Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: More of the "New Normal"

Protest last night in the Qosour section of Homs in Syria

---

1810 GMT: Earlier today we reported on the beating and abduction of Syria's leading political cartoonist Ali Farzat (see 1301 GMT) by pro-regime gunmen. A website features his work and latest news about him.

1805 GMT: Claimed video of Yemeni regime reinforcements heading towards the capital Sana'a from Hodeidah, but being blocked by opposition tribesmen:

1528 GMT: The latest reports from activists: In Al Rastan, Homs, bullets can be heard ringing out in this video. In Tal Kalakh, Homs, heavy security has been spotted on the streets. Elsewhere, on Dablan road, a large rally is being held:

1445 GMT: The Local Coordination Committees of Syria are claiming 12 people killed today by security forces: eight in Homs, two in the Midan section of Damascus, one in Hama, one in the Khan Shaikhoun section of Idlib in the northwest.

1430 GMT: Earlier in the Syrian crisis, we saw the opposition having a bit of fun with their powerful "tanks" made of cardboard and various tubes. In that vein, protesters show off their version of artillery shells:

1425 GMT: A demonstration after dawn prayers in Daraa in Syria:

<

1356 GMT: The video claims to show fresh damage to a home in a high-rise building in the Bab Dreib district of Homs, the result of Syrian tanks shelling the neighborhood:

1301 GMT: Syrian police and Shabiha have beaten a major cultural icon, Ali Ferzat, a world famous cartoonist, and left him bleeding by the side of the road. Ferzat had been creating cartoons that were growing increasingly critical of the Assad regime, but always stopped short of formerly supporting the protesters.

In the early hours of Thursday, masked men seized Ferzat on a Damascus street and forced him in to a van. He was held for several hours and beaten before being dumped, bleeding, on the capital's Airport Road where he was found by passersby, activists said.

On 13 July the actor May Skaf was among a group of public figures arrested after a demonstration in the Damascus area of Midan. They were later released.

"Ferzat's arrest is part of an intimidation campaign by security forces who have increasing leeway," Ammar Abdulhamid, a US-based dissident and son of the actor Mona Wasif said. "At this stage fame may be more of a danger than a protection because the regime does not want any prominent figure to come to the fore and provide a public face for the revolution."

Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, at his Damascus gallery. Photograph: Khaled Al Hariri/Reuters

1200 GMT: Syrian opposition figures who met in Istanbul this week to form a broad-based council said today that they needed more time to consult with activists inside Syria on its composition.

"We need two more weeks to coordinate with the opposition on the inside. All currents need to be represented," Adib al-Shishakly, whose grandfather was President of Syria in the 1950s.

Opposition figures held lengthy discussions in Istanbul this week to nominate a council that could help with a transition of power if President Assad were to be toppled. Most delegates have left but a core group remained to continue discussions with opposition figures inside Syria.

Attendees at the conference included Moulhem Droubi, a high-level member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood; Sheikh Muteih al-Butain, a leader of the street protests in Deraa that helped ignite the uprising; former political prisoner Khaled al-Haj Saleh; and writer Hazem Nahar, who was imprisoned during the uprising and managed to leave Syria.

1200 GMT: In a sign of tightening sanctions, Visa has withdrawn support for payments in Syria. Credit cards stopped working from Wednesday.

"Clients were sent SMS messages Tuesday evening informing them they could no longer use their Visa cards in Syria, or even abroad if it was issued in Syria," said Wissam Abu Ghazala, director of a branch of Lebanon's Byblos Bank in Damascus.

1125 GMT: Maan report three Palestinians were killed and more than 25 injured by multiple Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight.

The airstrikes and Gazan rockets on southern Israel began last week after an attack on an Israeli bus killed eight people, and they have continued despite the proclamation of a cease-fire this weekend. Israeli airstrikes have killed 19 Palestinians, 14 of whom were fighters, and more than 50 people have been wounded. More than 150 rockets and mortar shells on Israeli towns and cities in the south have killed one man and injured more than 20 people, one critically.

1035 GMT: Activists claim Syria's best-known satirical cartoonist was grabbed Thursday by gunmen in Damascus who beat him, then threw him out of a car.

The Local Coordination Committees asserted that masked members of the security force members and "shabiha" grabbed Ali Ferzat at the capital's Ummayad Square while he was returning home by car at 4:30 a.m. They stole his drawing and other belongings, and "he was beaten hard, notably on his hands".

Ferzat was reportedly found by passers-by on the road to the airport and taken to hospital.

Photos have been put on Facebook of Ferzat in hospital. The Guardian posts an article about the incident and Ferzat's work.

0545 GMT: The "new normal" of daily protests and confrontations continued last night across Syria. A series of videos posted on Wednesday's LiveBlog testify to the evening marches, with the most prominent rallies taking place in most of Homs, Syria's third-largest city.

The demonstrations took place in defiance of the heavy security presence. Activists claimed six people were shot dead on Wednesday in Homs, with four others injured at a rally in Damascus by gunfire.