UN prepares for Syria vote

The UN General Assembly is preparing to denounce Syria for unleashing tanks, artillery, helicopters and warplanes on the people of Aleppo and Damascus, and demand that the Assad regime keep its chemical and biological weapons warehoused and under strict control.

But the vote, which takes place amid deadlock at the Security Council over the Syrian crisis, was overshadowed by the resignation of former UN chief Kofi Annan as the joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria after his peace proposals failed.