The newest World News: NEW: Regime forces pummel Hama and Homs on Tuesday, opposition activists say

Shelling of Syrian city intensifiesvar cnnWindowParams=window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video!="undefined"){if(cnnWindowParams.video){cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2012/04/23/damon-syria-un-monitoring.cnn','cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art' ,playerOverRide,T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick=function(){if ($$('.box-opened').length){$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val,'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2012/04/23/damon-syria-un-monitoring.cnn','cnnCVP1','640x384_start_art',playerOverRide,T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover=function(){$('cnnCVP2').className='cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout=function(){$('cnnCVP2').className='cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}NEW: Regime forces pummel Hama, Homs and Douma on Tuesday, opposition activists sayNEW: An opposition group says an intelligence officer is assassinated in DamascusThe U.S. announces new sanctions as the European Union bans some exports to SyriaU.N. official: Human rights violations are still perpetrated with impunityAre you there? Send us your images or video. Also, read this report in Arabic.

(CNN) -- International envoy Kofi Annan is expected to brief the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, as reports of carnage in Syria mount despite the council's agreement to boost the number of monitors there.

Regime forces pounded Homs and Hama on Tuesday, an opposition group said, just days after U.N. monitors left those cities. At least 50 of the 80 deaths across Syria on Monday took place in Hama, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria.

Farther south, tank artillery and mortar rounds rained on the city of Douma, near the capital of Damascus, said an opposition activist identified as Fateh for safety reasons.

Meanwhile, an intelligence officer was assassinated Tuesday morning in Damascus, said the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Only a handful of U.N. observers are in Syria, but the Security Council recently authorized sending up to 300 monitors for 90 days.

"It is our hope that the deployment of observers will help to stop the killing and consolidate the calm," said B. Lynn Pascoe, U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs. "The objective, however, is clearly not to freeze the situation but to create the conditions for a serious and credible political process."

The monitors are tasked with observing a cease-fire imposed on April 12. The cease-fire is part of a six-point peace plan laid out by Annan and accepted by the Syrian government.

But the cessation of armed violence in Syria remains "incomplete," and human rights violations are still perpetrated with impunity, Pascoe told the Security Council on Monday.

International leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, are ratcheting up pressure on the Syrian regime.

"I have signed and executive order that authorizes new sanctions against the Syrian government and Iran and those who abet them for using technologies to monitor and track target citizens for violence," Obama said Monday. "... It's one more step that we can take toward the day that we know will come -- the end of the Assad regime."

In addition, European Union foreign ministers agreed to ban the export of goods and technology that might be used by Damascus to produce chemical or biological weapons.

The EU also agreed to ban export of luxury goods to Syria, according to a statement Monday by British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

"Despite the urgent need for Assad to end the violence immediately, he and his close supporters continue to lead comfortable lives," Hague said.

Though they agreed to beef up the observer mission, Russia and China, two permanent countries on the 15-member Security Council, have vetoed attempts to take tougher action against the Syrian regime.

U.N. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin defended his country's position.

"As a matter of principle, we believe that the U.N. Security Council is not about regime change," Churkin told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday. "We believe that ... if there is crisis in a country, the role of the international community should be to help the parties involved to find a political, peaceful way out of this crisis.

"And when we saw some of the resolutions -- which included sanctions -- we knew that those were resolutions which were heading in the direction of regime change by force, which would, in turn, lead only to much more bloodshed in Syria."

The Annan peace plan calls for the government and the opposition to end the violence, provide access for humanitarian groups, release detainees and start a political dialogue.

Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, expressed doubt that al-Assad's regime would follow through with Annan's plan.

"The regime's long track record is one of dependable deceit and deception," she said. "We will work to ensure there will be consequences should the Syrian regime continue to ignore this council's decisions, press ahead with its murderous rampage and flout the will of the international community."

On Saturday, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said security forces will exercise the "utmost degree of restraint" but remain prepared to defend their national interests against terrorists.

Syria has consistently blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the violence wracking the country. Citing an unnamed source, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported Tuesday that a terrorist group killed Lt. Col. Said Assi in the Daraa countryside. SANA did not say when the death occurred.

Reports of bloodshed dropped immediately after after the cease-fire deadline of April 12, but opposition activists have reported hundreds of deaths since then.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths, as the government has restricted access by international media.

Syria has been engulfed in violence since March 2011, when the government started started cracking down on demonstrators who were peacefully protesting the regime of al-Assad. The president's family has ruled Syria for 42 years.

The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have died since the protests began, while activist groups put the death toll at more than 11,000. Rice put the total at 10,000.

CNN's Amir Ahmed, Joe Vaccarello, Saad Abedine, Holly Yan and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.

April 4, 2012 -- Updated 1541 GMT (2341 HKT)

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria recently determined that the fighting in Syria is not an "armed conflict" -- the legal term for war.

Fareed Zakaria argues the Syrian regime is not fundamentally interested in dialogue with the political oppositionMarch 27, 2012 -- Updated 1415 GMT (2215 HKT)

Syrian dissidents and world leaders have dreamed of one outcome in the Syrian crisis: President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.April 2, 2012 -- Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT)

Paul Conroy, a photographer who was wounded in an attack in Syria which killed fellow journalists, says the world can't forget the other missing.March 26, 2012 -- Updated 1327 GMT (2127 HKT)

Members of Bashar al-Assad's family are believed to wield a powerful influence on issues facing the country.March 16, 2012 -- Updated 0235 GMT (1035 HKT)

One long, brutal year has passed since the Syrian people launched their revolution. Since then, the regime has killed at least 8,000 people.March 16, 2012 -- Updated 0112 GMT (0912 HKT)

Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 when President Bashar al-Assad's government cracked down on protesters. What will happen next?March 14, 2012 -- Updated 2130 GMT (0530 HKT) A Syrian military tank takes position in the city of Homs on August 30, 2011 (file photo).