Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The "New Normal"

1756 GMT: Semih Idiz offers an analysis on whether or not a visit by Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to Syria will be effective. His conclusion is that Turkey has little recourse, and Assad is likely trying to bide time for his reforms to kick in (and I would add, he is attempting to discourage the opposition by killing it, a tactic which seems to be failing thus far). However, Idiz offers this interesting paragraph, hinting that even Assad will find it difficult to change Syria:

Regardless of his talk about reforms, Assad is not in a position to allow this even if he wanted to, given the privileges the Alawite minority has secured for itself over the decades and which it is unlikely to give up without a fight. The question for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan then is what happens if Assad does not comply with Turkey’s demands.

1747 GMT: The international human rights organisation Avaaz is reporting that 2 people have been killed today in a renewed military campaign against the city of Hama, Syria.

1743 GMT: US President Barack Obama and Turkey Prime Minister Erdogan conferred today, over the phone, about the ongoing crisis in Syria:

The White House says that in a call Obama made to Erdogan Thursday, the pair agreed that the violence in Syria must stop and the demands of the Syrian people for a transition to democracy must be met. Obama and Erdogan agreed to consult closely in the coming days as the situation in Syria develops.

1709 GMT: The LCCS is reporting that 12 people have been killed today in Syria, 11 in Qussair, outside of Homs.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Raising Shoes to Assad

See Also Syria Video Special: The Destruction of Deir Ez Zor

Syria Video Analysis: Assessing Propaganda and "Truth" on Both Sides
Bahrain Video: How to Confuse Security Forces --- Use a Laser Pointer
Tuesday's Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Turmoil in the West, Turmoil in the East

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2030 GMT: Night videos from Syria are coming in --- some of them are too dark to feature, but they include a march in Talbiseh in the south sympathising with the victims of Homs and the burning of a picture of President Assad in Jableh on the coast.

Kafranbel in the northwest:

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Bahrain Video: How to Confuse Security Forces --- Use a Laser Pointer

From the town of Eker, a twist on the standard video of night-time skirmishes between protesters and security forces: a mischief-maker flashes a laser pointer on a wall, leading the officers to fire randomly into the night.

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "Come On, Bashar, Leave!"

2115 GMT: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has just given a televised speech in which he declared that the "bloodshed of innocents, which has nothing to do with morals nor religion, is not acceptable" in Syria and Saudi Arabia cannot accept what is happening in Syria: "There is no justification."

Abdullah continued, "We demand a stop to the killings and bloodshed. Stop killing and start reforms".

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its Ambassador from Damascus "for consultations".

2050 GMT: Douma outside Damascus tonight after Taraweeh prayers for Ramadan:

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Bahrain Documentary: "Shouting in the Dark" --- Story of an Uprising Suppressed (Al Jazeera English)

Al Jazeera English presents a documentary on the rise and fall of this spring's uprising in Bahrain: "This is the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs, forsaken by the West and forgotten by the world."

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Many Have Died in Hama?

Today was a hot Friday in Ramadan, a day where traditionally people of faith fast during the day, and stay home out of the sun. Instead, in Syria, possibly 125,000 protesters, or possibly more, took to the streets. They marched, chanted, and prayed for change in their country. Those hopes were met with bullets more often than they were not.

The list of casualties today is likely to be between 15-30, not counting what happens tonight, and what happened today in Hama. Since Ramadan began last weekend, approximately half of the casualties in most of Syria have occurred at night. Regardless, today, and tonight, the Syrians are sending a clear message that the old ways will never return, and Syria will never be the same.

Meanwhile, still very little news out of Hama, and all of it bad. The city is under attack by at least 250 tanks, and their food, medicine, communication, and water supplies have been cut off. The people of the fourth largest city in Syria, a city larger than Boston, have no water. Tomorrow's forecast - 100+ degrees Fahrenheit.

And Yemen is heating up, Egyptians are still struggling with the military, the Libyan rebels still fight Gaddafi, and Bahrainis still protest. Ramadan is going to be a long, ugly, and important month.

We close with this live feed from an incredible and festive Lattakia, on Syria's coast:

We will return tomorrow morning.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Can You "Disappear" All the Protesters?

2030 GMT: Big news from Libya tonight as the opposition National Transition Council has announced the death of its military commander, General Abdel Fattah Younes and two other officers.

The three men appear to have been slain by an assassination squad, possibly a "sleeper cell", in the opposition centre of Benghazi.

Earlier today the opposition had announced that Younes, the former Minister of Interior under Muammar Qaddafi, was going to be detained for questioning over his family's ties to the regime. Tonight the Council said Younes had been killed before he was interrogated.

The Council has announced three days of mourning for the slain commander.

1940 GMT: Back from a break to find claimed footage of a general strike today in Daraa in southern Syria:

And in Hama:

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "No Talks"

2119 GMT: We close the live-blog with news from Libya. Rebels launched a new military campaign in the west, near Nalut (noted earlier):

A rebel spokesman told Reuters that a small attack had been launched against pro-Gaddafi forces earlier on Wednesday, resulting in the destruction of three of their tanks. He said that Gaddafi's forces had fired Grad rockets, but that no casualties had been reported.

Meanwhile, the United states is reviewing a request from the National Transitional Council to open an embassy in Washington.

The rebels have been pledging to use Ramadan as an opportunity to refocus on toppling Gaddafi. The opposition in Syria and Bahrain, based on the spectacular video below, has similar ideas. Come back tomorrow and watch what happens, and thanks for reading ~ James Miller

2111 GMT: Night protests in Al Dair, Bahrain:

Night protests in Al Kawara, Bahrain:

Night protests in Qariya, Bahrain:

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Zombie March

2010 GMT: A protest tonight in Harasta outside Damascus, with chants, "Syria is ours, not for Assad´s family" and "Leave, Bashar".

And in Tal Kalakh in southern Syria:

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Bahrain Video: A Martyr's Sister v. Security Forces

Claimed footage of the sister of Ahmad Farhan, who was killed on 17 March, confronting security forces in Bahrain after they allegedly accosted her uncle. The clip ends with the officers firing warning rounds: