Homs remains under siege

Explosions ring out and smoke once more fills the sky in this amateur video footage purportedly shot in the Baba Amro district of Homs, Syria.

Reuters is unable to independently verify the content of the video, which was obtained from a social media website.

Activists say President Bashar al-Assad has also continued his crackdown in other opposition strongholds, with dozens of military roadblocks set up in Hama, and a series of arrests and raids in Deraa.

This man says it is the sixteenth day of bombardment in Baba Amro.

As the uprising against Assad's rule nears its first anniversary, tensions are rising on the international stage--China's main newspaper accused Western countries of stirring civil war, and two Iranian warships docked at a Syrian naval base.

Despite the continuing violence, Assad is forging ahead with plans to hold a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution that could lead to multi-party parliamentary elections within 90 days.

Nick Rowlands, Reuters.