BBC News with David Austin
There's been a harsh exchange of words at the United Nations after Russia and China vetoed a resolution critical of Syria. The Americans said the two countries had (sold out) the Syrian people. The British said they'd turned their backs on the Arab world. The Russians in turn accused Western nations of pursuing regime change through the resolution they'd sponsored. Here's Barbara Plett in New York.
The vote was delayed by an hour or two as Russia tried to (win support for) amendments to the draft. The Russians were still (unhappy) with the Arab plan for a political transition which the resolution endorses. They said it imposes a solution on Syria. They also wanted language condemning the armed opposition as well as the Syrian army. This in particular was a step too far for Western diplomats on a day when Bashar al-Assad's forces are (accused of) killing scores of people.
There have been heavy casualties in a Syrian army attack against the city of Homs. More than 50 people have been documented as killed. Some reports said as many as 200 may have died. Activists and (rebel fighters) said the authorities had pounded parts of the city with mortars and tank fire. The Syrian government has dismissed the reports as fabricated. Paul Wood has just got into the city of Homs and sent this report.
I'm speaking to you from a rooftop in a suburb of Homs. And just within past couple of minutes, we've seen clashes on the horizon, and a cloud of smoke now hanging over another part of Homs, which seems to suggest that shelling of some description has resumed. As we came into the city earlier this afternoon, we heard of a lot of heavy machine gun fire, and there were a lot of unexplained explosions. Parts of Homs - those parts which oppose the regime - are now virtually cut off, and we have to come in using a very elaborate route escorted by activists who are bringing in medical supplies and bringing in fresh blood donated a few hours earlier in the villages around Homs.
More than 50,000 protesters opposed to the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have demonstrated in Moscow despite (bitterly cold) weather. They called for political reform. Supporters of the Russian leader held their own rally.
The former Cuban President Fidel Castro has made a rare (public appearance) to launch his memoirs called Guerrilla of Time. Fidel had not been seen in public since April last year. Vanessa Buschschluter has the details.
Wearing a tracksuit jacket and a checkered shirt, Fidel seemed animated and laughed as he reminisced about his early life. This first installment of his recollections runs to 1,000 pages in two volumes, but it only takes the story up to December 1958 - the (eve) of the revolution. The director of the Cuban Writers' Union, Miguel Barnet, said it made vivid reading. But like many storytellers, it seems the old revolutionary is saving the (real action) for later.
Vanessa Buschschluter reporting