Violence has continued in Syria despite the presence of the Arab League monitoring mission in the country. Activists said more than 10 people were killed in the anti-government flashpoints of Homs, Deraa and Idlib. A video posted on the internet showed a crowd of angry mourners around the body of a small boy in Homs, as the BBC's Jim Muir reports.

The video posted on the internet by activists shows a crowd of angry mourners gathering around the bonnet of a white vehicle, which has the insignia of the Arab League emblazoned on it and appears to belong to the observers. They lay the lifeless body of a small boy on the bonnet. Activists say the violence has continued despite the presence of the observers. But despite the reservations of many activists about the Arab mission, and some glitches on the ground, the observers do seem to have got through, unaccompanied by Syrian official security escorts, to some of the worst-affected quarters of Homs.

The United States has said it won't tolerate any disruption by Iran of international shippings through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf. On Tuesday, the Iranian vice president threatened to close the strait if western nations were to put an embargo on Iranian oil. From Washington, Jonny Dymond.

The Pentagon described the raising of the temperature on tensions in the Gulf as unhelpful. Its response to the Iranian threat was measured but clear: any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz through which around a third of the world's tanker traffic flows would not, the Pentagon said, be tolerated. But it also said that it was aware that the Iranian navy exercised on a regular basis. Iran is in the midst of such an exercise close to the strait. And the Pentagon said that no aggressive or hostile action had been reported towards US vessels.