Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi called pharoah, violent protests erupt after he granted himself sweeping powers

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decree that put his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament was elected caused fury amongst his opponents on Friday who accused him of being the new Hosni Mubarak and hijacking the revolution.

Police fired tear gas in a street leading to Cairo's Tahrir Square, heart of the 2011 anti-Mubarak uprising, where thousands demanded Morsi quit and accused him of launching a "coup". There were violent protests in Alexandria, Port Said and Suez.

"The people want to bring down the regime," shouted protesters in Tahrir, echoing a chant used in the uprising that forced Mubarak to step down. "Get out, Morsi," they chanted.

REUTERS

Flames burn around a police vehicle after protesters threw a molotov cocktail at it during clashes at Tahrir square in Cairo today.

Morsi's aides said the presidential decree was to speed up a protracted transition that has been hindered by legal obstacles but Morsi's rivals were quick to condemn him as a new autocratic pharaoh who wanted to impose his Islamist vision on Egypt.

"I am for all Egyptians. I will not be biased against any son of Egypt," Morsi said on a stage outside the presidential palace, adding that he was working for social and economic stability and the rotation of power.

"Opposition in Egypt does not worry me, but it has to be real and strong," he said, seeking to placate his critics and telling Egyptians not to worry and that he was committed to the revolution. "Go forward, always forward ... to a new Egypt."

Buoyed by accolades from around the world for mediating a truce between Hamas and Israel, Morsi on Thursday ordered that an Islamist-dominated assembly writing the new constitution could not be dissolved by legal challenges.

"Morsi a 'temporary' dictator," was the headline in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Morsi, an Islamist whose roots are in the Muslim Brotherhood, also gave himself sweeping powers that allowed him to sack the unpopular general prosecutor and opened the door for a retrial for Mubarak and his aides.

The president's decree aimed to end the logjam and push Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, more quickly on its democratic path, the presidential spokesman said.

"President Morsi said we must go out of the bottleneck without breaking the bottle," Yasser Ali told Reuters.

TURBULENCE AND TURMOIL

The president's decree said any decrees he issued while no parliament sat could not be challenged, moves that consolidated his power but look set to polarize Egypt further, threatening more turbulence in a nation at the heart of the Arab Spring.

The turmoil has weighed heavily on Egypt's faltering economy that was thrown a lifeline this week when a preliminary deal was reached with the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan. But it also means unpopular economic measures.

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Allure of Brickell, downtown Miami drives up rental rates

When Brett Smith rented a condo at Axis Brickell last year, there were still sweet deals to be found, but when the lease came up for renewal last month, he got a sour note: The rent was spiking 15 percent.

The three-bedroom, three-bath condo would cost $3,800 a month, up from $3,300.

“We actually looked around at other places, and most looked to be around the same price range,” said Smith, a 25-year-old construction project manager who shares the apartment with two friends. “We decided with the cost of moving, we would just stay.”

Smith, who loves the urban lifestyle — “It’s great, and it’s getting better,” he says — has lots of company.

In greater downtown Miami and Brickell, residential rental rates per square foot jumped 10 percent in the first nine months of 2012 from a year earlier, according to a study conducted for Miami Downtown Development Authority by Coral Gables-based Focus Real Estate Advisors.

Rents for the sizzling Brickell neighborhood leaped even more sharply. The average monthly rental rate for Brickell jumped 17 percent to $2,242 in the first nine months of 2012 from the same period in 2010, while the rent per square foot spiked 28 percent over that period, according to additional data from Focus Real Estate Advisors and MLxchange.

Fueling the price increases: Strong demand for rental units and the growing popularity of the downtown and Brickell areas as new restaurants and entertainment spots help mold an urban core that is attractive to young professionals and students but also to an increasingly diverse crowd.

“It’s become like a restaurant Mecca in Brickell,” said Denise Sicuso, sales manager for Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realty’s Brickell downtown office, which handles lots of condo rentals and sales in the area.

With Brickell CitiCentre, a massive $1.05-billion mixed-use complex with retail, entertainment, office and residential, going up at 701 South Miami Avenue, “the interest in the neighborhood is only increasing,” Sicuso added. “When we get rental listings, they’re gone within a week.”

More than 95 percent of rental units in the greater downtown Miami area are occupied, according to the Downtown Development Authority study.

Demand for rental units is strong for many reasons: Tough lending standards for mortgages are making it difficult for many people to buy a home. Coming out of the recession and housing meltdown, many people have credit histories that exclude them from becoming buyers. Others simply don’t want to own.

At the same time, a steady influx of foreigners and others relocating to Miami is bolstering rental demand, as is the gradually improving economy that is enabling some young people who had moved back to the nest with their parents to get their own place.

“There is pent-up demand for rentals, not unique to the downtown or Brickell area,” said Craig Werley, president of Focus Real Estate.

Another factor: Many of the professionally managed rental apartment buildings in South Florida were converted into condominiums before the real-estate market crashed.

Professionally managed apartment buildings account for just 10 percent of Miami’s rental market, down from 20 percent in 2000, according to Werley.

While there is a major push by developers and institutional investors to build more multifamily rental units in South Florida (and around the country), the lag time before new rental units would come to market means supply will be tight for some time.

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What’s open and closed for Thanksgiving

Thursday is Thanksgiving. Here is a list of what’s open and closed for the holiday on Thursday and Friday.

Federal offices: Closed Thursday

State offices: Closed Thursday and Friday

Miami-Dade and Broward county offices: Closed Thursday and Friday

Miami-Dade and Broward courts: Closed Thursday and Friday

Public schools: Closed Thursday and Friday

Post offices: Closed Thursday

Stock markets: Closed Thursday, closing early Friday

Banks: Closed Thursday

Tri-Rail: Will run a weekend schedule Thursday

Miami-Dade and Broward transit: Will run a Sunday schedule on Thursday

Garbage collection: Normal schedule in most cities

Malls: Closed Thursday, many opening very early Friday

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Military Families Reunite on ET Stage

First Sgt. Juan Gallardo and Gunnery Sgt. Booker Maxwell were separated from their families at this time last year, but this holiday season they reunited with their respective loved ones on our ET stage!

"We enjoy every moment. You never know where they send you next -- the military way of life," said Maxwell, who has been stationed in Afghanistan for the past two years.

"You gain a deeper appreciation for family when you are in the military because you tend to be apart," Gallardo agreed.

PICS: The 2011 Thanksgiving Potluck on the ET Stage

Their unions came just in time for ET's Thanksgiving Potluck, which includes a cooking contest.

Over 70 homemade dishes prepared by ET staffers were entered into our annual feast. Some even earned the approval of guest Wolfgang Puck.

"I wouldn't mind getting invited to this person's house," joked Wolfgang after digging into one dish. Other celebrity judges included NCIS stars Pauley Perrette and Brian Dietzen.

Following the massive potluck, the Gallardo and Maxwell families were treated to a day at Universal Studios Hollywood for a brief diversion from the sacrifices they've made for our country.

Watch the video for more.

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Hamas leaders declare victory over Israel as truce holds

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas leaders in Gaza declared victory over Israel on Thursday, and thousands of flag-waving supporters rallied in celebration as the battered territory entered its first day of calm under an Egyptian-brokered truce that ended the worst cross-border fighting in four years.

Eight days of punishing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a barrage of Hamas rocket fire on Israeli ended inconclusively. While Israel said it inflicted heavy damage on the militants, Gaza's Hamas rulers claimed that Israel's decision not to send ground troops into the territory, as it had four years ago, was a sign of a new Hamas deterrent power.

AFP/Getty Images

A Hamas policeman celebrates today

"Resistance fighters changed the rules of the game with the occupation (Israel), upset its calculations," Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who had attended the rally, said later in a televised speech. "The option of invading Gaza after this victory is gone and will never return."

At the same time, Haniyeh urged Gaza fighters to respect the truce and to "guard this deal as long as Israel respects it."

The mood in Israel was mixed. Some were grateful that quiet had been restored without a ground operation that could have cost the lives of soldiers. Others — particular those in southern Israel hit by rockets over the past 13 years — thought the operation was abandoned too quickly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive's aims of halting Gaza rocket fire and weakening Hamas were achieved. "I know there are citizens who were expecting a harsher response," he said, adding that Israel is prepared to act if the cease-fire is violated.

Despite the tough talk, the cease-fire raised hopes of a new era between Israel and Hamas. The two sides are now to negotiate a deal that would end years of Gaza rocket fire on Israel and open the borders of the blockaded Palestinian territory. Talks are supposed to begin sometime after a 24-hour period that began with the cease-fire late Wednesday.

However, the vague language in the agreement and deep hostility between the combatants made it far from certain that the bloodshed would end or that either side will get everything it wants. Israel seeks an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza, while Hamas wants a complete lifting of the border blockade imposed in 2007, after the Hamas takeover of Gaza.

Israel launched the offensive Nov. 14 to halt renewed rocket fire from Gaza, unleashing some 1,500 airstrikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Hamas and other Gaza militant groups showered Israel with just as many rockets.

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Black Friday is creeping into Thanksgiving evening

Marling Sequeira has her Thanksgiving all planned: turkey, trimmings and pumpkin pie at her boyfriend’s in Miami, then a moonlit drive to Walmart to snag a 72-inch Samsung TV on sale for $800.

“It’s more exciting at midnight,” said Sequeira, 22, a medical assistant who is moving into a new Brickell-area apartment with her boyfriend on Friday. “Besides that, the specials are more convenient.”

All over South Florida on Thursday, bargain-hungry shoppers will be gobbling down their Thanksgiving meals with an eye on heading to the mall.

Thursday is becoming the new Black Thursday, as the old-fashioned kickoff day of the holiday, Black Friday, creeps into Thanksgiving dessert.

“Retailers are now commercializing Thanksgiving, giving the opportunity to the consumer who doesn’t want to watch 12 hours of football,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at the NPD Group, a consumer and retail market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.

The stores’ goal, he said, is to compete more vigorously with online sites for those valuable early holiday dollars.

And retailers have learned that if they open their doors and offer deals, shoppers will come. Last year those who extended their hours saw sales rise up to 22 percent for the Black Friday weekend, while those retailers that did not lost up to 8 percent, Cohen said.

The result: this year, more than ever, shopping is seeping into Thanksgiving festivities.

Kmart is opening at 6 a.m. and Bass Pro Shops at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Sears and Toys”R”Us are opening at 8 p.m. Target is opening at 9 p.m. Loads of stores, including Macy’s, The Gap, Old Navy and Best Buy are opening at midnight. Best Buy is promising deals on such items as TVs, laptop computers, digital cameras and more.

Walmart is open 24 hours, so it will stay open all day on Thanksgiving, with specials offered at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday and 5 a.m. on Friday.

“Whether you want to stay up late on Thursday night or get up early on Friday, at Walmart we have a Black Friday event for you,” said spokesman Steve Restivo. Walmart is offering price guarantees to shoppers who are inside a store between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., on three hot-selling items, an Apple iPad2, an Emerson 32-inch LCD TV and an LG Blu-ray player.

In South Florida, even entire malls will open on Thanksgiving. Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise will be first, each opening at 9 p.m., and staying open until 10 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively, on Black Friday.

Dadeland Mall and Miami International Mall will open at midnight Thursday.

“We’re very excited to open at midnight and give our shoppers a head start to the holiday season,” said Sara Valega, director of marketing for Miami International Mall, which will stay open until 11 p.m. on Friday.

Nationwide, 17 percent of consumers, or 41 million people are expected to shop on Thanksgiving, according to the latest consumer holiday tracking survey, released Tuesday by The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.

With stores opening earlier and earlier, and some retailers launching pre-Thanksgiving sales, the retail industry has officially crossed the traditional Black Friday barrier — with no end in sight, said Kimberly Taylor, associate professor of marketing at Florida International University.

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Arsht Center flood repairs top $4 million

The cost of fixing the damage caused by flooding at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts earlier this year has crept up to $4.35 million, though county officials say that could still go up as the final bill is tallied.

County commissioners authorized up to $5 million for repairs at the county-owned center, which is run by the Performing Arts Center Trust.

In a memo, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the major construction work needed for the repairs was finished in time for the center’s new season to start in October.
The total cost is offset by a partial payment of $250,000 to the trust for a business income interruption insurance claim; the memo said efforts are being made to get more money from insurers. And a forensic engineer is finishing an investigation into what caused the extensive flooding, which Gimenez said could prompt additional action by the county and trust.

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Elizabeth Taylor Biopic 'Liz and Dick' Cast on Lindsay Lohan

The hyped Lifetime movie Liz & Dick on the lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton will make its debut this weekend. While the hype surrounding the film is mainly generated by the recent tribulations of the actress who portrays Taylor, her co-stars reveal that her portrayal in the media may not be justified by her true persona.

"I adore her. She's just so talented and she really is a genuinely wonderful person," said Theresa Russell, who plays Taylor's sister Sara in the film. "She's actually a very sweet person."

PICS: Lindsay Lohan's 'Liz & Dick' Birthday Party

All of Lohan's co-stars attested to her kindness towards them despite the reported incidents in Lohan's life that transpired during the film's production. Andy Hirsch, who plays Taylor's fourth husband, musician Eddie Fisher, shared his sympathies with Lohan for the paparazzi stalking she is subjected to.

"Lindsay was really kind to me," he said. "I really had a wonderful experience working with her. I don't know that everybody realizes what she deals with every day. We were going to take some stills one night and she's like, 'Well, we can't go out back because there's paparazzi right behind that truck,' and that's something that she's aware of every second of her life."

VIDEO: Lindsay Lohan Faces A Lot of Hate in 'Liz & Dick'

As the frenzy over the ongoing drama in Lohan's personal life spilled onto the set, paparazzi were constantly encompassing the set and went to extreme lengths to snap a shot of her as Taylor. The mayhem was present from the first day of production, as David Hunt (Ifor Jenkins, Burton's brother) recounted.

"The first morning, the very first shot on the first day we shot in Marina del Rey, I walked onto set with Lindsay and my wife texted me...and she says, your on Daily Mail online (British tabloid)," Hunt revealed. "There were paparazzi in the trees a hundred yards away. It took about five minutes before it was [everywhere]. It started from there and it took off."

RELATED: Lindsay Lohan Went Method For 'Liz & Dick'

Producer Larry A. Thompson admitted that Lohan brought on-set distractions to the film but claimed those distractions eventually led to a more authentic finished product. He also revealed that the 26-year-old actress' acting abilities were a bit rusty during the frontend of production.

"She was coming out of a period of her life where she hadn't worked a lot," he said. "I think it took her a week or so to get her legs, to get up to her level, and once she did, she soared."

Liz & Dick airs Sunday (Nov. 25) at 9 p.m. on Lifetime.

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WATCH: Epic seven-minute 'trailer' for 'The Hobbit'

No, the video below isn't actually an official trailer for Peter Jackson's hotly-anticipated Middle Earth epic, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," but it is a masterful complation of every single piece of video released so far about the film.

Combining trailers, teasers, and TV spots, the fan-made 7:37 video tracks the tale of "The Hobbit" in chronological order from Gandalf's (Ian McKellen) recruitment of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to the reintroduction of Gollum (Andy Serkis) and his "precious" ring.

In between there are shots of fighting rock monsters, glamourous elves, and orcs of all shapes and sizes.

REUTERS

Actor Martin Freeman who plays Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

And don't worry about the "trailer" ruining December's "The Hobbit: An Unexexpected Journey," because it also contains footage from the two following films, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" which are gonig to be released in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

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Hottest tech products of fall 2012

Every year we roll out our fall list of the products getting the most attention from readers, and every year it ends up being a list dominated by phones. But not this year. No, this time you guys are spicing things up with a surprising mix of products. Here’s what’s getting your attention right now.

Sony Vaio Tap 20

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: By slapping a battery inside a 20-inch touch-screen all-in-one, the company has given birth to a new PC category with great potential in tech-savvy homes.

The bad: The touch screen has some frustrating drag, and Sony made a few missteps among some otherwise reasonable sacrifices for portability and price.

The cost: $999.99

The bottom line: A compelling experiment in tablet-desktop hybridization, the Sony Vaio Tap 20 is a great fit for home tech enthusiasts willing to try something new.

Toshiba Portege Z935-P300

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: This Toshiba product has very good features, performance and battery life for its price and is very thin and very light.

The bad: The keyboard may be too small for some users and the laptop doesn’t feel particularly sturdy, especially the lid and display.

The cost: $779.99 to $876

The bottom line: The Toshiba Portege Z935-P300 is an excellent ultrabook value if you can overlook its few design shortcomings.

Apple iPad Mini

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: The ultrathin and light design makes it seem far more intimate and booklike than the larger iPad, and its cameras, storage capacities, optional LTE antenna and general functionality offer a full iPad experience. The screen’s dimensions elegantly display larger-format magazines and apps.

The bad: It costs too much, especially considering the lower resolution of its 7.9-inch display, which isn’t a Retina Display. The A5 processor isn’t as robust as the one in the fourth-gen iPad and iPhone 5. Typing on the smaller screen is not quite as comfy.

The cost: $329.99 to $549.99

The bottom line: If you want the full, polished Apple tablet experience in a smaller package, the iPad Mini is worth the premium price. Otherwise, good alternatives are available for less money.

Apple iPhone 5

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: The iPhone 5 adds everything we wanted in the iPhone 4S: 4G LTE, a longer, larger screen, free turn-by-turn navigation, and a faster A6 processor. Plus, its top-to-bottom redesign is sharp, slim, and featherlight.

The bad: Apple Maps feels unfinished and buggy; Sprint and Verizon models can’t use voice and data simultaneously; the smaller connector renders current accessories unusable without an adapter; there’s no NFC; and the screen size pales in comparison with jumbo Android models.

The cost: $199.99

The bottom line: The iPhone 5 completely rebuilds the iPhone on a framework of new features and design, addressing its major previous shortcomings. It’s absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.

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