In Libya, fighting between Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and rebels has broken out in the eastern oil export port of Ras Lanuf and the town of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli. Mass protests against Gaddafi’s rule were scheduled to begin after noon prayers across the country, but in Tripoli, Gaddafi supporters have set up checkpoints throughout the city to prevent protesters from moving about. Foreign journalists were ordered not to leave their hotels, and internet service has reportedly been cut off in Tripoli and Benghazi. But some protesters in Tripoli have defied the crackdown. Some 1,000 protesters reportedly streamed out of the Murad Agha mosque in the Tajura district of Tripoli, chanting, “The people want to bring the regime down.”