Venezuela's constitutional assembly has ordered presidential elections by April 30 as the ruling socialist party seeks to consolidate its grip on power amid a worsening economic crisis.

The European Union is banning arms sales to Venezuela and setting up a system to restrict travel and freeze assets of some Venezuelan officials to ramp up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.

The news comes in response to an invitation from the Dominican Republic to explore the possibility of resuming talks on resolving the country's political upheaval.

Venezuela's high court has issued an arrest order for the ousted chief prosecutor's husband after authorities accused him of running a US$6m extortion ring.

Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro is bloodthirsty and corrupt. Bernard-Henri Lévy asks why left-wing leaders in the West refuse to speak out against him

Venezuelan opposition activist Leopoldo Lopez has been returned home after being taken back to jail nearly a week ago.

Venezuela's ruling party has installed a new super assembly that supporters promise will bring peace to the country and critics fear will be a tool for imposing dictatorship.

The official count of Venezuelans who participated in the election of an all-powerful constituent assembly was tampered with - off by at least one million votes - the head of a voting technology company said.

The US has hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions after an election to rewrite the constitution.

A few thousand protesters have attempted to reach Venezuela's Supreme Court before clashing with national guardsmen, who responded by launching tear gas.

As the protest death toll tops 115, many in Venezuela are wondering how much longer their country must suffer violence and misrule, write Anne-Marie Slaughter and Fabiana Perera

Venezuelan opposition leaders have called for supporters to escalate street protests after more than 7.1 million people rejected a government plan to rewrite the constitution and consolidate its power.

The ruling clique is prolonging the agony by rejecting a democratic transition. The desperate, and repressed Venezuelan people deserve their country back, writes Enrique ter Horst.            

The US has slapped new sanctions on eight members of Venezuela's Supreme Court, accusing them of abusing power and damaging their nation's democratic fabric as the Trump administration raises concerns that socialist president Nicolas Maduro is moving toward one-party, authoritarian rule.

At least 12 people have been killed following looting and violence in Venezuela's capital amid a spiralling political crisis in the South American country.

Thousands of protesters demanding new elections have faced off with security forces who launched tear gas and stood shoulder-to-shoulder blocking roads in the Venezuelan capital.

IT was a rainy and somewhat sticky Saturday morning.

Ecstatic opposition leaders vowed to use their new majority in Venezuela’s legislature to free jailed opponents of the Socialist government, but also said they would not move to dismantle popular welfare policies.

Venezuela’s opposition has won control of the National Assembly by a landslide, delivering a major setback to the ruling party and altering the balance of power after 17 years of socialist rule.

People in Venezuela took to the polls yesterday in what seems to have become a tightening race for control of the country’s national legislature.

Some of the more unusual news from around the globe.

With chronic shortages of basic goods and services, price increases of 60%, and 30,000 murders per year, the natives, especially the middle classes, are fleeing abroad, says Richard Fitzpatrick

Only one in five foreign nationals of working age who were assigned PPS numbers in 2008 had any employment here five years later.

ENGLAND:A dog has got his waggly tail back after having more than a pound of matted fur shaved off.

ENGLAND: Hapless jobseekers are using their CVs to boast that their “outside interests” include browsing Facebook, sleeping and watching TV, according to a new poll.

This week, a white- haired woman spoke and the world sat up and listened.

The Venezuelan government has started to fingerprint shoppers at some state-run supermarkets in a plan to combat food scarcity.

Arial, Times New Roman ... and now the ‘Hugo Chavez’ font

VENEZUELA, which is on the shoulder of South America that opens out to the Caribbean Sea, is famous for its beaches.

Venezuela’s president is ordering the expulsion of three US consular staff, accusing them of infiltrating the country’s universities.

Hundreds of Venezuelans paid their final respects to a popular actress whose killing in front of her five-year-old daughter has reignited debate about the nation’s rampant crime.

Defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has demanded a recount after he was beaten by Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor as president in a razor-thin election battle today.

Venezuela’s acting president Nicolas Maduro said his mentor Hugo Chavez had fought for his life “until the last second” and called for a probe into the leader’s death.

Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president, despite the objections of the opposition who said the move violated the country’s constitution.

From Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Cuba’s Raul Castro, about 30 heads of state joined the funeral of Hugo Chávez in a last goodbye to the charismatic but divisive Venezuelan leader who changed the face of politics in South America.

World leaders, athletes and left-wing celebrities gathered at a music-filled state funeral honouring Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez today, with multitudes waiting outside the venue.

Venezuela’s opposition says it will not attend the swearing-in of Hugo Chavez’s anointed successor as interim president.

President Hugo Chavez died of a heart attack after great suffering and inaudibly mouthed his desire to live, said the head of Venezuela’s presidential guard.

A flag-draped coffin carrying the body of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez floated over a sea of supporters in Caracas today on its way to a military academy where it will lie in state.

A week of mourning has been declared in Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chavez. The army and police have been deployed to guarantee the peace.

President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela and crusaded against US influence, died on Tuesday at the age of 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.

Venezuela’s government has revealed for the first time that President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy as he “continues his battle for life”.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is undergoing "tough and complex treatments" following cancer-related surgery, his deputy said.