2050 GMT: Video of security forces firing tear gas at Bahrain pro-democracy protesters:
1920 GMT: A BBC reporter describes the heavy security presence in Saudi Arabia today, deterring protesters:
I took a taxi from our hotel at midnight on Thursday to find police cars with their lights flashing parked at five-metre intervals along all the main streets in Riyadh.I was pulled over by the police for merely filming on my mobile phone.
On Friday, the city woke up to the sight of more police on the streets than people, and the atmosphere was tense.
The only notable demonstrations today were in Eastern Province, where the Shi'a minority have been protesting discrimination and detentions.
1915 GMT: Footage from Qatar on Thursday night of marchers chanting, "Peaceful! Peaceful!", as they are met by gunfire:
1820 GMT: Tens of thousands of protesters have been on streets across Yemen, rejecting President Ali Abdullah Saleh's offers of reform and demanding his resignation.
In the capital Sanaa, there were crowds across two kilometres (1.25 miles).
On Thursday, Saleh proposed a new constitution to be put to a referendum within the year and new electoral laws to ensure equal representation, but opposition figures rejected the offer as "too little, too late".
1810 GMT: Video of today's protests in Cairo --- Coptic Christians, after deadly clashes this week, in front of State TV and the "Day of National Unity" in Tahrir Square:
1800 GMT: Pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain today facing a wall of riot police:
1745 GMT: The Libyan regime has taken foreign press on an escorted tour of Zawiyah, which it took back from the opposition this week. About 100 foreign journalists witnessed a pro-regime rally in the main square, with demonstrators shouting, "I love Qaddafi, I love Qaddafi" in English.
1735 GMT: Pictures and video, claiming to be of pro-democracy demonstrators beaten in Bahrain by "thugs", are being disseminated. A photo which appears to be of security forces standing by as a man brandishes a sword:
Video of "thugs" throwing stones at the pro-democracy protest near the Royal Court:
1730 GMT: Thousands of protesters are reportedly in Tahrir Square in Cairo, defying and denouncing the efforts this week by "thugs" and the military to drive them out.
1720 GMT: Yemen's Parliamentary elections, scheduled for 27 April, have been delayed. President Saleh had to make the formal announcement by 10 March in order for electoral rolls to be checked.
1620 GMT: About 500 protesters demonstrated in al-Hofuf and Awamiya, in eastern Saudi Arabia today, calling for the release of prisoners held without charges. There was no gunfire or clashes with police, but at least 10 people were arrested.
Another 500 protesters protested in the town of Awamiya, near the Saudi Shia centre of Qatif on the Gulf coast.
Video of one of the demonstrations:
1615 GMT: In Iraq, a protester tried to set himself on fire in Sulaimaniya in Kurdistan, as demonstrators camped out on a square to call for the ousting of the regional administration.
The protester, who doused himself in kerosene, was rescued by other demonstrators and suffered no major injuries.
Protests were also held in several other Iraqi cities, but numbers were smaller than in previous weeks. There were no major clashes.
1600 GMT: Latest from Libya....
Confusion over the disputed cities of Zawiyah in the west and Ras Lanuf in north-central Libya, with both sides claiming control. Libyan state TV is currently showing images of what it says is a pro-Gaddafi rally being held in the centre of Zawiyah, 55 km (35 miles) west of Tripoli.
Meanwhile, a Libyan government official assigned to accompany foreign journalists said the presence of the media would incite violence in the Tajoura suburb of Tripoli: "If journalists go there they [the protesters] will make trouble. They will shout and throw some rocks if they see journalists. There is no protest there today. There are just guys throwing rocks."
Reuters reported, from a resident, that regime forces fired tear gas and shot in the air to intimidate about 300 people inside a mosque in Tajoura. A heavy security presence throughout the capital prevented gatherings.
Libyan state TV urged people in opposition-controlled east of Libya not to attend Friday Prayers in public places, as state officials "feared for their lives from mercenaries and criminal gangs". The call was ignored in Benghazi, where thousands turned out in a loud demonstration (see 1135 GMT).
1345 GMT: Saif Al Islam Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, has spoken to journalists and then addressed an audience in Tripoli. He claimed that there was "a military plot", involving terrorists released from Guantanamo Bay, who took over weapons depots in east Libya. He added claims such as the "lynching" of people, "killed by razors, with their eyes popped out", by the opposition in Zawiyah.
1300 GMT: Security sources have said four former leaders of the Ministry of Interior were arrested on Friday and charged with murdering peaceful protesters. They will be detained for 15 days.
The four suspects are former head of Cairo security, Ismail Al-Shair; former head of public security, Ali Fayid; former head of state security forces, Ahmed Ramzi; and former head of the Cairo State Security Investigative Unit, Hussein Abdul Rahman.
1235 GMT: Thousands of pro-democracy protesters are reportedly gathering in Aali in Bahrain, on their way to the Royal Court:
Earlier, the Associated Press reported:
Hundreds of pro-reform marchers --- some wearing white headbands as a symbol of their willingness to die --- stood just 500 metres from the wall of riot police with armoured vehicles and a hundreds-strong Sunni mob armed with street fight-style weapons.
1205 GMT: Saudi activists say that more than 200 Saudis are demonstrating in the eastern town of Hofuf.
Riot police in Kuwait have fired tear gas to disperse a group of protesters.
1135 GMT: Al Jazeera English is broadcasting the Friday Prayer rally in Benghazi is "Free Libya". The crowd is large and loud.
1030 GMT: An advertisement in Pakistan indicates that Bahraini authorities are recruiting more Pakistani soldiers, including "anti-riot instructors", for their security forces.
There has been widespread criticism of the Bahraini regime's reliance on foreigners for their security forces, especially after the killing of protesters in the pro-democracy demonstrations that began on 14 February.
0940 GMT: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has sent a delegation to Cairo in Egypt to attend an Arab League meeting on the Libyan crisis.
It is unclear whether the Libyan team, headed by Minister of Electricity Umran Abu-Kra'a, will be permitted to attend the meeting at the body's Cairo headquarters. The Arab League has suspended the Libyan regime in protest against Qaddafi’s handling of the uprising in his country.
0840 GMT: Libyan officials confirm that Journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad of The Guardian of London, reported missing earlier this week (see 0610 GMT), has been detained.
0625 GMT: Footage and the report of Al Jazeera English's Tony Birtley as regime forces took over Ras Lanuf in north-central Libya yesterday:
0615 GMT: The New York Times summarises the latest deliberations and declarations of NATO and the Obama Administration on Libya:
The White House announced a five-point program on Thursday of steps to isolate Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and ultimately drive him from power, all stopping well short of military action, but distanced itself from the assessment of the nation’s top intelligence chief, who said Thursday that “over the longer term” Colonel Qaddafi’s superior firepower “will prevail” over the opposition.The steps that the White House announced include a partial embrace of the opposition movement as well as threats to track and prosecute, in international courts, loyalists to Mr. Qaddafi who commit atrocities. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would meet with Libyan opposition leaders next week, and President Obama’s national security adviser made it clear that Washington was looking for ways to aid the Libyan leader’s opponents.
0610 GMT: The Committee to Protect Journalists lists seven journalists who are missing in Libya: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad of The Guardian> of London; local reporter Atef al-Atrash, who disappeared shortly after speaking on air on Al-Jazeera from Benghazi; Mohamed al-Sahim, a blogger and critical political writer; Mohamed al-Amin, a cartoonist; Idris al-Mismar, a writer and former editor-in-chief of Arajin, a monthly culture magazine; Salma al-Shaab, head of the Libyan Journalists Syndicate, and Suad al-Turabouls, a correspondent for the pro-government Al-Jamahiriya.
0530 GMT: The Associated Press reports that the Qaddafi regime sent a text message to residents in Tripoli warning Friday Priday Leaders against allowing protests after services today.
Miguel Marquez of American ABC News sent a late-night message, tweets: "Tripoli is REALLY quiet except for occasional single gunshots. Eerie."
0520 GMT: After days of intense attacks, the Qaddafi regime has finally secured advances in the west and north-centre of Libya, reclaiming Zawiyah, Bin Jawad, and Ras Lanuf.
Those victories need to be put into perspective. The regime had to use a lot of its advantage in heavy weaponry --- on air, land, and even the sea with the use of gunboats --- to take back a city and two towns it had lost the previous week. And on the diplomatic front, the opposition was achieving its own successes by getting recognition from governments such as France and Britain.
That opens the door to humanitarian aid, with even a cautious Washington making a commitment on Thursday. Whether military assistance or a no-fly zone follows is an open question.
The regime has averted the "endgame" that many, including me, had foreseen last week. That is a significant step, but it only opens up what may be a much longer conflict.
Beyond Libya, it is another Protest Friday. Special attention will be given to Saudi Arabia to see if a "Day of Rage" materialises, taking demonstrations beyond the east of the country, where up to four people were injured on Thursday.
But Egypt will be a must-watch as well. After deadly clashes and the break-up of protest in Tahrir Square, first by "thugs" and then by the military's intervention, demonstrators have called for another million-person show to demonstrate unity and to maintain pressure on the Supreme Military Council and Cabinet for respect of the demands for reform.
And that only leaves Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, and Tunisia to consider....