Egypt’s military-backed interim leader has named a new prime minister and won $8bn (€9.3bn) in promises of aid from wealthy Arab allies in the Gulf.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi gathered in Cairo and Alexandria yesterday, two days after similar gatherings led to nationwide clashes that claimed more than 30 lives.

Pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been named interim prime minister of Egypt.

Thousands of supporters of Egypt’s embattled Islamist president are rallying in the nation’s capital in a show of support ahead of what are expected to be massive opposition-led protests to demand Mohammed Morsi’s removal.

Egyptian riot police fired tear gas and clashed with dozens of protesters all day today as they tried to tear down a cement wall built to prevent demonstrators from reaching the parliament and the Cabinet building in central Cairo. Some in the crowd threw rocks and Molotov cocktails

Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt’s Islamist president have flocked to key locations in the nation’s capital ahead of rival mass rallies, four days before a nationwide referendum on a contentious draft constitution.

Egypt’s Islamist president has given the army temporary power to arrest civilians during a constitutional referendum he is determined to push through despite the risk of bloodshed between his supporters and opponents accusing him of a power grab.

Egypt delayed early voting on a contentious draft constitution and might even call off the entire referendum, in the first signs that Islamic leader President Mohammed Morsi is finally yielding to days of protests and deadly street clashes.

Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets after Friday midday prayers in rival rallies and marches across Cairo, as the standoff deepened over what opponents call the Islamist president’s power grab, raising the spectre of more violence.

The Egyptian army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace following fierce street battles between supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and more than 600 injured in the worst outbreak of violence between the two sides since the Islamist leader’s election.

Overnight clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist leader have killed at least five people, according to state television.

Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi’s supporters and opponents have clashed outside the presidential palace in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks and fighting with sticks.

Islamists approved a draft constitution for Egypt early today without the participation of liberal and Christian members, seeking to pre-empt a court ruling that could dissolve their panel with a rushed, marathon vote that further inflames the clash between the opposition and President Mohammed Morsi.

Thousands of opponents of Egypt’s Islamist president clashed with his supporters in cities across the country today, burning several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Rival demonstrators are gathering in different parts of Cairo after Egypt’s Islamist president granted himself sweeping new powers.

Egypt’s president fired the first shots in his battle with the nation’s powerful generals, ordering the Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene despite a military-backed court ruling that dissolved it.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians have gathered to mark the first anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising, with liberals and Islamists on different sides of Cairo’s Tahrir Square in a reflection of the deep political divides.

Egypt’s reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei is pulling out of the country’s presidential race to protest at the military’s failure to put the country on the path to democracy.

Egypt’s military rulers picked a prime minister from ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s era to head the next government today.

Police have clashed again with thousands of protesters in Cairo on the third straight day of violence that has left more than 20 people dead.

Fear that Egypt’s ruling generals are working to perpetuate their hold on power is causing a political furore, threatening a “second revolution” and sending relations between the generals and activists to new lows less than four weeks before a key election.

Thousands of people have poured into central Cairo’s Tahrir Square for what they called a “second revolution”, calling for Egypt’s military rulers to speed up the pace of democratic reforms.

TIMELINE

Hosni Mubarak tonight resigned as president of Egypt and handed control to the military.

Protesters enraged by Hosni Mubarak’s latest refusal to step down streamed into Cairo’s central square today and took positions outside key symbols of the hated regime, promising to expand their push to drive the Egyptian president out.

Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak refused to step down or leave the country and instead handed most of his powers to his vice president, enraging protesters who warned the country could explode in violence and pleaded for the military to take action to push him out.

Egypt’s vice president met major opposition groups for the first time and offered new concessions including freedom of the press, release of those detained since anti-government protests began nearly two weeks ago and the eventual lifting of hated emergency laws.

Representatives from a wide range of Egypt’s major opposition groups met Vice President Omar Suleiman today to discuss a blueprint for reforms to put the country on a path toward greater democracy.

TENS of thousands packed central Cairo yesterday, waving flags and singing the national anthem, emboldened in their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak after they repelled pro-regime attackers in two days of bloody street fights.

Tens of thousands packed central Cairo today on what they dubbed “the day of departure” in their campaign to remove President Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian protesters have massed for sweeping "departure day" demonstrations to force President Hosni Mubarak out of office.

Embattled President Hosni Mubarak defied protesters demanding he step down immediately, announcing he would serve out the last months of his term and “die on Egyptian soil”.

EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak said he would step down in a few months once a successor is elected, a move that responds to massive street protests but which may not satisfy many who want him out now.

More than 250,000 people joined a mass protest in Cairo's main square today in the largest protest yet in a week of unrelenting demands for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.

A coalition of opposition groups have called for a million people to take to Cairo’s streets tomorrow to demand the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, the clearest sign yet that a unified leadership was trying to emerge for Egypt’s protest movement.

Egypt’s most prominent democracy advocate took up a loudspeaker and called for President Hosni Mubarak to resign, speaking to thousands of protesters who defied a curfew for a third night.

Egypt’s military has deployed on the streets of Cairo to enforce a night-time curfew as the sun set on a day of rioting and violent chaos that was a major escalation in the challenge to authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

Egyptian protesters defied a curfew tonight as the army deployed on the streets of Cairo for the first time in four days of anti-government demonstrations.

There are reports that the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party have been set on fire in Cairo as protestors stay out on the streets despite a curfew.

Egyptian security officials have said pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been placed under house arrest as nationwide anti-government protests raged into a fourth day.

Thousands of Egyptian anti-government protesters clashed with police in Cairo, who fired rubber bullets into the crowds and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.

Thousands of Egyptian anti-government protesters are clashing with police in Cairo, who are firing rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.

EGYPTIAN police fought protesters in two cities in eastern Egypt yesterday and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei headed back to the country to join demonstrators trying to oust President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt’s leading pro-reform advocate and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei plans to return to his country to take part in anti-government protests, his spokesman said today.