Thousands of people took to the streets in a coordinated protest across Egypt today—against the regime of Mubarak—and now, thousands are spending the night in Tahrir Square.

The government has blocked Twitter and is expected to block Facebook soon, as a friend in Cairo tells me, but there is a Twitter feed—#jan25—for following the revolution in the night.

Tear gas is exploding into the crowds; pictures are on Twitter. There, people are also calling for media outlets to cover the situation to help protect the crowds from even worse attacks by the military government.

Here's what my friend had to say:

I'm fine, was soo close de the demos, I'm in Cairo
They cut twitter
Ppl are still in Downtown there demonstrating
Media coverage is soo lame
We are confused
But we are ok and safe in our homes
Pray that this won't end just a demonstration but to end to mubarak departure and real reform

...

We think that they will block facebook also on 11pm [Egypt is 10 hours ahead of Seattle], then they will be free to use violence,
Please follow #jan25 on twitter to be updated and plz spread it

...

Many ladies protested
I didn't
Simply coz I never did and I was overwhelmed seeing all this n# of protesters and huge n# of security!!
But my sister and I thinking to bring blankets and food to protesters in Downtown
And we search for the safest way to reach them

UPDATE: The Revolution Will Be Facebooked.

UPDATE: Photo.

UPDATE:
@WorldPeace2Day This video needs to go viral! Egyptian man stands up for armored police car http://youtu.be/YtTUsqra-MU #Egypt #Jan25

burjalsaheb
As Obama preps to give his State of the Union address I am sure he is wishing things were handled differently with his Cairo speech. #jan25

UPDATE: A journalist's account up to when he was arrested two hours ago.

UPDATE: Al Jazeera English's account of the protests, focusing on Hillary Clinton's insistence today that Egypt's government is "stable."

UPDATE: What will Obama say about Egypt during tonight's speech?

UPDATE: My friend's response to some commenters' observation that Mubarak's ouster will lead to a theocracy:

This is the main pbl
He made sure that there are no replacement, no figure no leader
Parties are lame and have no members, no strong agendas
Egyptians are withdrew from the political scene
We see no one else, even there are ppl believe that may be it's better to keep mubarak (at least we know him and his corruption)
And others believe his son is a good choice (at least he was raised in the presidential home!!! )
Yes we are that desperate!
And don't know even if this revolution works what can be the results

UPDATE: New York Times gathering of YouTube videos and reports from the protests. No mention of Clinton's announcement or Mubarak's departure to London.

UPDATE: Livestream in Cairo. Sound of gunshots, a tweet asks?

UPDATE: Reports that crowd has been dispersed.
by raghdabutros
RT @salmaeldaly: Whole of Tahrir square is one massive cloud now with more than 50 tear gas cannons fired. #Jan25 #Egypt
14 minutes ago

UPDATE: Insanely timely piece in The Atlantic: "After Tunisia: Obama's Impossible Dilemma in Egypt"

UPDATE: Tear gas blanketing the square. Tear gas canister photo: Made in U.S.A.

UPDATE: Two eyewitness accounts from the day, on the BBC.

Plus:
by phijazin
the relative restraint shown by police earlier in the day is well and truly over. vigorously putting down protests in central cairo. #Jan25
2 minutes ago