Hugo Chavez ally scrapes to victory in Venezuela
The former bus driver rose through the political ranks with his faithful support of the late President.
World leaders gather for funeral of Hugo Chavez
More than 20 world leaders are expected to attend the funeral today, but there will be no burial as he will be embalmed.
Body of 'El Comandante' lies in state
Thousands flocked to the streets of Caracas to see the coffin of Chavez travel through the city to lie in state until Friday's funeral.
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Maduro on speech intruder: 'They could have shot me'
A man in a red jacket ran onto the stage during Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's inauguration speech today and grabbed the microphone, but was quickly tackled by his bodyguards.
"The security has failed totally. They could have shot me easily," Maduro said after resuming his speech to an audience that included the leaders of Brazil, Iran and Argentina.
Venezuela's election body audits all electronic votes
Venezuela's electoral authority is to carry out a full audit of electronic votes cast in the country's presidential election.
The announcement, reported by Reuters, comes hours before Nicolas Maduro was due to be sworn in as Hugo Chavez's successor after a narrow victory on Sunday.
The US had already called for a recount of the closely fought poll.
Mr Maduro was declared the winner by the country's National Electoral Council by 262,000 votes from 14.9 million cast by Venezuelans.
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Hugo Chavez ally scrapes to victory in Venezuela
The former bus driver rose through the political ranks with his faithful support of the late President.
Read the full storyFireworks in Venezuela as Madura calls for calm
Fireworks have been let off in Caracas as Venezuela elected Nicolas Maduro as president - opposition backers banged pots and pans in reaction to the vote result.
Venezuela's ruling party candidate Nicolas Maduro called for peace and said he would be willing for Sunday's election result to be audited after officials said he took 50.76 percent of votes, compared to 49.07 percent for his rival Henrique Capriles.
"We don't want violence, we want peace," Maduro said in a speech to the nation.
"They [the opposition] want an audit, we welcome the audit ... I formally request the National Electoral Commission to carry out an audit."
Maduro will allow Venezuela election result audit
Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro says he is willing to allow election result audit and calls for peace.
- Read: Venezuela elects Maduro.
Maduro wins Venezuela election with 51% of votes
Ruling party candidate Nicolas Maduro won Venezuela's presidential election on Sunday with 51 per cent of votes, the electoral authority said, allowing him to carry forward the socialist policies of the late Hugo Chavez.
Maduro's young challenger, Miranda state Governor Henrique Capriles, took 49 percent of the ballots, the authority said, in a tighter-than-expected vote.
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Venezuela elects Nicolas Maduro as president
Venezuela elects Nicolas Maduro as president in the country's election, the Electoral Authority says.
The election board says the result is irreversible and urges Venezuelans to respect the results and stay indoors.
- Read: Fears over Venezuela vote.
Fears over Venezuela's Presidential election result
Both sides in an election to choose a successor to Venezuela's late leader Hugo Chavez expressed confidence of victory after Sunday's vote, raising fears that the official result could be contested.
Acting President Nicolas Maduro led all polls before the vote, buoyed by Chavez's blessing before he died from cancer last month and vowing to continue the former president's self-styled socialist revolution.
But Maduro's rival, state governor Henrique Capriles, appeared to close the gap in the last days of the short campaign.
- Read: Fears over Venezuela vote.
Venezuela's vote count underway as polls close
Polls have officially closed in Venezuela's presidential election, but some have remained open past the deadline.
- Read: Venezuala voting row.
Venezuela's opposition complains of illegal voting
Following opposition complaints that some people were illegally helping elderly voters cast their ballots, Henrique Capriles urged his followers to report any violations of election laws.
But he also stressed he would respect the outcome of the vote, whatever it might be.
"Today, all Venezuelans are reporters. If you see something irregular, take a picture, air it on social media," Capriles said after voting.
"But let there be no doubt, we will respect the will of the people."
Electoral authorities said voting was going smoothly and that there was no evidence of irregularities.
Given the deep mutual mistrust on both sides, some worry that a close or contested result could spark unrest.
Some 170 international observers were on hand, many from left-leaning political parties across Latin America.
Polls were due to close on Sunday, but voting continued past that in some places to accommodate queues.
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