Security forces opened fire as thousands took to Syria's streets for Friday protests to demand the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad June 24. Activists told AlJazeera at least 15 people were killed and many more injured in demonstrations following evening prayers. People were just emerging from Ibn Affan Mosque in the Damascus suburb of al-Qusweh, chanting for Assad's overthrow, when security forces opened fire without warning, killing six people and wounding 15, according to Mohammed Suliman. He said that ambulances took the wounded to the headquarters of the military secret service, rather than the hospital. "We don't regard the president as legitimate," said Suliman, rejecting a speech made by Assad five days earlier in which he announced a general amnesty for those involved in protests "His speech didn't make any sense. He gave his speech on Monday and today we witnessed many killed - the only speech now that will make any sense is his resignation speech." (AlJazeera, June 24)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on June 23 condemned a Bahraini court for sentencing 21 human rights advocates, political activists and opposition leaders to harsh punishments. The court sentenced the protestors to lengthy prison sentences, including life terms. Ban urged Bahraini authorities to comply with international human rights obligations such as ensuring the right to due process and a fair trial and permitting the defendants to appeal their sentences. A spokesperson for the secretary-general relayed Ban's sentiments about how Bahraini authorities should proceed:

Security forces shot dead at least 16 protesters at Friday demonstrations at several points across Syria on June 17, activists told wire services by telephone. The deaths included the first protester to be killed in Syria's second city, the commercial hub of Aleppo, the Local Coordination Committees said in a statement. Four people were killed in the northern flashpoint city of Homs, at least one in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, two in Dael in the southern province of Daraa, and one in the Damascus suburb of Douma, the activists said. (Reuters, AFP, June 17)

Moussa al-Dalah, a 35-year-old tribal leader from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, knew it would be a risky step to try and take his employer to court over alleged discrimination: He could easily end up in prison. "I had to tell the employer that the Bedouins won't be able to accept humiliation forever," al-Dalah told IRIN. "He used to give factory workers from other parts of Egypt higher salaries and better treatment."

The US is building a secret airbase "somewhere in the Middle East" from which the CIA can launch drone attacks against terrorist elements in Yemen, the AP reports, calling the move "a hedge against the danger that today’s friendly government could crumble and force America to continue its fight from outside." The US effort against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen is being jointly run by the CIA and the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command. JSOC forces have been allowed by Yemen's government to conduct "limited strikes" there (some of which have apparently taken a grave civilian toll) since 2009 . The account states: “The Associated Press has withheld the exact location at the request of U.S. officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because portions of the military and CIA missions in Yemen are classified.” (Fox News, DoD Buzz, June 15)

Nearly 3,000 have crossed the border from Syria into Turkey in recent days as the Syrian army has moved to put down an uprising in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur. The government alleges 120 of its soldiers were killed in the town last weekend, and it has since been flooded with 5,000 troops, backed up with several tanks. Large tent villages have been set up by refugees across the Turkish border. Meanwhile, Friday protests were held in over 50 cities and towns across the country June 10, according to a count by the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an umbrella opposition organization. In Deraa, security forces fired on protesters, wounding at least eight people, while in the town of Busra al-Harir government forces killed two protesters. (Foreign Policy, The Telegraph, June 10)

Rival rallies were held in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Friday June 10, as supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh gathered by the thousands just a few kilometers away from each other. Loyalists converged at Sabbeen Square to celebrate the news that Yemen's president was out of intensive care in Riyadh after treatment for bomb blast wounds. Opponents demanding that Saleh turn power over to a civilian transitional council simultaneoulsy converged on University Square—the symbolic heart of the protest movement, which has been renamed "Change Square" by the demonstrators who amass there each Friday. (Middle East Online, AlJazeera, RFE/RL, June 10) The previous day, fighting between Saleh-loyalist troops and tribesmen who have thrown in their lot with the protest movement in the southern city of Taez left seven dead. (Middle East Online, June 9) In Washington meanwhile, CIA director Leon Panetta said that the US has not halted cooperation with the embattled Yemeni regime. "While obviously it's a scary and uncertain situation, with regards to counterterrorism we're still very much continuing our operations," Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Middle East Online, June 10)

Deadly repression is unabated in Syria, where security forces killed at least 70 demonstrators during Friday protests on June 3, according to activists' accounts. This was one of the highest single-day death tolls in the course of the uprising, and some activists said the day's final toll could be 100. Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least 60 people were killed in Hama, where President Bashir al-Assad's father Hafez crushed an armed revolt 29 years ago by killing up to 30,000 people and razing parts of the city. (Reuters, June 4)