Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Shutting Away the Activists for Life

2145 GMT: Claimed footage of a protest in Idlib Province in northwest Syria today:

2015 GMT: The video of Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's speech promoting a "national dialogue":

2010 GMT: Thanks to James Miller for taking the LiveBlog through the afternoon.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, after a visit to top Yemeni officials in the capital Sana'a, has called for an "immediate" transfer of power.

Feltman said President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is recovering in Saudi Arabia from injuries sustained in an attack three weeks ago, should leave office in an "immediate, peaceful, and orderly transition".

1716 GMT: Below, we have two videos that claim to show protests in Aleppo last night. As Assad moves his forces against cities and towns to the north of Aleppo, how will the last city that hasn't seen major protests react?

1609 GMT: Libyan rebels have discovered ready-to-eat military rations that had been shipped to Gaddafi forces from Turkey sometime after March of this year. Supplying Gaddafi rations may be a violation of the UN resolution justifying the NATO operation.

1559 GMT: A map, updated yesterday, of the front lines near Misurata and Ziltan, Libya.

1553 GMT: British Foreign Minister William Hague has responded to critics of the cost of the NATO mission in Libya by claiming that it would have cost more if a humanitarian crisis was allowed to develop there, or if the region had become destabilized by Colonel Gaddafi.

"I have never said what the total would be. What I have said is that whatever we are spending on the operations in Libya, it is nothing like the cost of a humanitarian catastrophe,"

1505 GMT: Libya - Several civilians, including a 14-year-old boy and two women, have been killed and many others wounded as Gaddafi forces have renewed their bombardment of Misurata.

As US Congress debates cutting funding for the Libya no-fly zone, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an outspoken advocate for the mission, asked a simple question: "Whose side are you on?"

1458 GMT: An activist has this report:

Detained engineer Mazen Arja was transferred to the Military Hospital in #Aleppo due to his deteriorating health caused by brutal torture.

1455 GMT: The streets of Douma, a Damascus suburb, are nearly deserted during today's general strike:

1447 GMT: Mohamed Fezo, a witness from Khirbet al Jouz, tells his story to Al Jazeera.

1438 GMT: Security patrols the central market in Homs during a general strike (uploaded today, claiming to have been taken today).

1430 GMT: This video, uploaded today, reports to show a general strike in Idlib, Syria.

1425 GMT: No calm before the storm today in Syria. An opposition page is reporting that armored vehicles and tanks are being deployed in the streets o al-Bayyada, in Homs. 

1410 GMT: Activists are reporting that land lines and cell phone networks have been cut around Damascus, in Harasta and in the other suburbs. 

1403 GMT: This video was uploaded two days ago, but it reports to show pro-regime thugs stabbing protesters at the Mosque of Hassan in Damascus on Friday (6/17). We have spent a full day trying to verify the details, and it matches some descriptions of what occured there last Friday.

Watch closely, the editor highlights the important details.

1355 GMT: Every Friday in Arab Spring has a title. Tomorrow will be "The Friday of the Fall of Legitimacy" in Syria.

1343 GMT: More details from northern Syria - Syrian military and secret police have constructed road blocks near  Khirbat al-Joz. According to Euro News, the checkpoints were only 500 meters from the border, a clear attempt to close it to refugees.

Even more concerning, however, is a report that Turkish border guards have put on their helmets (for the first time since reporters have been in the region) and they have actually fired warning shots in the air when Syrian forces got too close to the border.

Ankara has deployed one of Turkey's top generals to the region.

1327 GMT: As the political situation remains unresolved in Yemen, an under-reported problem is the dire situation of Yemen's economy. There is a nation-wide fuel shortage, as the Mareb oil pipeline has been damaged and the political unrest continues to plague repairs to infrastructure. As a result many farmers cannot draw water out of the well, either to drink or to irrigate farms. Rolling blackouts plague hospitals, and many factories have been forced to shut down. 

The price of water has increased nearly 10 fold.

Saudi Arabia has granted Yemen 3 million barrels of oil, but it will not be enough to stem the problem. 

1315 GMT: A friend of Abdulhadi Al Khawaja describes the conditions in the prison, and in the courtroom, while maintaining that Kwaja has done nothing to merit this prosecution or treatment:

"Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was beaten when he was arrested, detained incommunicado and tortured so severely that he had to undergo an operation on his head in a military hospital. He has been denied access to his lawyer except for brief meetings when he has been brought to court. He and his lawyer have been silenced when they have sought to raise concerns about torture in the courtroom. No investigation has been made by the court in regard to the evidence of torture to Abdulhadi and others.

"The case presented by the military prosecutor has lacked credibility or any substantive evidence. Two witnesses for the prosecution were identified by those present in court as security service employees, one of whom has reportedly been identified as having been directly involved in acts of torture. These unconvincing witnesses were unable to present anything other than outlandish allegations and were deemed too weak to be submitted to cross-examination. The defence were denied permission to bring witnesses. The date for sentencing was announced prior to the presentation of the defence lawyers' final statements."

1305 GMT: More from northern Syria - This morning, there are reports that the Syrian military has deployed near the border with Turkey, raising tensions as hundreds of Syrians have literally begun to run across the border.

So far, we have reports of a Syrian assault on Managh, north of Aleppo. This is clearly an attempt to divide Syria's second largest city from the increasingly hostile northern provinces of Syria, while at the same time repressing some of the most vocal areas of dissent. The question is whether or not this is also a move to close the border with Turkey to refugees, effectively cutting off the opposition from escape, or perhaps even an attempt to reach those who have already fled across the borders, refugees who tell a story that the world desperately wants to hear.

1241 GMT: James Miller takes the wheel...

Syrian forces have attacked the city of Managh, north of Aleppo, the newest city to face the wrath of Assad's military. Many have fled the area, but the sound of gunfire can be heard in the city.

1155 GMT: In an interview with The New York Times, dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar assures that the opposition, if it takes power, will work with the "West" in fighting terrorism. Indeed, the General claims that the current regime of President Saleh is a hindrance to that fight, rather than a reliable American ally:

As long as this regime is in power, Al Qaeda will continue to exist in Yemen,” said General Ahmar, sitting in his office at the headquarters of the army’s First Armored Division, which he leads. “Now, counterterrorism cooperation is based on material cooperation only. It is for the exchange of funds. How much will you give me if I can kill a person for you?”

1145 GMT: Claimed footage of a protest in Idlib Province in Syria last night:

0945 GMT: Claimed video of security forces firing tear gas at protesters in Sitra in Bahrain yesterday:

0930 GMT: Bahrain's oppposition group Al Wefaq has said that it is unlikely to take part in a "mational dialogue" proposed by the monarchy.

Former MP Khalil Al Marzooq said that Al Wefaq would not submit its agenda for discussion although "options are still open".

Al Marzooq said there were still "serious issues" about the dialogue, indicating that the opposition was sceptical it would be led by a regime figure with authority: "People are the source of authority. There can be no dialogue if no rulers are present. We definitely welcome the Crown Prince to oversee and negotiate the entire process."

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has been seen as the member of the royal family most sympathetic to a negotiation over demands for reform.

0920 GMT: Activists claim Syrian security forces have occupied the village of Khirbet al-Jouz near the Turkish border

Witnesses claim hundreds of Syrian refugees are fleeing across the border into Turkey to escape the operation.

Syrian troops have also reportedly deployed on a main road leading from Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, to Turkey. Soldiers and secret police backed by armoured vehicles set up roadblocks and reportedly arrested dozens of people in the Heitan area north of the city.

Residents said the armoured personnel carriers reached the area of Deir al-Jamal, 25 km (15 miles) from the Turkish border.

0600 GMT: Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has issued another audio message on State TV to declared, "We will resist and the battle will continue to the beyond, until you're wiped out. But we will not be finished." 

Qaddafi denounced NATO's "crusade" in a week when the regime claimed that at least nine civilians had been killed in an apartment block hit by an airstrike: "You said, 'we hit our targets with precision', you murderers....One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes will be legitimate targets."

The Libyan leader continued his defiance, "We will stay, we will resist and we will not give in. Strike with your missiles, two, three, 10 or 100 years."

0455 GMT: There could not have a greater contrast in the two messages. On Wednesday morning, the Bahraini regime was promoting its new website for a "national dialogue" with opposition parties and civic groups for political reconciliation.

Moments later, it was announcing sentences against 21 opposition leaders and activists, with eight facing life in prison and ten getting 15 years in prison. One of those condemned to life was the co-leader of a leading Shi'a party with whom the regime was proposing to have its "dialogue"; another led a Sunni faction in the Sunni-led kingdom; others were clerics and directors of an orphanage. One of those given the 15-year sentence is Bahrain's most prominent blogger.

Of course, the Bahraini monarchy and its supporters are explaining that the the 21 --- seven of whom were sentenced in absentia --- were working with foreign powers to overthrow the regime. But this morning, the only certainty is that, as the sentences make international headlines, the message of "national dialogue" is in a distant second place to the one sent from the emergency court in Manama.