A suicide car bomb has hit a bus convoy of off-duty Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula, killing 11 and wounding 37, in the latest of a stepped-up wave of attacks blamed on Islamic militants sympathetic to ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

In an echo of the Cold War, Egypt has given the red carpet welcome to senior Russian officials aiming to expand Moscow's influence through military and economic cooperation with a key US ally in the Middle East.

After four months in secret detention, deposed President Mohammed Morsi has defiantly rejected a court's authority to put him on trial, saying he still was Egypt's leader and that those who overthrew him should face charges instead.

Egyptian anti-riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president, besieging them inside a prestigious Muslim institution after stone-hurling protesters cut off a main road.

Being detained in an Egyptian police station is high on the list of risks facing journalists working in Egypt. Being attacked by armed men is another.

The United States is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Egypt in response to the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi and the crackdown by the military-backed government on his supporters.

A string of attacks killed nine members of Egypt's security and military forces and hit the country's main satellite communications station, in an apparent retaliation by Islamic militants.

A New Zealand freelance journalist has been released after being detained in Egypt amid clashes between rival groups.

Egypt's former leader Hosni Mubarak claimed the United States was plotting to overthrow him as far back as 2005.

Egypt's interior minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a suspected car bomb tore through his convoy, wounding 22 people and leaving a major Cairo boulevard strewn with debris.

A panel of Egyptian judges has recommended the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood, adding momentum to a push by authorities to ban the ousted president's main backer and a pillar of political Islam in the region.

Egypt's top prosecutor has referred ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to trial on charges of inciting the killing of opponents protesting outside his palace while he was in office, the state news agency said.

Kiwi journalist Wayne Hay has been celebrating his release from detention in Egypt with a cold beer.

About 250 people gathered in Auckland's Aotea Square today to protest against the Egyptian security forces' crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

Riot police backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers and helicopters Wednesday swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, setting off running street battles in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. At least 192 people were killed nationwide, many of them in the crackdown on the protest sites.

The family of ousted President Mohammed Morsi has furiously denounced the military, accusing it of "kidnapping" him.

The grainy film captures the soldier as he shoots from his vantage point on top of the yellow stone building.

"Morsi had no experience of government before becoming President. But who does in Egypt?" asks Anne Penketh.

Fresh from toppling the country's first democratically elected leader, Egypt's military risked further outrage from the Muslim Brotherhood by arresting the group's Supreme Guide as he was staying in a resort by the Mediterranean coast.

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's embattled President, stared down his last stand as the country faced a second revolution.

The demonstrations in Brazil began after a small rise in bus fares triggered mass protests.