News brief: Big stories of the day

President Donald Trump's White House is mired in a perpetual "nervous breakdown" with staff battling to rein in the worst impulses of an angry, paranoid leader, according to an explosive new book by veteran reporter Bob Woodward.

Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews, the respected White House chronicler describes a coalition of like-minded aides plotting to prevent the US president from destroying the world trade system, undermining national security and sparking wars.

While Woodward's is not the first unflattering investigation into Trump's White House, it carries particular weight coming from the man who together with Carl Bernstein authored the Watergate expose that brought down Richard Nixon.

The armed forces and the Defence Ministry are steadfastly behind all officers who have conducted operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the north east, Army Chief Bipin Rawat said Tuesday.

His comments come against the backdrop of nearly 700 Army officers and soldiers approaching the Supreme Court against the alleged dilution of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, also known as AFSPA.

Sources said if the officials lose the case, it will be a major embarrassment.

As doctors expressed concern over the health of Hardik Patel, the Gujarat government stepped up its efforts to persuade the Patidar leader to end his indefinite hunger strike which entered the twelfth day on Wednesday.

Hardik had launched his fast on August 25 for demands, including farm loan waiver and reservation for the Patidar community under OBC category in government jobs and education sector.

US President Donald Trump wanted to have Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assassinated last year but his defence secretary ignored the request, according to a new book that depicts top Trump aides sometimes disregarding presidential orders to limit what they saw as damaging and dangerous behaviour.

Excerpts from the book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," written by famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward, were published by the Washington Post on Tuesday. The book, which is scheduled for release on Sept. 11, is the latest to detail tensions within the White House under Trump's 20-month-old presidency.

"It's just another bad book," Trump told the Daily Caller.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Pakistan today to meet the country's new leadership in Islamabad in a bid to reset the strained bilateral ties.

During the meeting, Pompeo is expected to press Pakistan to target all terror groups on its soil and play a positive role in war-torn Afghanistan.

Pompeo is arriving in Islamabad along with General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, days after the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Pakistan as it was not doing enough against terrorist groups inside its borders, the latest controversy to hit Islamabad's troubled relationship with Washington.