Paul Conroy

Two huge bomb blasts killed at least 27 people in Syria's capital, as special envoy Kofi Annan warned of regional fallout from the year-long bloodshed.

Syrian artillery on Sunday pounded the rebel city of Rastan, killing seven civilians, monitors said as the Red Cross delivered aid to refugees from the battered Homs quarter of Baba Amr but remained barred from the district itself.

Syrian artillery gunners turned their sights on the rebel city of Rastan, killing seven civilians, monitors said, as the Red Cross delivered aid Sunday to refugees from the battered Baba Amr quarter nearby.

Syrian artillery gunners pounded the mainly rebel-held city of Rastan on Sunday, monitors said, as the Red Cross began delivering aid to refugees from the battered Baba Amr district of nearby Homs.

The body of US journalist Marie Colvin, killed in Syria along with French photographer Remi Ochlik, is to be repatriated "as soon as possible" after arriving in Paris on Sunday, the US embassy said.

The body of US journalist Marie Colvin, killed in Syria along with French photographer Remi Ochlik, is to be repatriated "as soon as possible" after arriving in Paris on Sunday, the US embassy said.

Syrian forces pounded the city of Rastan with shells on Sunday after routing rebel fighters from nearby Homs, monitors said, as the Red Cross awaited the go-ahead to evacuate wounded from the battered region.

China called for an end to violence in Syria Sunday as the regime of Bashar al-Assad sparked international outrage by blocking aid from reaching the battered Baba Amr flashpoint in Homs city.

The bodies of two Western journalists killed in Syria were being returned to Paris overnight, France's ambassador to Damascus Eric Chevallier told AFP.

Syria faced harsh world condemnation on Saturday as it continued to block the Red Cross from delivering desperately needed aid to the vanquished rebel stronghold of Baba Amr in the city of Homs.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces pounded the battered city of Homs Saturday and blocked aid reaching civilians stranded for weeks without food and fuel in the former rebel stronghold, activists and aid workers said.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded parts of the shattered city of Homs anew on Saturday and blocked the first Red Cross aid meant for civilians stranded for weeks without food and fuel in the former rebel stronghold, activists and aid workers said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Saturday it was still negotiating with Syrian authorities who have denied its aid convoy access to the shattered Baba Amro district of Homs.

A photographer wounded in Homs said the bombardment of the besieged Syrian city amounted to a "medieval siege and slaughter," and he denounced the Damascus government as "murderers".

Fears grew of brutal reprisals by regime forces in the Baba Amr district of the battered Syrian city of Homs after a Red Cross relief mission to the vanquished rebel stronghold was blocked.

A British photographer wounded in Homs said the bombardment of the besieged Syrian city amounted to a "medieval siege and slaughter," and he denounced the Damascus government as "murderers".

The UN demanded Friday that Syria allow in humanitarian aid after a Red Cross relief mission to a vanquished rebel stronghold was blocked, as fears grew of brutal reprisals by regime forces.

A photographer wounded in Homs said Friday that the bombardment of the Syrian rebel city was "an indiscriminate massacre" and there were thousands of people there just "waiting to die".

Two French journalists evacuated from Syria's battered city Homs arrived Friday at a military airport near Paris after escaping the besieged protest hub where two of their colleagues were killed.

Known mostly for its international Internet campaigns and online petitions, global activist group Avaaz has taken on a more direct -- and riskier -- role with its support for the uprising in Syria.