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Iranian boats tried to impede a British oil tanker near the Gulf – before being driven off by a Royal Navy ship, the Ministry of Defence has said.

HMS Montrose, a British frigate shadowing the BP-owned tanker, was forced to move between the three boats and the tanker, a spokesman said. He described the Iranians’ actions as “contrary to international law”.

Iran had threatened to retaliate for the seizure of one of its own tankers, but denied any attempted seizure.

Boats believed to belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) approached the tanker, British Heritage, and tried to bring it to a halt as it was moving out of the Gulf into the Strait of Hormuz. Guns on HMS Montrose were trained on the Iranian boats as they were ordered to back off, US media reported. The boats heeded the warning and no shots were fired.

The BBC has been told British Heritage was near the island of Abu Musa when it was approached by the Iranian boats. Although Abu Musa is in disputed territorial waters, HMS Montrose remained in international waters throughout.

Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said the government was concerned by the incident and urged the Iranian authorities to “de-escalate the situation”. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt added the UK would monitor the situation “very carefully”.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesman said the government was “committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in accordance with international law”.

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Children and pregnant women are among those murdered in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands area.

PM James Marape called the news “one of the saddest days of my life”, promising to track down the perpetrators. It is one of the worst outbreaks of tribal violence in PNG for years. “It’s a very sad story,” Philip Undialu, governor of Hela told news agency Reuters, explaining the killings were part of a conflict running for years.

“It was retaliation of a previous attack. Both attacks were made in an innocent community where people were not expecting it and all of us are in a state of shock.”

Authorities say the region has for years struggled with violence, at times driven by disputes over the distribution of land and resource wealth. Details are still emerging from the remote central area, but the violence appears to have been a string of attacks and counter-attacks over several days.

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France has denied breaching a UN arms embargo after four of its anti-tank missiles were found on a base loyal to a rogue Libyan general.

The country’s defence ministry says the “unusable” US-made Javelin missiles were never intended to be passed to any group, and were due to be destroyed.

However, they were discovered in a camp south of the capital Tripoli, used by forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar. Gen Haftar’s forces are currently fighting for control of the city.

The battle for Tripoli – home of the internationally recognised government – began when Gen Haftar’s forces launched an attack in April, with hundreds killed in the months since.

The four missiles were discovered in June when forces loyal to the UN-backed government overran the camp, prompting an investigation in Washington.

France admitted the weapons – which can be used against tanks and other vehicles – belonged to them in a statement on Wednesday.

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Downing Street attempted to withhold sensitive intelligence from Boris Johnson when he became foreign secretary, the BBC has learned.

This caused concern in the intelligence services, since the foreign secretary authorises sensitive operations. Sources close to Mr Johnson said he had access to everything he needed to see.

The Conservative leadership frontrunner told activists he was “extremely dubious about the provenance of the story”, claiming it was “not true”.

Pressed about the issue at a Conservative leadership hustings in Darlington, Mr Johnson said he would not comment further on national security issues. His leadership rival and current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt also refused to comment, telling the hustings: “We have the finest intelligence services in the world in this country, but that does depend on some discretion by the foreign secretary.”

A Number 10 spokesperson said it did not comment on intelligence matters, but that Theresa May trusted Mr Johnson in the role. They said: “It’s a matter of fact it was the PM’s own decision to appoint Boris Johnson as foreign secretary, in full knowledge of all the responsibilities that that job involves.”

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Willem Holleeder, the Netherlands’ most notorious gangster, has been found guilty of ordering a series of murders of figures in the world of organised crime.

Holleeder, now 61, achieved notoriety in the 1980s for the kidnapping of beer tycoon Freddy Heineken. He then became a big crime boss and has been convicted after a lengthy and expensive trial in Amsterdam. Among his victims was friend and associate Cor van Hout.

The judges convicted Holleeder of ordering five murders and one manslaughter and sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in jail. They also found that he had formed a crime gang and ordered “cold-blooded” killings with jailed associate Dino Soerel and since-murdered criminal Stanley Hillis.

The longest murder trial in Dutch history took place in a high-security Amsterdam court known as the “bunker”. Holleeder’s lawyers have said he will appeal. The prosecution case relied on the sensational testimony of his sister, Astrid, who made secret recordings of their conversations.

Astrid Holleeder went into hiding when she revealed her betrayal. Van Hout was married to Holleeder’s sister Sonja, and she too gave evidence against him.

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