Britain said on Monday it would decide as "soon as is reasonably practicable" whether to refer Rupert Murdoch's $15 billion (£11.59 billion) bid to buy pay-TV group Sky for an in-depth review.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has indicated he will support the outcome of a review of high-stake gambling machines in betting shops even if it reduces tax revenue.

With a sudden lunge through jihadist lines, the Syrian army and its allies on Monday came to within 3 km of relieving the Euphrates city of Deir al-Zor, where Islamic State has besieged 93,000 civilians and an army garrison for years.

- Growth in Britain's construction firms fell unexpectedly to a one-year low in August, hit by an investment slump in the commercial sector as Brexit uncertainty weighed on the economy, a survey showed on Monday.

Two blasts rocked an area on the Myanmar side of the border with Bangladesh on Monday, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and thick black smoke, as violence that has sent nearly 90,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh showed no sign of easing.

Germany's entry alongside France into a battle between the European Commission and Poland over the rule of law increases the likelihood of unprecedented EU action to punish Warsaw.