INTERNATIONAL

Michael Gove has been sacked as justice secretary and replaced by Liz Truss as Theresa May forms her new government, in her first full day as UK PM. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has also gone, replaced by ex-international development secretary Justine Greening. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has been sacked, while Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has stayed in his post. On ...

The statement from Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin comes a day after an international tribunal said there was no legal basis for China’s claims. China has overlapping claims with other countries to reefs and islands across almost all of the South China Sea. It has already said it will ignore the tribunal’s findings. President Xi Jinping has said China’s “territorial sovereignty ...

Twenty people have been killed and dozens more hurt in a head-on collision involving two passenger trains in southern Italy, officials say. The two trains were on a single-track line at the time of the crash, between the coastal towns of Bari and Barletta. The emergency services have been trying to free passengers from the shattered carriages, near the town ...

The case at the tribunal in The Hague was brought by the Philippines, which argues Chinese activity in the region is against international law. China claims about 90% of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others. China says it does not recognise the tribunal and has refused to take part. China’s Island Factory Mysteries and ...

Renewed fighting has broken out in South Sudan between forces loyal to the president and vice-president. A reporter in the capital, Juba, told the BBC gunfire and large explosions could be heard all over the city. He said heavy artillery was being used. More than 200 people are reported to have died in clashes since Friday. The latest violence came ...

Theresa May is to become the UK’s prime minister on Wednesday evening – after David Cameron announced he would quit after Prime Minister’s Questions. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Mr Cameron said he would offer his resignation to the Queen on Wednesday afternoon at Buckingham Palace. Mrs May’s only rival to succeed Mr Cameron as Conservative leader, Andrea Leadsom, pulled ...

The UN Security Council has called on warring factions in South Sudan to immediately end the recent fighting and prevent the spread of violence. In a unanimous statement, the council condemned the fighting “in the strongest terms” and expressed “particular shock and outrage” at attacks on UN sites. It also called for additional peacekeepers as a response. Hundreds are reported ...

South Sudan is “back to war”, a spokesman for the vice-president has told the BBC, as rival factions clash and hundreds have been reported killed. Forces loyal to Vice-President Riek Machar say government troops attacked their positions in the capital, Juba. But Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the reports of war were “dishonest”. The UN mission said hundreds had ...

The family of Marie Colvin, the American journalist who died in Syria four years ago, is suing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Relatives say they have evidence that she was murdered as part of a policy of deliberately killing journalists. Colvin was reporting from the rebel-held area of Babr Amr, in Homs, in February 2012, when she was killed ...

Dallas police have given the all clear, hours after security levels were raised at their headquarters in the city. They said they had received an anonymous threat, two days after the killing of five police officers. A nearby parking lot was searched for a “suspicious person” but no-one was found. SWAT officers were earlier deployed at the main building. On ...