BBC Verify has now tracked 12 US ships in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, as well as the movements of large numbers of US aircraft to both European and Middle Eastern airbases.

In the latest directives, military separation boards have been ordered to find unfit and separate any transgender servicemember with a current or past documentation of gender dysphoria.

A dramatic new phase of President Donald Trump’s showdown with Venezuela started Saturday, when the United States launched a large-scale series of strikes – followed hours later by Trump’s announcement that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro had been captured by US forces, and removed from the country.