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El Salvador recently played its crypto hand, making bitcoin a legal tender despite the concerns of the International Monetary Fund.

The issue of reparations – making amends for historical wrongs perpetrated against a group or population – has always been highly controversial. But to the victims of atrocities like genocide and slavery, offering such compensation should be a no-brainer.

Tigrayan troops retook the capital of Mekelle this week prompting the Ethiopian government to declare an immediate cease-fire in the eight-month-long conflict. But U.S. lawmakers warned Tuesday the cease-fire may be only temporary and will likely not prevent a looming famine impacting millions in the region.

A total of 130 countries representing more than 90% of global GDP are this week celebrating a landmark technical agreement to overhaul the global tax system and increase their revenues to finance the costly post-coronavirus recovery. Canada calls the text a "tremendous achievement", Argentina says it's a "historic moment" and the United States thinks the deal sends a clear message: "The race to the bottom is one step closer to coming to an end".

After nearly 20 years in Afghanistan, the US military, at President Biden's direction, is in the final stages of withdrawing troops from the country, bringing an end to America's longest war. CNN's Anna Coren reports from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Bagram (Afghanistan) (AFP) – All US and NATO troops have left Bagram Air Base signalling the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is imminent. Local people fear for the future and express worry about the knock-on effect of the US withdrawal on the local economy.

Germany's health minister Jens Spahn says people who are vaccinated against Covid will not have to go into full lockdown again and will enjoy more freedoms than unvaccinated people in case of another virus resurgence.

Abdullah Abdullah, an Afghan official who leads the High Council for National Reconciliation, told CNN's Anna Coren that talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had made "very little progress" and were happening at a "very slow pace."

Germany's health minister Jens Spahn says people who are vaccinated against Covid will not have to go into full lockdown again and will enjoy more freedoms than unvaccinated people in case of another virus resurgence.

The sister of a black French man who died in police custody in 2016, has been acquitted of defamation charges brought against her by police officers. Assa Traoré had publicly named three policemen involved in her brother's death in a Facebook post. She accused them of having killed her brother, Adama Traoré, "by crushing him with the weight of their bodies”.

US track star Sha'Carri Richardson could miss the Tokyo Olympic Games after testing positive for marijuana. Richardson spoke out about the positive test in an interview with NBC's "Today Show".

Portugal will reimpose a nightly curfew from Friday in 45 municipalities, including Lisbon, the government has said. The country faces increasing COVID-19 cases due to the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant which has become dominant in the country.