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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Revelations by former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden will make it harder for the United States to confront China at talks this week over the alleged cyber theft of trade secrets worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

Snowden's disclosures of American electronic surveillance around the world give China an argument to counter U.S. complaints that it steals private intellectual property (IP) from U.S. companies and research centers.

Cyber security is at the center of high-level talks between the two countries in Washington that will show whether a positive tone struck by President Barack Obama and new Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit last month can translate into cooperation on difficult issues.

Top U.S. officials, from Obama down, have long tried to convince China to recognize a clear line between the kind of cyber espionage by spy agencies revealed by Snowden and the theft of technology.

"This Snowden thing has muddied the waters in a terrible way," said James McGregor, author of a book on China's authoritarian capitalism and industrial policy.

"China would rather have the waters muddy, because they can say 'You do it. We do it. What's the big deal?' and the cyber theft from companies will go on and on," he said by telephone from China, where he is senior counselor for APCO Worldwide, a U.S. business consultancy.

At the talks, U.S. officials will press China on cyber theft, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week, describing the problem as "just different from other kinds of issues in the cyber area.

Many countries spy on each other, but U.S. officials say China is unique in the amount of state-sponsored IP theft it carries out as it tries to catch up with the United States in economic power and technological prowess.

Last week the U.S. Department of Justice charged Chinese wind turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co and two of its employees with stealing software source code from U.S.-based AMSC worth $800 million.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hopes "to see a clear indication that China recognizes thefts of trade secrets, whether by cyber or other means, is stealing property and will bring the full force of its laws to curb this," said Jeremie Waterman, the group's senior director for Greater China.

Beijing parries complaints about Chinese hacking into the computers of U.S. businesses by saying China is itself a major victim of cyber espionage. Chinese officials have dismissed as unconvincing recent U.S. official and private-sector reports attributing large-scale hacking of American networks to China.

China's official Xinhua news agency said last month the Snowden case showed the United States was "the biggest villain in our age" and a hypocrite for complaining about Chinese cyber attacks.

On Tuesday, the Communist Party's People's Daily attacked the United States for a hypocritical internet policy of defending hacking in the name of national security when it suited Washington's purposes.

"Differentiating hacking attacks as 'good' and 'bad' is a double standard when it comes to internet security," the newspaper's overseas edition said in a front page comment.

China's stance seems to be stiffened by Snowden's revelations of widespread surveillance by the National Security Agency and his assertion that the agency hacked into critical network infrastructure at universities in China and Hong Kong.

Snowden fled to Hong Kong before his leaks to newspapers became public last month, and then went to Moscow, where he is believed to be holed up in the transit area of the Sheremetyevo airport, trying to find a country to give him sanctuary.

'OUT OF BOUNDS' SPYING

Now in their fifth year, the annual U.S.-Chinese talks, known as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, will cover topics from U.S. concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons and expanding military ties to climate change and access to Chinese financial markets.

China's exchange-rate policy is on the agenda, although it has receded as an issue with the gradual strengthening of the yuan and a reduction of huge current account imbalances.

This year U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Lew host Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang for the first such dialogue session since China's once-a-decade leadership change in March, when Xi took over.

The meetings follow Obama's summit last month with Xi in California, where the two men developed what aides called a productive relationship. Nevertheless, Obama demanded Chinese action to halt what he called "out of bounds" cyber spying.

Officials from the two countries discussed international law and practices in cyberspace at low-level talks on Monday. Cyber security will feature at other meetings during the week that are also likely to address U.S. accusations that Beijing gained access electronically to Pentagon weapons designs.

IP theft costs U.S. businesses $320 billion a year, a sum equivalent to annual U.S. exports to Asia, the authors of a recent report say.

China accounts for between 50 percent and 80 percent of IP theft suffered by U.S. firms, the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, a bipartisan group of former U.S. officials, said in a May report.

Cyber theft of industrial designs, business strategies and trade secrets is just a part of IP pilfering.

IP theft also involves "planted employees, bribed employees, employees who were appealed to on the basis of nationalism and all the traditional means of espionage, often accompanied by cyber," said Richard Ellings, president of the National Bureau of Asian Research think tank, who co-wrote the report.

The U.S. District Court in Manhattan charged three New York University researchers in May with conspiring to take bribes from Chinese medical and research outfits for details about NYU research into magnetic resonance imaging technology.

Arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Homeland Security Department for IP infringements rose 159 percent and indictments increased 264 percent from 2009 to 2013, a June report by the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator showed.

The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property called for tough penalties including banking sanctions, bans on imports and blacklisting in U.S. financial markets.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Alistair Bell, Xavier Briand and Clarence Fernandez)

Founded in 1999 by an Israeli businessman and a professor of computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mobileye sold its 1 millionth driver assistance system last year. It has said it expects to sell 2 million more in 2013.

The Amsterdam-based company said the five equity investments totaled about $400 million. The figures provided by the company imply that the five investors collectively acquired roughly a 27 percent stake in Mobileye.

Mobileye did not name the buyers and sellers of the equity, but said some of the largest U.S.-based global institutional asset managers and a leading Chinese government-affiliated financial investor were among the investors who bought into the company.

A person familiar with the matter disclosed the names of these five new investors on condition of anonymity because their identities have been kept confidential. They are BlackRock Inc , Fidelity Investments, Wellington Management Co, car rental company Enterprise Holdings Inc and China's Sailing Capital Management, the person said.

Mobileye's collision-warning systems, sold to suppliers and automakers for a little more than $100 each, are an option for customers in car brands including Volvo AB , Ford Motor Coand Hyundai Corp .

Starting in 2014, Mobileye's products will be a standard feature on many cars because of new regulations that will require driver-assistance systems for cars to receive five-star safety ratings.

Mobileye's systems include a camera mounted on the windshield that takes pictures of what is in front of the driver. A chip, manufactured by STMicroelectronics , processes the images and in real-time issues audio-visual warnings to drivers on a small device on the dashboard.

Among the warnings are those for collision if another car is too close and if the car is in danger of hitting a pedestrian. The system automatically brakes before impact.

The transaction, in which Goldman Sachs & Coand Morgan Stanleyserved as the placement agents, is expected to close in August, Mobileye said.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Jan Paschal)

They are here to talk political strategy, but Giffords doesn't say much. She doesn't have to.

The 43-year-old Democrat has become the face of the fight for gun control a woman now known as much for her actions as her words as she recovers from a 2011 attack that forever changed her life and ended six others. Giffords has already traveled more than 8,000 miles this week, her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, at her side, encouraging political leaders from Alaska to Maine to have the courage to defy the National Rifle Association.

"I don't think any of us thought this was going to be easy," Kelly tells three parents of children killed in the Newtown, Conn., school shootings, with Giffords next to him, nodding her agreement. "This is not going to be a quick fix. But we're trying."

The couple is nearing the end of a seven-state-in-seven-day tour across America, meeting with allies and opponents alike to generate momentum for federal legislation that would expand background checks on gun purchases. It's a scaled-back version of a broad legislative package to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines proposed in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting rampage that left 20 children dead. But even scaled back, the measure was defeated in the Senate in April and has stalled in a divided Congress now preparing for its summer recess.

As Giffords' tour stretched into Maine on Saturday, the couple shared a private lunch with former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, at their estate in Kennebunkport, Maine.

It's unclear if Giffords and Kelly discussed gun control with the Bushes, who are personal acquaintances.

Giffords' cross-country trek is the centerpiece of a summertime campaign designed to pressure elected officials in their own backyards. At the same time, her recently formed super PAC and related nonprofit group have ambitious plans to expand their political clout through the 2014 midterm elections and beyond. Organizers say that the group, known as Americans for Responsible Solutions, is expected to raise at least $20 million to fuel paid television ads and political activities to coincide with the next election, the next gun control vote or both.

So far, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has bankrolled much of the campaign to expand background checks through his own organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, pouring more than $12 million into advertising designed to pressure lawmakers in places like New Hampshire, Arizona and Arkansas.

But this week, Giffords and Kelly are playing a more personal role. They are eating pie, sharing hugs and having frank conversations to connect with voters in traditional gun-owning states whose leaders have been largely reluctant to support expanded background checks in the face of NRA opposition.

And they are shooting guns to help make their point.

Kelly, a former Navy pilot whose parents were police officers, purchased a new rifle he said it was his sixth or seventh gun at the Village Gun Shop in New Hampshire's north country on Friday. He waited less than five minutes for a background check and later tested his Savage .30-06 bolt-action rifle at a nearby shooting range. Giffords joined him at a Nevada shooting range earlier in the week, firing a gun for the first time since a mentally ill man took aim at her and opened fire in a Tucson, Ariz., shopping center as she met with constituents. Jared Lee Loughner, 24, was sentenced in November to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years, after he pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges in the case.

It's an attack that Kelly refers to often, using phrases like, "what happened to Gabby" and "when my wife was shot." The couple is traveling with a handful of guns packed in a suitcase all for personal use on their trip.

Sandy Holz, the shop's owner in Whitefield, N.H., says she's reluctant to endorse broad gun control legislation but would support a bill to requiring background checks for sales at gun shows and on the Internet, as the failed Senate bill would have done.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll in mid-May found that 67 percent of Americans felt the Senate wrongly rejected the background check bill.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted in early May found 81 percent favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, support that transcends party lines. Another 73 percent of respondents said that if the background check bill were brought up for another vote, Congress should pass it.

But there is little sign of movement in Washington.

Despite Giffords' and Bloomberg's continued lobbying, none of the bill's proponents report winning a single new vote since the measure's April defeat. If anything, their task may have grown more difficult since the death last month of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who supported the checks. He has been replaced by Republican Sen. Jeff Chiesa, whose view on the subject is unclear.

Giffords and Kelly say they will not give up despite obvious health issues.

More than two years after the attack, Giffords travels with nurses and a speech therapist, a rarely used wheelchair in tow. Her right leg and arm are partially paralyzed. She walks on her own, her right leg dragging slightly, and she climbs stairs, often with Kelly or a staff member holding her left hand.

The brain injury has also affected her ability to speak.

Giffords offers enthusiastic, but slightly slurred stump speeches on the tour, in a halting style that sometimes brings tears to the eyes of her audience and her staff.

"We must never stop fighting. Fight. Fight. Fight. Be bold, be courageous, the nation is counting on you," she said at a Portland, Maine press conference.

The entire speech, just 62 words, lasted less than two minutes.

The cross-country tour is run with the efficiency and detail of a presidential campaign, with schedules planned down to the minute. Surrounded by a handful of young staffers and her service dog, Nelson, Giffords and Kelly use private planes and at times helicopters, visiting venues usually frequented by politicians.

After her Friday speech, Giffords and Kelly stopped for ice cream. As she often does, Giffords expressed herself more with body language than words as they decided what to eat. She tapped her finger on the menu and said, "Apple pie."

She was greeted warmly by a steady flow of customers and restaurant staff, offering them a hug and responding to their praise with a simple "Thank you very much."

They visited New Hampshire to help remind voters that Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte opposed the background check measure.

"Sen. Ayotte respects Congresswoman Giffords and her brave recovery," Ayotte spokesman Jeff Grappone said, adding that Ayotte favors a Republican-backed bill that emphasizes improvements to the mental health system.

Giffords and Kelly know they will face continued opposition, although it comes in all forms on the tour.

Giffords exited one event through a back entrance to avoid a small group of protesters, including one carrying an AR-15 assault rifle. Shortly before they left, the man appeared to be napping in the shade with his gun at his side.

"Apparently, he got tired," Kelly later said at the dinner with Newtown parents. "You can't sleep when you've got your loaded AR-15 next to you. This is not responsible."

___

Associated Press writer Alan Fram and Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.

Because Snowden's U.S. passport has been revoked, the logistics of him departing are complicated. Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia have made asylum offers over the past two days, but the three countries haven't indicated they would help Snowden by issuing a travel document, which he would need to leave Russia.

The former NSA systems analyst, who is charged with violating U.S. espionage laws, is believed to be stuck in the transit area of Moscow's main international airport after arriving June 23 from Hong Kong.

Russia doesn't appear willing to help him leave the airport, with Kremlin spokesman Alexei Pavlov saying Saturday the issue of Snowden's travel documents is "not our business." On Monday, President Vladimir Putin said Snowden would be offered asylum in Russia if he stopped leaking U.S. secrets. Snowden then withdrew his Russian asylum bid, a Russian official said.

While President Barack Obama has publicly displayed a relaxed attitude toward Snowden's movements, saying last month that he wouldn't be "scrambling jets" to capture him, other senior U.S. officials have used unusually harsh language that they want him back.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said China had "unquestionably" damaged its relationship with Washington for not returning Snowden, who recently turned 30, from semi-autonomous Hong Kong while he was still there.

"The Chinese have emphasized the importance of building mutual trust," Carney said last month. "We think that they have dealt that effort a serious setback. If we cannot count on them to honor their legal extradition obligations, then there is a problem."

China may be reluctant to further complicate its relationship with the U.S. by allowing Snowden back in Hong Kong, even if only as a transfer point to Latin America.

Snowden has asked for asylum in more than 20 countries and many have turned him down. WikiLeaks, which has been helping Snowden, said Friday he had submitted asylum applications to six new countries, which the secret-spilling website declined to identify "due to attempted U.S. interference."

The asylum offers from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia came after leftist South American leaders gathered to denounce the rerouting of Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane over Europe amid reports that the fugitive American was aboard.

Spain says it had been warned along with other European countries that Snowden was aboard the Bolivian presidential plane, an acknowledgement the manhunt for the fugitive leaker had something to do with the plane's unexpected diversion to Austria. It is unclear whether Washington warned Madrid about the Bolivian president's plane.

On Saturday, Morales offered asylum to Snowden, but didn't say if Bolivia had received a request from him.

"I want to tell those Europeans and North Americans that as a just protest we now will give asylum to that North American who is persecuted by his compatriots," Morales said during an appearance in the indigenous town of Chipaya.

U.S. officials have declined to comment on the grounding of Morales' plane. They said they won't give details about their conversations with European countries, except to say that they have stated Washington's general position that it wants Snowden back.

Snowden, who on Saturday afternoon wasn't on an Interpol list of people for whom international arrest warrants have been issued, had booked a seat on a Havana-bound flight on June 24, but never made it.

Direct Havana flights, operated by Aeroflot from Moscow's main airport five times a week, are the easiest option of reaching Latin America from Moscow. But the Moscow-Havana's travel path passes over mainland U.S., raising the chances of it being grounded. There are other routes, but there is no assurance he'd have free passage.

___

AP writer Carlos Valdez contributed to this report from La Paz, Bolivia.

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was well versed in Florida's self-defense laws before he shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, despite a previous claim to the contrary, jurors were told at Zimmerman's trial on Wednesday.

The contradiction came into evidence as prosecutors were preparing to wrap up their case on Friday after two weeks of testimony aimed at showing inconsistencies in Zimmerman's accounts of the February 2012 shooting.

On Tuesday, Seminole County Judge Debra Nelson let the jury hear a television interview in which Zimmerman said he had no knowledge of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which underpins his trial defense.

But an army prosecutor who taught Zimmerman in a 2010 college class on criminal litigation, testified that he often covered Florida's self-defense and "Stand Your Ground" laws in his 2010 course. Army Captain Alexis Carter said Zimmerman "was probably one of the better students in the class," calling him an "A" student.

Under the "Stand Your Ground" law, which was approved in 2005 and has been copied in some form by about 30 other states, people fearing for their lives can use deadly force without having to retreat from a confrontation, even when it is possible.

The statute is central to Zimmerman's defense in a case that captivated the United States throughout much of 2012 because police initially declined to arrest Zimmerman based on his self-defense argument and right to use deadly force under Florida law.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder, saying he shot Martin in self-defense during their confrontation inside a gated community in the central Florida town of Sanford on February 26, 2012.

In allowing evidence about Zimmerman's criminal law studies, the judge overruled strenuous objections from Zimmerman's lead lawyer, Mark O'Mara.

Prosecutor Richard Mantei had said during a hearing that Zimmerman's legal studies would help jurors understand his "state of mind" and "ambitions and frustrations" in the weeks and months leading up to the shooting.

Prosecutors say Zimmerman's choice of classes at Seminole State College, on criminal investigation and witness testimony among other topics, underscored his intense interest in law enforcement and previous interest in becoming a police officer.

DNA EXPERT

In testimony on Tuesday, the jury heard a medical examiner say Zimmerman suffered "insignificant" injuries in the fight in which he shot and killed Martin.

Zimmerman, 29, has said Martin, 17, punched him in the face and repeatedly slammed his head into a concrete walkway. Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, could face life in prison if convicted.

Despite those claims, a DNA expert with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement testified on Wednesday that none of Zimmerman's DNA was found in scrapings of Martin's fingernails or on the cuffs or other parts of the hooded sweatshirt he wore on the night he died.

There was also no trace of Martin's DNA on Zimmerman's gun, the expert, Anthony Gorgone, told the court. Zimmerman has said Martin tried to grab the 9mm Kel-Tec semi-automatic before he shot him at point-blank range.

Police initially declined to arrest Zimmerman, accepting his story of self-defense.

A special prosecutor later brought the murder charge. The prosecutor accused Zimmerman of profiling Martin and chasing him vigilante-style rather than waiting for police to arrive.

Martin was a student at a Miami-area high school and a guest of one of the housing development's homeowners. He was walking back to the home in the rain from a convenience store when Zimmerman spotted him and called police, saying Martin looked suspicious. During the confrontation between the two, which is still clouded by competing narratives and conflicting witness testimony, Zimmerman shot Martin through the heart.

Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda had said he hoped to rest the prosecution's case against Zimmerman on Wednesday but court adjourned before he was able to call his final witnesses.

The court will be closed on Thursday for the U.S. Independence Day holiday so the final state witnesses, including the medical examiner who autopsied Martin's body and the dead teenager's parents, won't take the stand until Friday.

(Writing by Tom Brown; Editing by Jane Sutton, Bernard Orr)

In a significant move, opposition parties and the youth movement behind the demonstrations agreed that reform leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei would represent them in any negotiations on the country's political future.

The pact, at least in theory, should end the bickering and rivalries that have plagued the opposition.

At the same time, President Mohammed Morsi faced fissures from within after a stunning surge of street rage reminiscent of Egypt's Arab Spring revolution in 2011 that cleared the way for Morsi's long-suppressed Muslim Brotherhood to win the first open elections in decades.

Three government spokesmen were the latest to quit as part of high-level defections that underscored his increasing isolation and fallout from the ultimatum from Egypt's powerful armed forces to either find a political solution by Wednesday or the generals would seek their own way to end the political chaos.

The police, which are under control of the Interior Ministry, have stood on the sidelines of the protests, refusing even to protect the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood that have been attacked and ransacked. Their ministry has thrown its considerable weight behind the military.

In response to the growing pressures on Morsi, his Islamist backers have stepped up their own warnings that it may take bloodshed to dislodge him.

Some supporters say they would rather die fighting a military takeover than accept Morsi's ouster just a year after the country's first free election.

"Seeking martyrdom to prevent the ongoing coup is what we can offer as a sign of gratitude to previous martyrs who died in the revolution," Brotherhood stalwart Mohammed el-Beltagi wrote Tuesday in his official Facebook page.

Morsi, meanwhile, met with Defense Minister and army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Qandil in the second such meeting in as many days. No details were given about the meeting, reported by an official at the president's office, Ayman Ali.

The meeting, however, suggests that efforts were being made to resolve the crisis, although there is little time and almost no political will from the opposition to accept anything less than Morsi's departure.

At least 16 have been killed in clashes since Sunday between Morsi's opponents and his many backers, who have equated the demonstrations and military arm-twisting to a coup against a democratically elected president.

The Tamarod, or Rebel, movement which organized the protests has given the president until 5 p.m. Tuesday (1500 GMT) to step down or face even larger demonstrations and possible "complete civil disobedience."

In a highly symbolic move, the crowds have camped out at Cairo's Tahrir quare, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. They also have massed outside the president's Ittahdiya palace in the leafy suburb of Heliopolis.

Across town, however, Morsi's backers have hunkered down at their own rally site, vowing to resist any attempts to nullifying his election last year and the rise of Islamist voices in Egypt's political affairs after bring muzzled under Mubarak.

On Monday, a line of around 1,500 men with shields, helmets and sticks assigned with protecting the rally stamped their feet in military-like lines, singing, "Stomp our feet, raise a fire. Islam's march is coming."

The volatile atmosphere has been made even more unsettled by the prospect the military could soon step in.

The military's declaration, read Monday on state TV, put enormous pressure on Morsi to step down and sent giant crowds opposing the president in Cairo and other cities into delirious celebrations of singing, dancing and fireworks.

But it also raised worries on both sides that the army could take over outright as it did after the 2011 ouster of Mubarak and raised the risk of a backlash from Morsi's Islamist backers, some of whom once belonged to armed militant groups.

Morsi's office issued a statement saying a "modern democratic state" was one of the main achievements of the anti-Mubarak uprising, adding, "With all its force, Egypt will not allow itself to be taken backward."

While not bluntly rejecting the ultimatum, it said Morsi was still reviewing the military statement and that some parts of it "could cause disturbances in the complicated national scene."

At the same time, he is grappling with growing dissent within his inner circle.

A foreign ministry official said career diplomats Omar Amer and Ihab Fahmy have stepped down after nearly five months speaking on behalf of Morsi. On Monday, six Cabinet ministers quit.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

State TV later reported the resignation of Cabinet spokesmman Alaa el-Hadidy.

Also Tuesday, an Egyptian court dealt another blow to Morsi's authority, ruling that the president's widely disputed appointment of an attorney general last November was illegal.

Morsi's dismissal of Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid, who was appointed by Mubarak, was seen by the judiciary as an encroachment on its independence. The opposition has long demanded the removal of Abdel-Meguid's successor, Talaat Abdullah.

President Barack Obama said the U.S. is committed to democracy in Egypt, not any particular leader. Traveling in Tanzania, Obama said that although Morsi was democratically elected, the government must respect its opposition and minority groups.

Egypt's presidency said Morsi received a phone call from Obama, who said the U.S. administration "supports peaceful democratic transition in Egypt."

Many of those now in the anti-Morsi campaign then led demonstrations against military rule, angered by its management of the transition and heavy hand in the killing of protesters.

Hours after its announcement, the military issued a second statement on its Facebook page denying it intended a coup. "The ideology and culture of the Egyptian armed forces does not allow for the policy of a military coup," it said.

In its initial statement, the military said it would "announce a road map for the future and measures to implement it" if Morsi and its opponents cannot reach a consensus within 48 hours a virtual impossibility. It promised to include all "patriotic and sincere" factions in the process.

The military underlined it will "not be a party in politics or rule." But it said it has a responsibility to find a solution because Egypt's national security is facing a "grave danger," according to the statement.

It did not detail the road map, but it heavily praised the protests that began Sunday demanding that Morsi step down and that early elections be called.

Sunday's protests on the first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration were the largest seen in the country in the 2 years of turmoil since Egyptians first rose up against Mubarak in January 2011.

Violence broke out in several parts of the country, often when marchers came under gunfire, apparently from Islamists. In Cairo, anti-Morsi youth attacked the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood with stones and fire bombs, while Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside opened fired on them. The clash ended early Monday when the protesters broke into the luxury villa and ransacked it, setting fires.

Nationwide, at least 16 people were killed Sunday and more than 780 injured, Health Ministry spokesman Yehya Moussa told state television.

Under a framework drawn up by Tamarod, after Morsi steps down, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court would become an interim president and a technocrat government would be formed. An expert panel would write a new constitution to replace the one largely drafted by Islamists, and a new presidential election would be held in six months.

Outside the presidential palace, protesters contended that Morsi could not survive with only the Islamist bloc on his side.

"It is now the whole people versus one group. What can he do?" said Mina Adel, a Christian accountant. "The army is the savior and the guarantor for the revolution to succeed."

FIRST PERSON | I had always been told that if I don't get a college education, or at the very least my high school diploma, I would go nowhere in life. Family, counselors, school officials and countless others told me this. I would like to think I proved them wrong.

I am 38 and have had, up to this point, what I feel has been a successful life. I received my GED when I was 18, two years after having dropped out of high school in Midland, Mich., in 1993 on a whim. My car privileges had been revoked due to missing too much school, so I decided I'd just stay home with my car.

As I began looking for work, however, it turned out to be quite difficult. Without a diploma, or a GED, I moved from one low-wage job to another. I was a pizza slinger at a few restaurants, a bus boy, and a dishwasher. By the time I turned 18, I was tired of these jobs and found an adult education facility that offered GED testing. I passed the test with flying colors and got my GED.

From that point on, I was able to apply for better paying jobs. For two years, I drove a taxi in my home city, a job I truly loved because I got to talk to so many interesting people. The money, on the other hand, was on par with my other low-paying jobs. I then became a full-time salesman for a national chain store, selling computers and, later, appliances. I went from earning $5.15 an hour to $10 an hour or more, depending on commissions. It was during this job that my wife and I had our daughter, Anna, and, soon, $10 an hour was far from adequate.

Whether by sheer luck or just perfect timing, I was introduced to Michigan Works, an organization that helps workers find jobs. At that time, the state was offering some full scholarships to a truck driving school. The only requirement was a high school diploma or a GED. I was accepted into the program and three weeks later I had my CDL in hand and my resume online on Michigan Works.

My resume was found, somehow, by Nabors Well Services, an oil field company in Texas. They asked me to fly down for an interview and I did. I was hired and began my new career as a vacuum truck driver. My starting wages were $14.85 an hour, and within the first year I had gotten three raises, bringing my wage to $19 per hour. I worked in the oil fields for four years before moving back to Michigan to be with my daughter, now 14, after my marriage ended.

In the oil field, you work long hours, often 90-plus each week, and this allows you to earn well more than $70,000 a year. Personally, I'm quite happy with that figure, especially considering I didn't have to devote four years to college.

I have a job waiting for me, but right now, spending time with my daughter is more important to me. I will always be able to go back later on when she goes to college. Experienced drivers, especially those who are familiar with vacuum tankers are always needed.

It was all possible because I got my GED. I wouldn't change things for the world.

The way things have been going at the All England Club this fortnight, that's quite an accomplishment.

Rafael Nadal, a 12-time Grand Slam champion, was beaten in the first round. Roger Federer, owner of a record 17 major titles, went out in the second, as did four-time major champ Maria Sharapova. Five-time Wimbledon winner Serena Williams' 34-match winning streak ended in the fourth round.

And on and on it's gone, with no top-20 player other than Murray left on his side of the draw, and a record-equaling number of withdrawals or mid-match retirements because of health problems.

"Everyone was a bit on edge, a little bit uptight," reigning U.S. Open champion Murray acknowledged, "because of what was happening with the injuries, withdrawals, upsets and stuff."

He and Djokovic have made it all look so routine, though, heading into the men's quarterfinals Wednesday.

On the top half of the bracket, Djokovic a six-time Grand Slam titlist and the only remaining past Wimbledon winner will face No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, the 2010 runner-up. No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain plays No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the 2009 U.S. Open champion and the third man who hasn't dropped a set through four matches.

On the bottom half, it will be Murray against 54th-ranked Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz against his Davis Cup teammate and pal, 130th-ranked Lukasz Kubot, in a match between the first two Polish men to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since 1980.

"Magical," Janowicz said.

In keeping with the unpredictable nature of the tournament, whoever wins the women's title will be a first-time Grand Slam champion. Thursday's semifinals are 2012 runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland against 23rd-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany (who beat Williams on Monday), and 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli of France against 20th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

Janowicz and Kubot will be playing in the quarterfinals at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time, as will Verdasco and del Potro. Ferrer lost at that stage last year.

The other three have much more solid Wimbledon bona fides: Murray (2012) and Berdych (2010) have been the runner-up, while Djokovic won the title in 2011.

"I feel good about myself in this moment. I think I actually play a better tennis on grass than I played two years ago, when I won this tournament," said Djokovic, who never before had won every set he played in five previous trips to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. "For now, I'm feeling good. I'm No. 1 of the world. I have no reason to be concerned about my game."

He is bidding to reach the semifinals for a 13th consecutive Slam, the second-longest streak in men's tennis history, behind only Federer's 23-semifinal run.

Djokovic has played in seven of the last 10 major finals, and he's combined with Federer and Nadal to win 31 of the past 33 trophies.

The only other men in those eight-plus years to win a Grand Slam title were Murray and del Potro. Murray has elbowed his way into the upper echelon, turning the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic Big 3 into a Big 4 lately, participating in the finals of the last three major tournaments he entered (he missed this year's French Open with a bad back).

Murray memorably broke down in tears while addressing the Centre Court crowd after losing last year's championship match at Wimbledon to Federer. Murray was the first British man to reach the final since 1938 and fell one win short of giving the country its first male champion at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Said Murray that day, his voice cracking: "I'm getting closer."

He was, indeed.

A month later, in the same arena, he defeated Federer for a gold medal at the London Olympics.

And then, in September, Murray edged Djokovic in five sets at Flushing Meadows to snap an 0-4 drought in Grand Slam finals. He followed that up by getting to the Australian Open final in January, only to lose to Djokovic.

"You do learn a lot from losing. I'd lost enough big matches to want to win one and learn from how I managed to win a major event," Murray said. "The one thing I would say from having experienced it is just I kept trying to work harder and harder, try and keep improving my game from losses. That's why I eventually managed to sort of get over that final hurdle."

He has won 15 matches in a row, and 21 of his past 22, on grass courts, going into Wednesday against Verdasco, a former top-10 player whose only major semifinal came at the 2009 Australian Open.

This will be their 10th meeting on tour; Murray leads 8-1. They've known each other for years, dating to when Murray moved to Spain to train at a tennis academy there.

"Going to be difficult to beat him, also with the crowd and everything," Verdasco said. "I mean, you need to have faith and try your best to try to win."

Berdych also has a daunting head-to-head record to overcome: He is 2-13 against Djokovic. But Berdych might derive some hope from knowing he beat Djokovic the last time they met, on clay at Rome in May, and also the only time they've played each other on grass, in the 2010 Wimbledon semifinals.

Berdych eliminated Federer in the quarterfinals that year, but lost to Nadal in the final.

"I know how it is to beat Roger here," Berdych said. "It's really nice."

No chance of facing quite that same sort of lineup this time around, thanks to all of the early surprises. But if Berdych wants to earn his first Grand Slam title, he will need to get past Djokovic, of course, and perhaps Murray, too.

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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