Live Updates 2: Fierce fighting in Tahrir, rival protests across Egypt

As we enter the evening, street battles between police and opposition protesters escalate in downtown Cairo, thousands of pro-Morsi supporters remain at presidential palace

17:45Despite Ahram Online journalists reporting heavy use of tear gas and live footage on several TV channels of the toxic clouds, a security official denies to Al-Ahram Arabic news website that police are firing teargas at protesters.
17:44 Back to the presidential palace in Heliopolis, Ahram Online journalist reports calmer scenes. After performing the Maghreb (sundown) prayers, thousands of Morsi supporters have started to leave.
17:42Health Ministry spokesperson, Ahmed Omar, announces that 18 people have been injured today in Tahrir Square. All have been transferred to the Coptic hospital in downtown.
17:41Moving East, dozens are demonstrating in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh against Morsi's Declaration, Al-Ahram Arabic language news website reports. Protesters include members of April 6 Youth Movement and the Constitution Party.
17:30In reaction to President Morsi's latest Constitutional Declaration the European Union released a statement urging the president to respect the "democratic process."
"It is of utmost importance that the democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership," a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, said in a statement.
Morsi must ensure the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, the protection of fundamental freedoms and the holding of democratic parliamentary elections "as soon as possible," said the spokesman, Michael Mann.
17:25Still on Tahrir Square, amid plumes of tear gas, Ahram Online reporter Osman El-Sharnoubi gets the lowdown from opposition protesters.
“Today is a very good start for the process of resisting the Constitutional Declaration, or what we call a coup. We are yet to evaluate our options to plan our next move,” says Emad Attiya, a founding member of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, which was one of the groups behind Friday's rally.
Ahmed Hamid, a demonstrator suffering from the effects of tear gas, told Ahram Online that he was protesting peacefully when he approached the police who started firing at them and chasing the protesters in their armoured vehicles.
“God willing, we will bring down Morsi,” he adds.
17:20Thousands of Ultras enter Tahrir Square while chanting their protest songs, reports Ahram Online Osman El-Sharnoubi.##
17:15Good afternoon - we return to dramatic scenes near Cairo's Tahrir Square, where Central Security Forces armored vehicles are charging protesters on Qasr Al-Aini Street, driving groups back to the flashpoint square. Molotov cocktails and tear gas canisters are launched back and forth.
Clashes continue to overshadow the mass rally on Tahrir Square protesting President Morsi's surprise Constitutional Declaration released Thursday, while on the other side of the capital thousands of the president's supporters remain at the presidential palace in Heliopolis.
Over 30 opposition political groups are behind Friday's protests, which were initially called to commemorate the year anniversary of Mohamed Mahmoud Street clashes. Their demands include the dismissal of Morsi's cabinet, prosecuting police officers responsible for killing and injuring protesters and a purge and restructuring of Egypt's national police force.
However, the new declaration, which gave the president sweeping authorities, changed the focus of the rallies and lead commentators to dub Morsi the "new Pharaoh."
Signatories to the statement included the Constitution Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Free Egyptians Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Democratic Front Party, the Egypt Freedom Party, the Egyptian Popular Current and the National Association for Change.
For a blow-by-blow account of the morning's events, see our earlier live update coverage here