The Free Syria Army, the loose coalition of armed rebels that has been hoping for Western help to fight the Assad regime, has rejected the agreement. Less than a week ago, the FSA believed that the Americans were about to launch a military attack, which it hoped would tip the balance of the war its way. Now, the FSA believes that the Americans have been sidetracked. Whether or not chemical weapons are destroyed is not the point. The FSA wants the Americans to destroy the regime's military power and the US agreement with Russia means the chances of that happening are receding.
Police in Iraq say a suicide bomber near the northern city of Mosul has killed more than 20 people at a funeral of a number of minority Shabak people. Here's Danny Eberhard.
It's not yet clear who carried out the attack or why. The Shabak are a separate ethnic community number in tens of thousands and have their own language, most of Shiah Muslims, and they have been targeted in the past by Sunnite extremists. Iraq has of late seen a wave of sectarian attacks. According to United Nations' figures, some 5,000 civilians have been killed there this year, the worst level of violence since 2008.
A Russian politician from President Putin's ruling party has sparked a storm of criticism after posting in apparently racist image of President Obama on Twitter. Irina Rodnina twitted a photo-collage showing an unidentified hand offering the US President a banana. The image evokes the brandishing of bananas at black players by Russian football fans.