Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Inconvenient Beating, An Inconclusive Meeting

2205 GMT: That last update appears to be even more significant than we originally thought. First of all, an opposition Facebook page says that there were clashes between anti-government protesters and Bahraini police yesterday in the village of Al Dair. Apparently, there was another protest in Al Dair tonight (see a photo gallery posted by activists).

But the significant piece of evidence is this video, which shows a crowd being attacked by plain-clothed men. The attackers then appear to grab a young boy and drag him away. Towards the end of the video, a white van, which appears to be similar to one used by police, appears in the frame, suggesting that the plain-clothed men are the same as the ones in the last video and are working with the police. At the very end of the video, a policeman appears and fires teargas towards the now-scattered crowd, confirming this suspicion:

A daytime rally, reportedly today in Al Dair village:

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"New Egypt" Feature: Striking Back at Workers' Protests (Sallam)

Workers on Strike, February 2011It remains unclear if the new, post-Mubarak Egypt can succeed in addressing the socio-economic grievances that helped to spark the January 25 uprising.

The prevailing discourse among Egyptian elites and opinion makers, however, already signals that the answer is no. The ambivalent, if not hostile, rhetoric directed toward demands for more humane standards of living points to the potential for continuity in the highly uneven economic order. While most believe that there will be no return to the pre-January 25 political system, even if post-Mubarak Egypt is not fully democratic, workers may continue to be marginalized by the economic liberalization begun under the previous regime.

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protest Here, Protest There

2100 GMT: The Lede at The New York Times has further information on the occupation of Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain, including a picture of the popcorn machine brought in amongst the tents.

Video earlier today from the Roundabout:

2055 GMT: Al Masry Al Youm summarises the continuing protests across Egypt over working conditions, including university workers, police, sugar cane workers, and fishermen.

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