Rallies in the Arab world continued Friday as protesters push for democracy and government supporters vow to die before wavering. Here is the latest round up.

For the most up-to-date news, visit the Star’s Arab World Today live blog.

Check out the social media reaction to what is happening in Libya on the Star’s Storify blog.

Also, read the Star’s story on how South Korea used helium balloons to send news updates about the protests to North Korea.

LIBYA

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Libya’s UN envoys who have denounced Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi urged the Security Council Friday to act quickly to help stop the bloodshed in the North African state.

“It is time for the Security Council to consider concrete action,” Ban told the 15-nation council, which gathered to receive a draft sanctions resolution against Libyan leaders. “The hours and the days ahead will be decisive for Libyans.”

Diplomats said a sanctions vote could come Saturday.

Earlier, Libyan Deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said the situation in Libya would get worse and more corpses would be piling up.

“We expect thousands to be killed today in Tripoli, so I call on all the international community to intervene now and to send a clear message to Colonel Gadhafi that he should stop the killing now,” he said.

Earlier, Dabbashi said Libya might soon halt oil exports. “The export of oil may be stopped soon for security reasons but anyway I think it is under good control of the people and it will not be harmed,” he told reporters.

Dabbashi said Gadhafi, who has controlled the country for 41 years, would not allow himself to be taken alive.

“This is a madman and he is psychologically not stable,” Dabbashi said. “He will stay until the moment he is either (killed) or he will commit suicide.”

The council met behind closed doors to consider a draft sanctions resolution, prepared by France and Britain in consultation with Germany and the United States that called for referring the violence in Libya to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for investigation and possible prosecution.

The six-page draft, obtained by Reuters, calls for an end to the violence and says “the widespread and systematic attacks currently taking place in Libya against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity.”

The 15-nation council has referred only one other case to the ICC — the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

The draft also calls for an arms embargo against Libya as well as travel bans and asset freezes for top Libyan leaders.

A vote on the draft resolution, which will be amended during closed-door negotiations, could come over the weekend, council diplomats said. The council will meet again on Libya Saturday at 11 a.m..

Brazil’s UN envoy and council president this month, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, said council members shared a “sense of urgency” about the need to act to halt the bloodshed.

“There is a possibility that we might come to a conclusion by tomorrow,” she said.

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said all council members, including Russia and China, supported most aspects of the text, although there would likely be questions about the ICC referral.

The timing of the vote will depend on how aggressively Russia and China—permanent veto-wielding council members that usually oppose sanctions—fight to dilute the proposed measures, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

Earlier this week, Dabbashi called on the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to protect rebel enclaves from forces loyal to Gaddafi. That proposal is not in the draft.

The U.S. has decided to move forward with unilateral sanctions against Libya. The sanctions will be coordinated with European allies.

As well, militias loyal to ruler Moammar Gadhafi open fire on thousands of protesters in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. One man says gunmen on rooftops and in the streets open fire with automatic weapons and even an anti-aircraft gun. Witnesses report at least four killed, while other say the toll is higher. In the evening, Gadhafi appears before a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters in Tripoli and urges them to fight protesters and “defend the nation.” Tripoli is the centre of the eroding territory that Gadhafi still controls. The uprising that began Feb. 15 has swept over nearly the entire eastern half of the country, breaking cities there out of his regime’s hold.

LIBYA – Gadhafi speaks

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has told a crowd of his supporters massed in a central Tripoli Square to fight back against protesters and “defend the nation.”

“We are ready to triumph over the enemy.”

Gadhafi, wearing a fur cap and sunglasses, spoke from the ramparts of the Red Castle, a historic fort, overlooking Green Square, where over 1,000 of his supporters were massed Friday evening, waving pictures of him and green flags.

Gadhafi, pumping his fist in the air, told the crowd to “retaliate against them, retaliate against them” and “prepare to defend the nation and defend the oil.”

LIBYA – Reaction

NATO: NATO may discuss deploying ships and surveillance aircraft to the Mediterranean as it holds an emergency meeting Friday on the violence in Libya, officials said.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the alliance does not intend to intervene in Libya, has received no requests to do so, and such an action would require a UN mandate.

United Nations: A no-fly zone may be imposed over Libya to protect civilians from attacks by government aircraft, the UN’s top human rights official said Wednesday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says if unconfirmed reports of aerial attacks against civilians turn out to be true, “I think there’s an immediate need for that level of protection.”

A Libyan envoy to the UN renounced links to the government of Gadhafi on Friday, telling the UN Human Rights Council that his entire delegation represented the “free will” of the Libyan people.

The UN’s top human rights official said Friday reports of mass killings of thousands in Libya should spur the international community to “step in vigorously” to end the crackdown against anti-government protesters in the North African country.

France: French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi had to leave but cautioned against military action in the North African state.

“Mr. Gadhafi must leave,” Sarkozy told a news conference with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.

“Regarding a military intervention . . . France would consider any initiative of this type with extreme caution and reserve,” he said.

At the same meeting, the entire Libyan mission in Geneva quit.

Libya’s ambassadors to France and to the UN cultural and education organization also resigned Friday, condemning police violence against protesters and joining a wave of others abandoning Gadhafi’s regime.

Protesters camped out in the Libyan Embassy in Paris overnight and replaced the flag with that of Libya’s old monarchy.

Spain: Spain says it will lower highway speed limits and cut train ticket prices in an emergency energy-saving initiative because of higher oil prices brought on by unrest in Libya.

Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba says Spain’s energy supply is not in danger despite shutdowns by oil companies operating in Libya, but the national energy bill will rise significantly because of sharply rising petroleum prices.

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U.S.: A U.S.-chartered ferry carrying hundreds of Americans and other evacuees has left Tripoli for Malta after being delayed for two days by high winds and choppy seas, CNN reported Friday.

In a news blog posted on the Internet, the U.S. cable television channel quoted a spokesman for the company operating the ferry as saying the vessel was bound for the island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

The ferry, carrying 285 evacuees including 167 U.S. citizens and 118 people of other nationalities, was originally scheduled to depart Tripoli on Wednesday.

Britain: Britain is pushing for United Nations measures against the Libyan government, including asset seizures, travel bans and sanctions, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday.

Cameron said he wanted to send a warning to Libyan authorities over “appalling and unacceptable” violence against protesters.

Greece: The bad weather forced Greece to suspend the evacuation of thousands of Chinese to the island of Crete on Friday.

China: Rough seas stranded thousands of Chinese workers hoping to be evacuated Friday from the chaos in Libya. About 6,000 Chinese nationals were expected at Cretan ports Saturday, according to local officials and tourism organizers

Italy: Two Italian military ships are off the Libyan coasts, near Misrata, but rough seas are preventing the evacuation of some 150 Italian workers.

IRAQ

Thousands march on government buildings and clash with security forces in cities across Iraq. Eleven people are killed in the largest and most violent anti-government protests in the country since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world. In the capital of Baghdad, demonstrators knock down blast walls and throw rocks. The protests are fueled by anger over corruption, chronic unemployment and shoddy

YEMEN

Tens of thousands rally in the main square in the capital of Sanaa in one of the largest gatherings since anti-government protests erupted earlier this month. A Muslim preacher urges protesters to keep marching until President Ali Abdullah Saleh has stepped down.

EGYPT

Tens of thousands jam Cairo’s main square. They are trying to keep up pressure on Egypt’s military rulers to carry out reforms and call for the dismissal of holdovers from the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Demonstrators say they are worried the army is not moving quickly enough on reforms, including repealing emergency laws and releasing political prisoners.

BAHRAIN

Tens of thousands fill the central square of Bahrain’s capital, Manama. Protesters have taken to the streets every day for the past two weeks, asking for sweeping political concessions from the ruling monarch. Security forces make no attempt to halt the marches.

Bahrain is the first Gulf state to be thrown into turmoil by the Arab world’s wave of change. The unrest is highly significant for Washington because Bahrain sits at the centre of its military framework in the region.

JORDAN

About 4,000 protesters rally in the capital, Amman, the largest crowd yet in two months of unrest. The leader of Jordan’s largest opposition group warns that patience is running out with what he called the government’s slow steps toward reform. King Abdullah II, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, has so far failed to quiet the calls for sweeping political change. The protesters want a bigger say in politics and for the prime minister to be chosen through elections, not by the king.

SAUDI ARABIA

About 300 Shiites protest against the Sunni-led government in a march in the east of the country. They disperse peacefully under the close watch of Saudi security forces. The kingdom had been largely quiet, and its ruler earlier this week promised a massive package of economic aid, including interest-free home loans, in hopes of forestalling unrest.

MAURITANIA

Dozens of Mauritanian students have used Facebook to organize a sit-in to demand the departure of the president and political reforms.

The students gathered Friday afternoon in the centre of the capital bearing placards such as “the people want regime change” and “our protest is peaceful.” They also burned pictures of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. No one was hurt in the protest.

TUNISIA

Thousands of people filled the streets of central Tunis on Friday shouting slogans and carrying placards in a “day of rage” against Muammar Gaddafi’s crackdown in neighbouring Libya.

The protesters shouted “Gaddafi out!” and a witness said the demonstrators had dubbed the demonstration – the biggest in the capital in almost a week – their “day of rage.”

Military helicopters circled overhead while security forces eyed the crowd, which formed in defiance of a government ban on demonstrations since Tunisia’s revolution toppled Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14.

With files from Reuters

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