Video and Transcript: Obama's Speech on Egypt and the Fall of Mubarak

President Barack Obama's speech after Hosni Mubarak stepped down in Egypt:

There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard. And Egypt will never be the same. By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people's hunger for change. but this is not the end of Egypt's transition. It's a beginning. I'm sure there will be difficult days ahead and many questions remain unanswered. But I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers, and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the spirit of unity that has defined these last few weeks, for Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day.

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Egypt Video: When Tahrir Square Heard Mubarak Had Resigned

Footage taken by Evan Hill of Al Jazeera English just after the crowd in Tahrir Square in Cairo heard of the resignation of former President Hosni Mubarak:

A Letter to EA: "I Write to You My First E-Mail from a Free Egypt" (Madany)

My colleague Osama Madany wrote to me two hours after the announcement that Hosni Mubarak had stepped down from the Presidency:

In tears and jubilation, I write to you my first e-mail from a free Egypt; in humility and pride, I write to you my first e-mail from the land of the brave; in disbelief and aspiration, I write to you my first e-mail from the cradle of civilization that will now be a beacon of liberty and justice. The dictator has fallen. The tyrant has conceded to the relentless will of the people. Decades of darkness have given way to the dawn of our revolution.

In the eyes of the young and the old, I see hope for a new Egypt, the same hope I saw when these same eyes witnessed torture and mutilation at the hands of a despotic regime. I thank you my dear friend for standing with us in our quest for salvation, and call upon you to continue to support us in this historic moment, to stand by our side in this critical transition, to believe in our will that we can seek and achieve freedom. With your unfaltering support for our cause, we have achieved the impossible.

Long live Egypt, long live the cradle of civilization, long live the free spirits of our brave people, and God bless the souls of those who have fallen in our battle for freedom. Their blood has not gone to waste.

Egypt Video: The Moment Mubarak Was No Longer President

Egypt Special: EA's Scott Lucas on Inside Story on Al Jazeera English

UPDATE 1730 GMT: Inside Story has been postponed. I think that's a fair decision in the circumstances.

I will be appearing at 1730 GMT on Inside Story on Al Jazeera English, discussing the latest situation in Egypt. More details when I get back from the recording, but the programme will be available via the live feed on the EA site.

Turkey Analysis: Ankara Expands Ties with Syria and Iran

Turkey's relations with its Eastern neighbours are continuing to develop. On Sunday, at the groundbreaking ceremony of Asi Friendship Dam in Hatay, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Erdogan said:

Asi river is not a river separating us, drawing borders between us anymore; it is turning into a river bringing us together.

Eight years ago, when we formed the government, we said this: 'Turkey wants peace, Turkey wants calm in the region. Turkey wants stability in this geography, wants wealth all together.' We said 'zero problem with neighbours' eight years ago. Because we believe this with our hearts that the more Syria is in peace the more Turkey is in peace. The more Turkey is in wealth the more the more Syria is in wealth. Because we are nations that are rendered as brothers by history. Throughout the history, our fate has been the same, our hearts have beat together. 

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Iran Exclusive: An Interview with Mehdi Karroubi "The Movement is Alive"

An EA exclusive: English translation by Potkin Azarmehr of Masih Alinejad's interview with Mehdi Karroubi.

The interview took place amidst the request by Mir Hossein Moussavi and Karroubi for a permit for a rally on 14 February in solidarity with the movements in Egypt and Tunisia, the arrest of Karroubi's advisor Taghi Rahmani, and intimidation of Karroubi's associates.

Security agents appeared in front of Karroubi's house on Thursday to enforce a house arrest, allowing only Karroubi's wife to enter the residence. Alinejad's interview was cut short by the restrictions.

Originally published in Persian in Rah-e-Sabz:

Why are they scared of our presence amongst the people?

Karroubi replied, "The movement which became known as the Green Movement subsided after its initial excitement. Some of the Green Movement supporters became despondent. The government which keeps referring to this as the “end of the sedition”, seems to be worried after the permit for a rally on 14th February was requested, in case once again people will turn up on the streets. Recently Mr. Ejei [Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei] reacted to the request by calling it a 'political act'."

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Egypt Analysis: Hosni's Defiance

He came. He saw. He stayed.

The newsflashes had started about 5 p.m., Cairo time (1500 GMT), with the head of Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party saying the President was probably making a speech to announce he was stepping down. Other leading Egyptian figures, including the Minister of Finance echoed the claim. The High Council of the Army met and issued Communique No. 1, seen as a signal that it was taking control. Even more stunning was the promise, given by a "high commander" to protesters in the heart of Tahrir Square, that "all their demands would be met". In Washington, the Obama Administration telegraphed its approval of developments, both in leaks to the US media and in the open declaration of the Director of the CIA that Mubarak was out.

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: One More Push

2115 GMT: Clashes between opposition members in Algeria, celebrating the fall of Egypt's President Mubarak, and police who surrounded the headquarters of Rally for Constitutional Democracy, have left an "unknown number" arrested and injured. 

2110 GMT: In a phone call with a former Israeli government minister yesterday, former President Mubarak called the US policy in Middle East misguided and said that Egyptians were not ready for democracy. He warned that the Middle East would fall to extremism and fundamentalist Islamism with his departure. 

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The Latest from Iran (11 February): The Regime's Big Show?

2205 GMT: Claim of the Night. An opposition website asserts, "The word 'Bahman' has been filtered in Iran Farsi Google search."

2145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Housein Mehyimni, the son of the former Governor of Golestan Province, has been arrested.

2130 GMT: A New Role. What better way to end 22 Bahman than with a feel-good story?

The Basij militia are providing the dowries of needy brides.

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