Syria unrest: 'Last push' by Assad regime?

Scores of people have been killed in Syria during a second day of heavy bloodshed in various towns and cities, opposition activists say.

The claims have not been independently verified, as foreign media are banned from reporting in Syria, but the UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed across Syria since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March.

The BBC's Jim Muir says that it appears to be a "last push" by a regime "trying to clear up some unfinished business" ahead of the expected deployment of Arab League observers.

League officials have said that the first monitors could be in the country as early as Thursday.