enthusiastic
and excitable anymore. Their mood is grimmer and more determined now. Colonel Gaddafi’s television service in Tripoli has been claiming that his troops have recaptured Ras Lanuf, the strategic oil terminal but for now
at any rate
, it’s still firmly in the hands of the rebels. But there is
a great deal of
nervousness among the defenders at present.
Reports from Egypt say democracy activists have been attacked by men in plain clothes armed with knives outside the offices of the interior ministry in Cairo. It’s the first time since the toppling of President Mubarak last month that the protesters appeared to have come under such an attack. Over the weekend, activists
storm
ed several offices of the secret police.
The Chinese authorities have mounted a show of force in Beijing after renewed calls on the Internet for protests inspired by those in the Middle East. The anonymous messages had urged people to visit locations in major cities as way of calling for change. Damian Grammaticas is in Beijing.
The security blanket thrown over parts of Beijing on Sunday afternoon was
extraordinary
. The anonymous on-line call had been for people to stroll silently through Xidan, a busy shopping area, in a challenge to the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party inspired by the revolutions in the Middle East. Large crowds of shoppers were around, but it’s not clear if any were protesters. Reporters were banned from filming or interviewing anyone. The Communist Party appears