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A police officer has been stabbed in the Houses of Parliament in central London, in what police are treating as a terrorist incident.

Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs the «alleged assailant was shot by armed police». There are also reports of as many as five people being «mowed down» on nearby Westminster Bridge.

MPs said they had heard three or four gunshots. A Downing Street source said Prime Minister Theresa May was «OK».

Prime Minister Theresa May was seen being ushered into a silver Jaguar car as what sounded like gunfire rang out at Parliament during the incident. Staff inside Parliament were told to stay inside their offices.

Tom Peck, political editor for the Independent, tweeted: «There was a loud bang. Screams. Commotion. Then the sound of gunshots. Armed police everywhere.»

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The cabin baggage ban on laptops and tablets on direct flights to the UK from six countries will be in place by Saturday, the government has confirmed.

Passengers travelling from Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia must put big electronic devices in the hold.

BA, Easyjet, Jet2.com, Monarch, Thomson and Thomas Cook flights are affected.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the move was in response to an «evolving threat» from terrorism. He told the Commons the government’s decision was thought necessary to protect the safety of UK passengers, but would not give any more detail. «We have taken the steps for good reasons,» said Mr Grayling.

The ban applies to any device larger than 16cm long, 9.3cm wide or 1.5cm deep. It includes smart phones, but most fall inside these limits.

Under the new rules, all large electronic devices, including Kindles and similar e-readers, must be packed into luggage going into the hold.

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FBI director James Comey has confirmed for the first time that the FBI is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.

However, Mr Comey said his agency had seen no evidence to back up President Trump’s claim that his phones had been tapped by the Obama administration. He was giving evidence to the congressional intelligence committee.

The Trump administration said nothing had changed and there was «no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion». Russia has always denied attempting to influence the US presidential election.

The FBI investigation would examine possible links between individuals in the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, Mr Comey said.
The FBI would also assess whether crimes were committed, he said. Mr Comey said the investigation was «very complex» and he could not give a timetable for its completion. «We will follow the facts wherever they lead,» he said.

But White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested the administration was not concerned, saying: «You can continue to look for something, but continuing to look for something that doesn’t exist doesn’t matter.»

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The US has announced a ban on large electronic devices from cabin baggage on passenger flights from eight Muslim majority countries.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said extremists were seeking «innovative methods» to bring down jets.

Bombs could be hidden in laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and electronic games, it said. The measure will affect nine airlines operating out of 10 airports.

Large electronic devices will only be allowed on board in checked baggage. Phones are exempt from the new rules.

The nine airlines affected are: Royal Jordanian, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways.

US officials said the airlines had been given 96 hours, beginning at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday, to ban devices bigger than a mobile phone or smartphone from cabins. They said the ban had no end date.

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A man who used a James Bond-style USB cufflink to store extremist data has admitted five charges of terrorism.

Samata Ullah, 34, of Cardiff, pleaded guilty to being a member of so-called Islamic State, terrorist training, preparing terrorist acts and possessing articles for terrorist purposes. He denied one charge of directing terrorism.

The Old Bailey court in London heard the Attorney General had decided to accept the pleas. The remaining charge will lie on his file.

When he was arrested on 22 September, he had a USB cufflink with an operating system loaded onto it to conceal a hoard of extremist data, including a blog.

The court heard that between December 2015 and his arrest, Ullah had provided instructional videos on how to secure sensitive data and remain anonymous online with the use of encryption programmes.

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