LVMH abandons $16.2bn Tiffany takeover

LVMH - the parent company of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Moët & Chandon - has walked away from a deal to buy storied New York jeweller Tiffany & Co. It says the French government pressured it to delay the takeover amid a transatlantic trade spat. We take a closer look.

The international community has criticized Monday's coup in Myanmar, urging the army to release all political leaders. Germany said the military's actions "jeopardize progress made so far towards democratic change."

Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed one of football's most unlikely takeovers when they finalised their purchase of non-league minnows Wrexham on Tuesday.

China Ministry of Foreign Affairs comments on the coup in Myanmar saying "the current situation is something that China does not wish to see". China had initially not criticised the coup, which Chinese state media described as a "cabinet reshuffle".

Modi announces federal takeover of India's vaccination program

The US withdrawal and rapid deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan has prompted criticism among some NATO alliance members.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan comments on the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, saying the country has "just broken the chains of slavery" after the stunningly swift end to its 20-year war.

In their first press conference since they seized control of Afghanistan, the insurgents promised amnesty and vowed to honor women's rights within "the limits of Islam."

As concern grows internationally about an expected clampdown by the Taliban on women's rights, students at one girls’ school are "happy" to be returning. Schools in Herat faced long closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing security concerns over Taliban advances before insurgents finally captured the city on August 12. The school's director says it reopened on Monday and students are attending class, with more of the girls wearing the hijab and choosing conservative dress than before the Taliban takeover.

Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai says she is upset for her "Afghan sisters" and that it remains to be seen if Taliban pledges on rights for women and girls translate into action after their takeover of Afghanistan. Yousafzai, long an advocate for girls' education, survived a Pakistani Taliban assassination attempt when she was just 15 years old when the militants shot her in the head in rural northwest Pakistan.

Defiant protesters wave Afghan flags at scattered rallies to mark the country's independence anniversary, days after the hardline Taliban Islamist militants swept into the capital, completing a stunning rout of government forces after a two decade insurgency.

Buildings in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, are still damaged and charred from the recent fierce fighting which brought the Taliban back into power and ousted the former government.