Russia blocks UN condemnation of Syria raids

Russia has blocked a new UN resolution denouncing the Syrian government's air strikes on rebels in the city of Aleppo with missiles and barrel bombs that have killed more than 700 people.

The AP news agency on Thursday quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying that Russia introduced amendments that watered down the resolution, rendering it meaningless to the situation in Aleppo.
The UK-sponsored draft press statement would not have been enforceable but it could have been a building block toward a later resolution.
The UK could no longer support the draft language, which would have also condemned violence by all parties in the Syrian conflict.
Consensus agreement among the 15 Security Council members is required for adoption, so the draft was effectively killed.
Russia, Syria's key ally, halted a similar US-sponsored draft statement in December that singled out the Syrian government for condemnation.
Russia, joined by China, has also vetoed three Security Council resolutions that would have condemned the government of Bashar al-Assad and threatened it with sanctions.
More than 700 people were reportedly killed and another 3,000 injured in a government bombardment of Aleppo that began in December. Syrian authorities have said they are targeting rebels in the city.
More than 100,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes in Syria's nearly three-year civil war.