Trump Bannon row: Book publication brought forward to Friday

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff was due out on Tuesday but Mr Wolff says it will now be available for purchase on Friday.

Mr Trump's lawyers said the book contained numerous false statements.

The book cites former top aide Steve Bannon as describing a meeting with a group of Russians as "treasonous".

It also portrays Mr Trump as being surprised at winning the presidency.

The White House has disputed the book's accuracy. Mr Trump earlier said Mr Bannon - who was sacked in August - had "lost his mind" after losing his White House position.

Among a number of explosive statements, Mr Bannon reportedly said, referring to a Trump Tower meeting between top campaign officials and Russia: "They're going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV."

The meeting, which involved Mr Trump's eldest child Donald Trump Jr, is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of his inquiry into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russia to win the election.

Mr Trump strongly denies any collusion took place.

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On his Breitbart radio show on Wednesday, Mr Bannon responded to the president's criticism by saying he was a "great man" and that he supported him "day in and day out".

After the president met Republican senators in the Oval Office to discuss immigration on Thursday, a reporter asked Mr Trump if his former strategist had betrayed him. He responded: "I don't know, he called me a great man last night so he obviously changed his tune pretty quick."

Mr Bannon has also been criticised by another former associate, Republican party donor Rebekah Mercer - who has also invested in Breitbart, where Mr Bannon is chairman.

"I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected," Ms Mercer told the Washington Post.

"My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements."

What did Mr Trump's lawyers argue?

The legal notice, which has been published by the Washington Post, demanded that author Michael Wolff and the book's publisher "immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the book".

It accused Wolff of making "numerous false and/or baseless statements" about Mr Trump and said lawyers were considering pursuing libel charges.

The attorney who wrote the letter is Charles J Harder. He also sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mr Bannon on Wednesday, saying he had violated a non-disclosure agreement.

Wolff's book makes many claims, including that:

• The Trump team was shocked and horrified by his election win
• His wife, Melania, was in tears of sadness on election night
• Mr Trump was angry that A-list stars had snubbed his inauguration
• The new president "found the White House to be vexing and even a little scary"
• His daughter, Ivanka, had a plan with her husband, Jared Kushner, that she would be "the first woman president"
• Ivanka Trump mocked her dad's "comb-over" hairstyle and "often described the mechanics behind it to friends"

The book is reportedly based on more than 200 interviews but some of the book's excerpts have already been criticised and questioned.

Still, even if only half of what the book contains is true, it paints a damning portrait of a paranoid president and a chaotic White House, BBC North America editor Jon Sopel says.

You can't buy this kind of publicity

By the BBC's Anthony Zurcher in Washington

Donald Trump might want to familiarise himself with the so-called Streisand Effect. The lesson, most prominently learned by singer Barbra Streisand when she tried to quash photographs of her home that appeared on an obscure website, is that the more you fight against undesirable news, the more you call attention to it.

Thanks to his lawyer's "cease and desist" letter, Mr Trump is giving Michael Wolff and his explosive book the kind of massive publicity boost money alone can't buy.

The highly critical allegations are leading every news programme and newspaper front page (and burying the latest round of glowing US economic news that might otherwise garner attention).

Threatening lawsuits is a common tactic for Mr Trump, dating back to his days as a New York real estate mogul. Very seldom does he follow up with actual court action. In this case, such a move would be particularly risky.

To meet the "actual malice" requirement of US libel law, the president would open himself up to investigation from opposing lawyers seeking to prove that Wolff's allegations had substance - or, at the very least - that he had reason to believe they did.

How has the Trump administration defended itself?

"Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency," Mr Trump said in a statement on Wednesday.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed the book as a "trashy tabloid fiction" that she said was "filled with false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no access or influence with the White House".

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A spokesperson for Melania Trump said the First Lady had encouraged her husband's presidential bid. "She was confident he would win and was very happy when he did," she said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the White House said it was banning personal devices, including mobile phones, from the West Wing, citing security concerns.

In researching the book, Wolff said he had been able to take up "something like a semi-permanent seat on a couch in the West Wing" following the president's inauguration.

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Damian Green sacked after 'misleading statements' on porn claims

He was "asked to quit" after he was found to have made "inaccurate and misleading" statements about what he knew about claims pornography was found on his office computer in 2008.

He also apologised for making writer Kate Maltby feel uncomfortable in 2015.

Laura Kuenssberg said the PM "had little choice but to ask him to go".

The BBC's political editor said the departure of a close friend left Mrs May a "lonelier figure".

Mr Green, 61, who as first secretary of state was effectively the PM's deputy, is the third cabinet minister to resign in the space of two months, Michael Fallon and Priti Patel having both quit in November.

In her written response, Mrs May expressed "deep regret" at Mr Green's departure but said his actions "fell short" of the conduct expected of a cabinet minister.

He had been under investigation regarding allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards journalist and Tory activist Ms Maltby. He denied suggestions that he made unwanted advances towards her in 2015.

He also denied that he had either downloaded or viewed pornography on a computer removed from his Commons office in 2008.

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In November, Mr Green denied claims that pornography had been found on a computer in his office nine years ago describing them as "political smears".

Later that month he said that no allegations about this had been put to him.

An official report by the Cabinet Office found that the statements he made were "inaccurate and misleading" and constituted a breach of the ministerial code.

The report also found that although there were "competing and contradictory accounts of what were private meetings" between himself and Ms Maltby, the investigation found her account "to be plausible".

Her parents, Colin and Victoria Maltby, said in a statement they were not surprised to find that the inquiry found Mr Green to have been "untruthful as a minister, nor that they found our daughter to be a plausible witness".

They praised their 31-year-old daughter for her courage in speaking out about the "abuse of authority".

Ms Maltby is not commenting on Mr Green's resignation until she receives more details from the Cabinet Office.

In his resignation letter, Mr Green said statements he made about what he knew about the pornography could have been "clearer", conceding that his lawyers had been informed by lawyers for the Met Police about their initial discovery in 2008 and the police had also raised the matter within him in a phone call in 2013.

"I apologise that my statements were misleading on this point," he said.

Analysis by the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg

Damian Green has never been a politician with a huge public persona, or even a hugely well-known character.

But he was an extremely important ally of Theresa May. Not just a political friend but a genuine one, close to her for decades.

The government, so the joke in Westminster goes, has become "weak and stable", with number 10 taking back some control of the agenda in recent weeks.

So it is not likely that Mr Green's exit will suddenly unleash another bout of turmoil.

But the prime minister clearly took this decision very seriously.

She is a politician who guards her views, her own persona very closely. To lose one of the few who understood her, who she trusts, leaves her a lonelier figure.

In her reply, the PM said while the report had found his conduct to have been "professional and proper" in general, it was right that he had apologised for making Ms Maltby "feel uncomfortable".

And addressing the breaches of the ministerial code, she added: "While I can understand the considerable distress caused to you by some of the allegations made in the past few weeks, I know that you share my commitment to maintaining the high standards that the public demands of ministers of the crown.

"It is therefore with deep regret that I asked you to resign from the government and have accepted your resignation."

Mr Green's political future has been in question since Ms Maltby claimed in an article in the Times that the minister "fleetingly" touched her knee in a pub in 2015 and in 2016 sent her a "suggestive" text message which left her feeling "awkward, embarrassed and professionally compromised".

Mr Green, who is an acquaintance of the journalist's parents, said the claims were "hurtful" and "completely false".

But they were referred for investigation by top civil servant Sue Gray - who is examining other claims that emerged during a swirl of allegations about harassment and other misconduct at Westminster.

The inquiry was subsequently expanded to consider claims that legal pornography was found on a computer removed from Mr Green's office in the House of Commons in 2008.

It was one of a number of possessions seized by the police during a controversial inquiry into the leaking of official documents by a civil servant to Mr Green, at the time a shadow Home Office minister under David Cameron.

Mrs May, who has known Mr Green since they were contemporaries at Oxford, brought him into the cabinet after she became PM in 2016 and promoted him to first secretary of state in July.

Since then, he has played a substantial role behind the scenes chairing key cabinet committees and has also deputised for Mrs May at Prime Minister's Questions.

It is not clear who will replace him in those roles but unconfirmed reports have suggested there will be no announcement until the New Year, with Parliament due to go on recess on Thursday.

[BBC SOURCES]

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Putin announces Russian troop withdrawal from Syria during visit

President Vladimir Putin ordered the partial withdrawal during an unannounced visit to Syria on Monday.

Russian support has been crucial in turning the tide of Syria's civil war in favour of government forces, led by president Bashar al-Assad.

Mr Putin made a similar withdrawal announcement last year, but Russian military operations continued.

When asked how long it would take for Russia to withdraw its military contingent, Mr Shoigu said that this would "depend on the situation" in Syria.

The Russian president was met by Mr al-Assad at the Russian Hmeimim airbase near Latakia.

Mr Putin said: "I order the defence minister and the chief of the general staff to start withdrawing the Russian group of troops to their permanent bases," according to the Russian RIA Novosti news agency.

"I have taken a decision: a significant part of the Russian troop contingent located in Syria is returning home to Russia," he added.

Syria campaign boosts Russian influence

By Steve Rosenberg, BBC Moscow correspondent

Less than a week after announcing he will stand for re-election, Vladimir Putin flies to Syria and declares victory. Coincidence? Probably not.

Signalling the end of Russia's military operation in Syria will go down well with Russian voters.

Electoral concerns apart, Moscow views its two-year campaign in Syria as a success - and not only in terms of fighting international terrorism.

The Russians have succeeded in keeping a key ally, President Assad, in power. In the process, Russia has been guaranteed a long-term military presence in Syria, with its two bases Hmeimim and Tartus. Moscow has also raised its profile across the Middle East.

Then there's the global stage. The operation in Syria prevented Moscow's international isolation.

Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 had sparked Western sanctions and earned the country, in the eyes of some Western governments, the label "pariah state". The Syria operation forced Western leaders to sit down and negotiate with Russia's leadership.

Mr Putin said that if "terrorists raise their heads again", Russia would "carry out such strikes on them which they have never seen".

"We will never forget the victims and losses suffered in the fight against terror both here in Syria and also in Russia," he said.

He told President Assad that Russia wanted to work with Iran, the government's other key ally, and Turkey, which backs the opposition, to help bring peace to Syria.

Last week, Mr Putin announced the "total rout" of jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State (IS) along the Euphrates river valley in eastern Syria.

Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015 with the aim of "stabilising" Mr Assad's government after a series of defeats.

Officials in Moscow stressed that it would target only "terrorists", but activists said its strikes mainly hit mainstream rebel fighters and civilians.

The campaign has allowed pro-government forces to break the deadlock on several key battlefronts, most notably in Aleppo.

The Syrian and Russian air forces carried out daily air strikes on the rebel-held east of the city before it fell in December 2016, killing hundreds of people and destroying hospitals, schools and markets, according to UN human rights investigators.

Moscow has consistently denied that its air strikes have caused any civilian deaths.

However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that Russian air strikes had killed 6,328 civilians, including 1,537 children.

The UK-based monitoring group has documented the deaths of 346,612 people in total since the start of the uprising against Mr Assad in 2011.

[BBC SOURCES]

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Boris Johnson set for talks in Iran

The UK foreign secretary will call for the release of the British-Iranian woman, along with other dual nationals.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five-year sentence over allegations of spying, which she denies.

Mr Johnson's first trip to Iran comes amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

As well as the dual national cases, Mr Johnson will discuss British concerns over Iranian involvement in conflicts in the region, especially in Syria and Yemen.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins said Mr Johnson's trip to Tehran - only the third made by a UK foreign secretary since 2003 - could "hardly be more sensitive".

He added that the foreign secretary had been careful to lower any expectations of imminent release for Mrs Zagahari-Ratcliffe, warning that such cases are very difficult.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 when on holiday to introduce her daughter Gabriella to family.

The child has been living with her maternal grandparents in Iran for the last 20 months.

Mr Johnson was accused of risking an additional five years being added to her sentence when he told a parliamentary committee that she had been in Iran to train journalists.

In November, he apologised in the Commons, retracting "any suggestion she was there in a professional capacity".

Mr Johnson then met with her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, to discuss her case, including calls for her to be given diplomatic protection.

There have been concerns about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's health after lumps in her breasts were discovered, but those were found to be non-cancerous.

Although not mentioning her by name, Mr Johnson said: "I will stress my grave concerns about our dual national consular cases and press for their release where there are humanitarian grounds to do so."

The Foreign Office would not confirm the names or number of other people being held in Iran, saying their families had asked for their cases to be kept out of the public domain.

In his statement, the foreign secretary listed topics he would raise with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, including finding a political solution to the conflict in Yemen and securing "greater humanitarian access to ease the immense suffering there".

He also said he would underline the UK's support for the 2015 nuclear deal - struck between Iran and six world powers - but "make clear" concerns over the country's activity.

Mr Johnson added: "Iran is a significant country in a strategically important, but volatile and unstable, region which matters to the UK's security and prosperity.

"While our relationship with Iran has improved significantly since 2011, it is not straightforward and on many issues we will not agree.

"But I am clear that dialogue is the key to managing our differences and, where possible, making progress on issues that really matter, even under difficult conditions."

[BBC SOURCES]

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North Korea: US urges all nations to cut ties with Pyongyang

Speaking at the UN Security Council, US envoy Nikki Haley said President Trump had asked his Chinese counterpart to cut off oil supplies to Pyongyang.

She said the US did not seek conflict but that North Korea's regime would be "utterly destroyed" if war broke out.

The warning came after Pyongyang tested its first missile in two months.

North Korea said the missile fired on Wednesday, which it said reached an altitude of about 4,475km (2,780 miles) - more than 10 times the height of the International Space Station - held a warhead capable of re-entering the earth's atmosphere.

The claim was not proven and experts have cast doubt on the country's ability to master such technology.

However North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un called the launch "impeccable" and a "breakthrough".

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The test - one of several this year - has been condemned by the international community and the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting.

Ms Haley warned that "continued acts of aggression" were only serving to further destabilise the region.

"We need China to do more," she said. "President Trump called President Xi this morning and told him that we've come to the point where China must cut off the oil for North Korea."

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House said that Mr Trump spoke to Xi Jinping by telephone, urging him to "use all available levers to convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearisation".

Speaking in Missouri about tax reform, the US leader derided Mr Kim, describing him as a "sick puppy" and "little rocket man".

Mr Xi responded by telling Mr Trump it was Beijing's "unswerving goal to maintain peace and stability in north-east Asia and denuclearise the Korean peninsula," Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

China is North Korea's biggest ally and most important trading partner, and the two share a land border.

Experts say the height reached by the inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) indicates Washington could be within range, although North Korea is yet to prove it has reached its aim of miniaturising a nuclear warhead.

The Hwasong-15 missile, described as North Korea's "most powerful", was launched in darkness early on Wednesday.

It landed in Japanese waters but flew higher than any other missile the North had previously tested.

[BBC SOURCES]

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Mount Agung: Bali volcano alert raised to highest level

The Indonesian authorities have raised the state of alert on the island to its highest level.

The island's airport has now closed, leaving many stranded in the tourist hotspot destination.

Dark smoke has been seen billowing up to 3,400m (11,150ft) above the mountain's summit.

The National Board for Disaster Management said explosions were being heard 12km (7 miles) from the summit.

Bali's main resorts of Kuta and Seminyak are about 70km (43 miles) from the volcano.

The alert was raised to the level four from 06:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on Sunday, because of "the possibility and imminent risk of disaster".

On Monday the disaster management agency said the volcano was emitting "continuous ash puffs" occasionally accompanied by "explosive eruptions" and a "weak sound of boom".

"The rays of fire are increasingly observed at night. This indicates the potential for a larger eruption is imminent," it said in a statement (in Indonesian) on its Facebook page.

Authorities have been distributing masks for local residents, and have ordered people within a widened 10km (six-mile) exclusion zone to evacuate the area.

The volcano first began belching thick smoke last week - its first eruption in more than 50 years. It has been rumbling ever since.

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Officials and volcanologists on Saturday confirmed that magma - molten rock - had been detected close to the volcano's surface.

The information director of Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency also tweeted that volcanic ash rain had fallen on the Lombok city of Mataram.

About 25,000 people are thought to still be in temporary shelters after more than 140,000 people fled in recent months.

Authorities first issued warnings of an imminent eruption and raised the alert to the highest level in September after detecting heightened volcanic activity, prompting mass evacuations.

But some islanders returned to their homes in October after the alert level was lowered with a decrease in activity.

According to official estimates, the holiday island lost at least $110m (£83m) in tourism and productivity during that major evacuation.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

It is home to more than 130 active volcanoes. The last time Mount Agung erupted, in 1963, more than 1,000 people died.

[BBC SOURCES]

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US to stop arming anti-IS Syrian Kurdish YPG militia - Turkey

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said President Donald Trump had made the promise in a phone call to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The White House said it was making "adjustments" to its support for partners inside Syria but did not explicitly name the YPG.

Turkey has long complained about US support for the group.

Washington has viewed the YPG as a key player in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS), but Ankara brands the group's fighters as terrorists.

Turkey says the YPG is as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group it has been fighting for decades in south-eastern Turkey.

The US, however, has seen the YPG as distinct from the PKK. In May it announced it would supply arms to the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which were poised to drive IS from its stronghold of Raqqa. It had previously armed only Arab elements of the SDF.

"President Trump instructed [his generals] in a very open way that the YPG will no longer be given weapons," Mr Cavusoglu was quoted as saying in the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News.

He said Mr Trump gave his assurances after President Erdogan reiterated his concern over the continued supply of weapons and armoured vehicles to the YPG.

A major shift

Analysis: The BBC's Laura Bicker in Washington

If this is true, it would be a major shift in US policy. The Kurds have proved to be valuable partners in the fight against IS.

It is notable that Washington's account of the call does not mention taking away the arms that the Trump administration agreed to give the YPG earlier this year - something Ankara has called for. Turkey feared the weapons would end up in the hands of fighters intent on creating an independent Kurdish state.

The Pentagon is likely reassessing its needs in Syria as the fight against IS has waned in recent months. But whatever adjustments are being made, it is clear the US military has no plans to leave the war-torn country. It has been revealed that about 2,000 US troops are now based there - a significant increase since the Obama administration.

The White House confirmed the two leaders had spoken by phone and said Mr Trump "reaffirmed the strategic partnership" between the US and Turkey.

"Consistent with our previous policy, President Trump also informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria, now that the battle of Raqqa is complete," the statement said.

"We are progressing into a stabilisation phase to ensure that Isis [IS] cannot return. The leaders also discussed the purchase of military equipment from the United States."

The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, has driven IS militants from much of the land it once controlled.

The YPG and its political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), denies any direct links with the PKK, whose insurgency has left thousands dead.

But Mr Cavusoglu has previously said that every weapon obtained by the YPG constituted "a threat to Turkey".

The SDF declared victory in Raqqa last month after a four-month battle to retake the city from IS, which had ruled it for three years.

[BBC SOURCES]

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