BBC News with Iain Purdon
There's been another
onslaught
by the Syrian army on the city of Homs with hundreds of shells and mortars fired into populated areas. Paul Wood, a BBC correspondent who's in Homs, says residents are calling it the worst bombardment">bombardment since the uprising began almost a year ago. He sent us this report.
Mortars and artillery shells fell
steadily
. Each blast echoed around the narrow streets. People said it was the worst attack this part of Homs had seen since the start of the uprising. But casualties were relatively light as everyone knew to stay off the streets. Syrian state television denied there had been any
bombardment
. There is no doubt, however, from what we have seen and heard that hundreds of shells and mortar bombs have been fired at this place during the day.
The two main Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed that the Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas will head an interim government to organise elections in the West Bank and Gaza. Fatah has controlled the West Bank while Hamas has run Gaza since they
fell out
in 2007. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that President Abbas would be abandoning the way of peace if he implemented the deal. Israel
sees Hamas as
a terrorist organisation.
A British court has granted bail to a radical Muslim cleric alleged to have been a leading al-Qaeda figure in Europe. Last month, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Abu Qatada should not be