Egypt's tourism faces meltdown

EGYPT'S tourism industry is facing meltdown as foreign governments order visitors to stay in their hotels and tour operators cancel trips to the crisis-hit country.

Fears of nationwide unrest in the wake of a violent crackdown by the military-backed interim government earlier this week have resulted in a string of countries issuing official advice against all but essential travel to the land of the Pyramids.

Tourists already in the country are being told to stay in their hotels and resorts, even in areas untouched by the troubles, adding to a sense of insecurity that has hit the beleaguered sector hard.

Tourism is a vital component of the Egyptian economy, accounting for more than 11 per cent of GDP before the current wave of political instability began with the Arab Spring in 2011.

German travel groups TUI and Thomas Cook announced on Friday that they were cancelling all holidays to Egypt until September 15 in light of the uncertain security situation.

Russia, which has more than 50,000 of its nationals currently on holiday in Egypt and a similar number booked to go there in the coming months, advised travel agents to stop selling packages to the north African state.

Britain, which had previously excluded Egypt's popular Red Sea resorts from its travel advisory, on Friday told its nationals visiting the resort of Hurghada to stay in their hotels, in line with advice received from the Egyptian police.

The warning followed a death in Hurghada on Wednesday.

"Hurghada police advised tourists to remain in hotel grounds," a statement from the Foreign Office said. "We advise you to follow their advice."

"You are strongly advised to avoid all demonstrations and large gatherings.

"If you become aware of any nearby protests, leave the area immediately. Do not attempt to cross road blocks erected by the security forces or protesters."

British travel association ABTA estimates that there are currently around 40,000 Britons in Red Sea resorts such as Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, which is an eight-hour drive from Cairo.

Tour operator Thomas Cook said it had cancelled excursions from the Red Sea resorts to Cairo, Luxor, Moses' mountain and Saint Catherine's monastery.

But a spokeswoman added: "Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada are fully operational and holidaymakers are continuing to enjoy these popular resorts."

Italy, which has an estimated 19,000 citizens in Egypt, advised them not to venture out on excursions.

The foreign ministry also said the security situation in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula was "very precarious" and advised against any travel there.

"There is a risk of terrorist attacks. There should be particular caution in the region bordering the Gaza Strip, in Cairo and Alexandria," it said.

The warnings issued by Britain and Italy were mirrored in France, Germany and Spain.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius indicated that a possible evacuation of French nationals was being kept under review.

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Work begun on more US homes in July

US developers have broken ground on new homes at a faster pace in July, partly reversing a sharp drop the previous month. The figures suggest that housing construction is maintaining its recovery.

The Commerce Department said on Friday that builders began work last month on houses and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 896,000. That was up 6 per cent from June, though below a recent peak of just over 1 million in March. Construction began on 26 per cent more apartments, a volatile category, but 2.2 per cent fewer single-family houses.

Applications for permits for future home construction also rose, though mostly because of apartments. Permits rose 2.7 per cent to 943,000, boosted by a 13.5 per cent jump in apartment permits. Permits for single-family homes dipped 2 per cent.

In June, builders had sought the most building permits for single-family homes in five years. Americans are buying more new homes, and builders are increasingly optimistic that demand will keep rising. Both trends should spur more construction. New-home sales jumped in June to their highest level in five years.

And a measure of homebuilder confidence rose for a fourth consecutive month in August to nearly an eight-year high. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index, released on Thursday, rose to 59 from 56 in July. That is the highest level since November 2005. A reading above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor.

Home prices and construction began to recover early last year, and the recovery has picked up in recent months. It has offset some of the drag this year from higher taxes and federal spending cuts.

Slow but steady hiring and historically low mortgage rates have encouraged more people to buy homes. Increased demand, along with a tight supply of homes for sale, has pushed home prices higher. It's also made builders more optimistic about the market for newly built homes, leading to more construction and jobs.

Though new homes represent only a fraction of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $US90,000 in tax revenue, according to NAHB statistics.

Despite the lift from housing, the economy has been sluggish this year. It expanded at just a 1.7 per cent annual rate in the April-June quarter after a 1.1 per cent annual rate in the first three months of the year.

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Woman dies in northern NSW house fire

AN elderly woman has died in a house fire in northern NSW.

Emergency services were called to the home in Inverell shortly before 1pm (AEST) on Friday to find the place well alight.

Attempts to enter the house by police and an off-duty paramedic were unsuccessful.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze but the house suffered major internal damage.

The body of what is believed to be the 82-year-old female occupant was located inside.

Police said the fire was not believed to be suspicious and they will prepare a report for the coroner.

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Earthquake shakes Mexican capital

AN earthquake has shaken Mexico's capital with authorities putting it at a moderate magnitude of 5.3.

There have been no reports of damage or injuries from Friday's quake but many office workers evacuated their buildings after it set off alarms citywide.

Mexico's national seismology service says the quake was centred in the southern state of Guerrero.

Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera says in a message from his Twitter account there are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Mexico City is vulnerable to distant earthquakes because much of it sits atop the muddy sediments of drained lake beds. They jiggle like jelly when quake waves hit.

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Five dead in Philippines ferry sinking

A FERRY with nearly 700 people aboard has sunk near the central Philippine port of Cebu after colliding with a cargo vessel, killing at least five people.

Hundreds of others have been rescued following Friday night's collision.

The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas ordered the ship abandoned after it began listing then sank after hitting the cargo vessel, coast guard officer Joy Villegas said.

She said at least five people were confirmed dead, more than 250 rescued and authorities were still checking the number of others who had been taken to hospitals.

Two coast guard vessels and other nearby ships were involved in the rescue operation not far from the port of Cebu, Villegas said.

Passenger Jerwin Agudong told radio station DZBB that some people were trapped and he saw bodies in the water.

"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side, and some being rescued," he said.

He said the ferry was entering the pier when the cargo vessel, which was on the way out, suddenly collided with it. He said he and other passengers jumped in front of the cargo vessel.

"One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied," Agudong said.

He said the crew of the ferry distributed lifejackets while the ship was slowly sinking.

He said the ferry came from Nasipit in Agusan del Sur province in the southern Philippines on a daylong journey.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

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Egypt declares state of emergency

EGYPT has declared a month-long state of emergency as violence rages across the country following a crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The nationwide state of emergency started on Wednesday at 4pm, the presidency said in a statement read out on state television.

The exceptional measures came as "the security and order of the nation face danger due to deliberate sabotage, and attacks on public and private buildings and the loss of life by extremist groups," the presidency said.

Interim president Adly Mansour "has tasked the armed forces, in cooperation with the police, to take all necessary measures to maintain security and order and to protect public and private property and the lives of citizens.

Security forces on Wednesday stormed two huge Cairo protest camps occupied for weeks by supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, leaving at least 124 people dead in a crackdown that turned into a bloodbath.

A TV cameraman for Britain's Sky News, Mick Deane, was shot dead while covering the clashes, the network said.

And the teenage daughter of a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader was also reported among those killed.

Seventeen-year-old Asmaa al-Beltagui, daughter of wanted Brotherhood leader Mohammed al-Beltagui, was killed in clashes at the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp, Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said.

A spokeswoman for the main pro-Morsi coalition, the Anti-Coup Alliance, told AFP the girl had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned a police crackdown on protesters in Egypt that he said had left hundreds dead and injured.

"In the aftermath of today's violence, the secretary-general urges all Egyptians to concentrate their efforts on promoting genuinely inclusive reconciliation," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

An AFP correspondent counted at least 124 bodies in makeshift morgues.

The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi emerged, said 2200 people had been killed and over 10,000 injured.

Egypt's Health Ministry said 95 people had been killed and more than 840 wounded in clashes across the country.

Egypt's government declared a daily curfew in Cairo and 11 other provinces in a bid to contain the violence.

The curfew was to begin at 7pm on Wednesday, before sunset, and run until 6am, a government spokesman said in a statement read out on state television.

It applies to the provinces of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Beni Sueif, Menya, Assiut, Sohag, Beheira, North Sinai, South Sinai and Suez.

The government later added that Ismailiya would also be under curfew.

The measure in all 12 provinces will last one month, the government said.

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UK Sky News cameraman killed in Egypt

A TV cameraman for Britain's Sky News has been shot and killed while covering the deadly violence in Cairo, the channel says.

Mick Deane, a 61-year-old father of two children, had worked for Sky for 15 years and was a veteran cameraman who had been based in Washington DC and Jerusalem.

He was part of a Sky News team reporting on the crisis in Cairo with the channel's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley when he was shot and wounded on Wednesday.

Deane received medical treatment for his injuries, but died shortly afterwards.

None of the other members of the team were injured, Sky said.

The channel's foreign editor Tim Marshall said: "He was a friend. Our hearts go out to his family.

"He died doing what he'd been doing so brilliantly for decades."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "saddened" by the news.

John Ryley, head of Sky News, said: "Everyone at Sky News is shocked and saddened by Mick's death.

"He was a talented and experienced journalist who had worked with Sky News for many years.

Security forces stormed two huge Cairo protest camps occupied for weeks by supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, leaving at least 124 people dead in a crackdown that turned into a bloodbath.

The Sky News cameraman was the second journalist to be killed in Egypt on Wednesday.

Habiba Ahmad Abdel Aziz, a 26-year-old reporter for the Xpress supplement of the Dubai-based Gulf News, died as troops clashed with pro-Morsi protesters.

She was visiting Egypt, her home country, on holiday and was not working at the time.

Reporters Without Borders told AFP that four other journalists, all Egyptians, were injured in Wednesday's clashes.

Three were photographers and cameramen while one was a reporter.

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Emissions up under coalition policy: study

AUSTRALIA'S carbon pollution levels will increase under a coalition government, new research shows.

In a blow for the coalition less than four weeks from the federal election, modelling by The Climate Institute has found that opposition policy would result in a rise in emissions by at least nine per cent by 2020.

The result is at odds with Australia's commitment, supported by the coalition, to reduce emissions by the end of the decade by at least five per cent of 2000 levels.

"To achieve their promised range of 2020 carbon cuts of five to 25 per cent below 2000 levels, the coalition would need to spend at least an extra $4 billion to $15 billion by 2020," Institute chief executive John Connor said, adding that such an expense would spark a budget blowout.

The cost is linked to the coalition's adoption of direct action in preference of the government's emissions trading scheme.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt has priced the direct action plan at less than $1.6 billion over its first three years, while making savings by scrapping subsidies currently paid to brown coal generators under the carbon tax system.

Acknowledging that the coalition is yet to reveal the full details of its climate policy, the Institute has drawn up a number of recommendations for them including retaining the current legislative framework which is on track to achieve the target emissions reduction by 2020.

The independent research body also suggests the coalition should boost renewable energy targets among a raft of clean electricity-generation initiatives.

Labor wasn't immune from criticism in the report.

"Both major parties have work to do to improve Australia's carbon competitiveness and help pursue our national climate interest," Mr Connor said.

"In the absence of a broad carbon limit and price, the coalition will struggle to do so without a host of new stringent regulatory interventions."

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US condemns Egypt violence

THE United States has strongly condemned Egyptian forces' bloody crackdown on protesters and denounced the imposition of a state of emergency.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Wednesday urged the Egyptian military to show restraint after a crackdown on supporters of deposed elected president Mohamed Morsi.

"The United States strongly condemns the use of violence against protesters in Egypt," Earnest told reporters.

"Violence will only make it more difficult to move Egypt forward on a path to lasting stability and democracy and runs directly counter to the pledges by the interim government to pursue reconciliation."

Egypt's army-installed authorities declared a one-month state of emergency as it cleared out two large protests by Mori supporters.

An AFP correspondent counted at least 124 bodies in makeshift morgues following the crackdown.

"We also strongly oppose a return to a state of emergency law and call on the government to respect basic human rights such as freedom of peaceful assembly and due process under the law," Earnest said.

"The world is watching what is happening in Cairo. We urge the government of Egypt and all parties in Egypt to refrain from violence and resolve their differences peacefully."

Earnest was speaking in Martha's Vineyard, where President Barack Obama is on vacation.

The United States has repeatedly called for restraint but has refused to describe the army's July 3 ouster of Morsi, an Islamist, as a coup.

The designation of a coup would bind the Obama administration to halt the $US1.5 billion ($A1.66 billion) in annual military aid to Egypt.

Earnest, while condemning the crackdown, repeated the administration's position on using the term coup: "We have determined that it is not in the best interest of the United States to make that determination."

"We are, on a regular basis, reviewing the aid that is provided by the United States to Egypt," he said.

Earnest said that Obama, who was golfing on Wednesday, was "closely monitoring" the situation.

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Egypt VP, Nobel laureate ElBaradei resigns

EGYPTIAN vice president, Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, has announced his resignation in a letter to the interim president, seen by AFP.

The resignation on Wednesday comes after scores were killed in a crackdown by security forces on loyalists of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

"It has become too difficult to continue bearing responsibility for decisions I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear," ElBaradei said.

He said his conscience was troubled over the loss of life "particularly as I believe it could have been avoided".

"Unfortunately those who gain from what happened today are those who call for violence and terror, the extremist groups," he said.

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Woman charged over soldier death clips

A WOMAN has been charged with terror offences over video clips about the London murder of soldier Lee Rigby.

Rebekah Dawson, 21, from Hackney, east London, is accused of dissemination of terrorist publications and encouragement of terrorism, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

She is jointly charged along with Royal Barnes, 22, also from Hackney, who appeared at the same court on Monday to face terror charges linked to the footage.

Dawson is accused of making two video recordings on May 22, the day of Fusilier Rigby's murder, and distributing them with the intention of encouraging others in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

She is also accused of encouraging terrorism by publishing a statement with Barnes entitled "Muslim laughs at British Soldier killing".

Barnes is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday.

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Woman's nose 'bitten off' at holiday camp

AN English woman has been charged with grievous bodily harm after allegedly biting off another woman's nose at a holiday camp.

The incident is alleged to have taken place in the theatre area at Butlins in Bognor Regis on April 11 when a performance of Jack And The Beanstalk was taking place.

Tina Love, 27, of Dartford, Kent, has been charged and bailed to appear at Worthing Magistrates Court on August 27.

A Sussex Police spokesman said the 47-year-old victim was treated in hospital, "including an attempt to replace a piece of her nose which had allegedly been bitten off".

She has since been discharged from hospital to recuperate.

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Norway bars Apple from taking aerial shots

NORWAY'S intelligence agency has blocked US company Apple from flying over Oslo to take 3D aerial photos for its map application, citing national security.

"I can confirm that Apple was not authorised to take aerial photographs because the level of detail in the shots is considered too high for some of the restricted zones," a spokeswoman for the Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM), Mona Stroem Arnoey, said on Tuesday.

"We have however presented Apple with alternative solutions, including buying photos from Norwegian suppliers or from the Norwegian map authorities," she said.

Norway's neighbours Sweden and Denmark have meanwhile granted Apple permission to take aerial photos.

NSM, tasked with protecting Norway from espionage, sabotage or acts of terrorism, refused to comment on the number or nature of restricted zones in Oslo.

Photos of these zones provided by Norwegian suppliers are of a lower resolution or blurred.

According to the daily newspaper Aftenposten, the photo ban prompted Oslo's mayor - approached by the US embassy in Norway - to contact the government on Apple's behalf but to no avail.

Apple was heavily criticised for errors in the first map application it developed in-house, and has since come up with its Flyover function that enables users to fly over major cities interactively.

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Canada train crash firm loses licence

CANADA'S transportation agency says a US-based rail company whose runaway oil train caused a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in a Quebec town has lost its operating licence.

The agency said on Tuesday it was suspending the certificate of fitness for the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway.

The agency says it is not satisfied that the company has demonstrated its third-party liability insurance is adequate for ongoing operations.

The parked train, with 72 tankers full of crude oil, was unattended when it began rolling and derailed in the centre of Lac-Megantic on July 6. Several tankers exploded, destroying 40 buildings.

The disaster raised questions about the growing use of rail transport for oil.

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Scientists grow human heart tissue

SCIENTISTS say they have used stem cells to grow human heart tissue that contracted spontaneously in a petri dish - marking progress in the quest to manufacture transplant organs.

A team from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, used induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells generated from human skin cells to create precursor heart cells called MCPs.

The heart cells were attached to a mouse heart "scaffold", from which they grew and developed into heart muscle, researchers wrote in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday.

After 20 days of blood supply, the reconstructed mouse organ "began contracting again at the rate of 40 to 50 beats per minute", said a University of Pittsburgh statement.

"It is still far from making a whole human heart," added senior researcher Lei Yang.

Ways have to be found to make the heart contract strongly enough to pump blood effectively and to rebuild the heart's electrical conduction system.

"However, we provide a novel resource of cells - iPS cell-derived MCPs - for future heart tissue engineering," Yang told AFP by email.

"We hope our study would be used in the future to replace a piece of tissue damaged by a heart attack, or perhaps an entire organ, in patients with heart disease."

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Snowden's father gets visa to visit Russia

US National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden's father says he has secured a visa to visit his son in Russia.

Lon Snowden and family lawyer Bruce Fein aren't saying when they'll visit Russia.

They also say they haven't spoken directly with Edward Snowden since he fled the US for Russia, which has given him asylum.

Lon Snowden says he wants his son to return to the US at some point.

But he says he thinks it's unlikely his son could have a fair trial, given public statements from government officials calling the younger Snowden a traitor.

Edward Snowden has been charged in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, with violations of the Espionage Act.

Lon Snowden and Fein spoke on Sunday with ABC's TV program This Week.

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Somali rebels seized $A824,800 in aid: UK

AL-SHABAB rebels in Somalia have seized STG480,000 ($A824,800) of UK-funded humanitarian aid supplies, the British government says.

The supplies were seized between November 2011 and February 2012, when the militants raided warehouses and offices of organisations partnered with the UK's Department for International Development, which spent STG102.9 million in Somalia that year.

While the incidents occurred between 2011 and 2012, the write-off was listed in the agency's annual report for 2012 and 2013 - once an investigation into the theft was completed.

The report said the agency's partners did not have any prior warning of the attacks and did not have time to move the supplies.

The Department for International Development is working with partner organisations to ensure such risks are identified, the report added.

The agency stressed on Sunday that working in some of the most dangerous countries in the world carries "inherent risk".

It also said in a statement that it "does all it can to mitigate against this but, on occasion, losses will occur" and that when theft is suspected it will investigate and act quickly.

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Mandela 'making slow but steady' progress

NELSON Mandela is making "slow but steady" progress back to health, although he remains critically ill, the office of the South African president says.

The 95-year-old former president and anti-apartheid icon has been in hospital for more than two months with a recurring lung infection.

"Former President Nelson Mandela continues to receive treatment in hospital in Pretoria and doctors have indicated to President Jacob Zuma that the former president is making a slow but steady improvement," a statement from the presidency said.

"The medical team also reiterated that although his health was improving steadily, Madiba still remained in a critical condition," it added, referring to Mandela by his clan name.

Zuma asked South Africans to pray for Mandela's recovery and good health, the statement said.

The South African president is technically the only person authorised to give public updates about Mandela's health, and had not issued a statement since July 31.

Mandela's youngest daughter Zindzi Mandela said on Friday that the anti-apartheid hero was "not going anywhere anytime soon" and was now able to sit up unaccompanied.

He was "more alert, more responsive," she said.

And his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told Sky News on Thursday that he was "now breathing normally".

Doctors had managed to contain his lung infection but kept "draining fluid from the lungs," she said.

Both stressed that he was not about to die.

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