BBC news with John Macintosh.

The US vice president Mike Pence has sought to reassure America’s European allies that president Trump is committed to transatlantic cooperation. On his visit to Brussel, he reaffirmed the support from both the European Union and NATO which Mr. Trump had sharply criticized. But Mr. Pence stressed that European Nations must keep their promises to increase defense spending.

French police have carried out a second search of the headquarters of the anti-immigrant National Front Party of the presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. It's in connection with an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of the European Union funds.

A Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has died suddenly while he’s working in New York. He was one day short of his 61th birthday. A Russian foreign minister’s statement described the accomplished linguist as an outstanding representative. The veteran diplomatic has been ambassador to the UN since 2006.

United Nations says a famine that has been declared in parts of South Sudan is a man-made catastrophe caused by civil war and economic collapse. The government in Juba and the UN say more than 100,000 people in Unity State are experiencing famine and a further 1 million are on the brink of starvation.

The authorities in Guinea say at least 5 people were killed in the capital Conakry in a protest in support of a teachers' strike. The main teachers' unions began industrial election at the beginning of the month after the government cut the salaries of many junior teachers.

And scientists in the United States say they have found a way to get the very last drop of ketchup out of a bottle. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a slippery coating which could also make it easier to squeeze out toothpaste, cosmetics, or even glue.

And that is the latest BBC News.