The latest news from Cairo, and an interview with UK journalist and Middle East expert Robert Fisk.

Record Rally in Tahrir, Egyptian Protests Spread, Labor Unions Strike

(Democracy Now! 0930 PST, February 9, 2011) Egypt's pro-democracy uprising is seizing new momentum one day after hundreds of thousands turned out for one of the largest protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square to date. A gathering of protesters led to the evacuation of the Egyptian cabinet building today, and tent camps are also being set up outside the Egyptian parliament. Egypt's labor movement has launched new strikes across the country, with an estimated 10,000 workers taking part. Democracy Now! senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous interviews Mona el Seif, a demonstrator outside the Egyptian parliament building.

Robert Fisk on the Gap Between U.S. Rhetoric and Action in Egypt

(Democracy Now! 0930 PST, February 9, 2011) Two-part interview with Robert Fisk, longtime Middle East correspondent of the Independent newspaper in London, about the popular uprising ongoing across Egypt, its regional implications, and how President Obama should respond.

Click here for important background information on the unrest in Egypt.

(Democracy Now! 0800 PST, February 8, 2011) A two-part report about Mubarak's attempts to silence the TV network.

Al Jazeera, which broadcasts both in Arabic and English, has been excessively targeted by Hosni Mubarak forces in the past two weeks since demonstrations broke out across Egypt. Despite its journalists being arrested and threatened, its offices set on fire, and its satellite system cut off, Al Jazeera's news coverage of the popular uprising has been unchallenged by other news outlets, and is battling Egypt's pro-Mubarak TV outlets for delivering truth to Egyptians.

Click here for important background information on the unrest in Egypt.

(Democracy Now! 0900 PST, February 5, 2011) In a special broadcast, Democracy Now! airs a two-hour program on the revolt against the U.S.-backed Mubarak regime.

Highlights include:

• Live Reports from Cairo with Democracy Now! senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat.
• Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif on how life in Tahrir Square "is truly democracy in action."
• Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi on the impact of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings on the Middle East.
• Mohamed Abdel Dayem of the Committee to Protect Journalists on the continued attacks on journalists by supporters of the Mubarak regime.
• Khaled Fahmy, professor at the American University in Cairo, on reports that Hosni Mubarak has resigned as head of the ruling NDP party.
• University of California-Santa Barbara professor Paul Amar on the military’s role in a post-Mubarak Egypt.
• Stanford Professor Joel Beinin on the Egyptian labor movement and the historical roots of the January 25 uprising.
• Egyptian-American activist Mostafa Omar on the role of Egyptian youth in the protests.
• And we play the "video that started the revolution," Asmaa Mahfouz's January 18 message calling for protests in Tahrir Square on January 25.

Click here for important background information on the unrest in Egypt.

(Democracy Now! - 28 January 2011) Protests have erupted across Egypt again today with the largest and most widespread anti-government demonstrations seen so far. In an unprecedented display of popular protest, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are gathering in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura, Sharqiya and elsewhere. Intense confrontations are taking place with state security forces. The protests come amid a vast security clampdown. Earlier, the government blocked the internet, mobile phone and SMS services, with the hope of disrupting demonstration planning. Democracy Now! goes to Cairo to speak with Ahmad Shokr, an editor at the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm:

Democracy Now! Headlines

Uprising in Egypt: "This is the Biggest Political Challenge the Regime Has Yet to See from the Streets"

Click here for important background information on the unrest in Egypt.