The only way that Lionel Messi is guaranteed a seat at Russia’s 2018 banquet is if Argentina beat Ecuador away on Wednesday. He would no doubt feel more confident about the prospect were it not for the fact that Ecuador have already defeated Argentina in qualifying, the match is being played at nearly two miles above sea level in Quito and, in the past 57 years, Argentina have won there just once in ten attempts.

The final results from the outlawed poll show 90% of the 2.3m people who voted backed independence.

There has been a big focus on relations between the government of Mariano Rajoy and the Catalan regional government. But what about relations within Catalonia itself, between people who are pro- and anti-independence?

Support for independence among Catalans isn't unanimous: some just wanted greater autonomy, while others are fearful of the economic and political impact of a split from Spain. These are the thoughts of two prominent Catalans, with different perspectives on the crisis.

“Your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a ‘Hater in Chief,’” she tweeted. “It is not that you do not get it; you are incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of PR. Shame on you!”

Hundreds of people remain missing as at least 22 fires rampaged across the state's famous wine country.

More than 8,000 firefighters are now battling the flames.

The wildfires have destroyed more than 3,500 buildings and homes over 190,000 acres (77,000 hectares) and displaced about 25,000 people.

Seventeen people are now confirmed killed in Sonoma County, with another eight in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and two in Napa County, officials said.

The updated casualty figures mean the wildfires are the deadliest in California since 1933, when 29 people died in fires at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Venezuelans will take to the polls again on October 15 for the first vote since a vote held earlier this year that sidelined the country’s opposition-controlled National Assembly.

The so-called Group of Lima, which consists of nine Latin American nations and Canada, called on the government of President Nicolas Maduro to allow the elections “to be realized with full respect for the free, confidential, effective and universal vote.”

The security camera footage was passed on to local police by a store owner with an investigation already under way to catch the culprits and recover the stolen items.