Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Violence Continues Through the Night...

In Bayada, Homs, protesters run through the trash to escape sniper fire.

See also Friday 23 December LiveBlog: Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Damascus Bombs
Bahrain Special: Last Night It Rained Tear Gas

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1710 GMT: The "Strike of Dignity", shutting down shops and schools in support of protests against the regime, continues across Syria. Footage from Kisweh outside Damascus:

1635 GMT: Upsetting scenes continue to unfold across the Middle East today, whilst the suffering wrought by yesterdays events comes to us through videos and reports. None of this violence has stopped the spirit of protest, with demonstrations taking place in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and beyond.

Bahrain. Disturbing footage emerges from Sitra. A protester who was reportedly shot during Friday's demonstrations is shown in hospital with what appears to be chemical burns to his feet, revealing his skin peeling back. This is the second such report we have seen. Another protester was photographed with burns to his face following what activists describe as an attack by police with a "" target="_blank">chemical powder".

In Syria, Alexander Page posts shares an upsetting video of a 16 year old girl, Rema Al Mahamid, killed in last nights military attack on Homs.

Page reports that "massive demonstrations" are currently taking place in Saideh Zainab, Damascus.

Finally, in Yemen, disturbing scenes and reports continue to emerge from the apparent military against marchers on the Life March as they arrived at Sana'a.

This video shows a man who has been shot in the neck by regime forces. Warning: graphic content.

1535 GMT: An Egyptian election official has said the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party have led the balloting in the second round of Parliamentary elections.

The FJP claimed more than 4 million votes, while the Salafist Noor Party won more than 3 million. The secular Egyptian bloc had 785,000 votes.

The FJP and Noor gathered more than 60% of the votes in the first round.

1515 GMT: A photograph of the funeral today for some of the 44 victims of Friday's two bombs in Damascus (see 1135 GMT):

1505 GMT: Claimed footage of the attack by regime forces on protesters as the 250-kilometre Life March reached the Yemeni capital Sana'a (see 1435 GMT):

Footage from the field hospital:

1455 GMT: A large demonstration during a funeral march for a man killed on Friday in the Damascus suburb of Douma:

1445 GMT: Activists are claiming that thousands of Syrian regime troops have ringed the Bab Amro section of Homs and threatening to overrun the area after bombarding it. Claimed footage of the military assault:

Tanks on the streets:

1435 GMT: In Yemen, thousands of marchers who walked 250 kilometres (about 155 miles) from Taiz have arrived in the capital Sana'a.

As the march concluded, forces loyal to President Saleh fired in the air to stop tens of thousands of protesters, demanding that he face trial, approaching the Presidential compound.

The demonstrators chanted "No to immunity" and "For shame, the blood of the martyrs has been sold for dollars," referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered deal under which Saleh agreed to transfer power.

Pro-Saleh troops also used tear gas in an attempt to turn back protesters in the Sabaeen district of the capital, witnesses said. Marchers retreated and headed towards Change Square, the rallying point for the protests which began in January.

One protester said, "Everyone here is screaming, blood and tear gas (is) everywhere. Saleh's forces are shooting with snipers. They are blocking streets and attacking women, tearing their hijabs. It's a war zone out here, smoke is everywhere. Soldiers also have batons."

1415 GMT: Women march as part of a protest in Malkya in Bahrain today:

1355 GMT: A Bahraini policeman hurls a Molotov cocktail at demonstrators:in Sitra:

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Footage of police and protesters throwing stones at each other:

1335 GMT: The President of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, has called on Arab leaders to “interfere in order to halt the massacres committed against the [unarmed] Syrian people", saying, “These carnages need to come to a stop in any way.”

An Arab League mission of observers arrived in Syria on Thursday, but the visit was overshadowed by the deaths of scores of civilians and defecting soldiers and then by Friday's bombs in Damascus.

The SNC leader called on the Arab observers to enter the Baba Amro neighborhood in Homs “where the [Syrian] regime has kicked off an escalating and unprecedented attack against the area, taking an advantage of darkness at night".

Ghalioun also called on the UN Security Council to resolve the Syrian situation and “not to give the [Syrian] regime additional opportunities to prolong the suffering", as well as demanding the referral of “[Syrian] officials to the International Criminal Court.”

1245 GMT: The supposed claim of responsibility by Syria's Muslim Brotherhood has now been decisively exposed as a fake. The false "Brotherhood" website, set up by an Assad loyalist, was registered on 30 November 2011.

AFP, which broke the story of the Brotherhood's alleged claim, has now issued a Kill notice on its report. Sky News also ran the faked claim as real.

1135 GMT: Thousands of Syrians have turned out for funerals of 44 people killed in two bombings on Friday in Damascus.

Mourners at the 8th-century Omayyad Mosque chanted, "Martyr after martyr, we want nobody but (President) Assad."

Meanwhile, a curious episode as international media carried a supposed claim by Syria's Muslim Brotherhood that it carried out the twin attacks. The Brotherhood denied the statement, and an activist reports that the Brotherhood's official website has been cloned by regime loyalists.

1105 GMT: In Bahrain, people have been praying on the ruins of mosques demolished by the regime. This photograph is from a service at Alkuwaikbat Mosque in Tubli, near the headquarters of the Al Wefaq opposition society, attacked by riot police on Friday:

1100 GMT: Claimed footage of a protest in Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia on Friday, with marchers chanting slogans against the regime:

0720 GMT: Dramatic images from yesterday's clashes in Bahrain --- protesters throw an incendiary device at police in Aldaih:

A policeman points a gun at photojournalist Mazen Mahdi:

0350 GMT: While we wait for sunrise in Syria, this video is a chilling reminder that Friday was a deadly day. Several people can be seen walking down the street. The gunfire rings out, and one falls to the ground, perhaps dead. The videographer says that this is Douma, an important suburb of Damascus:

0342 GMT: After the news of the attack on Homs, very little information has come out of the city. We will have to wait until dawn to find out how much damage was done, and whether there will be a permanent occupation of Baba Amr. In the meantime, however, Homs is not the only city that has been attacked tonight.

This video reportedly shows the scene in Nawa, Daraa:

And this was reportedly the scene in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib province:

It is unclear whether these last two videos represent firefights between the Syrian army (pro-regime) and the Free Syrian Army (opposition), or some other form of violence, but it has been a long night for many people in Syria.

0116 GMT: A car burns tonight in the Khalidiha district of Homs, after the Syrian army has reportedly launched shells and missiles into the city and has deployed troops in Baba Amr:

0031 GMT: It's highly unusual that we'd start another liveblog at this hour, especially on a Friday, but things appear to have taken a turn for the worse in Syria.

Just as we were closing our last liveblog, we received messages from activists who report that a serious military attack on the city of Homs has begun. The neighborhood of Baba Amr, perhaps the hardest hit neighborhood of all of Arab Spring, is now under military occupation.

Activist Alexander Page has just got off the phone with a source in Homs, and he began this report:

BREAKING: electricity out all over #BabaAmro of #Homs thousands of regime forces now polarizing the area [with] missiles

Men from #Homs #BabaAmro saying: "we are humans, you have to help us, the amy are attacking us with full force please dont sit & watch

BREAKING: #BabaAmro is now under full scale military attack, electricity & communications r out 1000s more soldiers have been deployed #Homs

According to a source who spoke with Page, the men were in tears. In 9 months of conflict, and several months of daily attack, they have never been this nervous.

The LCCS has also covered the attack against Baba Amr:

Homs: Security forces are shelling the neighborhood of Baba Amr with heavy weapons and carrying out an arrest campaign, arresting about 100 young men. The area has been surrounded by about 4000 security forces in full gear

EA's gut reaction is that this intensification, at night, on a Friday night, on a holiday weekend, is a clear way of the Syrian forces to escape the news cycle. After all, activists have been reporting this possibility for months.

We ended yesterday's LiveBlog with the picture of 9 caskets in Baba Amr. Tomorrow, a Saturday, Christmas Eve, could be greeted with the news of even more deaths in Homs.