BBC News with Kathy Clugston

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has voted in a referendum on a new constitution which he says is designed to turn Syria into a

beacon

of democracy. Opposition groups have dismissed the vote as a sham. They said at least 30 people were killed on Sunday, many of them in the continuing onslaught on the central city of Homs. Jim Muir reports.

Voting seemed to go normally in Damascus and some other areas, and polling was even extended till late in the evening. But in some of the more troubled places like parts of Homs, there weren't even any polling stations. The Americans are among those who've

derided

the referendum, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted that there's no quick way forward in trying to boost the opposition and

oust

President Assad. As the conflict grinds on, Homs has again been the focus of much of the violence with the besieged rebel-held quarter of Baba Amr among several to be bombarded.

The central bank of Syria has urged Syrians holding foreign currency

in violation of

regulations to exchange the money within 30 days. Those who don't do so have been warned they'll face arrest, and the central bank has published

a list of

alleged violators on its website. The move comes as the Syrian financial system tries to

cope with

international economic sanctions.

Colombia's largest left-wing rebel group, the Farc, says it will free 10 members of the security forces it holds hostage and abandon kidnappings for