Some 2.000 women blocked the highway between Baniyas and Tartous in the  north of Syria on Wednesday to protest the arrests of their relatives.  

SYRIA -Dozens of people have been injured in clashes with security forces in the Syrian port of Baniyas, where 13 people were killed on Sunday, residents say. Troops locked down Baniyas and stormed the nearby village of Bayda, they said. Syrian human rights organizations said as many as 350 people had been arrested. One activist put the names of 111 people on Twitter. Also dozens of people had been injured and soldiers were preventing ambulances from getting into the town, residents said. Others said electricity had been cut, the majority of phone lines were down, and essential supplies like bread were in short supply.
 Human Rights Watch said a total of 28 people were killed on Friday when security forces fired on protesters in Deraa, Harasta and Douma, a suburb of Damascus. It also said hundreds of arrests have been taking place across Syria. Sofar about 200 people have died in weeks of protests against repression by President Bashar al-Assad's government.

YEMEN - Troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed with those supporting Gen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who has defected to the opposition.Two soldiers were killed. The clash happened on Wednesday morning at a checkpoint run by the first army division, which supports the opposition. The rival sides exchanged fire with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades after a car carrying pro-government security personnel reportedly refused to be searched.
In the southern city of Aden, soldiers opened fire as protesters threw stones and set up roadblocks to stop troops patrolling the streets.One person was killed and several others wounded, reports say.
More than 100 people have been killed since the start of the protests on 11 February. The protesters demand democratic and economic reforms, and legal action against Mr Saleh and his sons, who occupy key security and political posts. On Monday, opposition groups rejected outright a proposal by Gulf Arab countries for Mr Saleh to transfer power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Portraits of Ali Saqre were carried during his funeral

BAHRAIN  - Two Bahraini Shia activists who were detained after weeks of anti-government protests have died in police custody. Ali Issa Saqer, 31, died most probably after he was tortured, an observer of Human Rights Watch who saw the body testified. Another detainee, Zakaraya Rashed Hassan, 40, died of sickle cell disease, according to the Bahraini interior ministry. He was the second person that week that allegedly died of sickle cell anaemia. The families of the two dismissed these findings. 
Several Shia activists have complained of being tortured while in custody. More than 25 people died when the authorities used force to put down protests.Rights groups say the government has since detained more than 400 people - including human rights activists, doctors, bloggers and opposition supporters.