahim, Brigadier General Nagwa El-Haggar and Emad El-Rakiby.
Egypt’s interior ministry said the suicide bomber blew himself up after security force assigned to protect the cathedral prevented him from entering the church.
ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks through its Amaq news agency.
Pope Francis, who is due to visit Egypt later this month, condemned the attacks.
He sent his ''deep condolences'' to the ''dear Egyptian nation'' and his ''beloved brother'' Pope Tawadros II.
Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered emergency deployment of troops to assist police in protecting vital facilities across country.
The Egyptian president also announced three days of national mourning in light of the attacks.
Speaking to Nile TV about the Tanta blast, governor Ahmad Deif said: "Either a bomb was planted or someone blew himself up."
A witness told the Reuters news agency: "There was a huge explosion in the hall. Fire and smoke filled the room and the injuries were extremely severe.
"I saw the intestines of those injured and legs severed entirely from their bodies."
The church bombings comes days after Donald Trump welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to Washington for talks on fighting ISIS to bolstering Egypt's flailing economy.
The US president tweeted: "So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt. The US strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President Al Sisi will handle the situation properly."
In a statement, Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK said: "What is undeniable is the senseless and heartless brutality that can lead a person or people to indiscriminately take innocent lives, especially at the most vulnerable hour of prayer.
"Today we suffer with our sisters and brothers who have experienced losses in London, in Stockholm, and as well as those who continue to suffer on a daily basis across the Middle East.
"We pray for them and their families as well as their suffering and struggling communities."
It is the second time Coptic Christians in Egypt have been attacked in six months.
Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack - and warned of more against Copts, who make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's population.
Egypt is home to around nine million Coptic Christians and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.
The country's Christian community has seen a wave of attacks by extremists since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011.
In 2015, 21 Egyptian Christians working in Libya were killed by Islamic State.
Copts also often faced regular attacks by Muslim neighbours - who burn their homes and churches in poor rural areas - usually in anger over an alleged inter-faith romance or the construction of church.
They say they face daily discrimination and are sidelined from many jobs in the police, justice system and universities.
African ambassadors have expressed concern over the ongoing attacks on African students in India. Describing it the behavior of hatred towards the racial and other people from other countries, he had spoken of taking action against India. African Ambassadors have said that with the setting up of International Committee on the issue, India has not been taking adequate action on the issue.
Explain that on March 27, after the death of 17-year-old Indian boy due to taking drugs in large quantities, a group took out candle march in Greater Noida. In this case, the police had questioned some Nigerians and left them. The angry people attacked 4 Nigerian students during the candle march.
However, in addition to arresting five people in this case, the police has registered an FIR against about 1200 unknown people.
On this case Nigerian High Commission officials met the injured and described it as unsafe for them. A senior official said that the talks with the Ministry of External Affairs are still on this issue.
Describing the Greater Noida attack as a racial, a top African diplomat said, "There is not enough awareness among the people about the African people. This is the biggest problem. "
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Bagale says that the government is committed to the security of all foreign people living in India. Proper steps are being taken to keep things under control.
Bagley said that Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar has negotiated with the Nigerian High Commissioner to take appropriate action on this.
According to former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, such an event can damage India's image in Africa.
People allege that most of the students who come to India on the student visa from African countries are engaged in intoxication business. These people supply narcotics among Indian students by bringing intoxicants from African countries. On the tourist visas, girls are indoctrinated in the sex businesses of India. Due to being a foreign citizen, the police are also hesitant to take action against them soon.
A bomb blast on a subway train in St. Petersburg, Russia, killed at least 10 people and wounded some 39 others Monday, Russian officials said, in what President Vladimir Putin called a possible act of terror.
One of the blasts came from a device that appeared to be filled with shrapnel, Sky News reported. Putin said investigators were looking into all possible causes. An unexploded device turned up at a different subway station as crews worked to deactivate it, anti-terror officials said.
A security camera spotted a man who may have left the bomb in a bag on the train, an unidentified source told the Interfax news agency without elaborating.
The explosive device blew up at 2:20 p.m. on a train that was leaving the Technology Institute station and heading to the Sennaya Square station, Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee said. Photos and video from Sennaya Square appeared to show wounded victims on the smoke-filled platform, and a train car with a door blown out. Frantic commuters reached out through the doors and windows, shouting, ''Call an ambulance!''
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Seven people died at the scene of the explosion, while one person died on the way to a hospital and two others died at the hospital, the country's health minister said.
In Poland, an Indian student has been brutally beaten by some attackers. India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj got information about this incident on Twitter. However this tweet was the news of the death of the young man. Sushma immediately sought detailed reports from the Indian ambassador to Poland.
The Indian ambassador later told that the young man is alive and he is undergoing treatment in the hospital.
In the Poznaan city of Poland on Wednesday, the unidentified assailants attacked the 21-year-old Indian youth. He was going to another friend's house with one of his friend. The attackers beat and pushed him in the market, due to which his head collided with a nearby shop and bleeding started. The young man also used to pray for help, but no help came forward.
Not only this, the police, who reached for the help of the youth, took about 24 hours to understand the whole case. Indian youth knew English and Hindi only, while the policemen only considered Polish language.
The young man has been admitted to the hospital. However, the reasons behind the attack have not yet been disclosed.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was first informed of the incident by a tweet. In it the death of the young man was claimed. Sushma asked Indian Ambassador to Poland to get complete information about the incident.
In the late evening ambassador Ajay Bisaria told Sushma that the youth is alive. Some people attacked him on Wednesday, the Polish Police is investigating the case.
President Donald Trump signs new bill into law, authorizing $19.5 billion in funding to NASA to further space exploration and develop manned missions to Mars
A WITNESS of the Westminster attack has described the terror as she saw a knifeman running towards Parliament as three shots were fired in the London attack.
- Car mowed down up to a dozen people on Westminster Bridge - just outside the Palace of Westminster
- Police officer stabbed by knife-wielding attacker
- The attacker was shot by armed police
- Houses of Parliament on lockdown
- Met Police treating incident as terror attack
- Theresa May was in the division lobby when she was whisked away by plain clothes policeman in a car
- Eyewitnesses said bodies were scattered on the ground on Westminster Bridge near Parliament.
Scotland Yard said the attack is being treated ''as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise''.
One witness said she saw an Asian man carrying an eight-inch knife heading towards the building.
Jayne Wilkinson said: ''We were taking photos of Big Ben and we saw all the people running towards us, and then there was an Asian guy in about his 40s carrying a knife about seven or eight inches long.
''And then there were three shots fired, and then we crossed the road and looked over. The man was on the floor with blood.
"He had a lightweight jacket on, dark trousers and a shirt.
"He was running through those gates, towards Parliament, and the police were chasing him."
Her partner David Turner added: "There was a stampede of people running out.
"You saw the people and you thought 'what the hell is going on'."
Watching the incident unfold from the press gallery inside the Houses of Parliament, George Eaton the political editor of the New Statesman told Sky News: "I saw a large crowd fleeing the attacker who appeared to be carrying a knife, fleeing him from close to the Tube station.
"He then entered the gates of Parliament and charged at officers. We now know that one of them was sadly stabbed. He was then very swiftly shot by armed police."
Kathy Casatelli, 58, saw a car rammed into the front gates of the palace and a man being treated on the floor.
She said: "We were coming up from the Tube and we walked out and there were officers there with their guns drawn.
She said: ”I saw this car that was smashed into the gate. It was a grey BMW, it looked like a nice car. The whole windshield was smashed.
"There was a man on the ground, it looked like he was moving. I don't know if he was the driver."
Police extended the cordon back up Broad Sanctuary beyond Westminster Abbey to the junction with Victoria Street.
After the incident, Radoslaw Sikorski posted a video to Twitter purporting to show people lying injured in the road on Westminster Bridge.
Mr Sikorski, a senior fellow at Harvard's Centre for European Studies, wrote: "A car on Westminster Bridge has just mowed down at least five people."
At least four people were seen lying on the ground, some bleeding heavily and apparently unconscious, on Westminster Bridge near Britain's parliament on Wednesday, Reuters photographs showed.
One of the photographs showed a body lying under the wheels of a London bus.
An assailant was shot outside parliament by armed police, the leader of the House of Commons said after loud bangs were heard with at least a dozen injured people on the nearby bridge.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "I can see people injured on Westminster bridge. There are a lot of ambulances. I was coming down the escalators with loads of other people and police suddenly stopped us all. There was no way back up and it was a bottleneck. It was very scary.
“Everyone was panicking but the solidarity shown was inspiring. We're not sure if it was one or two attackers, or if it was the bloke in the 4x4 who attacked everyone on the bridge. I heard gunshots, but that was the police taking down the attacker.”
Witness Quentin Letts said he saw a man in black attack a police officer outside Parliament before being shot two or three times as he tried to storm into the House of Commons.
"I saw a thick-set man in black clothes come through the gates into New Palace Yard, just below Big Ben," he told the BBC.
"He had something in his hand, it looked like a stick of some sort, and he was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellow jackets.
"And one of the yellow-jacketed policemen fell down and we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way that suggested he was stabbing or striking the yellow-jacketed policeman."
He other officer ran to get help and the man in black ran about 15 yards towards the entrance.
Mr Letts said: "As this attacker was running towards the entrance two plain-clothed guys with guns shouted at him what sounded like a warning, he ignored it and they shot two or three times and he fell."
Kevin Schofield, the editor of PoliticsHome.com heard "a very loud bang" from the press gallery inside the Houses of Parliament followed by lots of shouting and men running around.
He initially thought it was a car crash but then he looked outside the window to a heavily-guarded area outside which is out of bounds to the public.
He told Sky News: "Someone rushed through, attacked a policeman, a policeman went down, another policeman came and he was rescued.
"The man who had assaulted him got up and he appeared to be carrying either a knife or a gun. Then we heard gunfire, lots of gunfire, maybe five or six rounds.
"All I remember seeing is the man approaching the police officer probably with a knife and then there was gunfire.
"He was walking towards a second policeman with his arm outstretched, with what looked like a knife in his hand, having already assaulted another policeman.
"It was at that moment that you realised that something serious was happening - a man had broken in to Parliament and had a weapon."
Steve Voake, 55, was walking across the Westminster Bridge towards the South Bank when he saw the aftermath.
He said he saw at least two bodies lying on the road and one in the water.
"I saw a trainer lying in the road and when I looked more closely I saw that there were a couple of bodies the other side of the road," he told the Press Association.
"And when I looked over the side there was another body lying in the water with blood all around it."
Westminster underground station has been closed and pedestrians moved away from the scene.
One witness told Express.co.uk: "There's no tubes, no taxis, and people can't even walk anywhere because the police are moving people further and further away. It's chaos."
In the Commons, MP John Pugh says MPs are being evacuated from the building.
Helicopters are circling overheard as officers at the scene say they are unable to confirm how long the cordon will be in place.
Police have cordoned off the Mall to cars with officers seen in Trafalgar Square.
Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police are asking people to avoid the following areas: Parliament Square; Whitehall; Westminster Bridge; Lambeth Bridge; Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube.
“This is to allow the emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident.
“Police were called at approximately 14:40 hours to reports of an incident in Westminster Bridge, SW1. It is being treated as a firearms incident.
“Officers - including firearms officers - remain on the scene and we are treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise.
“We thank the public for their assistance.
“Police are appealing for any members of the public who may have images or footage of the incident to send them to this address: www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk.”
The FBI is actively investigating Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible cooperation from President Donald Trump's campaign, agency director James Comey confirmed.
The existence of an investigation isn't a surprise, but Comey's announcement Monday is the first time the FBI has acknowledged an active case. The FBI typically does not comment on active investigations, but the Russian actions targeting the U.S. election represents an "unusual" case, he told members of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
Comey told lawmakers he couldn't comment more on the investigation, but he said the FBI is looking into possible contacts and cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The FBI is looking into "the nature of any links" between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, he said.
U.S. intelligence agencies are confident that Russia directed hacks into the Democratic National Committee and campaign officials for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Leaked emails were released by WikiLeaks and other websites during the 2016 campaign.
During the hearing, Comey also shot down Trump claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in New York City during the presidential campaign. The FBI and the Department of Justice have "no information that supports those tweets" by Trump in early March, Comey said.
"We have looked carefully inside the FBI" for evidence of an Obama wiretapping campaign against Trump and found nothing, Comey added.
Meanwhile, the intelligence community remains confident the Russians coordinated the election hacking campaign, Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, told lawmakers Monday. The Russian government has repeatedly denied interfering in the presidential campaign.
But Rogers and Comey were silent on the question about whether the Trump campaign worked with Russia to damage Clinton's campaign. Republicans noted there is no evidence connecting the Trump campaign to the Russian government, but Democratic members of the committee tried to connect the dots.
In an extraordinary 17-minute statement, Representative Adam Schiff laid out a timeline of meetings between members of the Trump campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election season.
Carter Page, a former national security advisor for Trump, visited Moscow in mid-2016 and reportedly discussed moving the campaign in a pro-Russia direction, Schiff said. Trump campaign officials also met with Russian officials during the Republican National Convention.
Later, Michael Flynn, former national security advisor for Trump, and Jeff Sessions, Trump's attorney general, denied contact with Russian officials before they were outed in the press, Schiff said. And Trump campaign operative Roger Stone had contact with WikiLeaks and supposed DNC hacker Guccifer 2.0, Schiff said.
"Is it possible that all of these events and reports are completely unrelated and nothing more than an entirely unhappy coincidence?" Schiff said. "Yes, it is possible, but is also possible, maybe more than possible, that they are not coincidental, not disconnected, and not unrelated."
The dictator observed the ''high-thrust'' engine being tested at Tongchang-ri rocket launch station today.
It follows the shock launch of multiple missiles towards US bases in Japan earlier this month.
Watching today’s test, Kim declared a 'new birth' for North Korea's rockets.
And the ''Dear Leader'' warned the world it would soon witness the Hermit Kingdom's ''great victory''.
The engine will help the country achieve world-class ''satellite'' launch capability, state news agency KCNA said.
This indicates it was a new type of rocket engine for long-range missiles.
Space rockets have a similar design to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The UN believes North Korea is using its so-called space programme to design a missile capable of hitting the US.
Trigger-happy leader Kim has boasted the country is close to a test-launch of an ICBM.
KCNA (which the Communist regime's official propaganda mouthpiece) said, "He (Kim) noted that the success made in the current test marked a great event of historic significance as it declared a new birth of the 'Juche-based' rocket industry."
The term ''Juche'' refers to North Korea's homegrown ideology, or unique way of thought.
The news agency added, ''He emphasised that the whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries.''
Kim gave the order for the launch and watched from an observation tower as the engine fired up.
The test was conducted to check various technical parts of the engine, such as the thrust power in its combustion chamber, the accurate movement of its turbine pump, its control system and various valves and their structural safety and reliability.
North Korea declared the test a success.
Kim hailed the country’s weapons industry for a ''series of unprecedented successes''.
The despot said the test was a great leap forward for North Korea's rocket industry – matching the space programme of other countries.
He declared the ''historic'' launch day would now be known as the ''March 18 revolution''.
The high-thrust engine was developed by Kim’s scientists at the Academy of the National Defence Science.
North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests and a series of missile launches and is believed by experts and government officials to be working to develop nuclear-warhead missiles that can reach the US.
The US and China have pledged to work together to get the North to take ''a different course'' and move away from its weapons programmes.
US president Donald Trump's new right hand man Rex Tillerson met with his Chinese counterpart on Saturday.
But The Donald later blamed China for failing to rein in pal Kim.
