The United States on Friday ordered evacuation of non-emergency staff from Lebanon and Turkey amid an imminent military strike against Syria, as authorities did not rule out a similar drawdown from other diplomatic posts in the region.
Trump also warned Russia that it should "get ready" for missiles to be fired at its ally Syria, in response to an alleged chemical attack.
'The most striking thing about the US strike on Syria is its futility of purpose beyond a symbolic value to impress the domestic constituency that Trump is a forceful decision-maker,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that any military attack against his embattled regime would lead to a regional war, as United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he is confident of getting Congress' authorisation for military intervention in Syria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel was prepared for "every possible scenario" in Syria after the United States delayed a military strike in a surprise move that prompted some Israelis to question their main ally's resolve on Iran.
An announcement has barred the entry of journalists in the finance ministry.
In less than four hours after Trump gave the green signal, missiles were launched against the Syrian regime
Rajeev Srinivasan on why there is the strong possibility that this whole thing is an elaborate charade and how the mainstream might have just played into Trump's showman hands.
The US president puts Pyongyang back on list of state sponsors of terrorism for first time since 2008.
Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, met Queen Elizabeth II on Friday and spoke about the importance of education.
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In the global market, the US dollar rose against the basket currencies in early trade as US President Barack Obama called for diplomacy in dealing with alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria but kept open the possibility of military action against the Assad regime.
'There is no acceptable definition of what terrorism is and who a terrorist is.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the United States against any unilateral military stike on Syria, saying it would trigger a new wave of terrorism, result in the collapse of the United Nations and claim more innocent victims as the conflict could spread beyond Syria's borders.
India's entry into the MTCR comes days after it failed to get Nuclear Suppliers Group membership due to stiff opposition from China and a few other countries.
Blair, however, stopped short of a full apology for the war, saying, "I find it hard to apologise for removing Saddam. I think, even from today in 2015, it is better that he's not there than that he is there."=
North Korea considers Assad's Syria an ally, so it views Donald Trump's decision to strike Syria as a message to Pyongyang as well.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama will be held as per schedule on September 27 at the White House, despite the latter being busy due to the ongoing Syrian crisis.
Israel said it had conducted a joint missile test with the United States over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, hours after Russia's announcement of its detection of missile launches added to jitters about possible military action against the Syrian regime.
The US president said that the 'horrible' chemical attack, which has now claimed over 85 lives, has changed his attitude towards the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The websites of the New York Times, the Huffington Post and Twitter were hacked by a group known as the Syrian Electronic Army which posted messages supporting the embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
From the political maelstrom in Washington to the humanitarian disaster in Yemen to the deadly unrest along the Israel-Gaza border, photographers captured a world in turbulent transition.
'Today, when Kailash Satyarthi is being honoured with the most prestigious global award, reports appear to the effect that many millions of Indian children are in 'slavery'. This is hardly the reputation that India should have when we are basking in the glory of 'Mangalyan',' says T P Sreenivasan.
The biological weapons convention is a non-starter in spite of the efforts of many states in the world for the last five decades mainly because the US is not ready to accept the 'verification protocol' which could allow the formation of some official mechanism for inspections, says Ajay Lele.
Members of an alleged London cell of the Al Shabaab terrorist group, behind the recent shopping mall siege in Kenya, have secretly been stripped of British citizenship.
The Syria war resolution drafted by members of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee permits up to 60 days of military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime and does not permit any boots on the ground, Congressional aides said.
He asserted his force was as competent as the CBI to probe the Kathua rape and murder case.
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
The Left parties attacked the government's policies and said the country was heading towards an economic emergency.
'The use of nuclear/biological/chemical weapons by Islamic terrorists is just a matter of time.' 'It must be clearly understood what the world faces is a global level insurgency against the world order.' 'Terrorism is merely a tactic and Islamic State its most brutal face, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The domination of American foreign policy by the military poses some hidden dangers for us.' 'We must factor in that the Pakistani military and the US military have close ties going back three generations.' 'Pakistan will find sympathetic ears in the Pentagon against India as the bogey man.' 'This will be further milked to the maximum by raising the ante in Kashmir through its proxies,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale.
The ministries and departments, where bureaucrats are parked after being moved out of key positions, reflect the priorities of the government.
Six men are in the news, and in very different boats
United States President Barack Obama faced stiff resistance from the opposition Republican senators and skepticism from his own Democrats, forcing the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to postpone the vote on military intervention in Syria.
According to estimates, if the companies are not allowed to raise petrol rates at least Rs 5 a litre by the first fortnight of September, they might begin to suffer underrecoveries on this decontrolled auto fuel, too -- for the first time this financial year.
Every dollar increase in crude oil price will add Rs 4,000 crore to the overall underrecovery.
'With two nuclear neighbours, how likely is it for our armed forces to battle in a contaminated environment that could include nuclear, biological or chemical attacks by the adversary?' 'Are we prepared for the threat?' Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd) explains the meaning and significance of Operation Vijay Prahar.
'The world may be desirous of peace, but not Kim Jong-un.' 'Should we then accept the old adage that to maintain peace, we should be prepared for war?' asks Rajaram Panda.
'Why not ask for a change of leadership in Qatar, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia? Is there a constitution in Saudi Arabia? Are there elections in Saudi Arabia? Why no talk of democracy in these countries?' 'America said change the leader now, but is now ignoring the feelings of the Syrian moderate majority. Is that democracy,' asks H E Dr Riad Abbas, Syrian ambassador to India, in an interview to Cleo Paskal.
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