Syria, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Defiance and "Reforms"

1620 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration in Homs in Syria today:

See also Syria Video Special: The Latest from Friday's Protests

1510 GMT: Bahrain's Minister of Justice has said it has "taken the necessary legal procedures in order to lift the ban" on the Wa'ad Party after the opposition group "expressed keenness to promote security, stability, and national unity and take part in the comprehensive National Consensus Dialogue due to start on July 1".

1500 GMT: Austria is preparing to recognize the opposition National Transitional Council "as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people”, according to government spokesman and vice-chancellor Alexander Schallenberg.

Schallenberg said Austria would put the issue to European Union counterparts during talks in Luxembourg on Monday.

1420 GMT: Ali Tarhouni, the Minister of Oil and Finance for the Libyan opposition government, has accused foreign nations of failing to fulfil promises to deliver urgent financial aid.

Tarhouni said, "We don't have any (cash). We are running out of everything. It's a complete failure. Either they (western nations) don't understand or they don't care."

He continued, "We are not producing any oil because of the damage. I don't expect us to produce oil any time soon. The refineries have no crude oil, so they are not working."

1415 GMT: An activist in Kherbet al Jawz, a Syrian village close to the Turkish border, said tanks, soldiers, secret police, and other armed men attacked the village this afternoon, making dozens of arrests and burning down several houses.

Most residents fled the assault, seeking shelter in nearby mountains. The activist estimated some 3,500 displaced people were living rough in the area around Kherbet al Jawz.

Earlier in the day, regime troops occupied nearby Bdama, establishing a barracks in a school.

1335 GMT: Diplomatic sources have told Zaman that the Turkish Government has "delivered a blunt message to the Syrian leadership, saying the regime's willingness to undertake sweeping reforms in the unrest-laden country will determine the position of Turkey in the coming days, if not weeks".

The sources said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu put the message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's special envoy, Hassan Turkmani, earlier this week. If the regime does not "adopt sweeping reforms", Turkey will start supporting tougher United Nations resolutions.

1330 GMT: Brian Whitaker, drawing from the Moroccan press, posts an English translation of King Mohammed VI's Friday night speech for reforms (see 0535 GMT): "I shall be at the forefront, seeking an optimal implementation of this sophisticated constitutional project which strengthens the foundations of a constitutional, democratic, parliamentary and social monarchy, once the draft Constitution has, by the Grace of the Almighty, been approved by referendum, next July 1st."

1325 GMT: The New York Times and the BBC publish contrasting stories of "novice soldiers" in Libya.

The Times reports on an IT worker who is patrolling a rebellious neighbourhood in the capital Tripoli.

Novice soldiers like Refat, whose account provided the first confirmation of widespread rebel reports of their nocturnal guerrilla attacks, appear to be an increasingly important part of the Qaddafi government’s defense against potential insurrection in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The professional soldiers of the Qaddafi militias who once cruised the streets of neighborhoods like Souq al-Juma in their white Toyota pickup trucks, he said, have all been called away to fight on the front lines near Misurata, the Nafusa Mountains or the eastern oil city of Brega.

The BBC profiles Sadiq Belhaj, a maths student at Britain's University of Lancaster who has returned to Misurata to fight for the insurgency. He says, "When I was in England I couldn't do much for this revolution so I decided to go and hold a gun for the first time in my life. I don't know how to use it but I hope my brothers will teach me."

1320 GMT: Demotix publishes photographs of an opposition rally in Sitra in Bahrain on Friday. It is claimed the gathering is the largest since the regime's crackdown in mid-March.

1315 GMT: Firefights are reportedly taking place outside Nalut in northwestern Libya.

Al Jazeera English's James Bays says that small arms, machine guns, mortars, and missiles being used.

1155 GMT: Al-Sahwa claims that an advisor to President Saleh, Abdul-Kareem Al-Eryani, has met the head of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, Yaseen Saeed Noaman, in an European country.

1125 GMT: Witnesses claim Syrian troops and pro-regime gunmen have stormed Bdama, two miles from the Turkish border, burning houses and arresting 70 people.

A lawyer said, "They came at 7 a.m to Bdama. I counted nine tanks, 10 armoured carriers, 20 jeeps and 10 buses. I saw shabbiha (gunmen) setting fire to two houses."

More than 10,000 people have reportedly fled the area in northwest Syria over the last two weeks in the face of military assaults.

1115 GMT: In Morocco, the February 20 Movement, which has carried out weekly pro-democracy marches, has said that King Mohammed VI's speech on Friday night for reforms did not go far enough, and it will continue to call for "a truly democratic constitution and a parliamentary monarchy". A spokesman declared, "The plan as proposed by the king yesterday does not respond to our demands for a true separation of powers."

The movement said a demonstration on Sunday would proceed.

1110 GMT: The British Foreign Office has put out this advisory:

We advise against all travel to the Syrian Arab Republic. British nationals in Syria should leave now by commercial means whilst these are still available. Those who choose to remain in Syria, or to visit against our advice should be aware that it is highly unlikely that the British Embassy would be able to provide a normal consular service in the event of a further breakdown in law and order and increased violent civil disorder.

1030 GMT: Eman al Nafjan, noting that about 45 women took the wheel yesterday in the Women2Drive demonstration in Saudi Arabia, writes, "All I know as a Saudi woman is that the current situation of gender discrimination against who can and cannot drive their own cars is unsustainable economically, socially and legally."

1025 GMT: A follow-up from yesterday's events --- in addition to 19 people who were reportedly killed in Syria, seven were slain and 25 wounded in Tripoli in northern Lebanon in clashes between Alawites and Sunnis over a rally against the Syrian regime.

Troops were deployed today in neighbourhoods of Bab Al Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, both of which sustained severe damage in the overnight clashes.

0800 GMT: A protest last night in the town of Idlib in northwest Syria:

0535 GMT: Syria, or rather Syrian protesters, took over headlines on Friday. The weekly demonstrations were expected but, after a week of military action, occupations, and counter-protests by the regime, the size may have been unexpected. Reports indicate hundreds of thousands came out across the country, with more than 150,000 on the streets in Hama alone.

Other reports said that the response of security forces would be less violent than in past weeks, given that President Assad would be speaking on Sunday night, but there were still at least 16 deaths.

Syria was not the only location for a massive challenge on Friday. In Yemen, recent attention had shifted to the contest between the President, dissident tribal and military forces, and insurgents, but peaceful protest took the spotlight on Friday with mass rallies in the capital Sana'a --- the claim was more than 100,000 people --- Taiz, and Ibb.

And reforms? Well, that headline came last night from Morocco, where King Mohammed VI made a nationally-televised speech in which he presented constitutional changes, including proposed amendments for the strengthening of the authority of the country's Prime Minister and Parliament.