A car exploded in front of a Coptic Christian church as worshippers emerged from a New Year’s Mass in the Egyptian city of Alexandria early today, killing at least 21 people.

POLICE fired live ammunition into the air and lobbed tear gas into rioting crowds of Christians and Muslims yesterday in a third day of sectarian violence in Egypt's second-largest city.

Police fired live ammunition into the air and lobbed tear gas into rioting crowds of Christians and Muslims today in a third day of sectarian violence in Egypt’s second-largest city.

Clashes broke out during the funeral procession of a slain Coptic Christian today in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Alexandria, police sources said.

Three knife-wielding men attacked worshippers in simultaneous attacks during Friday Mass at three Coptic churches in the northern Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing one person and wounding more than a dozen others, police said.