After the fourth and most deadly day of protest against Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, the Egyptian president is set to appoint a new government today. Follow all the latest developments and reaction here
The Washington Post has called on Obama to break ties with Mubarak. The editorial calls on the White House to use its considerable influence over the Egyptian president to bring about a peaceful transition of power.
Rather than calling on an intransigent ruler to implement 'reforms', the administration should be attempting to prepare for the peaceful implementation of the opposition platform. It should be reaching out to Mr ElBaradei - who Friday night was reported to be under house arrest - and other mainstream opposition leaders. And it should be telling the Egyptian army, with no qualification, that the violent suppression of the uprising will rupture its relationship with the United States.
It should be noted that reports that ElBaradei has been placed under house arrest are thought to be inaccurate, according to our correspondents in Cairo. ElBaradei told Al Jazeera today that no such restriction had been imposed on him, although he had not yet tried to leave the house.
Here's more from today's UK papers on events in Egypt.
The Telegraph leads on a leaked US embassy cable that reveals the US secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning "regime change" for the past three years.
Meanwhile, the Independent has an analysis of what the unrest, and the recent "jasmine revolution" in Tunisia, means for US policy in the Middle East. Rupert Cornwell writes that the US may be regretting its "freedom agenda" if it looks like its partners in the Arab world are removed from power.
The US senator John Kerry, who is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, said Mubarak's dismissal of his government failed to address the Egyptian people's concerns and called on the president to go further to deal with their frustrations.
"I think that we have to see how things move today and, obviously, the key here is for President Mubarak to respond to the needs of his people in a way that is more directly connected to their frustrations, much more so than apparently yesterday's speech succeeded in doing," the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee told AP.
"I think he's got to speak more to the real issues that people feel. Dismissing the government doesn't speak to some of those challenges."
Al Jazeera reports that China has blocked the term 'Egypt' from its equivalent of Twitter, the Sina microblogging site, saying the Communist party "is sensitive to any potential source of social unrest".
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has, unsurprisingly, backed Mubarak, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
"No Arab or Muslim can tolerate any meddling in the security and stability of Arab and Muslim Egypt by those who infiltrated the people in the name of freedom of expression, exploiting it to inject their destructive hatred," Abdullah said.
"As they condemn this, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and government declares it stands with all its resources with the government of Egypt and its people."
The agency said Mubarak assured the king that everything was under control in Egypt, Reuters reports.
Both the AFP and AP news agencies are reporting that 38 people have died and 2,000 have been wounded in demonstrations since yesterday. They estimate the total death toll to be at least 45.
The Egyptian military has closed tourist access to the pyramids, with tanks and armoured personnel carriers sealing off the normally packed site on the Giza plateau, AP reports.
Meanwhile Reuters says Egypt's stockmarket will be closed tomorrow. The move by the country's financial regulator comes after the market fell sharply over the last few days.
I've just spoken with Jack Shenker, who's covering the protests in Cairo. He said there was a "surreal air of normalcy" on the streets of the capital first thing this morning. But within hours this gave way to the charged atmosphere seen over the past few days as thousands once again gathered to protest:
By mid-morning the atmosphere had changed, with tens of thousands returning to the streets and clambering on top of the tanks which are now stationed all over downtown Cairo. As during last night's protests, people were chanting: "The army and the people are as one". But there is growing confusion over what exactly the millitary's stance is.
On the Abd El Moniem overpass one tank commander bellowed through a megaphone to a hundred-strong crowd, angrily castigating people for looting, which he said had taken place last night in the nearby neighbourhood of Mohandiseen. He told the crowd they had to be calm and claimed there had been reports of robberies and carjackings throughout the night.
There's speculation that the army is going to use the fear of public disorder as an excuse to clear the streets and re-impose control.Yet despite the uncertainty, all the protesters the Guardian has spoken to appear enthused with optimism.
The curfews imposed in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez have been extended to run from 4pm (2pm GMT) to 8am (6am GMT), state television has announced.
The BBC has a video interview with its Arabic reporter Assad Sawey whose head is bandaged and shirt covered in blood after he was beaten while being arrested during the protests yesterday.
The opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has called on Mubarak to stand down and set a framework for a transition of power.
He told Al Jazeera television that only the president could end the unrest across the country.
ElBaradei said Mubarak's speech in which he dismissed the cabinet was dissapointing as it did not go far enough towards addressing the people's desire for change.
At least 74 people have been killed in the protests to date and 2,000 have been wounded, Reuters has calculated from medical sources, hospitals and witnesses. The agency cautions that this is not an official figure but notes that 68 deaths were reported in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria during yesterday's unrest, with at least six deaths prior to that.
Police have fired live rounds and teargas at thousands of protesters in Alexandria, Reuters reports. A witness told the news agency that the death toll in the city since yesterday had reached 20.
Egyptian state television has announced the resignation of Nazif's cabinet, AP reports.
The head of Amnesty International, Salil Shetty, has told the news agency that Mubarak's dismissal of the government "is a bit of a joke" and will not quell the protests.
People are very clearly saying they want very fundamental change, constitutional change.
Shetty said the closing down of peaceful avenues of protest and expression would backfire on the government and was one of the reasons why demonstrations had turned violent.
Here's a roundup of the protests coverage in today's Guardian:
The main story says Egypt is on the brink, with protesters defying the curfew imposed by Mubarak. Inside the paper, there's a report from the streets of Cairo where, on a day of "fury and freedom", protesters were undeterred in the face of a huge police presence.
The capital had been flooded with so many police that it seemed impossible the columns of protesters could break through to reach the centre. Yet they did.
Doused in teargas, peppered with rubber bullets, hosed down by water canon, and beaten, they held their ground through the long day as what had been called as a peaceful demonstration turned violent, with volleys of baton rounds met with petrol bombs and bricks.
There's also a roundup of protests in other cities across the country.
In an analysis piece, the Middle East editor, Ian Black, says Mubarak's sacking of the government is unlikely to defuse the protests. His attempt to shift the blame for the people's unhappiness with his regime on to the outgoing ministers does not look convincing, Black contends.
Mubarak (...) failed to give any sign that he was was considering calling new parliamentary elections or opening up the presidential race later this year to a wider range of candidates ? let alone declaring that he would not stand again. Nor did he signal an end to emergency laws ? another core opposition demand. (...) As soon as he finished speaking, people surged into the streets in Cairo in defiance of a night-time curfew and again demanded he step down.
Simon Tisdall looks at the US position on the protests, observing how the Obama administration has been caught off guard by the escalating unrest. While the US may espouse a neutral position, he contends this claim is undermined by Washington's close and long-standing political and military ties to Mubarak's regime, plus annual financial support worth about $1.5bn (�946m).
The Egyptian Nobel prize-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif gives an eyewitness account of yesterday's protests:
If I were not writing this, I would still be out on the street. Every single person I know is out there; people who have never been to protests are wrapping scarves around their faces and learning that sniffing vinegar helps you get through teargas.
Once, a long time ago, my then young son, watching a young man run to help an old man who had dropped a bag in the middle of the street, said: 'The thing about Egypt is that everyone is very individual, but also part of a great co-operative project'. Today, we are doing what we do best, and what this regime has tried to destroy: we have come together, as individuals, in a great co-operative effort to reclaim our country.
Egypt's cabinet has met to formally submit its resignation after Mubarak dismissed the government just after midnight. The official state news agency says the meeting was headed by the prime minister, Ahmed Nazif.
Thirty bodies were taken to El Damardash hospital in central Cairo between 1pm and 11pm yesterday, a hospital source told Reuters today. She said two of the dead were children, aged seven and four.
Meanwhile, a government official has told AP that the death toll from this week's unrest has risen to 35, including 10 police officers.
Here's more from Reuters on the protest outside a morgue in Suez where around 100 people have gathered because they say the bodies of 12 protesters killed yesterday are being held there:
A group of women sitting on a low wall near the morgue wailed and wept when a hospital truck brought another body.
Medical sources said late on Friday 13 protesters had been killed, but the actual number may well be higher.
About 100 protesters marched along the main road of Suez on Saturday chanting anti-government slogans but so far the demonstrations were nowhere near the scale of recent days.
"We don't want the cabinet to resign, we want Mubarak to resign," said Mohammed, an 18-year-old student, referring to the president sacking his cabinet.
The Egyptian army has warned people not to gather in groups and to observe the curfew that was imposed last night in a bid to end the protests against Mubarak's rule, Reuters reports.
"The armed forces are appealing to citizens not to stand in groups and to abide by the curfew," state TV reported. Anyone breaching the curfew would be subjected to "legal procedures", it added.
Here's a round-up of today's protests from Reuters:
? Several thousand protesters are in Tahrir square, chanting they will not leave until Mubarak quits.
? Several hundred demonstrators have gathered in the centre of Alexandria chanting: "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak". Some also shouted slogans in support of the army and shook hands with soldiers.
? Thousands of protesters have gathered in Ishmalia, east of Cairo. Police have fired teargas and rubber bullets at the crowds.
? Dozens have gathered in the central areas of Suez chanting: "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak". About 100 people gathered outside the morgue in the city, saying it was holding the bodies of 12 protesters. However, the demonstrations appear to be smaller than recent days.
? Thousands have taken to the streets in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour, chanting anti-government slogans and calling on Mubarak to quit.
Peter Beaumont has just rung in from Cairo with the latest from Tahrir Square. He said that although a number of army tanks are parked around the square the military has so far not intervened in the clashes between protesters and the police.
The army seems unphased. Some people were even helping the army clear up after yesterday's demonstrations.
Protesters threw stones at riot police trying to enter the square, according to Associated Press. Officers responded with a barrage of teargas and rubber bullets.
The army has sealed off the road leading to the parliament and cabinet buildings, the agency reports.
Smoke is still billowing from the governing NDP party's headquarters, which protesters set alight during yesterday's unrest.
Good morning, this is David Batty with the latest from Egypt where President Hosni Mubarak last night made his first appearance after four days of unrest, announcing that he was sacking his cabinet. But his address on state television in which he accused protesters of abusing the freedoms he had given them seems unlikely to appease protesters who are preparing to mount more mass demonstrations against his regime today.
Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker, who are covering the protests for the Guardian, will be filing updates from Cairo throughout the day. We'll also be bringing you the latest from the UK and international media, including a review of today's papers.
But first, here's a roundup of the main events overnight and this morning - the fifth day of protests:
? Hundreds of anti-government protesters have again taken to the streets of central Cairo today, chanting slogans against Mubarak and clashing with police. Protesters have clashed with riot police trying to enter the central Tahrir Square but soldiers parked in tanks have not yet intervened.
? In a late-night TV address, Mubarak dismissed his government and said a new cabinet would be announced today. He refused to step down but promised to promote democracy. He also defended the role of the security forces in tackling the unrest.
? Tens of thousands of people took part in protests in Cairo, Suez, Alexandria and other cities yesterday. Demonstrators set fire to the headquarters of the governing NDP party and besieged state TV and the foreign ministry. By this morning, the army had replaced police in guarding government buildings and other key areas around the capital.
? Hospital sources said at least 13 people were killed in Suez yesterday and five in Cairo, with more than 1,000 wounded. That brings the death toll since the protests began to 26 people.
? Speaking after Mubarak's TV address, the US president, Barack Obama, said he had spoken at length with the Egyptian leader and urged him to turn "a moment of volatility" into "a moment of promise".
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/29/egypt-protests-government-live-blog
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