Reporter Killed by Sniper in Syria During Live Broadcast

Damascus has been rocked by bombings for the past two days, with at least two large blasts hitting Syria's military headquarters there this morning. The Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the attack, said to be the largest since July explosions killed President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and other key aides; the BBC reports that Assad would have been able to hear today's explosions from his palace. Gunfire broke out afterward, and Maya Nasser, a TV correspondent for the Iranian Press TV, was shot dead by sniper fire during a live broadcast, report the New York Times and Press TV.

Other government facilities were hit by bombs yesterday, proving the opposition can still get past government security, but the regime is downplaying the scope of the attacks while the opposition says many of Assad's forces have been killed. In other news from Syria:

• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for international action at the General Assembly yesterday, calling the conflict "a regional calamity with global ramifications," the AP reports. Click for more from the General Assembly on Syria.
• Clashes have also been reported near Syria's border with Israel, leading the Israel Defense Forces to issue a statement declaring that "fire from Syria leaking into Israel will not be accepted."

(More Syria stories.)