The chief of the Swiss Guards, the force that protects the Vatican, has said it is only “a matter of time” before an attack that is inspired or directed by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) against the home of the Catholic church.

Commander Christoph Graf, speaking to Swiss Catholic news website cath.ch, said that the security force for Pope Francis is prepared for any act of extremism.

“Perhaps it is only a matter of time before an attack like that happens in Rome. But we are ready also for this,” he said. Created in the 16th century, the force is one of the oldest armies in the world and consists solely of young Swiss adult men.

Graf said the guards are there to defend one of the most famous world figures and one of the most important religious sites. Because of their unique uniforms, the guards are popular with tourists.

Swiss Guards attend a swearing-in ceremony in Vatican City on May 6.TIZIANA FABI/AFP/GETTY

The radical Islamist group has regularly used the imagery of the Pope and the Vatican in its propaganda output, and has claimed it will overthrow Rome, a symbol of the Roman Catholic religion, whose followers the group considers to be “apostates” and “crusaders.” In February 2015, ISIS released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

It included a message to Italy that called the nation “signed with the blood of the cross.” It also released an issue of its now-defunct propaganda magazine Dabiq with the Vatican’s famous St. Peter’s Square on the cover, with the headline “The Failed Crusade."

In April 2016, Italian authorities foiled a jihadist plot to target the Vatican as well as the Israeli embassy in Rome. Police arrested four people, one of which had received orders from an ISIS militant in Syria via the WhatsApp messaging service.

“For these enemies, I swear if I manage to bring my family to safety, I swear I will be the first to attack...in this crusading Italy...the Vatican, with the will of God,” the suspected would-be attacker in the cell allegedly told another member in an audio message Italian authorities intercepted.

The main boulevard that leads to St. Peter’s Square remains closed to traffic because of fears of an attack, and security has been increased amid a spate of ISIS-inspired attacks across Europe this year.

(Newsweek)

Counterterrorism police in London have launched an investigation after two police officers were injured arresting a man spotted carrying a large knife outside Buckingham Palace, the queen’s residence in the English capital.

Officers saw a "large bladed weapon" in the man's car when it stopped near the palace on Friday evening. It was later reported that the man shouted "Allahu akbar," meaning "God is greatest" in Arabic, before he was subdued with pepper spray.

Blossom and spring flowers bloom in front of Buckingham Palace before the Royal Wedding on April 15, 2011 in London. In the early hours of Tuesday morning a 22-year-old man tried to enter the palace, but was arrested.MATTHEW LLOYD/GETTY IMAGES

"As they challenged the driver, who was the only occupant in the car, he reached for what we now know to be a 4-foot sword which was in the front passenger foot well," police said in the updated statement.

The man had stopped his car in a "restricted area" when police saw the weapon.

As they arrested him, both officers suffered minor injuries, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The 26-year-old man was also treated for minor injuries, and was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault, and for offenses under the Terrorism Act.

Detective Superintendent Guy Collings said the "quick and brave" actions of the officers meant the man was detained quickly and did not come into contact with members of the public.

One member of the public who declined to be named described seeing the incident.

"My partner saw a sword, which I didn't see, as well as a policeman with blood on him, looking like his hand or chest was injured,” she told the Associated Press.

"The police officer had it in his hand, walking away with it."

No members of the royal family were in the palace at the time of the incident, said a spokesman.

The incident follows a series of terror attacks in London over the past few months.

In March, four people—including an American tourist—were killed when Khalid Masood drove a car along a pavement on Westminster Bridge, then stabbed a police officer to death outside Parliament before being gunned down by officers.

Weeks later, eight people were killed in a vehicle and knife attack on London Bridge, before all four attackers were shot dead by police.

Twenty-two adults and children were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt outside an Ariana Grande concert in the northern English city of Manchester in May.

All three attacks were claimed by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

The royal family has in the past been targeted by Irish republican militants the IRA, with the queen’s uncle, Lord Mountbatten, killed by a bomb planted on a boat off the coast of Ireland in 1979.

The two officers and the suspect in the Buckingham Palace incident have been discharged from hospital. The suspect was taken to a central London police station for questioning.

(Newsweek)

Russia’s two new cruise missile-armed submarines have entered the Mediterranean Sea, amid state media reports they could be used in Moscow’s operation in Syria.

The two diesel-powered vessels are officially passing Mediterranean waters only on their way from the Baltic Sea, in the north of Europe, to the Black Sea, in Europe’s southeast. Before arriving at their new home port in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the submarines linked up with Russia’s deployment of forces in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea Fleet spokesman Vyacheslav Trukhachev told theInterfax news agency Monday.

Kolpino and Veliky Novgorod are the newest additions to a family of six submarines of their class, built to reinforce Russia’s revamped Black Sea fleet amid tensions in the waters Russia shares with three NATO allies and two ex-Soviet NATO aspirants, Ukraine and Georgia.

Russian state media has boasted that the Varshavyanka class of submarines are some of the quietest in the world, describing them as "invisible" to enemy tracking.

Trukhachev did not say how long Kolpino and Veliky Novgorod would be staying with Russia’s naval detachment from the Mediterranean. The two now take the place of their sister vessels Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, which joined the outfit over the last year, before moving toward the Black Sea.

A Russian military diplomatic source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to state news agency Itar-Tass, said the two could fire cruise missiles at militants on the ground in Syria from their dock near Syria’s Latakia coast.

Other submarines of their class done the same when undertaking the journey, but earlier this week, Russia’s Ministry of Defense admitted that the Syrian conflict had provided Russia with an opportunity to test hundreds of new items of military kit.

Russia has given other reasons for officially beginning a military operation in Syria. In 2015, it was namely to support the embattled government and also to combat extremist group Islamic State (ISIS) and prevent Russian nationals in its ranks from returning home.

(Newsweek)

Crippled Houston watches dams, levees; forecast offers hope

With its flood defenses strained, the crippled city of Houston anxiously watched dams and levees Tuesday to see if they would hold until the rain stops, and meteorologists offered the first reason for hope — a forecast with less than an inch of rain and even a chance for sunshine.

The human toll continued to mount, both in deaths and in the ever-swelling number of scared people made homeless by the catastrophic storm that is now the heaviest tropical downpour in U.S. history.

The city's largest shelter was overflowing when the mayor announced plans to create space for thousands of extra people by opening two and possibly three more mega-shelters.

"We are not turning anyone away. But it does mean we need to expand our capabilities and our capacity," Mayor Sylvester Turner said. "Relief is coming."

Louisiana's governor offered to take in Harvey victims from Texas, and televangelist Joel Osteen opened his Houston megachurch, a 16,000-seat former arena, after critics blasted him on social media for not acting to help families displaced by the storm.

Meteorologists said the sprawling city would soon get a chance to dry out.

When Harvey returns to land Wednesday, "it's the end of the beginning," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Dennis Feltgen said.

Harvey will spend much of Wednesday dropping rain on Louisiana before moving on to Arkansas, Tennessee and parts of Missouri, which could also see flooding.

But Feltgen cautioned: "We're not done with this. There's still an awful lot of real estate and a lot of people who are going to feel the impacts of the storm."

The National Weather Service predicted less of an inch of rain for Houston on Wednesday and only a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for Thursday. Friday's forecast called for mostly sunny skies with a high near 94.

In all, more than 17,000 people have sought refuge in Texas shelters, and that number seemed certain to increase, the American Red Cross said.

The city's largest shelter, the George R. Brown Convention Center, held more than 9,000 people, almost twice the number officials originally planned to house there. The crowds included many from outside Houston.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expected Texas officials to decide within 48 hours whether to accept his offer, which comes as Louisiana deals with its own flooding. About 500 people were evacuated from flooded neighborhoods in southwest Louisiana, Edwards said.

The city has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for more supplies, including cots and food, for an additional 10,000 people, said the mayor, who hoped to get the supplies no later than Wednesday.

In an apparent response to scattered reports of looting, the mayor also imposed a curfew. Police Chief Art Acevedo said violators would be questioned, searched and arrested.

Four days after the storm ravaged the Texas coastline as a Category 4 hurricane, authorities and family members have reported more than 10 deaths from Harvey. They include a woman killed when heavy rain sent a large oak tree crashing onto her trailer and another woman who apparently drowned after her vehicle was swept off a bridge.

Houston police confirmed that a 60-year-old officer drowned in his patrol car after he became trapped in high water while driving to work. Sgt. Steve Perez had been with the force for 34 years.

Six members of a family were feared dead after their van sank into a drainage channel in East Houston. A Houston hotel said one of its employees disappeared while helping about 100 guests and workers evacuate the building.

Authorities acknowledge that fatalities from Harvey could soar once the floodwaters start to recede from one of America's largest metropolitan centers.

A pair of 70-year-old reservoir dams that protect downtown Houston and a levee in a suburban subdivision began overflowing Tuesday, adding to the rising floodwaters.

Engineers began releasing water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs Monday to ease the strain on the dams. But the releases were not enough to relieve the pressure after the relentless downpours, Army Corps of Engineers officials said. Both reservoirs are at record highs.

The release of the water means that more homes and streets will flood, and some homes will be inundated for up to a month, said Jeff Linder of the Harris County Flood Control District.

Brazoria County authorities posted a message on Twitter warning that the levee at Columbia Lakes south of Houston had been breached and telling people to "GET OUT NOW!!" Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta said residents were warned that the levee would be overtopped at some point, and a mandatory evacuation order was given Sunday.

The levee was later fortified, but officials said they did not know how long the work would hold.

Officials in Houston were also keeping an eye on infrastructure such as bridges, roads and pipelines that are in the path of the floodwaters.

Water in the Houston Ship Channel, one of the nation's busiest waterways, which serves the Port of Houston and Houston's petrochemical complex, is at levels never seen before, Linder said.

The San Jacinto River, which empties into the channel, has pipelines and roads and bridges not designed for the current deluge, Linder said, and the chance of infrastructure failures will increase the "longer we keep the water in place."

Among the worries is debris coming down the river and crashing into structures and the possibility that pipelines in the riverbed will be scoured by swift currents. In 1994, a pipeline ruptured on the river near Interstate 10 and caught fire.

After five consecutive days of rain, Harvey set a new continental U.S. record for rainfall for a tropical system.

The rains in Cedar Bayou, near Mont Belvieu, Texas, totaled 51.88 inches (132 centimeters) as of Tuesday afternoon. That's a record for both Texas and the continental United States, but it does not quite surpass the 52 inches (133 centimeters) from Tropical Cyclone Hiki in Kauai, Hawaii, in 1950, before Hawaii became a state.

The previous record was 48 inches (122 centimeters) set in 1978 in Medina, Texas, by Tropical Storm Amelia. A weather station southeast of Houston reported 49.32 inches (125 centimeters) of rain.

Before it breaks up, Harvey could creep as far east as Mississippi by Thursday, meaning New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina unleashed its full wrath in 2005, is in Harvey's path. Foreboding images of Harvey lit up weather radar screens on the 12th anniversary of the day Katrina made landfall in Plaquemines Parish.

The disaster is unfolding on an epic scale, with the nation's fourth-largest city mostly paralyzed by the storm that arrived as a Category 4 hurricane and then parked over the Gulf Coast. The Houston metro area covers about 10,000 square miles (25,900 square kilometers), an area slightly bigger than New Jersey.

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Associated Press writers Frank Bajak and Michael Graczyk in Houston, Diana Heidgerd and David Warren in Dallas, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Tammy Webber in Chicago contributed to this report.

(abcNEWS)