BBC News with Stewart Macintosh.

Three main opposition parties in Venezuela have been told they can't fill presidential candidates in next year's election. President Nicolas Maduro said only the minor opposition parties which participated in Sunday's Municipal elections would be allowed to nominate candidate to be the head of the state.

Efforts to contain ongoing wildfires in southern California are focusing on a blaze which's threatened the city of Santa Barbara. The Thomas fire, as it's known has become one of the largest in the state's history. It's damaged the area greater than that of New York City.

For the first time, financial products based on the Bitcoin digital currency have begun trading on major U.S exchange. Price for Bitcoin future's contracts rose in early trading although the exchange website experiences technical problems attributed to heavy use demand.

The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has asked congress to extend martial law for another year in the southern province of Mindanao. The emergency measure was initially imposed in May in response to an assault by Islamic militants in the city of Malawi.

India's opposition congress party will officially name Rahul Gandhi as its new leader today. Mr. Gandhi, who is 47 will succeed his mother Sonia as party's president, becoming the 6th member of his family to host the post.

A citizen of Uzbekistan is due to go on trial in Turkey today, charged with killing 39 people in a gun grenade attack on a night club in Istanbul last New Year's day. The authorities say Abdulkadir Masharipov confessed to the massacre after he was arrested 17 days later.

President Mauricio Macri of Argentina has opened the meeting of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires with an appeal for the rules-based system to be strengthened, what's seen as a seemly well attack on protectionism. Mr. Macri criticized what he called the primacy of national interest.

BBC news.