Venezuelan candidates officially start campaigning for Ocotober's presidential election, with rival rallies by Hugo Chavez and Henrique Capriles.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard works to rally support for Australia's carbon tax, a day after the law came into force.

China's manufacturing activity grows at its slowest pace in seven months adding to fears about a slowdown in its economy.

Apple has agreed to pay $60m (£38m) to Chinese firm Proview to settle a dispute involving rights to the "iPad" name, a court in China says.

Japanese powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa resigns from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, along with 51 MPs, amid a row over sales tax.

India is launching a $75m mission using computer models to understand the south-west monsoon and forecast the rains more accurately, officials say.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to visit the north-eastern state of Assam, where flooding has forced nearly a million people to leave their homes.

Barclays chairman Marcus Agius confirms his resignation and promises a "root and branch review" following the inter-bank lending rate-fixing scandal.