Chaos in Tahrir Square

The basic rundown of what's going on right now:

*Anti-Mubarak forces are more or less surrounded in Tahrir Square in Cairo by pro-Mubarak forces that amount to thugs. No uniformed officers; the military is standing there watching.
*Molotov cocktails have been thrown by the pro-Mubarak crowd; the military's been spending their time spraying water at the resulting fires.
*Some hours ago, pro-Mubarak people on horseback and camelback rode through what had been a tense-but-calm talk between the two sides, flogging anti-Mubarak people as they went. Since then, what's been going on has been described by CNN as a "street brawl."
*When either side captures someone from the other side, the captured party is bound to be beaten severely. Anderson Cooper found this out firsthand earlier when he was attacked by pro-Mubarak forces.
*The anti-Mubarak forces view the situation as a fight for their lives; they pledge to die defending Tahrir Square. They've been pulling up bricks from the ground and grabbing just about anything they can get their hands on to use as a weapon or a shield.

The situation is obviously still very fluid; it's a bit of a standoff right now. Here's the Guardian's update board.

Possible Egyptian Revolution

There are mass protests in Egypt right now, far too many for police to handle. Heir apparent Gamar Mubarek is thought to have fled to London, though that is not confirmed. Things are moving way too fast for us to keep up here; head to the Guardian for the latest.

With Tunisia and Lebanon in protest mode as well, the western Middle East and North Africa are going even further off the rails than usual.