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Egyptian security officials say a militant Islamist group has blown up a terminal along the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

Officials say Saturday’s attack on the terminal in al-Shulaq destroyed the last terminal before the line enters the sea on its way to Israel.

It is the third attack on the pipeline this month and the fifth since the 18-day uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February.

While no one claimed responsibility, officials accused a militant Bedouin group for the attack.

Clashes between the group and security forces killed 5 people Friday.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) _ Tens of thousands of ultraconservative Muslims in long beards, robes and prayer caps thronged Cairo’s central Tahrir Square in a massive show of force Friday, calling for the implementation of strict Islamic laws and sparring with liberal activists over their visions for a post-revolution Egypt.

It was the first rally with religious overtones in Egypt, and one of the largest, since the uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down in mid-February. The strong showing by the Islamists demonstrated their powerful organizational abilities, which will likely help them in parliamentary elections later this year.

“Islamic. Islamic. Not Western or Eastern. No liberal or secular,” chants of Salafis, who follow a strict form of Islam, echoed through the square. Others shouted: “With our soul and blood we defend you Islam.”

They unfurled an Egyptian flag, removing the central emblem of an eagle and replacing the Islamic slogan: “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet,” similar to the insignia on the Saudi flag.

The youth activists who have been at the helm of mass protests calling for faster change from the country’s interim military rulers withdrew from the rally soon after Friday prayers, accusing the Islamists of violating an agreement to avoid divisive issues.

“While the civil organizations are trying to respect the effort to complete the revolution by unifying the ranks, the Islamic groups insisted on breaking the unity and assisting the military council in a deal that I think will divide this country in two,” said liberal activist Mustafa Shawki. “This is what we were afraid of.”

Several hundred protesters, mainly liberal and leftist groups, have camped out at the square for more than three weeks, demanding swifter justice for those blamed in the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising and more measures to ensure Mubarak loyalists are purged from the government. It was a crowd vocally critical of the military council, which they accused of protecting Mubarak’s regime.

Most of the Islamic groups, however, say the military needs time to break with the past.

The decision by the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s best organized political force, to participate significantly boosted the turnout. But instead of a day of unity as had been advertised, the Islamists decided to flex their muscle, using the epicenter of the protests to press demands for a strict version of Islamic law.

Some Salafi Islamist groups mobilized their members to the square to oppose the adoption of a set of guidelines for drafting a new constitution after parliamentary elections later this year. Buses from a number of cities transported followers, many who were in the square for the first time.

Liberal parties are worried religious groups will win a large share of parliament and force an Islamic influence on the constitution. The Islamists say nothing should restrict the newly elected parliament’s right to oversee the process of drafting the document.

“The liberals are talking about a civil state. This won’t work in Egypt,” said Tarek Shaheen, a 31-year-old resident of Ismailiya. “We want to prove to the outside world even before domestically that Egypt is Islamic, that it has a large Islamic trend and that we are not terrorists.”

While opposing the measure, Muslim Brotherhood members did not press the issue Friday sticking to the agreement.

Salafis are ultraconservatives, close to Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi interpretation of Islam and more radical than the Brotherhood. They seek to emulate the austerity of Islam’s early days and oppose a wide range of practices like intermingling of the sexes that they view as “un-Islamic.” Many also reject all forms of Western cultural influence, and preach that authorities must be respected.

Mubarak’s regime cracked down heavily on Islamic groups, specifically the politicized Brotherhood, arrested thousands of its members. Salafi groups are new to the political scene in Egypt.

Many like Shaheen felt that Egypt’s Islamic identity is threatened, reflecting the growing mistrust between the different groups only months before the first parliamentary elections, the first after Mubarak’s ouster.

Egypt’s constitution, which has been suspended by the military rulers, set Islamic law as the basis for legislation and nobody has proposed changing that clause. But some Islamic groups believe the liberal groups will use the guidelines to introduce what they perceive as Western values.

“Our religion is the constitution,” said Saber Mohammed, a 27-year-old Cairene wearing a short white robe and head cap, sporting the traditional bushy beard of a Salafi.

Nourhan Zamzam, a 29-year-old banker who supports the call for a civil state, said the ultraconservative Islamist groups are vying for influence but have little experience.

For her, the Salafi stance only undermines pressure on the military by dividing the efforts of the protesters.

“This is actually a message to us, the revolutionaries, who are critical of the military council,” she said. “This is a message to scar us: look infighting between groups is coming.”

By sundown, a large number of Islamists began leaving the square peacefully and the sit-in continued.

It was more tense in other cities.

In the southern city of Assiut, Salafist protesters beat up a group of protesters from the Communist party trying to join their demonstration, deputy police chief Yosri el-Gammasi said. At one point, some in the crowd yelled back at a speaker who criticized the idea of constitutional guidelines.

In the Sinai city of el-Arish, government troops clashed with Islamic militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weapons outside a police station. Four people were killed, including a military officer and three civilians, and 18 people injured.

South of the capital in Minya province, gunmen fired on a car carrying Christians, killing two and injuring two, a military official said. It was the second killing in two weeks in the predominantly Christian village of Roman. While the motive was unknown, similar events have sparked religious violence in the past.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.

Friday’s rally came a day after Egypt’s Justice Ministry said Mubarak, along with his two sons, his former security chief and seven others, will be tried Wednesday at a Cairo convention center. Mubarak, 83, faces charges of corruption and ordering the deadly use of force against protesters.

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Starbucks Corp. says stronger sales helped drive its third-quarter net income up 34 percent to beat expectations.

The coffee giant said Thursday after the markets closed that it drew more customers around the globe and those customers spent more, despite the continued difficult economy.

“The third quarter really continues the trends we’ve seen for some time,” said Troy Alstead, chief financial officer at Starbucks. “It’s even more remarkable in what is a fragile consumer environment.”

Starbucks, based in Seattle, said it earned $279.1 million, or 36 cents per share, for the quarter that ended July 3. That’s up from $207.9 million, or 27 cents per share, earned in the same quarter last year.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $2.93 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 34 cents per share on revenue of $2.83 billion, according to FactSet.

Starbucks said it expects to earn $1.50 to $1.51 per share for the full year, which is in line with analyst expectations of $1.50. It’s an increase from the company’s earlier forecast for earnings of $1.46 to $1.48 per share.

The news sent shares of Starbucks up about 2 percent in after-hours trading to $40.80.

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What if someone comes to your door, trying to sell you a new vacuum cleaner? Will you bite?

If you have a vacuum cleaner that works, you probably tell the salesman to move along and leave you alone.

Some door-to-door sellers have found a way to turn a “No” into a “Yes” by making you believe they’re not selling anything at all. Here’s how it works.

They come to your door wearing a uniform of some kind — such as hard hat, boots and reflective vest — and talking about working with the local gas or hydro company.

They have to make sure your rented water heater is safe and energy efficient. Can they do a quick inspection?

Once they’re in your home, they can say the water heater must be replaced because it’s dangerously unsafe. Or it’s wasting energy, forcing up your utility bills.

You agree to a replacement because you think you’re dealing with someone qualified to inspect water heaters, a licensed technician — not, heaven forbid, a door-to-door salesman.

This scam has gone on for a while. It tends to heat up in the summer months.

Complaints and inquiries about rental water heater agreements jumped into third place on the Ontario consumer ministry’s Top 10 list last year — shooting ahead of motor vehicle purchases and sales.

(Complaints about collection agencies are still No. 1 in Ontario, followed by home renovations and repairs.)

Older seniors are especially susceptible to aggressive water heater pitches. Their adult children often ask me to sort out the bills.

Cheryl Charbonneau, for example, said her mother-in-law had replaced her rented water heater three times since 2009 after being told it was unsafe.

The woman, in her late 70s, didn’t realize each new water heater came with a long-term contract. The salespeople hadn’t told her and she hadn’t read the agreements.

At one point, she was getting bills from three companies at the same time. One company told her she could lose her house if she didn’t pay for 10 years, Charbonneau says.

Melanie Pineda, who contacted me last week, also had a disturbing story. She’s a pregnant mother of three boys under 5.

“A salesperson came to my door, saying his company had been called in by Enbridge Gas to inspect all the water heaters in our neighbourhood because they had rust issues.

“He came downstairs, found rust and told us we needed a replacement as soon as possible. Two days later, a shoddy installer came with a water heater and a young assistant.

“Now we’re left with leaking, a big puddle and a water shutdown. We need water to drink and bathe with. We called for service and we’re waiting.”

The company fixed her water heater later the same day after she contacted the Better Business Bureau. It reduced her contract to five years (from 10), but wouldn’t let her out of the deal despite the alleged misrepresentation.

Enpure Home Comfort, the firm she dealt with, didn’t respond to my email and phone inquiries. Its name came up again when a homeowner told me about a rented water heater that he’d inherited.

Rakesh Kumar Verma took possession of his home on June 7 after negotiating the sale in February. His agreement said the water heater was rented from Direct Energy.

Contemplating a renovation after he moved in, he called Direct Energy to ask about venting. That’s when he heard the tank was returned on June 2.

“The previous owner had signed with Enpure on May 27, since he thought he was dealing with Enbridge. He wasn’t told that a contract was involved.”

Verma is now locked into a 10-year contract unless he pays $1,050 to cancel early. If he keeps it, he has to pay $300 to change to a power-vented unit. And he can’t get a copy of the agreement signed by the previous owner.

Beware of high-pressure tactics by impostors. Ask for photo ID with their name and company affiliation before listening to a word of their pitch.

Finally, call the Ontario consumer ministry with questions or complaints at 1-800-889-9768 or 416-326-8800.

Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca.

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A report says Japanese utility company executives were by far the biggest individual donors to Japan’s former ruling party during its last year in power, accounting for a whopping 72 percent of personal contributions.

The revelation is likely to add to questions surrounding connections between power companies and politicians during an ongoing crisis at an atomic power plant.

Kyodo News agency reported Friday that executives from nine utilities contributed 47 million yen ($595,000) to the Liberal Democratic Party in 2009 _ nearly three-quarters of total individual donations no fax payday advances.

Individual political donations are relatively rare in Japan, accounting for about 5 percent of the LDP funding in 2009. The utility executives’ donations were within the legal limit.

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Truck maker Volvo AB’s second-quarter profit surged 63 percent as sales returned to levels last seen before the financial crisis, the Swedish company said Friday.

Net income rose to 5.12 billion kronor ($802 million), up from 3.15 billion kronor in the same quarter last year.

Volvo’s sales increased 15 percent to 79 billion kronor, from 68.8 billion kronor in the second quarter of 2010.

“Sales are now at the same level as before the financial crisis that struck the world a few years ago, with a profitability that is now at its highest level so far, both in terms of operating margin and return on shareholders’ equity,” CEO Leif Johansson said.

Volvo shares rose 4 percent to 106.40 kronor ($16.66) in Stockholm after the report.

The company, which sold its car division in 1999, is one of the world’s biggest truck makers, with brands including Volvo, Mack, Renault and UD trucks. The company also makes buses, engines and construction equipment.

Sales in Volvo’s truck unit alone rose 20 percent to 50 billion kronor, and the company said it now controls 20 percent of the heavy-duty truck market in the U.S. and 28 percent in Europe.

“In terms of market conditions, we maintain our previous forecasts that the truck market in both Europe and North America will amount to 230,000-240,000 heavy-duty trucks in 2011,” Volvo said.

Truck sales were up 31 percent in Europe, boosted by demand in France, Germany and Poland.

In North America, Volvo more than doubled its deliveries to 10,290 trucks. Highway customers are leading the recovery there, while demand for vocational trucks such as garbage trucks is still “well below” normal levels, Volvo said.

Truck deliveries dipped by 9 percent in Asia, as a result of production disturbances for UD Trucks in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami. The disruptions cost Volvo 400 million kronor in operating income, mostly affecting its unit for construction equipment.

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Karl Ritter can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/Karl(underscore)Ritter

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People are buying homes at the weakest pace in 14 years.

Sales of previously occupied homes fell in June for a third straight month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

This year’s pace is lagging behind the 4.91 million homes sold last year _ the fewest since 1997. In a healthy economy, people buy roughly 6 million homes per year.

Fewer first-time homebuyers are entering the market. Many can’t obtain a loan or meet larger down payment requirements.

Another problem is that a growing number of contracts are being canceled before sales are finalized, many because of lower appraisals that are scuttling loans. And the slowdown in hiring is making people think twice about taking on extra debt.

High unemployment, millions of foreclosures and tighter credit are likely to keep people from buying homes in the second half of the year, economists say. Even low home prices and cheap mortgage rates are unlikely to draw buyers to the market.

“Given the state of the job market, and some reluctance among banks to lend and households to borrow, this lackluster pace of sales is not too surprising,” said Alistair Bentley, economist at TD Economics.

First-time homebuyers, who are critical to a strong and stable housing markets, have shrunk to 31 percent of sales. That’s the fewest since January 2010.

Normally, first-time buyers make up about half of all home sales. And their purchases of low and moderately priced homes allow sellers to move up to pricier homes.

But the sluggishness of the U.S. economy appears to be weighing heavily on the minds’ of would-be homebuyers, analysts say. In June, the economy created 18,000 net jobs, the fewest in nine months. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent.

Home sales have fallen in four of the past five years, forcing prices down in most markets. Declining home values have made people feel less wealthy, and as a result they are spending less cash advance companies. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

“What would change things for the better would be more-normal hiring, and the creation of incomes and spending that would result,” said Pierre Ellis, an analyst at Decision Economics.

Some sales are falling apart at the last minute. Roughly 16 percent of home deals were canceled last month. That’s four times the number in May and the highest level since such records began being kept more than a year ago. A sale isn’t final until a mortgage is closed.

Buyers have canceled purchases after appraisals showed that the homes were worth less than the buyers’ initial bids. Millions of foreclosures have made it harder to get accurate appraisals that all parties can agree on.

Foreclosures and short sales _ when a lender agrees to sell for less than what is owed on a mortgage _ made up about 30 percent of all home sales last month, up from about 10 percent in past years. And a wave of foreclosures are being held up, either by backlogged courts or lenders awaiting state and federal probes into troubled foreclosure practices.

Investors have targeted foreclosures and other deeply discounted properties. They accounted for 19 percent of sales in June.

The median sales price rose in June to $184,300, according to the Realtors’ group. It was mainly because of an annual post-spring bump that drove prices higher in the Northeast and West.

Sales were uneven across the country. In May, sales rose 0.5 percent in the West and 1 percent in the Midwest and fell 1.7 percent in the South and 5.2 percent in the Northeast.

The glut of unsold homes rose slightly in June to 3.77 million homes. At last month’s sales pace, it would take 9.5 months to clear those homes. Analysts say a healthy supply can be cleared in six months.

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Courting confrontation and compromise alike, House Republicans shrugged off President Barack Obama’s threat to veto legislation to cut federal spending by trillions of dollars on Monday while simultaneously negotiating with him over more modest steps to avert a potential government default.

The Republican bill demands deep spending reductions and congressional approval of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in exchange for raising the nation’s debt limit. But Obama will veto it if it reaches his desk, the White House said, asserting the legislation would “lead to severe cuts in Medicare and Social Security” and impose unrealistic limits on education spending.

In response, GOP lawmakers said they would go ahead with plans to pass the bill on Tuesday. “It’s disappointing the White House would reject this commonsense plan to rein in the debt and deficits that are hurting job creation in America,” Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio said.

By contrast, neither the administration nor congressional officials provided substantive details on an unannounced meeting that Obama held Sunday with the two top House Republican leaders, Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

Obama said late Monday the two sides were “making progress.”

Several Republicans said privately the decision to vote on veto-threatened legislation is paradoxically designed to clear the way for a compromise. They said conservatives would have a chance to push their deep spending cuts through the House, and then see the measure quickly die either in the Democratic-controlled Senate or by veto.

Barring action by Congress to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit, the Treasury will be unable to pay all the government’s bills that come due beginning on Aug. 3, two weeks from Wednesday. Administration officials, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and others say the result could be a default that inflicts serious harm on the economy, which is still struggling to recover from the worst recession in decades.

In a gesture underscoring the significance of the issue, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced the Senate will meet each day until it is resolved, including on weekends.

The two-pronged approach pursued by the House GOP follows the collapse of a weeks-long effort to negotiate a sweeping bipartisan plan to cut into future deficits. The endeavor foundered when Obama demanded that tax increases on the wealthy and selected corporations be included alongside cuts in benefit programs, and Republicans refused.

The failure of that effort also reflects the outsized influence exerted by 87 first-term Republicans, many of them elected last fall with tea party backing.

As late as last Thursday, Republican leaders held a news conference to tout plans to vote this week on a proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

But the same senior Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting of the rank and file on Friday to say the House would instead vote on an alternative _ dubbed by its advocates as “Cut, Cap and Balance.” No date has been set for a vote on the constitutional amendment itself.

Officials said the change in course had been requested by members of the Republican Study Committee, whose members are among the most conservative in Congress.

Supporters of the measure say it would cut $111 billion from government spending in the budget year that begins on Oct 1, and $6 trillion more over the coming decade through a requirement that the budget shrink relative to the overall size of the economy.

Additionally, it would require both houses of Congress to approve a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution as a condition for an increase in the debt limit.

Both Boehner and Cantor reacted relatively mildly to the White House veto threat.

“As President Obama has not put forth a plan that can garner 218 votes in the House, I’d caution him against so hastily dismissing `Cut, Cap and Balance,’” said Cantor.

Other Republicans, by contrast, took a harder line.

“I find it incredibly ironic that President Obama is one of the few Americans who think we don’t need a constitutional amendment `to do our jobs.’” Said Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a member of the leadership.

“The point of cutting up the credit cards in order to raise the debt ceiling isn’t to meet his tax-and-spend demands; it’s to force him to stop spending money we don’t have.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky made a strong statement of support for the measure.

“Not only is this legislation just the kind of thing Washington needs right now, it may be the only option we have if you want to see the debt limit raised at all,” he said.

“I strongly urge my Democratic friends to join us in supporting it.”

Despite his warning, McConnell and Reid have been deeply involved in writing a fallback measure that is viewed in both houses as promising.

It would allow the president to raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion in three installments over the next year without a prior vote by lawmakers. Instead, a panel of House and Senate members would be created to recommend cuts in benefit programs, with their work guaranteed a yes-or-no vote in the House or Senate.

Recreating the divide that plagued the earlier negotiations, Democrats want the panel to have the power to recommend higher taxes.

Neither Reid nor McConnell has publicly disclosed the details of the measure, and neither is expected to do so as long as the legislation in the House is pending.

One conservative deficit hawk, Sen. Tom Coburn, unveiled his own proposal to bring federal deficits under control. The Oklahoma Republican recommended $9 trillion in cuts over a decade, including $1 trillion in higher taxes.

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Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Erica Werner and Ben Feller contributed to this report.

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GULF SHORES, Ala online payday loan lenders.

The 15-year gravity-defying run of house prices in Toronto is at an end, according to a Star survey of leading economists and Canada

Running the air conditioner or watching television is about to get a little more expensive. State utility regulators on Wednesday gave Ameren Missouri authority to raise electric rates in the coming weeks by 7 percent, or $172 million a year.

The increase means a typical residential customer who uses 1,100 kilowatt-hours a month will pay an extra $8 a month, on average, or $96 a year, according an analysis by the Public Service Commission staff. The increase likely will take effect in August