Egypt: Call For 'March Of Anger' As UN Meets

Key Events In Egypt Since 2011

Updated: 12:32pm UK, Thursday 15 August 2013

January 25 - February 11, 2011 - Egyptians stage nationwide demonstrations against nearly 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's rule. Hundreds of protesters are killed as Mubarak and his allies try to crush the uprising.

February 11 - Mubarak steps down and the military takes over. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters.

November 28, 2011 - February 15, 2012 - Egypt holds multistage, weeks-long parliamentary elections.

In the lawmaking lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins nearly half the seats, and ultraconservative Salafis take another quarter.

The remainder goes to liberal, independent and secular politicians. In the largely powerless upper house, Islamists take nearly 90% of the seats.

May 23 - 24, 2012 - The first round of voting in presidential elections has a field of 13 candidates.

The Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerge as the top two finishers, to face each other in a run-off.

June 14 - The Supreme Constitutional Court orders the dissolving of the lower house of parliament.

June 16 - 17 - Egyptians vote in the presidential run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. Morsi wins with 51.7% of the vote.

June 30 - Morsi takes his oath of office.

November 19 - Members of liberal parties and representatives of Egypt's churches withdraw from the 100-member assembly writing the constitution, protesting attempts by Islamists to impose their will.

November 22 - Morsi unilaterally decrees greater powers for himself, giving his decisions immunity from judicial review and barring the courts from dissolving the constituent assembly and the upper house of parliament. The move sparks days of protests.

November 30  - Islamists in the constituent assembly rush to complete the draft of the constitution. Morsi sets a December 15 date for a referendum.

December 4 - More than 100,000 protesters march on the presidential palace, demanding the cancellation of the referendum and the writing of a new constitution. The next day, Islamists attack an anti-Morsi sit-in, sparking street battles that leave at least 10 dead.

December 15, December 22 - In the two-round referendum, Egyptians approve the constitution, with 63.8% voting in favour. Turnout is low.

January 25, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands hold protests against Morsi on the two-year anniversary of the start of the revolt against Mubarak, and clashes erupt in many places.

February - March 2013 - Protests rage in Port Said and other cities for weeks, with dozens more dying in clashes.

April 7 - A Muslim mob attacks the main cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Christians hold a funeral and protest there over four Christians killed in sectarian violence the day before. Pope Tawadros II publicly blames Morsi for failing to protect the building.

June 23 - A mob beats to death four Egyptian Shi'ites in a village on the outskirts of Cairo.

June 30 - Millions of Egyptians demonstrate on Morsi's first anniversary in office, calling on him to step down. Eight people are killed in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

July 1 - Huge demonstrations continue, and Egypt's powerful military gives the president and the opposition 48 hours to resolve their disputes, or it will impose its own solution.

July 2 - Military officials disclose main details of the army's plan if no agreement is reached: replacing Morsi with an interim administration, cancelling the Islamist-based constitution and calling elections in a year. Morsi delivers a late-night speech in which he pledges to defend his legitimacy and vows not to step down.

July 3 - Egypt's military chief announces that Morsi has been deposed, to be replaced by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court until new presidential elections. No time frame is given.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders are arrested. Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped out in two mass sit-ins in Cairo's streets.

July 4 - Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is sworn in as Egypt's interim president.

July 5 - Mansour dissolves the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament as Morsi's supporters stage mass protests demanding his return. Clashes between pro and anti-Morsi groups in Cairo and Alexandria, and violence elsewhere leave at least 36 dead. A Brotherhood strongman, deputy head Khairat el-Shater, is arrested.

July 8 - Egyptian soldiers open fire on pro-Morsi demonstrators in front of a military base in Cairo, killing more than 50. Each side blames the other for starting the clash near the larger of the two sit-ins, near east Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque.

Mansour puts forward a time line for amending the constitution and electing a new president and parliament by mid-February. The Brotherhood refuses to participate in the process.

July 9 - Mansour appoints economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president. A military announcement backs up the appointments.

July 26 - Millions pour onto the streets of Egypt after a call by the country's military chief for protesters to give him a mandate to stop "potential terrorism" by supporters of Morsi. Five people are killed in clashes.

Prosecutors announce Morsi is under investigation for a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

July 27  - Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes clash with Morsi supporters outside the larger of the two major sit-ins in Cairo, killing at least 80 people.

July 30 - The EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton holds a two-hour meeting with detained Morsi at an undisclosed location. She is one of a number of international envoys, including US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to visit Egypt to attempt to resolve the crisis.

August 7  - Egypt's presidency says that diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff between the country's military-backed interim leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed.

August 11 - Egyptian security forces announce that they will besiege the two sit-ins within 24 hours to bar people from entering.

August 12 - Authorities postpone plans to take action against the camps, saying they want to avoid bloodshed after Morsi supporters reinforce the sit-ins with thousands more protesters.

August 14 - Riot police clear two sprawling encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sparking running street battles that kill hundreds of people.

The presidency declares a month-long state of emergency across the nation as Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei resigns in protest over the assaults.

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Tailgaters Facing Instant Roadside Justice

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Reporter

Tailgaters and middle lane hoggers could be hit with on-the-spot fines of £100 and three points on their licence from today.

The idea is to make it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers without being tied up with the bureaucracy of taking offenders to court.

Solicitor Neil Davies, who specialises in motoring offences, says policing the new laws will require officers to make a subjective judgement on whether a particular manoeuvre is illegal or not.

"One of the ways in which a court would assess that question is has the person driving departed from the Highway Code - how well is that person driving?

"Now in issuing the fixed penalty notices of course one would hope that police officer do exercise a degree of discretion, a degree of common sense and that they only issue these notices in appropriate circumstances."

Few motorists would admit to flaunting the Highway Code themselves but for most tailgating and lane hogging are pet hates, so the new laws are being welcomed.

Officers will make a subjective judgement on driving standards

Under the new legislation fines for other offences, from using hand-held mobile phones or not wearing a seatbelt, to driving without insurance, have also been increased - from £60 to £100 and from £200 to £300 respectively.

Although fines have gone up, penalty points will remain unchanged, as will fixed penalty notices for parking, waiting and obstruction offences.

The Department of Transport said: "The changes will give the police the power to issue fixed penalty notices for careless driving and allow them greater flexibility when dealing with less serious careless driving offences - such as tailgating or middle lane hogging - as well as freeing them from resource intensive court processes.

"The police will also be able to offer educational training as an alternative to licence endorsement, and drivers will still be able to appeal any decision in court."

Most motoring groups support the changes, although some road safety campaigners think the punishments should be more severe.

One concern is who will police the new laws, with only half as many traffic officers on Britain's roads as there were in the 1990's.

But senior officers insist they will be enforced and that more serious cases will still be taken to court where the offenders may face higher penalties.

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Egypt Forces Fire Tear Gas At Pro-Morsi Camp

Security forces have begun firing tear gas into a pro-Morsi sit-in in Cairo, according to reports.

More follows...

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Peru Drugs Bust: Pair's 'Families Threatened'

Two women who say they were ordered at gunpoint to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru claim their families were threatened too.

Melissa Reid, 19, from Kirkintilloch in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, from Dungannon in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, are being held in Lima after 11kg (24.2lbs) of cocaine was found in their luggage.

The pair, who deny drug trafficking allegations, were arrested while trying to board a flight from the Peruvian capital to Spain last week.

They were due to appear in court later, but the hearing has been put back until next week because they have still not seen an interpreter.

McCollum Connolly is a former nightclub hostess

They claim they were forced to carry the bags at gunpoint by Columbian gangsters and were unaware they contained narcotics.

Reid has insisted they were not smuggling for financial gain but to save their lives.

She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "We were given no option. If we didn't do as we were told we would be dead. We were not smuggling for money, we were smuggling for our lives.

"We have no doubt they would have killed us both without hesitation if we didn't do as we were told.

"Ever since I was arrested I have played out what has happened in my mind over and over again, asking myself how could we have gotten out of it. But each time I think it wasn't even an option.

"We both had loaded guns put to our heads. They were more than prepared to use them. If we didn't do it we were told we would die."

An official weighs and tests the drugs hidden inside food packets

The paper's US editor Chris Buckton told Sky News: "They also said that the safety of their families was in jeopardy as well, threats were made to them.

"Melissa was actually told details of her own family, she says, given names of her parents and also their friends. They made it clear they knew where their parents lived."

The women say they were befriended by a man in London, who put them in the hands of South Americans before they were taken to safe houses in Madrid, Ibiza and Majorca.

Reid was the first to be sent to Lima, on August 1, where she was joined by photography student and former nightclub hostess McCollum Connolly a day later.

They are said to be frustrated at the way the investigation is being carried out.

"They have cried themselves to sleep several times," said Mr Buckton.

Reid is due to spend her 20th birthday on Friday in prison

Both are being held at the same jail but in separate cells, McCollum Connolly by herself and Reid in a shared cell where she will mark her 20th birthday on Friday.

"They are very resolute - determined to get themselves back to the UK ... but they are also very aware of what they could face," added Mr Buckton.

Relatives of both women have spoken of the anguish of their ordeal.

McCollum Connolly's lawyer said her family were confident she will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

The family are making arrangements to travel to Peru and are also arranging legal representation.

Reid's father William has said he believes his daughter was "groomed".

If convicted the women could face lengthy sentences in an overcrowded Peruvian prison where they will have to pay for everything including food and bedding.

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Britain's Most Wanted Fraudsters Revealed

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

These are the faces of 25 most wanted identity fraudsters who were caught in the act.

They allegedly stole other people's personal details and then tried to use their own photographs to get passports, driving licences and other official documents.

Some of their victims may have had information taken in burglaries or muggings, others may simply have been intimidated into revealing it.

The scam is often used by organised gangs to commit crimes such as money laundering, drug trafficking and illegal immigration, say investigators.

Nigel Kirby, of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), said: "Be in no doubt, these fraudulently obtained documents are being used by criminals for criminal purposes.

"Passports and driving licences do not just allow you to travel and drive, they are important identity documents that can be used to support applications for mortgages, bank loans and benefits."

The Crimestoppers charity wants the public's help in tracking down the 25 alleged fraudsters.

Director of operations Roger Critchell said: "We need to protect ourselves from such criminals, particularly now with data-driven identity crimes making up the vast majority of all fraud in the UK."

Identity theft is the fastest growing type of fraud in Britain, and hit an all-time high last year with 150,000 identifiable victims, according to the UK's Fraud Prevention Service CIFAS.

:: Anyone who recognises any of the suspects can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online

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Rail Fare Protests As Charges Set To Increase

Thousands of people are set to protest at 50 stations across the UK against the rapid rise of rail fares compared to the average earnings.

Passengers will learn how much more they will be paying from next January when inflation figures are released later.

Analysts predict the latest RPI figure - which is used to calculate next year's rail fare rise - will be 3.3%.

This would see regulated rail fares increasing by 4.3% in January, well above average wage rises.

Campaigners claim train fares have risen three times faster than wages in the last six years.

The next price hike will be the sixth time in seven years that rail fares have outstripped wages, they say.

Between 2008 and next January rail fares will have jumped by 40%, compared with a 15% increase in average earnings, it is claimed.

Prostest are planned at 50 stations including Birmingham New Street

The TUC warned some season tickets could rise by 9%, against forecasts of a 2.4% increase in average earnings next year.

It said rail privatisation was costing taxpayers £1.2bn a year despite "minimal" investment in trains and stations.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Every year hard-pressed rail commuters have to hand over an ever greater share of their earnings just to get to and from work.

"Wage-busting fare rises are not even going on much needed service improvements either. Instead, passenger and public subsidies are lining the pockets of the shareholders of private rail companies."

The TUC and the Action for Rail campaign group have planned a series of demonstrations at stations including Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads, Glasgow Central, Manchester Piccadilly, Newcastle Central and London's Paddington and Victoria.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: "Getting to work is now the biggest single monthly outgoing for many commuters - more than food, more than housing.

"One of the surest ways of stamping on any green shoots of recovery is to price people off the trains and out of the jobs market. For the sake of the economy, we should end above-inflation fare increases now and start planning for fare reductions."

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "The Government is investing record amounts into our railways, which will help deliver economic growth, improve performance and significantly boost passenger capacity.

"However, we also recognise it is tough for passengers. That is why we are already limiting these rises by capping the average regulated fares increase at 1% in real terms and will be announcing further measures to ensure greater fairness on fares for passengers later this year."

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Zanzibar Acid Attack: Suspect Preacher On Run

Police are hunting a radical Muslim preacher wanted in connection with an acid attack on two British teenagers in Zanzibar.

Sheikh Issa Ponda Issa was cornered by officers near Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, but managed to escape and is now on the run.

He was hit in the shoulder with a tear-gas canister during the altercation, according to local police in Morogoro - the scene of the clash.

Police commander Faustine Shilogile said: "He has not been arrested. He has been shot at. We have been looking for him in all corners of the country."

He added: "We are no closer to finding who was responsible for this. But this is a serious police investigation, and we are doing everything we can."

Five men are also being questioned by officers, according to the authorities.

Kirstie Trup (L) and Katie Gee are being treated in London

News of the preacher's escape came as it emerged that one of the two men involved in the unprovoked attack "smiled" before throwing acid.

Speaking from Zanzibar, medical student Olivia Moore told Channel 4 News: "The two men were on a moped and they went past a group of tourists.

"They stopped for the girls and the two men then looked at each other, nodded and then the man on the back of the bike smiled and threw acid on the girls.

"From then on it's just chaotic. There was no incident that preceded the actual attack.

"Everyone was shocked. Nobody can think of a motivation or anything that precipitated this."

Victims Katie Gee, and Kirstie Trup, both 18 and from London, are still being treated for burns at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital after arriving home on Friday.

They are said to be "well rested and comfortable".

The street on the island where the attack took place

A hospital spokesman said: "They have been with their families all day. Doctors are continuing to assess treatment options for both patients."

The pair were attacked as they walked across a road on Wednesday night.

They had been nearing the end of a trip working as volunteer teachers on Zanzibar, a predominantly Muslim island in the Indian Ocean.

Witnesses have spoken of their desperate attempts to wash the acid off the two girls before they were rushed to hospital.

A picture released by the teenagers' families shows one appears to have extensive acid burns on her chin, neck and upper chest.

It is thought one of the girls is not as badly injured as the other because she was helped into the sea immediately after the attack.

They had apparently been due to return to the UK to collect their A-level results next week.

Miss Trup is hoping to study history at the University of Bristol and Miss Gee is considering the University of Leeds, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Tory MP Bill Cash, who sits on the all-party parliamentary group for Tanzania, has urged the Foreign Office to further upgrade its travel warning for tourists visiting both Zanzibar and Tanzania because it was "more than just an ordinary criminal event".

The Foreign Office updated its Tanzania travel advice page on Friday with details of the attack and warns British nationals to "take care" and read its travel advice.

Mr Cash said: "People need to be extra vigilant and the Foreign Office and High Commission need to make a very thorough evaluation of the threat, as these latest attacks would seem to be on religious grounds.

"The threat to tourists going to Tanzania and Zanzibar needs to be upgraded without doubt."

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Missing Teen Erika Kacicova: New Appeal

Detectives looking for a 13-year-old schoolgirl who vanished from her home have received a number of reports of possible sightings.

Police, who believe Erika Kacicova is with people she knows, made a direct appeal to the teenager on Sunday afternoon, calling on her to return to her "distraught" family.

She was last seen leaving her home in the Darnall area of Sheffield at around 4pm on Monday, August 4.

Erika has been urged to contact her family

Police have been conducting house-to-house inquiries there, and have expanded their search to Bradford.

A 22-year-old man from Bradford was released on police bail earlier after being arrested on suspicion of child abduction.

He approached police on Friday, the day officers made an urgent appeal for information about Erika's whereabouts.

Detective Inspector Helen Tate said: "Please remember she is a young girl who has never been away from home for this long before and we want her to return safe and well."

She added: "Erika, if you are reading this, please let us know you are okay. You're not in any trouble."

Erika's home in Poole Road, Darnall, in Sheffield

She said members of the public had come forward with information and reports of sightings but that "time was of the essence" as they search for the teenager.

Her disappearance was described as "out of character".

Erika is described as being slim and around 4ft 11ins tall. She has long, dark-brown, straight hair and brown eyes.

She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a pink polo-style shirt and a silvery-grey coloured jacket.

:: Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.

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Erika Kacicova: Man Held Over Missing Teenager

A man has been arrested on suspicion of child abduction after a 13-year-old girl went missing.

The 22-year-old from Bradford came forward on Friday, after hearing about appeals to find teenager Erika Kacicova.

The man is now in Sheffield assisting officers with their enquiries to help find Erika.

The teenager was last seen at around 4pm on Monday, August 5, after leaving her family home on Poole Road, in Darnall, Sheffield.

South Yorkshire Police made an urgent appeal on Friday requesting Erika to get in touch, saying they were very worried about her safety.

Police officers and staff in South and West Yorkshire are continuing to search for Erika.

Officers are carrying out door-to-door enquiries in Sheffield and a team of officers from South Yorkshire have gone to Bradford to look for her there.

Detective Inspector Helen Tate said: "Erika has now been missing for almost five full days and we haven't had any positive sightings or confirmed contact from her.

"We know she has gone missing before but not for this long.

"She is a young girl, away from home and our main aim is for her to return safe and well.

"We know Erika's family have friends and acquaintances in the Bradford area, so she may well have travelled to West Yorkshire.

"We are grateful for the calls from the public, so please contact us if you think you know where Erika is.

"Erika, if you are reading this, please let us know you are okay. You aren't in trouble; we just need to know you are safe."

Erika, who has gone missing previously, is described as being around 4ft 11ins tall, Eastern European, of slim build, with long, dark-brown, straight hair and brown eyes.

She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a pink polo-style shirt and a silvery-grey coloured jacket.

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Idaho: Teenager Rescued After Suspect Killed

US Abductor 'May Have Explosives'

Updated: 5:28pm UK, Saturday 10 August 2013

The car of a man suspected of killing a woman and her son, and then abducting her 16-year-old daughter, has been found in Idaho.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said horseback riders reported seeing two people matching the description of the suspect and girl in the Cascade area 70 miles northeast of Boise on Wednesday.

Investigators have said an "unusual infatuation" with the teenager might have driven suspect James Lee DiMaggio, 40, to flee with Hannah Anderson from his burned-out home on the California-Mexico border.

"That is kind of a working theory, that it may be something of a motivator," San Diego County Sheriff's Captain Duncan Fraser said. "It's definitely something that we're looking at."

Evidence found in the rubble of the home lead police to believe DiMaggio may have explosives and might abandon his blue Nissan Versa after rigging it to explode.

"In the event that someone comes across the car, they need to use caution," Captain Fraser warned.

On Sunday night, authorities found the body of 44-year-old Christina Anderson when they extinguished flames at DiMaggio's rural home. A child's body was also discovered as they sifted through rubble in Boulevard, a tiny town 65 miles east of San Diego.

The body was identified several days later as eight-year-old Ethan Anderson.

DiMaggio allegedly told Hannah a couple of months ago he had a crush on her and would date her if they were the same age. 

A 15-year-old friend, Marissa Chavez, witnessed the remarks when DiMaggio was driving them home from a gymnastics competition.

"She was a little creeped out by it. She didn't want to be alone with him," she said.

DiMaggio is wanted on suspicion of murder and arson in a search that began in California and quickly spread to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, British Columbia and Mexico's Baja California state.

A possible sighting was reported in northeast California near Alturas on Wednesday afternoon, followed by another about 50 miles along the same road near Lakeview, in south-central Oregon.

Captain Fraser, whose office has had hundreds of leads on DiMaggio's whereabouts, said the Oregon tip appeared "very credible". "We're taking it very seriously," he said.

DiMaggio, a telecommunications technician, was said to have been like an uncle to Hannah and Ethan Anderson and had been close to both of their parents for years.

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