France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy weighs in on the events in Egypt, saying change in Egypt is unavoidable and that he hopes for democracy there.

More expert reaction to Mubarak’s speech, compiled by our world desk in London:

Stephen Grand, Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington:

“It was quite surreal. He's a stubborn old man who refused to see the writing on the wall. I happen to believe the demonstrations will continue, people will continue to push for his ouster and eventually will succeed.”

Robert Springborg, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School:

“The speeches tonight are not intended to bring an end to the crisis in a peaceful way but to inflame the situation so there is justification for the imposition of direct military rule. They are risking not only the coherence of the military but even indeed, and I use this term with advisement here, civil war."

“I think it needs to be made perfectly clear (by outside powers) that Mubarak and his regime are forfeiting Egypt's future. Egypt is in an economic crisis. It is going to have to be bailed out and the short answer to what they are doing now is that it will not be bailed out with anything like a military regime in place that is associated with Mubarak, Omar Suleiman and these people who are part of this regime.”

Anthony Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies:

“The truth is that even the senior military now at the top of the power structure under Mubarak almost certainly have no clear idea of what happens next, and it will be days before anyone know how well the transition will function, who goes and who stays, and how stable the result really is.”

“It is also important to understand that democracy is less important to most Egyptians than material benefits, jobs, decent education, effective government services, ending corruption and favouritism, and emphasizing the concept of justice in ways that provide security and honest police and courts. People aren't looking for a vote as much as they want to stop the economic, political and social injustice.”

Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei reacts on Twitter to the latest developments: "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."

Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the U.S., tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer that Mubarak has delegated all power to Vice President Suleiman, calling him "de facto" head of state.

New comments from Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague on BBC TV: “We are studying very closely what the president and vice president of Egypt have said. It is not immediately clear what powers are being handed over and what the full implications are. We think the solution to this has to be owned by the Egyptian people themselves. All we want in the United Kingdom is for them to be able to settle their own differences in a peaceful and democratic way. And that is why we have called from the beginning of this crisis for an urgent but orderly transition to a more broadly based government in Egypt, and in the meantime we look to the Egyptian authorities to protect the right to peaceful protest.”

Louis Charbonneau, our colleague at the United Nations, has more on opposition leader ElBaradei’s reaction to the latest developments in Egypt:

“ElBaradei, interviewed from Egypt by CNN, said: ‘People are very angry.’ He added that it was up to the army to ‘save the country from going down the drain.’

‘We should be quite worried,’ he said. ‘They (Mubarak and Vice President Omar Suleiman) need to step aside. People have lost confidence in them.’ Mubarak earlier announced that he was delegating powers to Suleiman.

ElBaradei said Mubarak had lost all legitimacy.

Referring to Mubarak's passing of his powers to the vice president, ElBaradei said: ‘How can you be a president without any power?’”

Read the latest wrap-up on the events in Egypt from our reporters Marwa Awad and Alexander Dziadosz in Cairo. www.reuters.com

An op-ed from the New York Times by Mohamed ElBaradei begins, "When I was a young man in Cairo, we voiced our political views in whispers, if at all, and only to friends we could trust." www.nytimes.com

“At this remarkable moment in Middle Eastern history, it is worth recalling what scholars, diplomats and pundits said in years past about stability in Egypt and Tunisia. This jog down memory lane is one of those delicious moments where the experts are yet again proved ignorant of the present and incapable of predicting the future,” writes David Keyes, director of CyberDissidents.org, in a new commentary for Reuters.com. blogs.reuters.com

Local time in Egypt is 4:22am. Check out the latest Reuters wrap: After Mubarak, Egypt looks forward www.reuters.com

What’s next for Egypt? It’s a question that’s been on many people’s minds today, even as Egyptians continue to celebrate President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. Reuters correspondents David Alexander and Phil Stewart report from Washington that the U.S. sees Egypt’s new leader as resistant to change:

“U.S. officials see the head of Egypt's military council as an ally committed to avoiding another war with Israel but have in the past portrayed him privately as being resistant to political and economic reform.

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Higher Military Council that took control of Egypt on Friday after President Hosni Mubarak was swept from power, has spoken with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates by telephone five times since the crisis began, including as recently as Thursday evening, according to the Pentagon.

The ties are long-standing and important to Washington, which gives about $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt each year. Senior U.S. defense and military officials had no immediate comment about Mubarak's decision to step down.”

Read the full story at www.reuters.com

Beijing offers its first reaction to the Egyptian leader's resignation, saying, "Social stability should be of overriding importance. Any political changes will be meaningless if the country falls prey to chaos in the end." www.reuters.com

The Muslim Brotherhood says its demands include an end to emergency law, dissolution of Parliament and free elections.

New York Times reports the differences in approach to the Egypt crisis within the Obama administration - www.nytimes.com

Egypt's prime minister says the internal economic situation is stable.