Evening Edition

Ringed by hundreds of anti-riot forces, some carrying automatic weapons in addition to clubs and shields, they waved a large banner reading “Regime, out” and chanted slogans borrowed from the mass protests in Tunis and Cairo.

But police deployed in their thousands prevented a planned march from May 1 Square of some four kilometres (three miles) to Martyrs Square.

Protesters, put at 800 by police but estimated at 2,000 by journalists at the scene, found themselves blocked again by massed security forces, who had encircled the area, backed up by armoured vehicles

There were scuffles with security forces and numerous arrests well before the march called by the National Coordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD) had been due to begin at 11 am (1000 GMT), witnesses said.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the current government would remain in place for a peaceful transition to “an elected civil authority to build a free democratic state,” although it set no timetable.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama welcomed the Egyptian military’s pledge.

News of the regime’s collapse whipped rapidly across Cairo, sparking an eruption of joy and joyous chants of “We the people have overthrown the regime!”

A grim-faced and ashen Vice President Omar Suleiman announced the handover on state television after an extraordinary national outpouring of rage brought vast crowds into the streets across the country.

The streets and squares of downtown Cairo were in the hands of the mostly young demonstrators whose determined 18-day revolt overturned 30 years of autocratic rule and triggered an outpouring of national solidarity.

But political power now rests with the military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mubarak’s departure, and many people were anxiously waiting to see whether they will make good their promise to respect the popular will.

Messages of congratulation to the Egyptian people flooded in as Mubarak handed over power to senior army officers after 18 days of mounting protests against his autocratic 30-year rule.

US President Barack Obama said the people of Egypt had spoken and would settle for nothing less than “genuine democracy.”

The streets and squares of downtown Cairo were still in the hands of the mostly young demonstrators whose determined 18-day revolt overturned 30 years of autocratic rule and triggered an outpouring of national solidarity.

But political power now rests with the military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mubarak’s departure, and many people were anxiously waiting to see whether they will make good their promise to respect the popular will.

Musharraf, who was president when Bhutto was killed in December 2007 in a gun and suicide bomb attack, is in self-imposed exile in London. He will not be going back to Pakistan for any court hearing, his spokesman said.

The former president and military ruler is alleged to have been part of a “broad conspiracy” to have his political rival killed before elections, though the exact nature of the charges against him was not immediately clear.

The attacks, which played out over several hours and left 49 people wounded, involved several suicide bombers armed with guns and grenades firing on the main police headquarters after occupying a wedding hall opposite.

Three car bombs were also detonated near the police office and a further three were defused before they could go off, local officials said.

Papandreou’s office said he had personally complained to International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn over the “unacceptable behaviour” of European Union, IMF and European Central Bank experts monitoring Greece’s economic reforms.

Papandreou also called EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn, the prime minister’s office said, and is also reportedly planning similar protests to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet.

The result bucked a trend that had seen the Welsh last win against Italy in March 2010, before going on to lose to South Africa (2), New Zealand (3), Australia and England, and draw with Fiji.

Two Shane Williams tries and 14 points from the boot of James Hook outpointed two Dan Parks penalties, leaving the home side winless after two outings this season after they lost 34-21 to France last weekend.

England, who opened their campaign with victory in Cardiff last week, ran in eight tries and were always in control against an Italian side who had come close to scoring an upset over Ireland in their first match.

England’s other tries came from wing Mark Cueto, captain Mike Tindall, flanker James Haskell and substitute Danny Care.

Colombia sells some 15 percent of its annual rose production in the runup to the global commemoration of romantic love. It is expected to provide a much-needed billion-dollar boost, after a global recession and local frost hobbled last year’s crop.

White plastic tarps cover the elevated plains outside Bogota and Colombia’s second city Medellin for as far as the eye can see. Inside the greenhouses, thousands of mostly female workers scramble to harvest, cut and box millions of roses bound for foreign markets, mainly in the United States.

But when his 2011-2012 budget plan comes out on Monday, Republicans are likely to hone in on $8 billion in proposed rail funds in their effort to slash spending.

An issue of national economic strategy for the White House, high-speed railways, which are under construction from Latin America to the Middle East and across Asia, are mired in political party rivalry over budgets in the United States.