More updates - I'll just keep adding to this post tonight

22:55- I am currently glued to Al Jazeera's live reporting of the situation in Egypt on the web (where they provided an interesting profile of the new Vice President). Hawass is shown, again, saying that last night a few people entered the Cairo museum from above, but good Eyptians and some of the Tourist Police managed to control the situation. In addition the report says that the ruling party headquarters next door to the Museum is still on fire so the museum is still at risk. The screen grab to the left is from Al Jazeera's video feed.

22:24 - Al Jazeera has reported that the ruling party headquarters has been "torched" in Luxor.

21:55 - Al Jazeera's live feed showed Hawass speaking on a live feed on Al Jazeera about the Egyptian Museum break-in, talking about the damage already mentioned and confirming that the looters came into the museum from the top of the building. Other reports talked about the Giza pyramids being closed off and tourists returning to the UK (and others continuing to engage in tourism in Cairo), plus scenes of the protests themselves. The programme may be archived - I'll keep an eye on it. Some of it is quite hair raising, if you get the chance to watch.

21:29 - Al Masry Al Youm has added to the stories about the looters in the Egyptian Museum, saying that one of their reporters has seen the damage first-hand. The article says that the looters were 9 convicts who tried to steal the two mummies, which broke up as they tried to take them towards the exit. According to the report Hawass says that although the glass covers of cabinets were smashed nothing has been stolen, including items of jewellry that was in some of the cases. Hawass believes that the broken items can be restored. The report says that he has expressed concern about other museums and the lack of security available to defend them. It goes on to say that Gihane Zaki (Professor of Egyptology at the Faculty of Tourism and Director of International Cooperation at the Supreme Council of Antiquities) said, that he is "extremely worried" about the two museums for which he has responsibility, "the Nubian Museum and the one in Fustat."

20:53 - More photos from the damage to exhibits in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

18:45 - The mind truly boggles, but Kate Phizackerley has seen other reports (see her post, with photo), that artefacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun have been damaged, some apparently quite seriously. She references a post on The Eloquent Peasant blog (Margaret Maitland) which has photos from Al Jazeera which appear to show some of these damaged items.

18:28 - My father has just phoned to say that the BBC News onTV reports that the Coptic Museum has been looted but that Copts have gathered to protect it.

18: 18 - The Associated Press (thanks Rhio) has quoted Hawass saying that he is worried about the blazing building next door falling on the Egyptian Museum. In addition it adds to the story that two mummies were damaged by looters, saying that 10 small artefacts had been removed from cases and damaged, and that the gift shop was cleaned out.

The AP also quote Kent Weeks from Luxor:

Archaeologist Kent Weeks, who is in the southern temple town of Luxor, said that rumors that attacks were planned against monuments prompted authorities to erect barriers and guard Karnak Temple while tanks were positioned around Luxor's museum.