Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Death of A Journalist

Marie Colvin, the journalist for The Sunday Times killed in Syria today, speaks to CNN on Tuesday about the death of a baby in Homs

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2015 GMT: In Idlib in Syria, a gunman fires in the direction of the cameraman who screams, "Damn it, that was right beneath me!":

Protesters at Aleppo University raise the Syrian "Flag of Independence" today:

1855 GMT: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "spoke out in favor of the quickest resolution of the crisis by the Syrian people themselves through exclusively peaceful means and without foreign intervention", according to the Kremlin.

The statement said the two leaders agreed that the situation in Syria was "dramatic" and required "constructive political dialogue between the authorities and the opposition without precondition....At the same time, the leaders noted the importance of pursuing steady political, social and economic reforms in a calm atmosphere and in the interest of all Syrians."

The Kremlin said Medvedev also spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

1655 GMT: Activists say that more than 80 people have been killed by security forces in Syria today, including more than 60 in the Baba Amr section of Homs.

Hours after two foreign journalists were killed and up to four others wounded in regime shelling of a media centre in Baba Amro, Syria's Ministry of Information said reporters inside the country should report to the Government: "The ministry asks all foreign journalists that have entered Syria illegally to go to the nearest centre for immigration and passports to resolve the situation according to the laws in force."

The Ministry denied that the media centre was targeted by the Syrian military and referred to the two slain journalists: "The ministry had no knowledge of the entrance of the American journalist Marie Colvin or the French photographer Remi Ochlik, or other foreign journalists to Syrian territory."

1645 GMT: Officials in Yemen say there was more than 60% turnout for Tuesday's Presidential vote.

Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was the only candidate endorsed by Parliament for the ballot.

Turnout was lower in the south, at 50%in Aden and between 30 to 40% across other southern regions, officials said. The separatist Southern Movement as well as Shi'a groups in the north boycotted the vote.

1535 GMT: A large and loud demonstration at Aleppo University in Syria's second city today:

Another clip, including protesters' rescue of a young man from seizure by security forces:

A protest in Kafar Shams in Daraa Province, in solidarity with the people of Baba Amr in Homs:

1432 GMT: Then there is Baba Amr. The bullets fly by, the machine gun echos, the rockets whistle, the shells explode. This was reportedly taken today:

1427 GMT: The narrative that is consistently lost among the violence is the strength of the peaceful protest movement in Syria. This first video comes from KaferHaya, Idlib, in memory of citizen journalist Rami al Sayed, and the second is at a funeral for a martyr, a Sheik, in Idlib.

1418 GMT: On most days there are reports of more defections from the Syrian army. Often videos like the one below are released, videos that show the formation of a new brigade. They are only snapshots, and it is hard to tell how large the defections are. The men in this video are, according to the video, defecting in Idlib:

1413 GMT: A home burns, reportedly after it was hit by a shell, in the Inshaat neighborhood of Homs today, north of Baba Amr:

1335 GMT: The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria reports that 27 people have died today, including foreign journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik and a Kurdish leader. Twenty of the deaths were in Homs, three in Hama, two in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province, and one each in Daraa and Aleppo.

Footage of the wounded from the Homs media centre shelling, including Paul Conroy of The Sunday Times, being treated in a field hospital.

1135 GMT: Despite the death of one of its members, Rami al-Sayed (see 0640 GMT), "Syria Pioneer" has resumed its filming from Baba Amr in Homs in Syria.

1115 GMT: The opposition Syrian National Council has asked for "international assistance to respond to facts on the ground, specifically humanitarian assistance and a safe haven inside Syria", while calling on Russia to force the regime to allow access for humanitarian convoys.

1055 GMT: An activist has told Al Jazeera Arabic that three journalists have been injured in the shelling of the media centre in Homs in Syria, including a critically-wounded female French journalist.

1035 GMT: I was struck yesterday that the death toll in Idlib Province in northwest Syria --- 55 dead --- was even higher than the casualties in Homs. This appears to be the answer: activists claim Syrian security forces killed at least 33 people on Tuesday during army raids on villages the province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, "The army stormed the village of Abdita and chased people in Iblin and Balshoon, they killed 33 people. All are civilians."

0959 GMT: An activist says that 11 people died in this morning's shelling of the media centre in Baba Amr in Homs in Syria.

Injured are still reportedly under the rubble but cannot be retried because of continued shelling.

Claimed footage of the shelled centre, including bodies --- the cameraman claims the dead are the journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik:

0940 GMT: It is reported that the journalists killed in Homs in Syria (see 0935 GMT) by a regime shelling of the media centre are French photojournalist Remi Ochlik of Paris Match and Marie Colvin, the US-born correspondent of The Sunday Times of London.

Yesterday Colvin spoke to the BBC, "I saw a baby die today", and on Sunday, Colvin and Paul Conroy posted a report, "The Terrible Price Paid by Homs":

They call it the widows' basement. Crammed amid makeshift beds and scattered belongings are frightened women and children trapped in the horror of Homs, the Syrian city shaken by two weeks of relentless bombardment.

Among the 300 huddling in this wood factory cellar in the besieged district of Baba Amr is 20-year-old Noor, who lost her husband and her home to the shells and rockets.

"Our house was hit by a rocket so 17 of us were staying in one room," she recalls as Mimi, her three-year-old daughter, and Mohamed, her five-year-old son, cling to her abaya.

"We had had nothing but sugar and water for two days and my husband went to try to find food." It was the last time she saw Maziad, 30, who had worked in a mobile phone repair shop. "He was torn to pieces by a mortar shell."

For Noor, it was a double tragedy. Adnan, her 27-year-old brother, was killed at Maziad's side.

Everyone in the cellar has a similar story of hardship or death.

0935 GMT: Two foreign journalists --- one an American woman, one French --- have been killed when a Syrian military's shell hit the media centre in the Baba Amr section of Homs this morning. The names of the dead are being withheld until their agencies are notified.

0903 GMT: In Saudi Arabia, Khaled Mohamed Al Jehani goes on trial today, charged with demonstrating and speaking to foreign media about subjects which harm the kingdom.

Al Jahani was arrested on 11 March 2011 when he answered calls on social media pages to protest in a "Day of Rage" in Riyadh. He found himself the only protester at Diwan Al Mathalem (Grievance Square) but, despite the security presence spoke to journalists: "I'm not scared....I will go in the jail with a big smile. When you do not have the right to speak, you are already in jail."

0855 GMT: A disturbing claim in the Christian Science Monitor about Syria:

From Peter Bouckaert, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, comes an indication why the death toll has been steadily climbing in Homs. He says a video from Homs that shows the fragments of a mortar the struck a building there is proof that Assad has deployed the Russian-made "Tulip" weapons system against the town, which fires the largest mortar round in any military's arsenal. The tank-like vehicle that serves as the firing platform can lob 240mm mortar rounds up to 20 kilometers away, and they carry over 70 pounds of explosives. The largest mortar used by the US, in contrast, is 160mm.

Syria has another Russian-made system for firing rounds that size, the towed M240, and it's possible that's being used to fire the rounds instead of the Tulip.

0830 GMT: The opposition Local Coordinating Committees of Syria says dozens in the Mezzeh section of Damascus have been affected by a "campaign of arrests and raids" this morning.

On Saturday, there was a dramatic display of resistance in Mezzeh, a well-off part of the capital, by tens of thousands at a funeral.

The LCCS also report raids this morning in Tafas in Daraa Province, Baqras in Deir Ez Zor Province, and the Jobar section of Damascus.

Claimed footage of the shelling of Baba Amr in Homs this morning, the 19th day of the regime's assault:

0640 GMT: Throughout the three weeks of the regime assault on the Syrian city of Homs, citizen journalists have tried to ensure that the world knew of the attack by setting up Live Streams. One of those services, whose feed we watched yesterday morning as another 45 people died in the city, was "Syria Pioneer".

Last night we learned that a member of "Syria Pioneer", Rami al-Sayed, was one of those 45 victims. He was killed when a shell hit the building from where he was filming. Struck by a fragment, he bled to death.

Dr Mohamed in Homs, Syria: "I announce the martyrdom of one of the best citizen journalists, Rami al-Sayed":