Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

UN military observers view dozens of victims of Friday's killings in Houla in Syria

See also Bahrain Special: Preaching Religious Tolerance, Practicing Religious Discrimination
Bahrain Live Coverage: UN Human Rights Council Sends Message to Regime
Friday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Waiting for a Presidential Outcome
Egypt Opinion: A Reminder After the Presidential Vote "The Revolution Lives"

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2015 GMT: SyriaTonight's protest in the Kafarsouseh section of Damascus, in sympathy with the people of Houla:

1945 GMT: Algeria. Lawmakers of the "moderate" Islamic Green Algeria Alliance and two smaller Islamic factions have walked out of the inaugural session of the new Parliament to protest against an election they claim was rigged to give a majority to the ruling party.

The MPs held up placards reading "No to fraud!" and then left. They hold about 60 seats in the 462-seat parliament.

In the election on 10 May, the ruling National Liberation Front won 220 seats, and the allied RND party came second with 68 seats.

1929 GMT: Egypt. More political drama tonight....

Hamdeen Sabahi, who finished a strong third in the Presidential election, to the surprise of many observers, has given a rousing speech to enthusiastic supporters. Sabahi said that he will not tell his supporters for whom to vote in the Presidential run-off.

The audience responded, "Down down with military rule! The people say, we don't want felool (remnants of the regime)!"

Sabahi's campaign is also filing an appeal for suspension of the election because of voting irregularities and a pending case over the right of former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who finished second in the vote, to stand for President.

1925 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claim that 49 people have died across the country at the hands of security forces, including 25 people in Homs Province.

1700 GMT: Syria. Mass burial of victims of Friday's attack on Houla that killed at least 92 people:

1655 GMT: Yemen. Military officials and local sources say 33 people, including six soldiers, have been killed today in clashes between regime forces and insurgents in the south of the country.

1625 GMT: Syria. The head of the United Nations observers, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, has condemned “in the strongest possible terms the brutal tragedy” in Houla, where he said 92 bodies, including those of more than 32 children and teenagers, had been counted.

A team of UN observers visited the area. Mood later told reporters in Damascus, “Those using violence for their own agendas will create more instability, more unpredictability and may lead country to civil war."

Syrian State media has blamed the deaths on "Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups".

1623 GMT: Syria. Plainclothes supporters of the regime beat people with sticks in Baghdad Street in central Damascus:

1600 GMT: UAE. Al Jazeera English offers a lengthy overview of the detention of 15 political activists in the United Arab Emirates in the past year.

All but two of the detainees are members of the Reform and Social Guidance Association [al-Islah], which advocates reform and "adherence to Islamic principles". The chairman of al-Islah, Sultan bin Kayed al-Qasimi, the cousin of the ruler of the northern emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, is among those held.

1555 GMT: Syria. Claimed video of mourners at a funeral in Aleppo dispersing amid gunfire by security forces:

1315 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of security forces firing on a demonstration in the Qaddam section of Damascus today:

A large rally in Aleppo remembering the dead in the attack on Houla on Friday:

1235 GMT: Tunisia. Hundreds of Salafi Islamists have attacked bars and shops and clashed with security forces in Jendouba.

The crowd was protesting the arrest of four men in connection with previous attacks on alcohol vendors. A Ministry of Interior official and a witness said they were throwing rocks and petrol bombs.

Police responded with tear gas, breaking up the group, but fighting continued.

1225 GMT: Egypt. Ahmed Shafiq, who finished second in this week's Presidential ballot and will face the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi on 16-17 June in a run-off, has been holding a lengthy press conference. Al Jazeera English offers a selection of quotes.

1135 GMT: Syria. A claimed image of the some of the bodies of those slain in Houla on Friday:

1100 GMT: Syria. LiveStream is showing a demonstration of thousands of people in Aleppo, calling for the downfall of the regime after the deaths in Houla on Friday.

A demonstration in Kafroumeh in Idlib Province for the dead of Houla:

And Latamneh in Hama Province:

1050 GMT: Syria. As United Nations observers visit the scene of yesterday's killings, activists have raised the toll of those killed in the assault of Houla in central Syria to more than 90.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 90 people had been slain, while a local activist, Abu Yazan, said 12 people died in shelling and 106 were killed when pro-regime plainclothes enforcers, known as "shabiha", stormed the area.

Abu Yazan said shelling began after an anti-regime demonstration following Friday Prayers. Later the shabiha raided the village of Taldaw, just south of Houla, entering homes and shooting at civilians.

1045 GMT: Yemen. A Saudi diplomat kidnapped by insurgents in Yemen has urged Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to meet his captors' demand for the release of women prisoners, in a video message posted on the Internet on Saturday.

"I plead the custodian of the two mosques (Saudi King Abdullah) to bring me back to my family, to my children and wife," said Abdallah al-Khalidi, the Saudi deputy consul in the Yemeni port city of Aden, who was abducted in March. "I plead King Abdullah...to save me and release me from al Qaeda in return for the release of the imprisoned sisters."

1020 GMT: We have moved our Bahrain update to a separate entry for Live Coverage.

0930 GMT: Syria. Back from a Saturday break to find the leaked report from Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to the United Nation Security Council about the Syrian situation. Dated 25 May, the letter is gloomy: "Measured against the commitment of [UN envoy Kofi Annan's] six-point plan, the overall situation in Syria remains extremely serious and there has been only small progress on some issues."

While expressing concern about "an alarming number of explosion in population centres, including acts of terrorism", the gist of the report is criticism of the Assad regime on issues such as the failure to withdraw military forces or cease operations; continuing arrests and detentions; and "massive violations of human rights".

0440 GMT: Egypt. After a day of drama and uncertainty in the counting of ballots, confirmation finally came last night that the Presidential run-off will be between the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsi, and Ahmed Shafiq, the Vice President in the last weeks of the Mubarak regime.

The outcome was filled with surprises. The Nasserite socialist Hamdeen Sabahi outperformed expectations, and at one point was a possibility for the run-off before falling short of Shafiq's second-place total. Former Brotherhood candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, expected to be a strong contender, trailed badly from the early stages of the count. So did former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, predicted by many to make the run-off and even lead the first-round tally.

0430 GMT: Syria. James Miller writes....

Friday's headline would have been the large, widespread protests held across the country, or the report that a Russian ship was destined for Tartus, stocked with weapons to bolster the Assad regime. But then the news emerged from Houla in Homs Province where several shells fell on a group of homes in a residential neighborhood, killing perhaps more than 50 people, among them 13 children.

The graphic video shows the bodies, the newest victims during the 15 months of the uprising. With another impressive show of protest strength, but after Assad's forces killed so many, not only in Houla but beyond --- activists claim 115 slain on Friday --- neither the crackdown nor the uprising show any sign of slowing.