Jonathan Rugman , Foreign Affairs Correspondent

President Trump has said transgender people cannot serve in “any capacity” in the military. Using, inevitably, Twitter, he said he’d been told by military experts that the measure launched by the Obama Administration caused “tremendous medical costs and disruption”.

“You’re probably right.” That’s the answer Donald Trump’s new communications chief gave when asked whether the President wants his Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. Such is the precariousness of Mr Sessions’ position tonight, with his boss tweeting about how weak he is. The White House dysfunction is distracting lawmakers from another crucial issue –…

“All of my actions were proper, I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so,” Jared Kushner has declared in a rare public statement at the White House within the last hour. Mr Kushner, who’s one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers as well as his…

Donald Trump has again had to defend his son Donald Junior. The US President was welcomed to France today by perhaps an unlikely ally in France’s new centrist president.

In Iraq, the second city, Mosul, has fallen, although there are still Islamic State forces in that country. So where are they and how strong are they?

Defeated in Mosul, driven back in Syria, the last few days have brought fresh hope that the Islamic State forces are now finally on the back foot.

The Syrian war has taken a dramatic new turn, and it could signal the end of the Islamic State’s grip on much of the country. Their capital of Raqqa has been under attack from both pro-democracy rebels, backed by America, and the Syrian Government, backed mainly by Russia and Iran. But if there was a…

“He attacks women because he fears women. The President is not of sound mind.” It isn’t often that two American TV hosts accuse a president of being mentally unstable. But then Mr Trump’s tweets about MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough crossed another line – even for him.  Critics say it’s just another example of…

Iraqi government forces have closed in on the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul’s old town, where the militant Islamic State group proclaimed its self-styled caliphate three years ago. It is the site of the historic hunchback minaret which was destroyed last week. Retaking the area represents a symbolic victory in the eight month battle for Iraq’s…

The White House has issued a very public threat to the Assad regime in Syria. The Trump administration says Syria’s Government appears to be preparing chemical weapons for an attack and warned it would pay a  “heavy price” if one takes place. A warning: this report contains disturbing images.    

The US Supreme Court has partially reinstated President Trump’s controversial travel ban in a decision the White House is calling a victory for national security.

Palmyra, Nimrud, Hatra – to historians, archaeologists and tourists from a different era these are the names of some the gems that have blessed civilisation before ending up under the sledgehammer of Isis.

The two men leading the Brexit negotiations have exchanged gifts and say they’ve made an encouraging start on the business of extricating Britain from the European Union. The Brexit Secretary, David Davis, and the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, held a full day of talks in Brussels – focusing first on the issues of the…

Allegations of links to Russia have dogged President Trump’s first few months in office – with the White House repeatedly denying any collusion with Moscow to influence last year’s presidential election.

ISIS claimed an attack at the heart of another capital today; Tehran. But the terror and tragedy so familiar elsewhere was a new horror for Iran.