SYRIA
Security forces open fire on demonstrators trying to break an army blockade on the southern city of Daraa, while thousands of others across Syria defy a protest ban and denounce President Bashar Assad's harsh crackdown on a six-week uprising. At least 42 people are killed, including 15 in the march on Daraa, according to witnesses and a human rights group.
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LIBYA
Libyan forces in more than a dozen military vehicles and armed with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers cross into Tunisia as fighting with rebels rages along the western frontier, witnesses say. Tunisia's government was furious after clashes broke out on its territory and demanded Libya halt all incursions.
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YEMEN
Yemeni plainclothes police open fire on protesters calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster in a western port city, while hundreds of thousands pour onto the streets of the capital to mourn protesters slain in the crackdown.
Five protesters are wounded in the shooting in Hodeida on the Red Sea, and both sides hurl stones at each other, witnesses say.
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BAHRAIN
One of Bahrain's top Shiite clerics warns the country is at risk of even deeper tensions after four anti-government protesters are convicted of killing two policemen and sentenced to death by a military court.
Sheik Isa Qassim tells thousands of worshippers at Friday prayers that the sentences could bring more rage from the country's Shiite majority since authorities have not made similar investigations into violence used against demonstrators in deadly clashes that began in February.