Image source, UNTV

"We are here to defend multilateral-ism!" 

"The UN charter must be respected", the Bolivian ambassador says angrily, holding up the actual charter booklet.

He adds that this is an "extremely, extremely serious violation of international law", adding that "this is the not the first time that this has happened", in a reference to the US invasion of Iraq.

According to Russian news agency  TASS, external , a ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet is en route through the Mediterranean to the Russian base in Tartus, Syria.

The ship, which is reportedly named The Admiral Grigorovich, is armed with cruise-missiles.

A source tells the Russian agency that it will remain in the area for more than a month.

Image source, AFP

The conflict in Syria is often referred to as a civil war, meaning a conflict between citizens of the same country.

It certainly started as an uprising of Syrian citizens.

But if you look at today's headlines, it's clear that what is happening today in Syria is far more complex.

Some of the most powerful countries in the world are involved. 

As are an alphabet soup of armed opposition groups, the Kurds and, of course, so-called Islamic State.

Read more .

In a statement about why he authorised the air strikes, President Trump explained:

"Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

He called President Assad a "dictator" who had "launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians" and called on "all civilised nations" to help end the conflict.

To understand events before the suspected chemical attack, this summary explains why there is a war in Syria., external

You can ask more questions here., external

As UN ambassadors entered the debate hall in New York, a few of them previewed their remarks to the BBC's Nada Tawfik.

A Syrian man who recently came to the US as a refugee has spoken to the BBC about the recent developments. 

Q. How do you feel about the situation? 

"I am very sad. I want peace in Syria, not war. I have family in Syria right now. My wife's family is in Syria now. They are in Damascus. They are very sad. They say the children cannot go to school because of the war. They also see children that have died. They want peace." 

Q. What are your thoughts on the suspected chemical weapons attack? 

 "We are being punished for the war. We want peace." 

Q. How? 

"I am Muslim but I love all religions. The Muslim ban is not a Muslim ban because it affects all religions. Christians, Yazidis, everyone. No one can enter. I wish peace for everyone." 

Q. Do you have family in Syria now? 

"Yes. My wife's family, my sister, and my father. They live in fear. It is intense. There should not be a war for a man and a child and women who are innocent. I hope peace will prevail throughout the world so our children will live in peace and have a better future." 

Q. Why did you leave Syria? 

"I left Syria because my house was destroyed and I was afraid for my children. Before the war we all lived in safety."

BBC Monitoring
News from around the globe

Russia has denied claims Sarin was present at Shayrat air base that was targeted in the US air strike.  

"The latest claims that chemical agent Sarin was kept at the targeted Syrian air base are groundless," Mikhail Ulyanov, who heads the Russian Foreign Ministry's nonproliferation department, said. 

"It's a clumsy attempt to somehow justify actions that contravene the basic norms of international law.

"As for allegations that Russia is supposedly covering up the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army in Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April this year, this is a shameless lie. In reality, we support a thorough investigation into this," he said, according to Russian news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS.

The US national security adviser, Herbert McMaster, told a news conference that "measures [had been] put in place to avoid hitting what we believe is a storage of sarin gas" at Shayrat. 

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, just released this statement:

"The United States, under the Trump administration, will play an emboldened leadership role worldwide; the days where our enemies don’t fear us and our allies don’t trust us are over.  

"The world is as dangerous now as at any time in my lifetime and the complex situation in Syria highlights that danger. These strikes underscore the requirement to immediately begin to repair the damage the Obama administration did by slashing military budgets and gutting military readiness, weakening the position of the US globally. 

"We must rebuild our military and national security so that we may achieve peace through strength. I applaud the president for his action.”

Asked by the press if the strikes are an indication that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go, Republican Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell said this:

"This strike was simply about 'do not use chemical weapons again'.

"I just can't imagine after all the butchering of his own people... that there can be any successful conclusion to this chaos with him still there."

Britain was in close contact with the US administration in the run-up to the air strike in Syria, the UK's Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said. 

Sir Michael said UK Prime Minister Theresa May had been "kept informed throughout" of the US plans.

But while Britain remains part of the US-led coalition that is attacking so-called Islamic State in Syria, he said there had been no request from Washington to join the strike on the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer just tweeted this image.

He added in a later tweet that the image was taken at 21:15edt/01:15gmt.

"Any military operation by a state on the territory of another without the consent of the other amounts to an international armed conflict," said ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet.

"So according to available information - the U.S. attack on Syrian military infrastructure – the situation amounts to an international armed conflict."

"Instead of the previously touted idea of a joint fight against the main enemy - the Islamic State - the Trump Administration has shown that it will carry out a fierce battle against the lawful government of Syria," Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Facebook.

The US strike was "on the verge of engaging in military encounters with Russia", he adds. 

Nikki Haley had this to say:

"This morning, Bolivia requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the events in Syria. It asked for the discussion to be held in closed session. 

"The United States, as president of the Council this month, decided the session would be held in the open. "Any country that chooses to defend the atrocities of the Syrian regime will have to do so in full public view, for all the world to hear."

It is "entirely unclear how air strikes will make civilians any safer", the chair of the United Nations Association UK, an independent policy authority on the UN, has said.

Writing in a blog post, external , Lord Wood of Anfield said: "Unilateral action without broad international backing through the UN, without a clear strategy for safeguarding civilians, and through military escalation, risks further deepening and exacerbating an already protracted and horrific conflict, leaving civilians at greater, not lesser, risk of atrocities." 

Image source, Fox

Senator Ted Cruz said on Friday that President Donald Trump needed to make the case to Congress and the American people before taking further military action in Syria.

The Texan Republican, and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Syria a "humanitarian disaster" and Syrian President Assad a "monster", but said future military responses should be directly tied to US national security interests.

"There are some folks in Congress that want to see us in protracted military involvement in Syria. I think that would be a mistake," Sen Cruz told Fox News.

"But it's the Commander-in-Chief's prerogative to defend this nation and Congress has the authority to make decisions about declarations of war."

I continue to follow the situation in Syria closely and with grave concern.

I was abhorred by the chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria, and the death and injury of many innocent civilians.

I have long stated that there needs to be accountability for such crimes, in line with existing international norms and Security Council resolutions.

I have been following reports of the air strikes against the Shayrat Airbase in Syria conducted by the United States.

Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people.

These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution. I call on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva talks.

A political solution also remains essential for progress in the fight against terrorism.

The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security. I call on the Council to unite and exercise that responsibility.

For too long, international law has been ignored in the Syrian conflict, and it is our shared duty to uphold international standards of humanity.  This is a prerequisite to ending the unrelenting suffering of the people of Syria.