WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Sunday said former national security contractor Edward Snowden's reported flight to Russia with a plan to flee onward to Cuba or Venezuela undermined his whistle blower claims and they slammed Moscow for helping a fugitive.
An aircraft thought to be carrying Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday after Hong Kong let the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor leave the territory, despite Washington's efforts to extradite him to face espionage charges.
According to a source at Russia's Aeroflot airline, Snowden was traveling to Moscow and was planning to go to Venezuela via Cuba.
Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Schumer charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely knew and approved of Snowden's flight from Hong Kong to Russia. He said that will "have serious consequences" for a U.S.-Russian relationship already strained over Syria and human rights.
"Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden," Schumer told CNN's "State of the Union," adding that China may have had a role as well.
"It remains to be seen how much influence Beijing had on Hong Kong," Schumer said. "As you know, they coordinate their foreign policies and I have a feeling that the hand of Beijing was involved here."
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Snowden's reported choice to fly later to Cuba and Venezuela undermines his claim to be a fighter for freedom of information.
"Everyone of those nations is hostile to the United States. I mean, if he could go to North Korea and Iran, he could round out his government oppression tour," the Michigan Republican said on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.
Rogers urged the Obama administration to exhaust all legal options to get Snowden back to the United States. "If he really believes he did something good, he should get on a plane, come back and face the consequences of his actions," he said.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Snowden needed to be caught and brought back for trial as secrets he was carrying could do a lot of damage to U.S. interests.
"I think we need to know exactly what he has," she told CBS's "Face the Nation." "He could have a lot, lot more that may really put people in jeopardy."
Schumer aimed most of his fire at Putin, saying "it is almost certain he know, and likely approved" the flight by Snowden, who had been hiding in Hong Kong since leaking details about U.S. surveillance activities to news media.
"What is infuriating here is," Schumer said, was Putin "aiding and abetting Snowden's escape." The New York lawmaker is the No. 3 Senate Democrat.
The United States has been told by Hong Kong that Snowden has left Hong Kong for "a third country" and Washington will seek cooperation with countries Snowden may try to go to, a Justice Department official said on Sunday.
"We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel," Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said in a statement.
The United States contacted Hong Kong on Saturday seeking Snowden's extradition, Chitre said.
But a second Justice Department official told Reuters "They came back to us late Friday with additional questions and we were in the process of responding."
The U.S. request to Hong Kong authorities "met the requirements of the agreement," the official said.
While many blasted Snowden, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and one of the chamber's most conservative members, said, "it's going to be an open question how this young man is judged."
"If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and if he refuses to talk to any sort of formal government about this, I think there's a chance that he'll be seen as an advocate of privacy."
"If he cozies up to either the Russian government, the Chinese government, or any of these governments that are perceived still as enemies of ours, I think that that will be a real problem for him in history." Paul said in a separate appearance on CNN's "State of the Union."
(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal and David Brunnstrom; editing by Jackie Frank)
June 22, 2013 ? UC Irvine and Mayo Clinic researchers have found that vitamin D levels in the U.S. population peak in August and bottom out in February. The essential vitamin -- necessary for healthy bones -- is produced in the skin upon exposure to ultraviolet B rays from the sun.
Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and can protect against osteoporosis. It's also thought to play a role in seasonal illnesses, such as the flu. Low levels of vitamin D are believed to impair "innate immunity" i.e., the body's first line of defense against pathogens. To further study this link, good estimates of the cyclicality of the vitamin are necessary. Solar exposure -- a timely topic since June 21 marks the first day of summer -- is the most important way people acquire vitamin D. But certain foods, including egg yolks and oil-rich fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines and herring contain the nutrient. In addition, milk and cereal are often enriched with vitamin D.
"Even with food fortification, vitamin D levels in the population show a high level of seasonality due to the influence of sunlight," said Amy Kasahara, a UC Irvine graduate student in public health and first author on the paper, which appears in the journal PLOS ONE.
"The exact biochemical pathways from UVB rays to vitamin D were discovered in the 1970s," she said. "In this study, we have shown that vitamin D levels lag the solar cycle, peaking in August and troughing in February."
The correlation between the seasons and vitamin D has been known for some time. "What we have been able to do is put a lot more precision on the estimates of vitamin D seasonality," said Andrew Noymer, associate professor of public health and senior author of the article.
"Our analysis, combined with other data, will help contribute to understanding the role of vitamin D in all seasonal diseases, where the simple winter/spring/summer/fall categories are not sufficient."
Researchers measured the level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in 3.4 million blood samples collected weekly in the U.S. between July 2006 and December 2011.
The study looked at population averages, so people shouldn't make assumptions about their own levels of vitamin D based on the calendar. Healthcare providers can perform individual blood tests to measure vitamin D directly, and supplements are available for those who cannot or do not receive enough exposure to sunlight.
With just two points in their last three matches, the season of FC Dallas hung in the balance as they found themselves down 2-0 at home to Sporting KC.
They?d conceded a penalty ? converted by Kei Kamara ? and then an own goal from Je-Vaughn Watson.
Then, striker CJ Sapong was sent off for kicking a soccer ball at a prone Andrew Jacobson ? a bit of a soft sending off ? and the hosts found their opening.
Dallas got two goals in the final three minutes from Jacobson and rookie Walker Zimmerman as they salvaged a point and kept themselves near the top of the Western Conference table, and remain undefeated at home on the season.
The red hurt, and many could argue it should only have been yellow as David Beckham saw years ago for kicking the ball at Sam Cronin.? However, with the referee standing right there, it was still a massive lapse in judgement by Sapong.
A loss would have opened the door for both Real Salt Lake and Portland to pull away at the top, with Dallas set to take on the up and down Philadelphia Union.
It?s the first red card for Sapong in his MLS career, and a real chance goes wasted for Sporting KC who could have drawn with New York Red Bulls for second in the Eastern Conference.? Instead, it?s Houston who hold Toronto to a scoreless draw to leapfrog KC into third.
It?s been a tough go for the for the 24-year-old striker this year.? After 9 goals last year, Sapong has just one score this season in 13 matches ? a garbage-time goal in their 4-0 thrashing of Chivas USA.
A collection of the characters from Pixar's Monster's University
Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures USA
Pixar Studios has painted itself into a corner (though because it?s Pixar, it?s an adorable corner, surrounded by top-quality enamel paint). They?ve established a reputation for themselves as the animation studio of record, the place for state-of-the-art children?s entertainment that also reliably hits the sweet spot for adults. At their best, Pixar movies can realistically aspire to the status of lasting cinematic art. (We won?t quibble here about which of these movies should enter the pantheon?I?m a partisan of Ratatouille and the Toy Story trilogy myself.)
But because Pixar?s rep has been polished to such a high sheen over the course of three decades, the slightest bit of tarnish really shows. Cars 2(2011) was no worse than most hectic, underplotted summer kids? movies, and better than many; still, upon its release there was much garment-rending and tooth-gnashing about the declining standards of Pixar. The studio?s first-ever prequel, Monsters University, will probably get some of those same reactions: Though it?s a far sight better than Cars 2, it fallswell short of the standard set by its excellent predecessor, Monsters Inc. (2001). And though this is a sweet, clever, gorgeously animated movie I?d be glad to take my kid to on a Saturday afternoon, I?m not sure it?s one I?d insist all my grownup friends drop what they?re doing to see.
Directed by Cars co-writer Dan Scanlon, the film revisits several of the main characters from Monsters Inc., back in their formative days at the titular alma mater. Mike Wazowski, the green walking eyeball voiced by Billy Crystal; and James P. ?Sulley? Sullivan, the shaggy purple-and-blue behemoth voiced by John Goodman; are back, as is their nemesis, the sneaky four-handed lizard Randall Boggs (voiced by Steve Buscemi). The story folds in elements of college movies from Animal House to Revenge of the Nerds, imagining a stratified big-monster-on-campus culture in which the BMOCs, proud of their superior scariness, lord it over their cuddlier, less threatening classmates.
To refresh your memory about the logic by which the Monsters universe functions: The chief power source in this world of diversely shaped weirdos consists of the screams of human children, whom the monsters sneak up on nightly through magic doors connecting the two universes. (As ingeniously thought through in the first movie, it all makes a kind of sense.) This time around, we learn that being a ?scarer? is one of the most prestigious and desirable jobs in the monster world, which makes Monsters University, among other things, a film about the anxieties of meritocracy. Shy, nerdy, minuscule Mike has dreamed since childhood of becoming a world-class scarer. He eschews frat parties to bone up on his sneaking and roaring technique, the better to impress the fearsome Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren, wonderfully animated as a dour, glowering centipede).
Sulley, on the other hand, comes from a legendary family of scarers, and he?s lazily resting on his laurels as a big, furry dude with a naturally loud roar. When they?re both kicked out of the scaring program for picking a fight with each other in class, Mike and Sulley find themselves rooming together at the hopelessly uncool Oozma Kappa frat house (whose misfit denizens, including a U-shaped Muppetlike creature voiced by Charlie Day, are among the best things in the movie).
Monster U?s biggest mistake is to make its chief conflict a monster-on-monster one?the annual running of the university?s intramural Scare Games, in which the pitiful Oozma Kappa team must take on the sneering jocks of Roar Omega Roar. Monsters Inc. focused instead on the relationship between Sulley and the little girl he accidentally brought across the threshold into the monster world. The notion of children as tiny, toxic beings capable of making even the most imposing monster don a hazmat suit has an understandable Bizarro World appeal for children (and a different kind of appeal for adults, who may on occasion experience kids as precisely that alien and frightening). Monsters University doesn?t truck in that kind of rich, fairy-tale?like symbolic meaning?in essence, it?s a sports movie, a simple, inspirational story of monster friendship, teamwork, and pluck. I?m not sure I needed to revisit Mike and Sulley?s world 12 years later (or, looked at from their point of view, earlier). But once you find yourself whisked over the threshold, it?s a colorful, funny, charming place to spend an afternoon.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and other local officials officially opened the state-of-the-art Roger Carter Community Center on June 15, which was the 17-year anniversary of the original recreation center that the new community center replaces. The $15 million facility serves the new Burgess Mill community and all of Ellicott City. Its 46,000 square feet houses swimming and diving pools with a rain-sensing, retractable roof, basketball and volleyball courts, classroom and community rooms, fitness and exercise rooms with cardio and Precor strength training equipment, a 28-foot climbing wall and much more.
Six-year-old IT company moves into new office space in Hanover
Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman and other county leaders and business owners on Monday welcomed Enlighten IT Consulting to its new headquarters in Hanover. Enlighten IT Consulting provides Department of Defense organizations, federal, state and local institutions, and commercial companies with specialized Cloud/Cyber IT services, including software development, integration and engineering for new and pre-existing technology. The company started in 2007 and has grown and been profitable each year of operations, and has already doubled its size in 2013. The company now has 23 employees and, after years of being a home-based business, has moved into their first executive office space, in the Secure Offices LLC space in Hanover.
Cassidy Turley picked to lease Route 100 Distribution Center
Cassidy Turley, a full-service commercial real estate services provider in the U.S., announced that San Francisco-based Terreno Realty Corp. has selected Cassidy Turley as exclusive leasing agent and property manager for Terreno?s newly acquired Route 100 Distribution Center. The center is located at 6660 Santa Barbara Road and 6675 Amberton Drive in Elkridge, and is comprised of two industrial distribution buildings totaling 348,610 square feet. Jarred Testa and Tilghman Herring, of Cassidy Turley?s Baltimore Core Industrial Leasing Team, will act as leasing agents. Said Testa, senior vice president/principal at Cassidy Turley, ?We?re thrilled to work with Terreno on this assignment, and look forward to creating value for our client through the successful lease up of this 37 percent vacant project.?
C&W picked to market and sell Multi-Properties? multifamily portfolio
Cushman & Wakefield Inc. announced that it has been retained as the exclusive sales agent for a five-property multifamily portfolio totaling almost 700 garden and townhouse units, currently owned and operated by Multi-Properties Inc. Dispersed throughout the Baltimore metro region, the portfolio is comprised of Beacon Pointe (201 units) in the Edgemere section of southeast Baltimore County, Edgewood Park (132 units) in Harford County, along with Fox Crossing (117 units), Hillsdale Manor (180 units) and Forest Glen Rental Townhomes (64 units), a grouping located in various parts of Baltimore city. Purchase offers for the portfolio will be considered on a comprehensive, mini-portfolio of individual basis. Cushman & Wakefield?s Multifamily Advisory Group of Jorge Rosa, Jeffrey Pacy and Anthony ?TJ? Liberto will market the property for sale on behalf of the seller.
Dundalk shopping center changes hands
Continental Realty Corp., a Baltimore-based commercial real estate development and management company, said it has acquired Merritt Manor, a 91,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Dundalk. The shopping center is presently 83 percent leased and is anchored by Gold?s Gym, a national fitness center franchise. CRC paid $8.6 million, or approximately $94 per square foot, for the property, acquired from Koninklijke Ahold N.V., a Netherlands-based international supermarket owner. H&R Retail represented the seller in the transaction. CRC officials said the price they paid was well-below replacement cost, and they are confident they can attract new retailers to fill the available vacancies.
Raffle of Middletown home postponed
Slow ticket sales have forced a group in Middletown to postpone a raffle drawing for a four-bedroom home valued at $475,000. The Frederick News-Post reported Friday that the Middletown High School Sports Club has sold just over 3,000 tickets at $100 each. The group said it had to sell at least 6,000 to hold a drawing that had been scheduled for Thursday. Club Vice President Keith Powell said the drawing will now be held in September. He said this is a one-time extension. Proceeds from the raffle were to be used to help fund the renovation of the school?s football field and athletic facilities.
Marriott Hotels revises image, brand
Marriott Hotels, the signature brand of Bethesda-based Marriott International Inc., the largest publicly traded hotel chain in the U.S. announced the launch of a new, multiyear global marketing campaign. The campaign, called ?Travel Brilliantly,? includes TV, digital and mobile advertising, a new brand look and logo, and enhanced social media platforms. In addition, Marriott is launching a new website ? www.travelbrilliantly.com ? revealing innovations under development, as well as a co-creation platform to solicit user-generated ideas. Grey NY, an advertising and communications agency headquartered in New York City, developed the integrated campaign and the new brand voice. Marriott hotels has more than 500 hotels and resorts in nearly 60 countries around the world.
2 Tower Cos. buildings rated by BOMA
The Tower Cos., a Rockville-based real estate development company, announced that two of its office buildings in Washington, 1909 K St., known as the Millennium Building, and 1828 L St., have been designated as BOMA 360 Performance Buildings. This puts them in an elite group of properties that have demonstrated they are managed to the highest standards of excellence of the Building Owners and Managers Association, a national trade group representing building owners, managers, developers and leasing personnel. Both buildings are among the first green buildings in the Washington area, according to Tower Cos. partner Jeffrey S. Abramson.
SNAE to hold ribbon-cutting at new HQ
Station North Arts & Entertainment Inc. will hold a ribbon-cutting Wednesday at its new headquarters at 1 North Ave. The headquarters occupies a renovated former fried chicken restaurant at North Avenue and Charles Street. Dubbed the Station North Chicken Box, it includes gallery space and a flexible theater. Ziger/Snead Architects, of Baltimore, designed the renovation, which was carried out by C&H Construction. The latter firm is located within the district and made up of individual artists, eight of whose artwork will be exhibited in the gallery space. SNAE, a nonprofit organization, promotes and supports artists and cultural organizations in the arts and entertainment district.
NW Hospital opens eye institute office
The LifeBridge Health Krieger Eye Institute has opened a new office and optical shop at Northwest Hospital in Randallstown. The full-service office offers patients a complete range of ophthalmic subspecialties, as well as general eye care and vision screenings. The location complements the other Krieger Eye Institute offices at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and the Quarry Lake development in Pikesville. The office is staffed by several ophthalmic subspecialists, an optometrist and certified ophthalmic assistants and technicians. The onsite optical shop provides a complete range of eyeglass frames and lens selections for every age, including young children.
Open house set at Owings Mills building
The Baltimore County Public Library and the Community College of Baltimore County are hosting an open house on Saturday to introduce the public to their facilities at the County Campus Metro Centre at Owings Mills. The library and the CCBC branch share space in the new, six-story, 120,000-square-foot building at 10300 Grand Central Ave. There will be public tours of the facilities and mini-presentations and demonstrations throughout the day, plus entertainment for children, and food and drink for sale. The library branch ? the largest in the county public library system ? opened its doors to the public in March; CCBC will begin holding classes at the new branch on July 8.
Accenture to take over Marriott unit
Marriott International Inc., of Bethesda, the largest publicly traded hotel chain in the U.S., announced it will transfer its Louisville, Tenn.-based Marriott Business Services finance and accounting unit to New York-based Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Accenture will provide F&A services to Marriott and its franchisees, starting in August, with full completion envisioned by early September. In conjunction with the transition, Accenture will create a new business service, Accenture Hospitality Services, built in part around the operations and capabilities coming from Marriott?s MBS unit. Accenture Hospitality Services will provide management consulting, technology and business process outsourcing services to companies in the hospitality industry. Financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed.
Silver Spring to get affordable housing
Construction has begun on The Residences at Thayer Avenue, an $18 million affordable housing development in downtown Silver Spring. Eighty percent of the development?s 52 units will be rented to households earning 60 percent or less of Montgomery County?s median household income, or around $57,000 a year. Landex Development LLC, of Linthicum, is the developer. According to Landex, funding for the complicated project came from 10 different sources, including revenue bonds, the Rental Housing Works initiative, the Rental Housing Production program, low income housing tax credits and private equity. Construction is expected to take about 13 months.
REIT completes industrial buildings? sale
First Potomac Realty Trust, a Bethesda-based real estate investment trust, said it completed the previously announced sale of 24 industrial properties, comprising approximately 4.3 million square feet, for a total of $259 million. Twenty-three buildings containing approximately 4 million square feet ? 16 in southern Virginia, seven in the Baltimore-Washington corridor ? were acquired by an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII for $241.5 million. The 24th property, a 236,000-square-foot industrial building in Haymarket, Va., was sold to Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust for $17.5 million. First Potomac had announced the sale of the properties in May.
LEASES
Cushman & Wakefield of Maryland Inc. announced it has leased 38,433 square feet of industrial space at 4517 North Point Blvd. in Edgemere to the Nelson Co., a manufacturer and distributor of industrial packaging products. Founded in 1921, Nelson supplied wood packaging to the Bethlehem Steel Co. tin mill in Baltimore. Today, it is the oldest active supplier to the tin mill industry and provides full-service transport packaging management including manufacturing, warehousing and recycling. C&W?s David Baird represented the landlord, F2 LLC. Chris Wright, also of C&W, represented the tenant. Currently, 28,500 square feet is available for lease at 4517 North Point Blvd. The industrial manufacturing facility features up to a 34-foot ceiling height and a fenced 24-acre lot. It is located in the Baltimore County East Industrial Submarket.
Cassidy Turley announced three leases, totaling 79,362 square feet of industrial space, at Candlewood Commerce Center, a three-building complex at 7462-7468 Candlewood Road in Hanover. Those signing leases were Atlantic Emergency Solutions, which leased 27,788 square feet at 7462 Candlewood Road; National Parcel Logistics, which agreed to lease 46,583 square feet at 7466 Candlewood Road; and Tower Resource Management, which signed for 4,991 square feet at 7468 Candlewood Road. The buildings total 357,706 square feet and are owned by TIAA-CREF, a financial services company. Atlantic Emergency Solutions was represented by Michael Elardo and Michael Kimmel of Cushman & Wakefield. National Parcel Logistics was represented by Tommy Hughes of Hughes Commercial Real Estate. Tower Resource Management was represented by Dave Sciamarelli of MacKenzie. Jarred Testa and Tilghman Herring of Cassidy Turley?s Core Industrial Leasing Team represented the landlord.
H&R Retail Inc., a Baltimore-Washington region retail brokerage company, announced it negotiated four retail lease transactions recently:
* ASAP Cleaners leased 1,967 square feet of space for a dry cleaning establishment at 670 Old Mill Road in Millersville. Brian Mitchell of H&R Retail represented the landlord in the transaction.
* Aaron?s Inc. leased 8,386 square feet for a new furniture store at 4578 Edmondson Road in Baltimore. Brian Mitchell of H&R Retail represented the landlord.
* ATI Physical Therapy leased 1,955 square feet for a doctor?s office at 8511 Liberty Road in Randallstown. Brad Buslik of H&R Retail represented the tenant in the lease transaction.
* Jersey Mike?s leased 1,790 square feet for a restaurant at Rhode Island Avenue NE in Washington. Brad Buslik of H&R Retail represented the landlord in this transaction.
SALES
1820 Portal Street
Cassidy Turley announced the sale to Belt Logistics Services of a 171,000-square-foot warehouse at 1820 Portal Street in the Holabird Business Park, near the Port of Baltimore. The building was formerly occupied by a printing company, Cenveo, which vacated it in July 2011. Belt Logistics Services purchased the property from its owner, Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust, for $7,181,000, and will occupy the building, The Cassidy Turley team of Jonathan M. Carpenter, James S. Wellschlager, Craig S. Lewis, J. Richard Latini and Jarred M. Testa represented First Industrial Realty Trust.
4001 North Point Blvd.
St. John Properties Inc., in partnership with N.P. Investment LLC, sold an 11-acre parcel of land at 4001 North Point Boulevard in the Dundalk section of Baltimore County to K. Hovnanian Homes for $2 million. The national homebuilder intends to develop The Townes at North Point, a 108-unit upscale townhome community on the former North Point drive-in theater site that most recently functioned as an outdoor flea market. St. John Properties and N.P. Investment will retain two pad sites, and plan to construct a 10,000-square-foot retail building on one of these parcels. Burger King currently operates a fast food restaurant and drive-thru at the location. K. Hovnanian Homes, a national home builder based in Red Bank, N.J., plans to break ground on its new townhome development later this year.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood staged a show of strength in Cairo on Friday, rallying a huge crowd to demonstrate support for President Mohamed Mursi - and warn opponents who hope to force him out.
The opposition called it an attempt to "terrorize" them before mass rallies they plan for just over a week's time.
Crowds waving the flags of Egypt and Islamist movements, including hardline allies, packed avenues around a suburban mosque to back the elected head of state before anti-Mursi protests planned for June 30, when he completes a first year in office marked by division and economic problems.
"We promise them, they will be crushed on this day," Tarek al-Zumar, a Salafist former militant told the crowd, many tens of thousands strong, who had travelled from all over Egypt.
"It will be the final blow to anyone who claims that they have tens, thousands or hundreds of thousands with them," said Zumar, who spent 30 years in jail for his role in killing President Anwar Sadat and was freed only after the next Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, fell in 2011.
"God is great!" chanted the crowd, packing streets not far from where Islamists gunned Sadat down at a parade in 1981.
The opposition "Rebel!" alliance, campaigning to force Mursi to resign, said on its Facebook page: "These numbers, regardless of how big they get, represent all the strength and arsenal of the Brotherhood. They will not be able to add a single person."
Nonetheless, the rally, which started after noon prayers and lasted well into the evening, showed the Muslim Brotherhood's power to mobilize supporters that propelled Mursi to victory in the presidential election - the first time Egyptians had a chance to choose their leader freely.
It also pointed to the deepening ties between the Muslim Brotherhood and the harder line al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, the group to which Zumar belongs. This follows a year in which Mursi has been unable - or unwilling - to draw in non-Islamist parties and forge a consensus to reform a limping economy and stabilize the Arab world's most populous nation.
Mursi had come to power promising to be a president for all Egyptians, but his opponents have accused him of hijacking the 2011 revolution to entrench the power of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned under Mubarak. Hardships from power cuts, fuel shortages and rising prices have fuelled public discontent.
Mursi's opponents say they have gathered about 15 million signatures - more than the 13 million votes that elected the president a year ago - on a petition calling on him to step down; they say new elections could end the paralyzing polarization of society, though no obvious leader has emerged to build consensus.
But in a warning to the liberal and leftist opposition - and anyone in the state who might share their desire to remove Mursi early - another hardliner told the rally that Islamists would press for a pure Islamic state were Mursi toppled.
"Some who lost at the ballot box want to take power through anarchy," said al-Gamaa al-Islamiya's Assem Abdel Maged, who once shared a cell with al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahri.
FEARS OF VIOLENCE
The opposition - which the Brotherhood says has consistently snubbed Mursi's offers of government jobs and political dialogue - has attracted support from many Egyptians who are less politically engaged but exasperated by economic stagnation.
Supporters of the Brotherhood feel their electoral success is under siege from vested interests rooted in the Mubarak era.
There was no trouble evident at the Cairo rally, though there were scuffles in Alexandria when Mursi supporters and opponents faced off briefly in Egypt's second city.
In Cairo, Brotherhood members armed with green staves said they were ready to protect demonstrators from "thugs", noting dozens of injuries in clashes across Egypt in the past week.
The last major wave of anti-Mursi protests was in January and coincided with the second anniversary of the anti-Mubarak uprising. Those provoked countrywide trouble. Diplomats in Cairo are expecting at least some violence come June 30.
"There are people seeking a coup against the lawful order," said demonstrator Gaber Nader, 22, his head protected from the burning sun by a green Brotherhood flag. "Dr Mursi won in free and fair elections like in any state in the world," Nader said.
ELBARADEI HOPE
Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, most of whose members renounced violence more than a decade ago, was out in force at Friday's rally.
Mursi infuriated many Egyptians this week by appointing one of its members as governor of Luxor, a town where members of the group massacred 58 tourists at a pharaonic temple in 1997.
One woman, in black veil and green Islamic headband, said she feared the removal of Mursi would return Egypt to the army-backed rule under which her son was tortured: "They destroyed his mind," Zeinab Abdullah, 54, said.
Such fears among Islamists have led some to warn of civil war if the generals who oversaw the transition from Mubarak move against Mursi. Responding to calls for such an intervention, the head of the army signaled in May there would be no such move.
Opposition groups range from the young liberals who first took to Tahrir Square in January 2011 to challenge Mubarak, to conservatives yearning for the stability of army rule. Many in Egypt's 10-percent Christian minority also fear the Islamists.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a former top U.N. diplomat who is a leader of the opposition campaign, told Al-Hayat newspaper that economic problems were increasing support for a movement which he said hoped to end the "total polarization in Egypt".
ElBaradei said a united opposition push could bring an early presidential election that would unseat Mursi, though he himself would not run: "The division of the opposition put Mursi in power and I believe it has realized this mistake," he said.
Rhetoric has grown more toxic in recent days: one Islamist cleric referred to Mursi's opponents as "infidels" during a rally attended by the president last week. The opposition are billing it as Mursi's last days in office, hoping for a repeat of the uprising that toppled Mubarak two and half years ago.
"Mursi and the Brotherhood know they are in a predicament - the Egyptian people are revolting against them," Heba Yassin of the leftist Popular Current movement said of Friday's rally. "This is an attempt to terrorize the opposition."
(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Yasmine Saleh; editing by David Stamp)
Yes, they share the last name, but with McCarthy a fairly common surname it still came as a surprise when former Playboy Playmate <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/true_false_new_emmy_winner_melissa/264653#ixzz1YQVm3lpL" target="_hplink">Jenny tweeted</a> at the hilarious "Bridesmaids" star: "Congrats to my cousin melissa mccarthy on her Emmy win!!" Apparently the funny bone runs in this family: Jenny was previously with comedian Jim Carrey for five years.
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COUSINS
Tom Cruise and cousin William Mapother not only share a last name -- Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV -- but also even kind of look a like. The TV actor ("Lost," "The Mentalist") <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0544611/bio" target="_hplink">has said</a> about his famous "Mission Impossible" first cousin: "I never really worried about it. As I've amassed a body of work, the questions about Tom have gone away. I figured that if I did good work, I'd be seen for what I am."
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AUNT AND NIECE
Emma Roberts is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
Kate Hudson began calling Kurt Russell, "dad," soon after he began dating her mother, Goldie Hawn, in 1983.
BROTHERS
If you squint your eyes, Dave Franco ("21 Jump Street") could almost pass for his more famous older brother James. With cleaner hair.
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COUSINS
By now, we all know that actress Kyra Sedgwick was the cousin once removed of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's muse and Factory girl who met a tragic early death at age 28. The Sedgwicks came from a long line of distinguished people, including Judge Theodore Sedgwick and Ellery Sedgwick, owner and editor of The Atlantic Monthly.
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BROTHERS IN LAW
Jake Gyllenhaal pals around with a number of his co-stars, but he's extra friendly with fellow actor Peter Sarsgaard, who married sister Maggie in May 2009. The Gyllenhaal siblings -- who got their big break starring in 2001's "Donnie Darko" together -- are themselves no stranger to keeping it all in the family: Father Stephen is a film director and mother Naomi is a film producer and screenwriter.
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COUSINS
And now in your dose of highbrow news: highly celebrated American composer Philip Glass is the first cousin once removed of highly celebrated American radio journalist Ira Glass. Philip has even composed a song or two for Ira's "This American Life" program. Meanwhile, both share a love for glasses and smart jackets.
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COUSINS
It's a mob mentality worthy of "The Godfather:" Director Francis Ford Coppola's only daughter, "Lost In Tranlation" director Sofia, is cousins with actors Jason Schwartzman and Nicolas Cage (n? Nicolas Coppola). Meanwhile, Sofia's older brother Roman is also a director; grandfather Carmine was a well-known composer who scored the soundtrack to Francis's films like "Apocalypse Now."
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FATHER AND SON
Fans of "True Blood" who feel like Alexander Skarsgard arrived with the sudden fright of his fanged character and glamoured the heck out of them may be surprised to know that father Stellan was already well-established in Hollywood. The elder Skarsgard played the tough-loving teacher in "Good Will Hunting" and one of Meryl Streep's courters in "Mamma Mia!". Most recently, father and son appeared together in fellow Scandinavian Lars Van Trier's "Meloncholia." <br> (Getty)
COUSINS
Actors Rip Torn and Sissy Spacek are first cousins; the former helped the latter get her start into the film biz by helping her enroll in Strasberg's Actors Studio in New York.
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SISTERS
Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
GODFATHER
The Barrymores need no introduction in Hollywood, but among the famous faces Drew Barrymore, now 36, can count among her upbringing is director Steven Spielberg, who, along with Sophia Loren, was deigned her Godparent. Steven Spielberg later went on to cast seven-year-old Drew in 1982's "E.T." The two remained close, with Drew pointing to the famed director as a constant stabilizing force in her publicly traumatic childhood. "He's been a very important mentor. He was the first stable male figure in my life. The best attribute a parent can have is consistency," <a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/interview-drew-barrymore?page=2" target="_hplink">she told <em>Reader's Digest </em></a>in 2009.
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FATHER AND DAUGHTER
You've seen Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria in last year's "Eclipse" or in her breakout role as Ivy in "The Village." Perhaps you didn't realize her father is Ron Howard.
STEP-SIBLINGS
Let's not forget that Brody Jenner and Kim Kardashian are step-siblings.
BROTHER AND SISTER
Joan Cusack and her brother, John.
BROTHER AND SISTER
Ray J may be most famous today for his sex tape with Kim Kardashian, but the singer is also the younger brother of actress-singer Brandy Norwood.
BROTHER AND SISTER
Yes, they're brother and sister: Warren Beatty was reportedly inspired to start acting after witnessing his older sister Shirley MacLaine's success in the biz. Now the brother and sister, who originally hail from Richmond, Virginia, are both famed Hollywood legends. Isn't that nice.
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FATHER AND DAUGHTER
Twenty-two-year-old fashion model Daisy Lowe reportedly had no idea Bush singer Gavin Rossdale was her father until 2004, after a paternity test revealed that the rocker (and then-Godfather) was her biological parent. Though Rossdale initially refused to take the paternity test, it was later revealed that he and Daisy's mother Pearl had had a one-night stand. In the summer of 2011, Daisy appeared on the front cover of <em>Playboy</em>, in which she said of her father: "My whole life I thought my father was someone different... But Gavin and Gwen [Stefani] are really good people, and I value so much the time we get together."
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FATHER AND SONS
Perhaps one of the best-known familial relations in the list, "Apocalypse Now" actor Martin Sheen's two sons Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez both went on to have successful careers in Hollywood, with one more vocally "winning" than the other. Estevez is the proper family surname; Martin adopted "Sheen" as his stage name, which Charlie then took on as well. The Hollywood connection doesn't stop there: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0261724/" target="_hplink">Martin's younger brother Joe Estevez</a> is also an actor.
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BROTHERS
Actors and brothers William Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, Alec Baldwin and Daniel Baldwin are living proof that talent really can run in the family.
STEPFATHER
She is known for her role as Jamie Stringer in "The Practice" and for her role as Dr. Arizona Robbins on the ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," but Jessica Capshaw is also the stepdaughter to director Steven Spielberg.
FATHER AND DAUGHTER
Rashida, the daughter of music producer Quincy Jones, has made quite a name for herself in Hollywood.
BROTHERS
Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson? Now <em>these</em> are some talented siblings!
