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1950 GMT: Libya. Oman has granted the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s widow and her family asylum on humanitarian grounds, an official at the Foreign Ministry has said.

The move was co-ordinated with Libya and Algeria, where the Qaddafis had lived after the fall of the Libyan ruler, following a pledge by the family that they will not use Oman as a base for political or media activity.

The group --- Qaddafi’s widow Safiyyah Farkash, daughter Aisha and sons Mohammad and Hannibal, as well as their children --- has been living in Oman since October 2012, and their expenses are being covered entirely by the Omani Government.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A "Pretty Devastated" Section of Homs

2009 GMT: The UN/Arab League special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, has said that a political process, not a military one, is the only way to end the crisis in the country:

"I hope that no one is thinking very seriously of using force in this situation. I believe any further militarization will make this situation worse. We have to be careful that we don't introduce a medicine that's worse than the disease, and we don't have to go very far in the region to find an example of what I'm talking about," said Annan.

Compare these statements to those made by a high-ranking commander in the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al-Asaad, made earlier today:

"The Syrian people will not accept any form of dialogue with this criminal regime. The Syrian people want to bring this regime down and will never give it another chance."

1916 GMT: The shelling today in Al Rastan, Homs, might have been more intense than the initial reports suggested. Activists post this video, showing heavy damage in a single neighborhood:

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