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.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last month.
Afghan foreign minister Rabbani said Afghanistan and Pakistan can work on the issue of the trust deficit.
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.
A round-up of our favourite photographs from the week gone by.
The United States has carried out airstrikes against Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants in Somalia and is now assessing the results of its "operation" against the hardline militia, the White House said.
Islamist militants earlier asked a ransom of over USD 132 million from US journalist James Foley's family and employer but made no demands in their last message before brutally beheading him on camera, according to media reports.
Indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began in Cairo on Monday to find a long-term solution to the conflict in Gaza that has killed over 2,000 people as an Egyptian-brokered 72-hour ceasefire took hold in the Hamas-ruled territory.
Voicing concern over the deteriorating situation in Iraq, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he looked forward to his summit meeting with US President Barack Obama to discuss how India and the US can build a partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the world.
The air strike was launched after the Russian forces in Syria received intelligence that a meeting of Islamic State leaders was being planned, the defence ministry said.
'Let me stick my neck out and say that Tamil Nadu will keep alive its reputation for landslide election verdicts, with the DMK front winning at least 30 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats going to the polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Nearly 200 fighters at an Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent terror training camp in the Af-Pak border region were killed in a recent attack by the US and Afghan commandos.
At least five Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza on Saturday as the war entered its 47th day following the collapse of a fragile truce, even as Israel's hawkish foreign minister said that the offensive would continue until "Hamas waves the white flag".
Jordan's King Abdullah offers his condolences to the pilot's family
Militants from groups affiliated with once feared Al Qaeda network are abandoning their outfits to join the dreaded Islamist State that has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and been targeted in American airstrikes, according to a report.
The pre-dawn operation, described as "non-military" and "preemptive" struck a five-star resort style camp on a hilltop forest and caught the terrorists in their sleep.
Amid Russia's escalating military activities in Syria, the White House has warned it not to interfere in the United States-led international efforts to destroy the Islamic State in the strife-torn region.
The deadly American air strike on a hospital in northern Afghan city of Kunduz that killed 22 people, including women and children, was a mistake, a top US commander in Afghanistan on Tuesday said as he conceded that they were taken by surprise by the recent Taliban upsurge.
In view of the worsening situation in Yemen's capital Sana'a, India has shifted its embassy to Djibouti, adjoining the war-torn country, after the "successful" conclusion of the process to evacuate its nationals, government informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described Trump as a "talented and outstanding man".
Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, killed in a United States airstrike in Balochistan, was a frequent flyer and used a Pakistani passport for over nine years
Bloodbath in Gaza continued unabated on Sunday with Israeli jets pounding the coastal strip, even as the fragile peace process got a new lease of life with Palestinian negotiators saying they have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour truce with Israel.
Israel on Monday pressed on with its heavy bombardment of Gaza and foiled major infiltration attempts by Hamas on the 14th day of the conflict that has killed 558 Palestinians and 27 Israelis, even as the United Nations and the United States called for an "immediate ceasefire".
Israel on Sunday pressed on with its lethal ground offensive and intensive airstrikes across Gaza, killing 46 Palestinians including children in one of the bloodiest days of fighting as the death toll rose to 342 with the United Nations chief set to visit the region.
Israel on Saturday carried out fresh attacks on southern Gaza Strip amid a hunt for one of its missing soldiers believed to be captured by Hamas, as the new wave of violence has raised the Palestinians toll to 1,650.
A Russian civilian Airbus plane carrying 224 people, mostly tourists, crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday with most of those on board feared dead as the jet's wreckage was found in a mountainous area.
United States President Barack Obama has chosen retired Marine Corps General John Allen, who earlier served as the commander of the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan, to head the America-led global coalition against the dreaded terror group Islamic State, earlier know as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
Akayed Ullah had no criminal record back home, a police official said, even as Dhaka vowed "zero tolerance" against terrorism.
'There seem to be no reason why Assad should have launched such an attack when he was gaining acceptability,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The highly anticipated matchup between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump finally happened, and it didn't disappoint. Here are all the highlights from the first presidential debate.
Bradley Manning, the United States army soldier who leaked a massive trove of secret US government files to WikiLeaks, was on Tuesday acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy but was convicted of several counts of espionage.
Indian diplomatic sources said that India abstained from voting on the resolution in line with its traditional approach that it does not mix humanitarian issues with political issues.
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.
Uproar was witnessed on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha as several parties got together to demand a resolution to condemn Israeli raids in Gaza Strip but the government did not oblige.
'Under the present Defence Procurement Procedure, it would have been a nightmare, and a long, long one at that, to build 108 Rafales in India. Modi realised this and took the wise decision, though it is a definitive setback for his Make in India scheme.'
We bring you some of the memorable quotes from the speech as he called for united action against violent extremism:
What it's like to be inside the USS Theodore Roosevelt
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
Israeli troops backed by tanks and drones on Thursday continued to pound Gaza in its operation against Hamas, defying mounting calls for restraint and a United Nations vote to investigate the deadly offensive that has killed 720 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.
For the family and supporters of blogger Avijit Roy, who was hacked to death in Dhaka in February, it is a time to reflect on where Bangladesh is heading, says Indrani Roy.
