CAIRO

Protesters enter embassy, dump Israeli documents

Protesters broke into the Israeli Embassy in Cairo on Friday and dumped documents out of the windows as hundreds more demonstrated outside, prompting the ambassador and his family to leave the country. The unrest marked a further worsening of ties between Israel and post-Hosni Mubarak Egypt.

Egyptian police made no attempt to intervene during the day as hundreds tore down an embassy security wall with sledgehammers and their bare hands or after nightfall when about 30 protesters stormed the high-rise where the embassy is located.

Just before midnight, the group of protesters reached the embassy’s lower floors and began dumping Hebrew-language documents from the windows, said an Egyptian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

NEW YORK

Hackers send false tweets about suspected hijacking

Hackers broke into NBC News’ Twitter account and sent out false tweets about a suspected hijacking and plane attack at ground zero days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Staffers noticed the false tweets around 6 p.m. Friday and soon after had the account suspended. Host Brian Williams then read a statement on air saying the reports were false.

A group calling itself Script Kiddies mentioned itself in the tweets and appeared to be responsible.

By about 7 p.m., the account was restored and the false tweets removed. The FBI and New York police were contacted.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

Tropical Storm Maria heads toward Caribbean islands

Tropical Storm Maria swirled toward the eastern Caribbean on Friday, threatening to unleash heavy rain and wind on islands still struggling to recover from a recent hurricane.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph Friday afternoon, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

It was centered about 215 miles east-southeast of the island of Guadeloupe and moving northwest at about 16 mph.

This morning, tropical force winds will start lashing the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Maria is expected to dump up to 6 inches of rain, said Walter Snell with the National Weather Service office in Puerto Rico.

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico

Searchers look for workers, including four Americans

Mexico’s state oil company and a Texas-based company searched for 10 missing oil workers Friday, including four Americans, who evacuated from a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Nate.

Petroleos Mexicanos said it had two ships searching in the area where the workers, employed by Houston-based Geokinetics Inc., called for help Thursday afternoon after leaving a vessel known as a liftboat, the Trinity II, on an enclosed life raft.

Geokinetics spokeswoman Brenda Taquino said the company learned Thursday morning that the 94-foot Trinity II, contracted from Louisiana-based Trinity Liftboat Services LLC, was disabled in the Bay of Campeche because of storm conditions.

A liftboat can lower its legs to the sea floor and then elevate itself above the water level.