• Barack Obama made the case for military action against Syria in a televised address from the White House. He delivered a strong condemnation of the use of chemical weapons against children outside Damascus on 21 August, and said that while the US could not be the "world's policeman", there were some occasions that demanded American action.

• But the president made it clear that strikes against the regime of Bashar al-Assad were not imminent. Obama said he had asked for the postponment of votes in Congress while diplomatic avenues were pursused. He has dispatched the secretary of state, John Kerry, to meet his Russian counterpart, to work through Moscow's proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control.

• For the first time, Obama said that the US would not take action until the United Nations inspectors have delivered their report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. It is not yet clear when that report will be delivered. Obama said that in the meantime, the US and its allies would pursue a binding resolution in the security council of the UN.

• The speech came at the end of a second day of accelerated diplomatic activity. A proposed new UN resolution ran into immediate complications.. An impromptu security council meeting called by Russia to discuss it was abruptly cancelled.