Mark Memmott

"Syrian security forces fired tear gas on Friday to disperse a pro-democracy protest in the historic Midan district of Damascus," a witness tells Reuters.

And in the southern city of Daraa, several thousand people are demonstrating, Reuters says.

For about five weeks now, some Syrians have been taking to the streets to demand reforms and express opposition to the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has declared "the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas."

And in a proclamation issued today, Perry says "I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal and robust way of life."

President Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drone aircraft in the skies over Libya, The Associated Press reports, adding that Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the news at a Pentagon news conference.

Singing "we'll vote for you in 2012, yes that's true; look at the Republicans — what else can we do?" a small group of protesters interrupted President Obama's appearance at a San Francisco fundraiser today with a song that ended with the question "we paid our dues, where's our change?"

NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that "a few minutes into Mr. Obama's comments, a woman stood up and said, 'We wrote a song for you, Mr. President.' Then the table began to sing."

As they did, the group held up signs that said "Free Bradley Manning."

The pollsters at Gallup, who have lots of historical data to compare things to, report today that "Barack Obama averaged 46.7% job approval in his ninth quarter in office, slightly above his seventh- and eighth-quarter averages but still the third lowest of his presidency."

And, Gallup adds: