As the crisis in Syria reached new levels of urgency Friday, the United Nations Security Council met to work up a resolution pressuring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The U.N. group faced a formidable challenge, however, from a prominent and permanent member, according to the BBC.

BBC:

Activists and the Arab League urged the UN to take stronger action after a surge in violence this week in which dozens of people have died.

The UK, France and Germany drafted a resolution with Arab states, supporting the League’s call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to a deputy.

Russia, an ally of Mr Assad, has said it will not back the text.

[…] The UN meeting comes amid a spike in violence across Syria, with activists reporting 135 people killed in the past two days.

Gen Mustafa al-Dabi, head of the Arab League’s monitoring mission, said violence had soared “in a significant way” in recent days.

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