Egypt: At least 173 people died across Egypt yesterday, including 10 policemen, in renewed violence during the Muslim Brotherhood’s “day of rage”. About 1,000 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested and weapons were confiscated. The government is considering outlawing the Brotherhood. Gunfire came from both sides as protesters and security forces battled. Video shows one unarmed protester being shot dead where he stood. A mosque near Cairo’s Ramses Square was turned into a field hospital as the wounded and dead were lined up on the floor. But security forces cleared the mosque today after an hours-long siege, claiming the building had been turned into a fortress. The violence has included attacks on Christian churches across the country, many of which have been burned.

National: The Republican National Committee voted yesterday to block NBC and CNN from hosting Republican primary debates in the next presidential cycle. Republicans are angry because NBC plans a dramatized biography of likely candidate Hillary Clinton and CNN has ordered a documentary about her. RNC president Reince Priebus said CNN has “an obvious bias”.

• A wildfire outside the ski resort of Sun Valley, Idaho, has caused the evacuation of 1600 homes in nearby Hailey and Ketchum. The fire has burned 64,000 acres.

World: Thirty-one people are dead and 170 missing after a Philippine ferry collided with a cargo ship and sank. The ferry with 870 people on board went down in 30 minutes. Hundreds of survivors were picked up.

Bob the Builder: New housing starts were up 5.9% in July. Apartment and condominium construction rose dramatically, but permits for single-family homes dropped. Mortgage applications have fallen off as interest rates rise, but a 30-year loan is still at an incredibly low 4.4%.

Awwwww: The giant panda Yang Yang has given birth to a four-ounce cub in Vienna, Austria in a rare natural birth. The gender is still unknown. Panda cubs are greeted with excitement not just because they are so cute, but because the breed has difficulty reproducing. About 40% of cubs die in their first year. Only about 1600 pandas still live in the wild.

The Wood: The man who wrote one of the most famous headlines in the history of newspapers has been fired by the NY Post in a round of budget cuts. V.A. Musetto, who’s been with The Post since 1973, got the word not in 60 point type, but in a two-line email. The April 1983 screamer that put Musetto in the tabloid hall of fame: “Headless Body In Topless Bar.”

-30-