An attempt by Russia to annul an expansion of benefits to United Nations employees who are spouses in same-sex marriages failed Tuesday in an 80-to-43 vote of the General Assembly committee responsible for the budget. The United States joined the effort to defeat a Russian proposal that would have invalidated the benefits expansion, which Secretary General Ban Ki-moon approved last July. Under the expansion, gay and lesbian employees are entitled to the same marriage benefits as heterosexual employees if they were wed in a jurisdiction that considers their union legal. Previously, gay and lesbian employees were granted benefits only if their home countries deemed such marriages legal.