The Syrian Sawasya Organization for Human Rights said today that there have now been upwards of 500 fatalities since anti-regime demonstrations began six weeks ago. They added that Syrian authorities have arrested thousands of people, while hundreds of others are reported missing. Al-Jazeera reports that the Syrian youth opposition group has sent out a call on Facebook for new demonstrations to take place tomorrow on the “Friday of Rage” against Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Al-Alam reports that the Yemeni opposition has said they would not sign the GCC’s power-transfer deal if the regime continues to use violence against demonstrators. Twelve people were reportedly killed and over 130 injured when protestors in Sana'a were shot at while marching to the Saudi embassy to protest Riyadh’s interference in the Yemeni revolution.

Gaddafi forces continue to surround and shell the coastal city of Misurata, considered to be the most important opposition-controlled city in western Libya. Medical sources in the city said at least seven rebel fighters were killed at a checkpoint shelled by Gaddafi forces on the border with Tunisia. However, the BBC reports that opposition fighters in Ajdabiya say the city is now safe enough for residents to return.

Dubai TV reports from Jordan, where King Abdullah II has asked a committee to prepare a series of constitutional amendments in an attempt to placate the opposition with reforms. Observers believe that the formation of the committee proves that the Kingdom is serious about making real political reforms. The opposition blocs have welcomed the formation of the panel and described it as “a step in the right direction that will help move the wheel of political reforms forward.”

Tonight, New TV profiles Syrian writer and opposition figure Michel Kilo. Kilo joined the Communist Party as a youth, studied journalism in Cairo, sociology in Paris, and worked as a translator at the Ministry of Culture in Damascus. Today, he is the head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and is considered one of Syria’s leading opposition thinkers.