The United States is sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in a "clear and unmistakable" message to Iran, National Security Advisor John Bolton said Sunday.

The baby wait goes on for Meghan, Prince Harry and royal-watchers around the world.

Media and well-wishers were camped out in Windsor on Saturday — as they have been for days — awaiting the birth of the couple's first child.

The Trump administration ended a week of pointed but vague threats of a military response to the Venezuelan political crisis with a meeting at the Pentagon to consider its options, though there was still no sign any action was on the horizon.

Shortly after Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other senior officials reviewed options in light of a failed effort earlier this week by Venezuelan opposition leaders to fuel an uprising, President Donald Trump said he discussed the situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A charter plane carrying 143 people and traveling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway Friday night, though no critical injuries or deaths were reported, officials said.

A Boeing 737 arriving at Naval Air Station Jacksonville from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with 136 passengers and seven aircrew slid off the runway into the St. Johns River, a NAS Jacksonville news release said.

The Syrian government is scrambling to deal with its worst fuel crisis since the war began in 2011, aggravated by U.S. sanctions targeting oil shipments to Damascus.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday chaired a Cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail dedicated to resume discussions to approve the country's draft austerity budget.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria said Tuesday that he is "optimistic" an agreement can be reached on the long-sought formation of a committee to draft a new constitution for the war-torn country so it can meet this summer.

Geir Pederson told reporters after briefing the Security Council that he based his optimism on the "intensive" and "very good" dialogue he has had with the Syrian government and opposition — as well as "tangible progress," including on the committee's rules of procedure and composition.

Emperor Akihito began his abdication rituals at a Shinto shrine Tuesday morning as Japan embraces the end of his reign with reminiscence and hope for a new era.

Television images showed Akihito in a traditional robe entering the main Shrine of Kashikodokoro to report his retirement to the gods. The shine is where the goddess Amaterasu, said to be the direct ancestress of the imperial family, is enshrined. Only part of Akihito's shrine ritual was released to the public.

Beating Manchester City to the title might not be the only thing occupying the minds of Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane heading into the final two weeks of the Premier League season.

They are battling each other for the Golden Boot, too.

President Vladimir Putin says he's willing to share details with the United States about his summit on Thursday with Kim Jong Un, potentially raising Russia's influence in the stalemated issue of North Korean denuclearization.

The two leaders' first one-on-one did not indicate major changes in North Korea's position: Putin said Kim is willing to give up nuclear weapons, but only if he gets ironclad security guarantees.