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The case stems from the designers' actions in 2004, when they sold their brand to a holding company in Luxembourg, Gado. That was so they could allegedly sneak out of taxes on 1 billion euros worth of royalties. Their persecution, Lisa Jucca of , is a result of how "cash-strapped Italy has recently stepped up action on tax evasion." But don't cry for D&G, who are denying the charges. (After the duo lost an appeal and were find earlier this year, Gabbana launched one of his frequent Twitter rants to dispute accusations, .) But due to the "complexity and length of the appeals process," Reuters reports, they will likely not serve any of their one-year-and-eight-month sentence, although that really would be something. 

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In other news,  reports that Dolce and Gabbana are going to transform British men into "Latin lovers" with their recently opened store in London.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI Director Robert Mueller sought on Wednesday to dispel any perception among Americans that the bureau and the Justice Department let bankers go free after they helped bring about the U.S. financial crisis.

The complexity of the crisis made it difficult to identify what crimes might have occurred and to explain to Americans why there was a scarcity of prosecutions on Wall Street, Mueller told reporters in response to questions about the crisis.

Mueller was speaking in a rare interview 12 years into the job and just weeks before his September 4 departure.

"I would say that's a misperception. There were a number of contributing factors to the crash in 2008, and if you look at the statistics in terms of persons we've investigated and prosecuted, there are a number that are out there, and investigations are ongoing," said the 69-year-old former prosecutor and U.S. Marine.

"Often it's very difficult to put it all together and paint a picture that is persuasive when you have such disparate contributing factors to a particular crisis," he added, "but where we've found the evidence and we've followed the evidence, I think we have a pretty good track record."

The FBI granted the Wednesday interview on condition it not be reported until late on Thursday, to accommodate other interviews.

Mueller did not mention specific recent cases but said comparisons to earlier sweeps of white-collar crime, such as the savings-and-loan crisis that began in the late 1980s, were unfair. Back then, he said, "The cases were relatively easy to identify and were clear frauds."

While he called insider-trading cases an "offshoot" from the financial crisis, he said U.S. investigators should get credit for bringing those, too.

Mueller became FBI director a week before the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001, on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, a calamity that forced the bureau to shift radically its priorities and capabilities.

He will leave behind a very different FBI. More than half the agents began work there after the September 11 strikes, and the bureau's first priority - unquestioned in Washington - is to prevent a similar attack.

"I did not expect I'd be spending my time in preventing terrorist attacks," Mueller said. He had spent his career prosecuting crimes - including local murders in Washington - after they occurred, not preventing them.

Mueller's 12-year stint makes him the second longest-serving director in FBI history after J. Edgar Hoover.

"In the last 12 years, I think the American public has expected us to, yes, clean up the white-collar criminal activity, yes, handle public corruption, but most particularly to not allow another September 11 attack," he told reporters, sitting in a conference room at the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington.

With 36,000 employees, the FBI is the largest U.S. investigative agency and the closest thing the country has to a national police force. Its investigations cover not only counterterrorism but organized crime, financial fraud, cybercrime and more.

QUESTIONS ABOUT BOSTON, FORT HOOD

Mueller would not address several of the subjects reporters raised. He repeatedly declined to comment on the U.S. pursuit of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, charged under espionage laws for leaking secrets to newspapers.

Despite praise from lawmakers for the lack of another major attack on U.S. soil on his watch, Mueller said part of the success was luck. He also said he still wonders if more could have been done to prevent April's Boston Marathon bombing and the shooting in Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.

The two attacks share a pattern of "individuals acting pretty much on their own, without ties to a formalized terrorist group, not orchestrated overseas," he said, and the model would probably be replicated by others.

A government-ordered review of the Fort Hood shooting said the FBI had no specific knowledge that Major Nidal Hasan was planning the attack, but that the bureau should have interviewed him because it was in possession of emails Hasan had sent to a militant Muslim cleric.

A jury is weighing whether to convict Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 and wounding more than 30. His trial began last month.

An official review of the Boston bombing, in which two bombs exploded, killing three people and wounding about 260, has not been released.

After nearly an entire adult career in government, Mueller said he planned to spend time giving speeches, teaching and conducting private investigations. He said he had yet to decide whether to join a firm or start his own.

(Editing by Howard Goller and Mohammad Zargham)

"Companies like Americure Rx are investing in Pennsylvania, creating new jobs for our citizens and helping to move our economy forward," said Corbett. "The Lehigh Valley is one of a number of areas that are growing in the commonwealth. This is the 12th jobs announcement I've made in the region this year with job creation projected to be more than 830."

Americure Rx has entered into a five-year lease for a 10,500-square-foot facility in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County. The company will invest more than $555,000 in the project and has committed to creating at least 51 new jobs within the next three years. New positions will include those in operations and maintenance, as well as pharmacists, technicians and drivers.

The company received a funding offer from the Department of Community and Economic Development including $102,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits and a $22,950 Guaranteed Free Training grant which will be used to provide training for their new employees.

"We worked in coordination with the Governor's Action Team in collaboration with the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation," said Jaco du Plessis, president of Americure Rx. "GAT's assistance was instrumental in getting the project launched."

The project was coordinated by the Governor's Action Team, a group of economic development professionals who work directly with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.

"As our population ages, demand for long-term care and prescriptions from companies such as Americure Rx should continue to flourish," said Don Cunningham, LVEDC president and CEO. "The Lehigh Valley has proven itself to be a magnet for creative firms and minds, and this fast-growing company's $555,000 project in Upper Macungie Township will add at least 51 new jobs to our region."

Americure Rx is a long-term care pharmacy that mixes, packages, labels and delivers prescriptions to nursing facilities. For more information on Americure Rx visit .

For more information on the Governor's Action Team and other economic development initiatives in Pennsylvania, visitor call 1-866-466-3972.

Media contacts: Kelli Roberts, Governor's Office; 717-783-1116Lyndsay Frank, DCED; 717-783-1132

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR completed its $8.2 billion television package Thursday by adding two years to its deal with Fox Sports and setting a schedule that gives the network the first 16 Sprint Cup races beginning in 2015.

Fox Sports last year signed a deal for the first 13 Cup races beginning with the 2015 season and the latest deal gives the network three more Cup races to go with the first 14 Nationwide Series races. Fox Sports also extended the contract it had signed last year by two years, so it now runs through 2024 and is the same length as the deal NBC Sports signed last week.

"Fox Sports has been an outstanding partner for NASCAR and we could not be more pleased with the additional commitment they are making to our sport and the fans," NASCAR Chairman Brian France said. "Fox Sports has delivered for our fans a number of innovations that have changed how our sport is presented, and our entire industry has now come to expect excellence from NASCAR on Fox. We believe this new agreement underscores our shared commitment to the fans over the next decade."

NBC Sports paid $4.4 billion for its rights, which begin in 2015, and the Fox Sports deal is now worth $3.8 billion with Thursday's additions. It puts NASCAR at $820 million a year for the length of the 10-year contracts.

Fox Sports will air nine Cup races on its network. The other seven will air on the Fox Sports 1 cable channel.

NBC Sports said last week seven of its 20 races would air on NBC. Coupled with Fox's broadcast races, NASCAR in 2015 will have 16 total races on a network broadcast the same number as this year.

The first 14 Nationwide Series race and the entire Truck Series schedule will air on Fox Sports 1, the all-sports network that launches this month. The Truck Series race from Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 17 will be the network's first live event, and NASCAR will be an anchor property for Fox Sports 1.

"Fox Sports is now the exclusive home of NASCAR, the most popular racing series in America, for the first five months of every season through 2024," Fox Sports co-Presidents and COOs Randy Freer and Eric Shanks said in a joint statement.

"The NASCAR Nationwide Series is second only to NASCAR Sprint Cup as the most-watched form of auto racing in the country. Fox Sports now owns the sport every weekend from Speedweeks and the Daytona 500 through June, and we expect these events to provide significant viewership for FOX Sports 1," they said. "The addition of Nationwide to the 1,100 hours of original motorsports programming already scheduled clearly puts FOX Sports at the front of the race to serve motorsports fans in the U.S."

Fox Sports began broadcasting live NASCAR races in 2001, and had the Nationwide Series as part of that original television package.

"We obviously are excited to extend our relationship with Fox Sports with a good balance of racing on the Fox Network," said Steve Herbst, NASCAR vice president of broadcasting and productions. "NASCAR on Fox has been very popular with NASCAR fans everywhere and we believe its expanded schedule will strengthen its relationship with the fans and provide the sport with many opportunities to cross-promote and grow our combined audiences."

___

NBC is controlled by Comcast Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox Inc.

The first lady will speak during Saturday's festivities, the unofficial kickoff to the U.S. Open, tennis' last Grand Slam tournament of the year. She'll join defending women's champ Serena Williams, former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (NOH'-vak YOH'-koh-vihch), along with celebrities including singer Ariana Grande, who has the hit song "The Way."

Mrs. Obama participated in activities at the event, held in Flushing, N.Y., in 2011.

She has been leading a national campaign to get kids more active and eating healthy meals.

___

Online:

http://www.aakd.com

In 2011, President Obama and the Egyptian military appeared to be on the same page. In response to calls not to fire on demonstrators against Hosni Mubarak, the military actually protected the protesters and Obama was able to help usher in the Arab Spring by urging the Egyptian strongman to step down. In 2013, Egypts military has ignored every recommendation from the White House and the administration is either unwilling or unable to use what little leverage America has left to pressure Egypts interim government to abide by U.S. and international requests.

While Egypt was a close ally of the U.S. for decades until the 2011 revolution, over the past two years the Obama administration has seen its influence there dwindling for a variety of reasons, according to experts and observers. The internal politics in Egypt have become more nationalistic and virulently anti-American. The Obama administration has had a timid, reactive, and somewhat-incoherent policy that has alienated all sides and sacrificed opportunities to use limited American leverage. Meanwhile, other regional actors have stepped into the void to play a larger role.

The United States strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypts interim government and security forces, Obama said Thursday in his first public remarks on the violence that continues to roil several Egyptian cities. While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back.

Obama announced that the U.S. was canceling Bright Star, the joint military exercises planned for next month, but didnt say anything about the $1.3 billion in military aid the U.S. gives the Egyptian military each year. It remains to be seen if the Egyptian government will respond to Obamas missive; they havent acquiesced to the administrations demands thus far.

In late June, even before the Egyptian military deposed and arrested President Mohamed Morsi, top U.S. officials urged the military against the move. Since the military takeover, the administration has been urging the military-led interim government to refrain from arresting Muslim Brotherhood leaders, avoid instituting martial law, allow for peaceful protests, and reach out to Islamists. All of those requests have been ignored.

Many in Washington say the Obama administrations relative impotence this time around is due to a refusal to really put pressure on the Egyptian military and government.

In 2011, the administration told the military clearly that if you kill hundreds of people in Tahrir Square, then our relationship will be severely damaged. This time they didnt do that, said Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy. This administration is extremely reluctant to use pressure against its allies. Then when they try to do so, its too little, too late, and less effective.

Most experts were expecting Obama to at least suspend military aid for the duration of the violence and were disappointed that the administration still wont use the funding as pressure, even though suspending payments might not be enough to change the Egyptian militarys behavior.

Obama noted Thursday that both sides in the conflict blame the U.S., a popular and expedient political tactic in Egypt. But the Obama administration fed that sentiment by instituting an Egypt policy since 2011 that alienated key actors and failed to use U.S. leverage at key moments that led up to the current conflict, McInerney said.

They were too deferential to the Morsi government and also to the Egyptian military and failed to build constructive relationships with all sorts of other actors inside Egypt, he said. And now they are desperately clinging to their relationship with the military, which is hanging by a thread, because they dont have any other allies.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian military has good reason to believe it can defy the Obama administrations wishes with little to no consequences. After they deposed Morsi, the State Department declared they would not make a judgment as to whether it was a coup, allowing the U.S. government to avoid triggering a law that would have mandated a cutoff of military aid.

That taught the Egyptian military that we need them more than they need us and that we will not even enforce our own law, said Elliott Abrams, who served as deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush focusing on Middle East issues.

To be sure, Egypt became much more complicated politically between 2011 and 2013, with the emergence of new political organizations that could not have operated in the Mubarak era. Also, the 2011 revolution evoked a new Egyptian nationalism that eschewed foreign influence of all types.

One of the themes of the uprising that has carried over from 2011 to 2013 was the notion of national power and dignity, and it was very important for politicians to be perceived as not being in bed with the U.S., said Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Also, the stakes were so high that no external powers would be able to influence both sides.

But during key moments over the past two years, including when the Egyptian government arrested and then later convicted American NGO workers of felony crimes, the administration avoided direct confrontation with the Egyptians, rather than taking a tougher albeit riskier stance.

We allegedly have influence but we never used the lever of the influence; so as a result we dont have any, Cook said.

Meanwhile, other regional actors have come in to fill the void left by a lack of U.S. leadership, building alliances to support both sides. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait have given the new government $13 billion since the takeover, more than 10 times the U.S. military aid. Turkey and Qatar have come to the defense of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The U.S. government has important relationships with all of these countries and is not eager to choose a side, said Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The tentative and cautious nature of the U.S. policy in Egypt is just one example of an administration approach to the Arab Spring that has been reactive and somewhat ad hoc, he said.

This is an administration that constantly hedges its bets in a region thats increasingly fractured. Its in their DNA in the way they conduct foreign policy, he said.

Overall, the Obama administration needs to maintain a good relationship with whoever is running Egypt for security reasons and recognizes that diminished U.S. influence there is the new reality.

Leverage is like your muscles, Katulis said. If you dont exercise them every once in a while, you lose them.

Eli Lake contributed reporting to this article.

Related from The Daily Beast

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LONDON (Reuters) - Health systems could be "overwhelmed" by the costs of coping with mental illnesses such as dementia, depression and addiction if nothing is done now to boost investment in research, leading neuroscientists said on Thursday.

Publishing a study that put the estimated costs of brain disorders in Britain alone at more than 112 billion pounds a year, they said mental illness research needed to attract the same funding levels as illnesses such as cancer and heart diseases to be able to reduce the burden.

"No group of chronic diseases costs the world more than brain disorders," said Barbara Sahakian, a professor at Cambridge University and president of the British Association of Psychopharmacology.

She told reporters that with a third of the adult population suffering from a mental disorder every year and ageing populations increasing that proportion, "if we don't do something soon ... we will be overwhelmed by brain disorders".

The study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that in 2010, there were around 45 million diagnoses of brain disorders in Britain.

The diagnosed illnesses included more than 8 million cases of anxiety disorder and nearly 4 million cases of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder.

Annually, the five most costly disorders in terms of medicines, health care and indirect costs such time off work and as loss of productivity were dementia, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, addiction and anxiety disorders.

A Europe-wide study published in 2011 put the total costs of brain disorders at almost 800 billion euros and said the region was facing a political, social and financial "ticking bomb" as more people fall prey to mental illnesses.

Some big pharmaceutical companies, in Europe particularly GlaxoSmithKlineand AstraZeneca , have been backing away from investment into research on how the brain works and affects behaviour because they say it is not profitable enough. That puts the onus on governments and health charities to stump up funding for neuroscience.

David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said the situation required a coordinated effort at European and national levels to change policymaker and public attitudes to funding mental health research.

"Diseases need to be ranked according to their economic burden," he said, noting that funding for dementia research in Britain is around 50 million pounds per year, less than a 10th of the annual funding given to cancer research, which gets around 590 million pounds.

"We have an enormous disparity between research investment and the scale of the disorders," he said.

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Citing unidentified sources, ESPN's "Outside the Lines" said the Heisman Trophy winner signed items in exchange for a five-figure fee during his trip to Miami for the BCS championship game.

ESPN said sources told "Outside the Lines" that Manziel signed photographs, footballs, mini football helmets and other items at the request of autograph broker Drew Tieman.

ESPN reported that a source said James Garland, the NCAA's assistant director of enforcement, contacted Tieman and at least one person associated with the signings in June.

"We cannot comment on current, pending or potential investigations," NCAA spokeswoman Emily Potter told The Associated Press in an email statement Sunday night.

Texas A&M also declined to comment.

"It is Texas A&M's long-standing practice not to respond to such questions concerning specific student-athletes," the school said in an email statement to the AP.

Egypt has become increasingly polarized since the Islamists rose to power following the 2011 revolution that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Fault lines touching key and potentially explosive issues like identity, the rights of Christians and other minorities, and democratic values have never been greater.

The Muslim Brotherhood and their hard-line allies stand at one end of a bitter standoff with secularists, liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians.

That schism grew after President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader, was ousted in a July 3 military coup. But it was Wednesday's deadly police raids with armored bulldozers and security forces plowing through two protest camps that will be remembered as a turning point when what had been primarily a political standoff erupted into bloodshed.

"The spark of civil war is out," wrote Islamist columnist and author Fahmy Howeidy in Thursday's edition of the independent al-Shorouk daily. "The nation is on the edge of an abyss."

Adding to the mix is the branding by the state media of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and allies as "terrorists" and growing calls for authorities to take a tougher approach on the Islamists.

In a glimpse of what may be in store for the most populous Arab state, dozens of revenge attacks and clashes spilled over into a second day Thursday in Cairo and other cities showing the capability of Islamists to strike and laying bare the depth of their anger over Morsi's ouster and the crackdown that left hundreds dead.

Angry young men attacked government and security buildings, setting some ablaze, cut off roads, damaged or torched dozens of churches and stormed more than 20 police stations.

In one particularly gruesome attack, four officers in a police station just outside Cairo were killed after the building was shelled with rocket-propelled grenades. The assailants then slit the police chief's throat, a brutality reminiscent of an Islamist, anti-government insurgency that raged in Egypt in the 1990s before Mubarak used force to suppress it, killing and jailing thousands of Islamists.

In response, the government authorized police Thursday to use deadly force against anyone attacking security forces or government installations.

While the international community largely condemned the overwhelming use of force to clear out the camps on Wednesday, the military-backed administration's fight against the Brotherhood so far has been supported by many Egyptians, who are mainly Muslim but object to hard-liners.

"The army and the police will strike hard and ordinary people will be supportive," prominent rights lawyer and activist Gamal Eid said.

To such observers, it is beyond doubt that a majority of Egyptians supports going after the Brotherhood and its hard-line allies.

Millions took to the streets for days prior to the July 3 coup to call on Morsi to step down, angry over what they saw as efforts to monopolize power for himself and the Brotherhood, failure to implement crucial social and economic reforms and his public quarrels with the judiciary, the media, the military and police.

The mass protests morphed into celebrations on the day of his ouster. And a similar number responded to a call by military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to take to the streets on July 26 to show support for his moves to tackle "violence and potential terrorism."

The military and police also have gone after the Muslim Brotherhood and like-minded groups on the legal front, arresting dozens including senior leaders.

State-run TV and newspapers, meanwhile, are filled with commentators and other content full of anti-Brotherhood sentiment, often portraying Islamists as enemies of the people and tapping into nationalistic fervor by alleging that the Brotherhood is a violent group that is secretly enlisting foreign help against the rest of Egyptians and that views Egypt as just a part in a greater Muslim nation that transcends borders.

A backlash against Mohammed ElBaradei's decision to resign as interim vice president to protest the violence illustrated how widespread is the antipathy to the Brotherhood and its allies. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former director of the U.N. nuclear agency said he quit because he did not want to be held responsible for bloodshed.

"It has become difficult for me to continue to take responsibility for decisions I disapprove of, and I fear their consequences," he said in his letter of resignation. "I regret that those who benefited today are the proponents of violence, terror and the more extreme groups, and you will remember my words to you."

His resignation earned him public rebuke from Tamarod, the youth group that engineered the mass protests preceding Morsi's ouster. It said he was dodging his responsibility at a time when his services were needed. Even the umbrella of opposition groups he led during Morsi's year in power regretted his decision and bemoaned that he did not bother to consult it beforehand.

A front-page editorial in the state-owned al-Akhbar daily on Thursday said ElBaradei's resignation "amounts to a breach of his position and, consequently, is a case of treason that should not be allowed to pass without accountability."

In anticipation of mass protests by Brotherhood supporters on Friday, Tamarod, or Rebel, has called on Egyptians to form popular committees to counter any violence by the Islamists during the demonstrations, proposing a scenario that places rivals face to face on the streets with a chance of violence breaking out.

Already, Islamist hard-liners in the strategic Sinai Peninsula are waging a worsening insurgency against security forces, with near daily attacks. Sinai has for several years now been roiled in unrest, but the dramatic increase in the number of attacks on security forces there began as soon as Morsi was ousted, leading many to deduce that the Brotherhood and militants in Sinai were somehow bonded.

"Sure civil war is a possibility," said Michael W. Hanna, an expert on Egypt from the New York-based Century Foundation. "It will be bad, with suicide bombings and assassinations but not necessarily another Syria or Iraq."

___

Hendawi is chief of bureau for The Associated Press in Cairo. He has covered the Middle East for the AP since 1995.

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Violence sweeping Egypt has hit its tourism - a vital part of the economy - as governments warn holidaymakers to stay away, prompting some foreign travel agents to stop all trips there.

The latest unrest looks likely to kill off a tentative recovery of a sector that accounted for more than a tenth of GDP before the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, starting a period of political uncertainty which worsened with events of this week.

Millions of foreigners visit Egypt each year to laze on its beaches, tour ancient ruins and cruise along the Nile, but Germany has advised its citizens to avoid its Red Sea resorts and Americans have been warned to keep away completely.

"Something like 10 percent of our bookings have been cancelled," said Mohammed el-Sharbagy, owner of a diving centre in Hurghada one of several isolated Red Sea towns far from Egypt's cities that had been holding up relatively well.

The latest travel warnings are a bitter blow to people like Sharbagy who said media coverage of the deadly violence was partly to blame for hurting business.

"Most of the events are 600 km (370 miles) away in Cairo and in Alexandria, but people just don't realize that," he told Reuters by telephone.

"Downtown Hurghada is absolutely quiet. All I saw today were some people and police sitting together protecting the church."

German tour operators Thomas Cook Germany and TUI Germany, part of Europe's largest tour operator TUI Travel, cancelled all trips to Egypt after the German foreign ministry advised against travelling to the beach resorts, which are popular with European sun-seekers and divers.

They said customers would get the chance to rebook to other destinations free of charge.

Air Berlin, Germany's second biggest airline which is one-third owned by Gulf carrier Etihad, said it was still operating scheduled flights to Red Sea resorts but would not accept new bookings to Egypt until September 15.

Germany's foreign ministry advised against going to the resorts, which help attract about 1.2 million Germans to Egypt each year. It stopped short of a full warning that would mean evacuating tourists.

"Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urges German citizens to take this travel advice very seriously," a spokesman said.

Similar advice from Sweden's foreign ministry led Swedish tour operators to stop all trips to the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, 400 km (250 miles) from Cairo on the Sinai Peninsula, and Hurghada on the Egyptian mainland.

Belgium followed suit, extending a travel warning to tourist resorts on Friday that led to travel agencies Neckermann and Jetair cancelling all trips to Egypt until August 31.

Egypt experienced more violence on Friday as Islamist protests descended into a bloodbath, with around 50 killed in Cairo alone on a "Day of Rage" called by followers of ousted President Mohamed Mursi, two days after their protest camps were stormed by security forces using lethal force.

The United States on Thursday warned Americans against travelling to Egypt and urged U.S. citizens living in Egypt to leave the country.

ALCOHOL AND BIKINIS

Egypt attracted 14.7 million visitors in 2010, including 2.8 million Russians, 1.5 million Britons and 1.3 million Germans, according to OECD figures.

Three years ago the $13 billion industry accounted for 11 percent of GDP, according to the World Tourism Organization.

The number of tourists fell to 9.5 million in 2011 before recovering to 11.2 million in 2012. In the first five months of 2013, tourist numbers were up 12 percent year-on-year.

When Mursi, an Islamist, came to power last year, many tourism professionals feared his government would ban alcohol and bikinis, putting off their European customers.

That never came to pass.

But Egypt's image as a welcoming destination suffered again in June, weeks before Mursi's overthrow, when tourism minister Hisham Zaazou tendered his resignation over Mursi's decision to appoint as governor of Luxor a member of a hardline Islamist group blamed for slaughtering 58 tourists there in 1997.

Russia said its citizens should not travel to Egypt and advised against tour operators promoting Egyptian holidays.

Luxury tour operator Kuoni said it was contacting all clients in Britain who were due to go to Egypt in the next 21 days to offer them alternative holidays or a refund if no acceptable alternative option could be found.

Egypt is in the top 10 destinations for both TUI and Thomas Cook, though is more popular as a winter sun destination.

Travel advice issued by governments affects tourism as vacation health and cancellation insurance will often not apply to locations deemed unsuitable for travel.

Some holidaymakers already in Egypt were advised not to leave their resorts and trips were cancelled to major attractions including Luxor and the Valley of the Kings in the south and Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, the world's oldest active Christian monastery.

France advised against travel to all of Egypt in early July while Switzerland on Friday also extended its advice to warn holidaymakers away from the beach destinations.

Britain's foreign office has advised against travelling to Egypt except to Red Sea resorts, although a spokesman said this guidance was under constant review.

He said some tourists in resorts at Hurghada had been advised not to leave their hotel grounds after one man was killed in clashes there on Wednesday.

Thomas Cook's British arm said travel was operating normally but it was monitoring the situation closely. An evening curfew imposed at Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday had been lifted.

(Additional reporting by Christina Amann and Stephen Brown in Berlin, Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt, Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Megan Davies, Alessandra Prentice and Alissa de Carbonnel in Moscow, Christian Plumb in Paris and Christine Murray and Tom Pfeiffer in London; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer and Robin Pomeroy)