BBC News with Julie Candler.
The Egyptian army has deposed President Mohamed Morsi who was the country’s first democratically-elected leader. The head of the army has declared that the chief justice will temporarily take over presidential powers and the constitution will be suspended. Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said an interim technocratic government would be installed, leading to presidential and parliamentary elections. The announcement was made in a live televised address after talks between the army, opposition politicians and religious leaders.
"Those who attended have agreed a roadmap that includes initial steps that would have achieved the building of a throne and consolidated Egyptian society that nobody is excluded or rejected. This roadmap includes the following: to dissolve the constitution on a temporary basis; to hold early presidential elections while the head of the constitutional court will manage the affairs of the state during the transitional period.”
Mr Morsi has rejected the army’s move as a military coup. His supporters and members of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood to which he belongs had vowed not to give in to the massive public protest demanding his resignation. But there were jubilant scenes among anti-Morsi protesters in Tahrir Square after the statement. From there, Ben Brown reports.
Crowds of Morsi opponents are going absolutely crazy. They’ve been lighting fireworks, blowing their horns, waving the Egyptian national flag and it’s the party to end all parties. For these people, the statement that was just read out by Gen al-Sisi, the head of the armed forces, was exactly what they wanted to hear. This really is the culmination of their campaign to end the Islamist rule of President Mohamed Morsi. But of course, he has many many supporters and they will be desperately disappointed.
With this assessment of the day’s events in Egypt, here’s Kevin Connolly in Cairo.
After days when the streets of Egypt’s major cities have been thronged with Mohamed Morsi supporters and rather more of his opponents, the armed forces have now moved decisively against him. The country’s top general spent the day talking to a variety of religious and political leaders, but unsubstantiated rumours swept the country that Mr Morsi was in military detention. He is set to oppose the army’s statement, but it strips him of all power, suspends the constitution and puts the head of the constitutional court in charge, pending new elections. The question now: how will Morsi’s Islamist supporters who are outnumbered but still numerous react to what they regard as an old-fashioned military coup?
World News from the BBC.
In other news, a court in Turkey has cancelled the controversial redevelopment of Taksim Square in central Istanbul, which had triggered a nationwide wave of anti-government protests. The court upheld an earlier ruling that the plans to reshape the square violated preservation rules. Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan (Recep Tayyip Erdogan rather) said last month that his government would not proceed with the Taksim development until the court decided on the matter.
The Indian government has approved a major new welfare programme aimed at providing subsidised food to two thirds of the population. The measure known as the Food Security ordinance will provide 5kg of food grain at a subsidised rate to about 800 million people every month. Critics say the plan is a political move aimed at gaining support ahead of next general elections which are due in 2014.
Police in South Africa say three bodies have been exhumed from the homestead of Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla as they tried to make him comply with a court order in a family dispute over burial sites. Police had forced their way into the estate to search for the remains of three of Nelson Mandela’s children. From Mthatha, Mike Wooldridge reports.
Police say that forensic tests on the bodies exhumed from Mvezo will take place in the morning. The next stage will be the reburial of the three late children of Nelson Mandela in Qunu, the village where he has a home and where he spent much of his upbringing. And so a drama which began in 2011 with Mandla Mandela controversially moving the remains from Qunu to Mvezo seems to be heading towards a conclusion.
The Belgian King Albert II has announced that he will abdicate later this month on his country’s national day. The 79-year-old said on national television that his health was no longer good enough to fulfil his duties the way he would like and it was time to pass the torch to the next generation. Next in line to the throne is his son Philippe.