Syria's government passed a draft decree to lift the emergency law and a bill to dismantle the Supreme State Security Court on April 19. The government also approved a third bill to "regulate the right to peacefully protest." Syrians nonetheless took to the streets in large numbers again the next day in the central city of Homs, where activists say more than 20 protesters have been killed this week by soldiers and irregular forces. Demonstrations were also reported in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. (Reuters, CNN, April 20; AlJazeera, April 19)

Women protesters, many in full face veils, led protests against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh on April 17, in an angry show of defiance after he tried to win support from Islamists by attacking the "mixing of sexes" at demonstrations. Security forces fired on protesters in the capital, Sana'a, wounding at least 30. The next day, at least 45 were injured as security forces again opened fire and hurled tear gas at protesters in Yemen's Red Sea port al-Hudaydah. (VOA, April 18; The Telegraph, April 17)

Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who became the hero of the Egyptian revolution, spoke before an International Monetary Fund paenl in Washington DC on April 15, chiding the organization for its long support of strongman Hosni Mubarak. Billed as "Internet activist" in the roundtable discussion also featuring IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Ghonim said, "To me what was happening was a crime, not a mistake." He charged that international financial institutions and world "elites" were "partners in crime" in supporting Mubarak's regime. Wearing a wristband with the date Jan. 25, 2011—the day the protesters drove Mubarak from power—Ghonim said: "We wanted our dignity back." (Middle East Online, April 17)

At least seven people were killed overnight by Syrian security forces in the flashpoint town of Homs, rights activists said April 18. The previous day, in the nearby town of Talbisseh, at least four were killed and more than 50 wounded when security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for a demonstrator killed on Friday, witnesses said. In the country's major port, Latakia, around 10,000 people also took to the streets for the funeral of a protester killed on Friday, according to witnesses. Regime supporters are reported to have broken up two rallies in southern Syria.The protests followed a televised address April 16 by President Bashar al-Assad, promising to end emergency rule—in force since 1963 when the Ba'ath party took power—within a week. (Middle East Online, April 18)

Dozens were injured as ultra-conservative Salafist Muslims clashed with government supporters in Jordan's northern city of Zarqa on April 15. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds; six officers were stabbed and 34 others injured in the clashes, authorities said. Meanwhile, up to 1,000 people protested in the capital Amman, calling for political and economic reform. (BBC News, April 15) In neighboring Syria, police fired tear gas to disperse some 2,000 demonstrators at Jobar, north of Damascus, sparking hours of street clashes. (Ennahar Online, April 15)

The Syrian regime pledged to free scores of people detained in the recent wave of protests, excluding only those convicted of "criminal acts." Recently appointed Prime Minister Adel Safar also announced formation of a new government on April 14. Meanwhile, snipers shot dead a soldier and wounded another in Banias, state news agency SANA said, a day after a deal was struck for the army to restore order there.

At least seven people were killed, including four police officers who clashed with a dissident army unit, as hundreds of thousands of anti-regime protesters rallied across Yemen on April 13. The police apparently attacked an army checkpoint maintained by dissident troops in Amran province, The targeted army unit operates under the commander of northwest Yemen's military region, Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who has closed ranks with the protest movement and accused regime supporters of trying to assassinate him. In the southern the port city of Aden, soldiers shot dead two protesters and wounded nine others. The army apparently opened fire as protesters tried to set up roadblocks to enforce a general strike, which they have vowed to stage in Aden every Saturday and Wednesday until President Ali Abdullah Saleh's fall. Security officials said some of the protesters were armed, and included supporters of both the anti-Saleh parliamentary bloc, Common Forum, and the secessionist Southern Movement. (Middle East Online, April 13)

Security forces and pro-government gunmen killed four protesters April 10 in Syria's port city of Banias. The army had sealed off the city as hundreds of protesters gathered. State television reported that nine soldiers were killed in an ambush near the city. (AP, April 10) In Egypt, several hundred protesters staged an overnight vigil in Cairo's Tahrir Square in defiance of a military crackdown, and say they will not be moved. The protesters, who have barricaded the square with a burnt-out army truck, barbed wire and beams chanted against military chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who has headed the country since president Hosni Mubarak was ousted. One person was killed and several wounded the previous day when the army tried to clear the square, although the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the shooting was the work of pro-Mubarak provocateurs. (Middle East Online, CSM, April 10)