Family's plea for Syria press photographer Paul Conroy
Activists in Syria have said as many as 45 people have been killed in fresh violence, on the day the country voted on a new constitution.
The poll was promised by President Assad in response to the uprising against him, but turnout in the capital Damascus has reportedly been low.
Meanwhile the family of Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy, who was injured by shelling which killed his colleague, Marie Colvin, in Syria on Wednesday, is calling for him to be brought home.
The BBC's Paul Wood reports from Beirut.
26 Feb 2012