Free Republic

An explosion on Sunday morning at the Mar Girgis Coptic church in the central Delta city of Tanta has left at least 21 dead and over 40 people injured, according to officials. Worshippers were celebrating Palm Sunday.

full title....................Trump blasts Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel for record-setting 762 homicides and 4,331 shooting victims in 2016 and says he 'must ask for Federal help' if he can't fix Windy City..............................Donald Trump used his Twitter bully pulpit on Monday to blast Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for allowing his city's murder and firearms shooting rates to spiral out of control. 'Chicago murder rate is record setting – 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016,' Trump tweeted. 'If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police have released crime statistics from 2016, with a police spokesman calling it an "unacceptable rise in violence." In the worst violence in nearly 20 years, Chicago saw 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents and 4,331 shooting victims.

Christians continue to be the most persecuted believers in the world with over 90,000 followers of Christ being killed in the last year, according to prominent Italian sociologist and author Massimo Introvigne. Introvigne, the founder of the independent Center for Studies on New Religions based in Turin, Italy, cited statistics compiled by the Center for Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for a annual report that is expected to be released next month. Introvigne said that there are between 500 to 600 Christians throughout the world that can’t profess their faith in Christ freely without fear of persecution....

CHICAGO -- More than 60 people were shot over the holiday weekend, 11 of them fatally. One of the most recent shootings left two teenage girls injured, one critically. It happened just after 11:30 p.m. Monday outside of Leland Giants Park. The 14-year-old was with a 13-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy in a van. The 13-year-old's father had just left the van to speak with someone in a nearby house when two people came up and fired shots into the vehicle, police said. While the 13-year-old sustained a graze wound and is in stable condition, the 14-year-old was shot...

Rescue helicopters have discovered debris in the Black Sea from a Russian military transport plane which went off radar en route to Syria. Most of the passengers on the Tu-154 were members of the famous Alexandrov Ensemble army choir. According to the latest information, the Tupolev transport plane had 92 people on board, including 84 passengers and eight crew members. It went missing over the Black Sea at 2:40 GMT shortly after refueling at an airport near Sochi. Most of the passengers on board were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the official choir of the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian...

Authorities said they were preparing to deal with dozens of fatalities after a fire raced through a converted warehouse crowded with people attending a Friday night concert, officials said. Nine bodies have been recovered, but Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said officials were prepared for up to 40 fatalities. He said many of those inside the warehouse were young, some from foreign countries. Firefighters were beginning to move through the burned-out remains of the building looking for victims. The building’s roof caved in, and debris will make the search effort difficult, Kelly said.

Fire tore through an Oakland warehouse converted into artist studios during a late night dance party Friday night, killing at least nine people, and officials said Saturday that the death toll could rise as high as 40.

At least 58 people were shot in Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend, leaving eight dead as the city faces the highest number of homicides in more than a decade. The latest victim is an 18-year-old who was shot dead in his vehicle at 2pm on Sunday, NBC reported. Two gunmen outside a house party on Saturday night left one dead and five others injured, while another shooting killed a 16-year-old boy on Friday evening. In October, Chicago surpassed 600 homicides this year, in numbers that have not been seen since 2003. There were 468 murders in 2015, and 416 the year...

Shopkeeper's monkey pulls off girl's head scarf in Libya, sparking violent clashes; at least 16 people killed and 50 others injured.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Authorities say there are multiple fatalities in an elementary school bus crash, CBS Chattanooga affiliate WDEF reported. Sources told WDEF that as many as 12 passengers may have been killed on Monday. Authorities say there are multiple fatalities but have not said a number. The bus was carrying students from kindergarten through grade 6.

Eight people were killed and at least 43 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago between Friday evening and Monday morning, including a west suburban man fatally shot on a sidewalk near Millennium Park. The downtown killing happened about 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street in the Loop, where 54-year-old Peter Fabbri was walking with two other people when he got into an argument with another male, who pulled out a gun and shot him in the head, according to Chicago police. The shooter took off on a bicycle but was arrested nearby, police...

UPDATE: ROME, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday has killed at least 159 people, the country's civil protection agency said, raising a previous count of 124. The search for bodies is continuing through the night, authorities said. EARLIER STORY: An earthquake flattened towns in central Italy in the early hours of Wednesday, killing at least 120 people and burying some alive in their sleep, with volunteers and firefighters racing to free those trapped under mounds of rubble as darkness fell. The quake razed mountain homes and buckled roads in a cluster of communities some...

Casablanca: A four-storey building collapsed on Friday afternoon in the Sebata neighborhood in Casablanca, killing four people and injuring 19 others. Six people have been reported to be in critical condition. Research operations are underway to find survivors under the rubble of the building that collapsed at around 16:30, reported Arabic daily Al-Jazirah. Moroccan media said that the building included business outlets. Eyewitnesses posted video recordings showing the ongoing rescue operations and the extent of the damage.

Three men were killed in separate incidents in Philadelphia overnight, bringing a violent end to a weekend in which at least eight people were killed between Friday and early Monday.

Federal officials said a hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people caught on fire and crashed in Central Texas on Saturday. Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office said there doesn't appear to be any survivors. "The balloon was occupied and it does not appear at this time that there were any survivors of the crash," Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel Law said in a statement. "Investigators are determining the number and the identities of victims at this time." Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the accident happened about 8:40 a.m. Saturday near Lockhart, Texas, when the...

Just a headline now

Multiple-fatality crashes in Utah road construction zones have drawn increased scrutiny to the inherent hazards of work areas and the lackadaisical attention many drivers pay to safety warnings there. “Despite all of our work with Zero Fatalities and safety messages, people are on their cell phones talking and texting and looking at other things,” said Vic Saunders, Utah Department of Transportation Region One spokesman. “Within the confines of construction zones, with narrower lanes and barriers that make it a little bit tighter, people are wavering back and forth, and the danger is magnified for everyone.” Utah road construction zone crashes...

At least two people were killed and 15 others injured in a shooting at a Florida nightclub, according to a local report.

Seems to be an active situation.