BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

The United States has reacted sceptically to Syria's acceptance of the peace plan put forward by the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Damascus would be judged by its actions, not its words.

"Given Assad's history of over-promising and under-delivering, that commitment must now be matched by immediate actions. We will judge Assad's

sincerity

and seriousness by what he does, not by what he says."

Mrs Clinton said Syria must immediately silence its guns, allow humanitarian aid in and start preparing for a democratic

transition

. Meanwhile, the United Nations has increased its estimate for the number of people killed in the past year of unrest in Syria to more than 9,000.

As Pope Benedict continues his visit to Cuba, a senior minister has

dismissed

any prospect of political reforms in the socialist country. Marino Murillo, who's in charge of economic affairs, said that government reforms were intended to update its economic model to make Cuban socialism sustainable.

French judges are reported to have requested an international

arrest warrant

for the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea over allegations that he's misappropriated his country's funds to support a

lavish

lifestyle in France. Christian Fraser is in Paris.

Teodoro Obiang is

accustomed t

o the good life. He's often photographed enjoying an extravagant lifestyle complete with million-dollar homes and luxurious yachts. The billboards in his home, capital of Malabo, show him at work and in touch with the people, but diplomats are familiar with a very different playboy lifestyle. French judges who've been handling this case since 2010 allege the properties he bought here in France were purchased with public money stolen from Equatorial Guinea. As part of the investigation, French police