CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptians in their millions danced and partied through the night on Saturday, celebrating the fall of the man who ruled like a pharaoh for 30 years and hoping their army will grant them democracy now Hosni Mubarak is gone.

With intoxicating speed a wave of people power has roared across the biggest Arab nation, just four weeks after Tunisians toppled their own aging strongman. Now, across the Middle East, autocratic rulers are calculating their own chances of survival.

CAIRO (Reuters) – For a country with 5,000 years of history, Egypt’s fall into a deep social, economic and political malaise during the three decades of Hosni Mubarak’s rule had a particularly bitter sting to it.

Egyptians like to call their country “umm al-dunya,” or mother of the world, and for much of their history they had reasonable claim to the title.

CAIRO (Reuters) – In the morning it was hosting guests denouncing protesters against President Hosni Mubarak as Iranian agents. By evening, it was airing a protester openly calling for the fall of the ruling system.

That shift by Egyptian state television in the course of a single day earlier this week was emblematic of a broader transformation over the course of the popular uprising.

CAIRO (Reuters) – The fate of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak will be decided in a matter of hours and “most probably” he will step down, an Egyptian official told Reuters on Thursday.

The NBC network said the president would step down on Thursday night.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq earlier told Britain’s BBC that Mubarak may step down and the situation in the country will be clarified soon, the British broadcaster said.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s army has detained dozens of Egyptians involved in massive protests against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak and abused some of them in custody, a U.S. rights groups and Egyptian activists said on Thursday.

The army was ordered to the streets on January 28 to restore order. It was welcomed by protesters as a neutral force. The army said it would protect protesters from Mubarak supporters who have attacked them but also asked them to return home.

CAIRO (Reuters) – The Egyptian government resisted growing pressure on Thursday from key ally the United States and from a still energetic popular protest movement, both demanding radical and immediate political change.

Growing concern among the business community and the wider population about the economic impact of more than two weeks of disruption is adding to strains facing the cabinet appointed 10 days ago by President Hosni Mubarak to try to stave off the unprecedented challenge to his 30 years of one-man rule.

CAIRO, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The Egyptian government resisted
growing pressure on Thursday from key ally the United States and
from a still energetic popular protest movement, both demanding
radical and immediate political change.

Growing concern among the business community and the wider
population about the economic impact of more than two weeks of
disruption is adding to strains facing the cabinet appointed 10
days ago by President Hosni Mubarak to try to stave off the
unprecedented challenge to his 30 years of one-man rule.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s biggest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Wednesday it would stick to its demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down in talks with the authorities that many in the opposition fear are a trick.

The Brotherhood and other opposition groups began talks with Vice President Omar Suleiman this week on political reforms promised by the government during two weeks of protests against Mubarak’s rule.

CAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Egyptians have staged one of their
biggest protests yet insisting President Hosni Mubarak step down
immediately and ignoring a government plan to transfer power.

For many protesters it was the first time they had joined
the daily demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square showing the
movement, now in its third week, still has momentum.

CAIRO, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Egyptians staged one of their
biggest protests yet on Tuesday demanding President Hosni
Mubarak step down now, their wrath undiminished by the vice
president’s announcement of a plan to transfer power.

Protesters, many moved by a Google executive’s tearful
account of detention by Mubarak’s state security, poured into
Cairo’s Tahrir Square to pack a space that can take a quarter of
a million people.