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WATCH: President Obama's Remarks on Historic Day in Egypt

 

The President spoke briefly on the situation in Egypt following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. President Obama says "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."

The transcript is HERE.

In related news:

  The White House has insisted the next government of Egypt recognize the country's historic peace accord signed with Israel ...

Netanyahu's government is deeply concerned that "whoever followed Mubarak would be less friendly to Israel."

Switzerland has frozen "any potential assets" belonging to Mubarak.

Watch the President's speech AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Thousands Cheer in Cairo as Hosni Mubarak Resigns

After 18 days of protests, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down after an autocratic reign of 30 years.

Vice President Omar Suleiman made the brief announcement and said, "In these grave circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position as president of the republic. He has mandated the Armed Forces Supreme Council to run the state. God is our protector and succor."

The Egyptian military is reportedly in charge and plans to suspend the cabinet and resign the House and Parliament, presumably in preparation for elections. Reports say the military tipped Mubarak's hand after yesterday's televised speech when he insisted he would remain in power.

After the announcement, "hundreds of thousands" of demonstrators massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate. Watch video from AP AFTER THE JUMP ...

Mubarak Says He Will Step Down But Won't Leave Egypt

 

Egypt's embattled President Hosni Mubarak announced he will stay through the end of his term but will not run when elections are held in September. The promise did little to appease the hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for his immediate removal in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria.

"My first responsibility is to restore the security and stability of the homeland, to achieve a peaceful transition of power in a way that will protect Egypt and Egyptians and that will allow for responsibility to be given to whomever the people elect in the forthcoming elections," Mubarak said in a speech broadcast on state television.

But the man who has kept Egypt in his firm authoritarian grip for 30 years said he will not be forced into exile. "This is my country. This is where I lived, I fought and defended its land, sovereignty and interests, and I will die on its soil," the 82-year-old Mubarak said.

The eight-day protest in Egypt reached a tipping point in the past 24 hours. The Egyptian military emboldened the demonstrators by announcing it refused Muabarak's orders to use force against them. And then overnight, more than a quarter million Egyptians poured into Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square. The protest "cut across Egypt’s entrenched lines of piety, class and ideology, marking the largest demonstration yet against the nearly 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak and energizing a country that feels on the cusp of change," reported the NY Times.

Watch news reports and video AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: A Homoerotic Coca-Cola Commercial in Egypt?

Coca-Cola introduces new screw-top bottles and "homo-erotic humor on TV in morally repressed Egypt," reports Copyranter. "Brave of the ad agency, Cairo's Fortune Promoseven, since the country has a de facto ban on homosexuality."

Worth noting: It's "common to see men walking together holding hands" in the Middle East, so the spot is definitely homoerotic by western and U.S.-standards, maybe not so much from an Egyptian POV. Watch it WHEN YOU JUMP ...

REPORT: Accused New Jersey Terrorist "Wanted to Mutilate Gays"

A federal magistrate has denied bail for the two New Jersey men accused of trying to join a terrorist group in Somalia. Prosecutors say Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte were conspiring to harm and kill U.S. troops in Africa.

The 20-year-old Alessa was reportedly radicalize in his early years. At age 14, sources say he boasted about wanting to mutilate gays and blow up his New Jersey high school, reports the Daily News.

"Six years [ago], Alessa was barred from attending classes at North Bergen High School because officials deemed him dangerous. A source told the Daily News, 'He was threatening classmates, threatening staff - all as part of this radicalized terroristic behavior.' He transfered in the fall of 2005 to KAS Prep, an alternative school for troubled teens in North Bergen - but his vile threats only intensified. A school official who was at KAS at the time told the Bergen Record [that] Alessa talked about mutilating homosexuals, subordinating women in the name of Islam and blowing up the school with a gang of Muslims. ... Officials from both North Bergen High School and KAS Prep contacted the Department of Homeland Security and described Alessa as "a potential threat.'  In February 2007, Alessa moved to the country of Jordan, according to school records.

Alessa and Almonte were arrested Saturday night at New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport as they prepared to fly to Egypt. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the men intended to head to Somalia to seek terror training from al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists.