Caracas, July 31 (IANS) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blamed the opposition’s presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, for the post-election violence unleashed across the nation.

“I hold you responsible, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, for the criminals, for the injured, for the dead, for the destruction,” the president said in a message broadcast to the nation during a joint meeting of the Council of State and the Defense Council on Tuesday.

The President also announced the creation of a fund to aid victims of the violence, Xinhua news agency reported.

Up to 749 people have been arrested for participating in violent riots following Sunday’s presidential election, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Tuesday.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on Monday declared Maduro the winner of the election, paving the way for his third six-year term, from 2025 to 2031.

–IANS

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Tokyo, July 31 (IANS) An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.7 on early Wednesday rocked the Tokyo metropolitan area, the country’s weather agency said.

The temblor occurred at 01:47 a.m. local time, measuring 3 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in areas in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba Prefecture, said the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

At a depth of 120 km, the epicentre was located in Tokyo’s 23 wards at a latitude of 35.7 degrees north and a longitude of 139.6 degrees east, Xinhua news agency reported.

The tremors were felt strongly in central Tokyo, with no tsunami warnings issued.

There have been no reports of damage or casualties due to the temblor.

–IANS

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Tehran, July 31 (IANS) Iran and Egypt have expressed hope that bilateral ties will be resumed as soon as possible.

In a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty exchanged views on bilateral relations, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement published on the website of the Iranian president’s office.

Pezeshkian said Iran and Egypt were two “brotherly” countries whose peoples had a “heartfelt” interest in one another, pointing to the two countries’ “age-old, brilliant and glorious” civilizational backgrounds.

He hoped that the problems hindering the normalisation of bilateral ties would be completely resolved as soon as possible.

Pezeshkian said Iran and Egypt could help resolve many of the region’s problems, noting Iran is ready to cooperate and exchange experiences, capabilities, and bilateral capacities with Egypt.

The Egyptian foreign minister, who was in Iran to attend Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony held on Tuesday, said the two countries adopted close positions on issues such as non-interference in other states’ affairs, protecting the multilateral international system and defending humanitarian rights.

He added the normalisation of bilateral ties was continuing on its path, hoping that the two countries would manage to officially begin cooperation with each other as soon as possible to safeguard mutual interests.

Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic relations in 1980. In recent months, both countries have expressed willingness to mend ties by settling differences on certain issues.

In November 2023, late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and current Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held their first meeting in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit to end the Gaza conflict.

–IANS

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London, July 31 (IANS) Violent mob clashed with police outside a mosque in northwest England’s Southport near the scene of a horror stabbing that left three dead.

Merseyside Police said that the English Defence League is believed to be behind the violent protests.

Speculation about the alleged attacker’s identity circulated online, fuelling the tension that already existed after Monday’s horrific knife attack, The Sun reported.

Protesters threw bricks at the mosque, set fire to cars and wheelie bins and caused damage to a local convenience store, police said.

At least 22 police officers, responding to the situation, were injured and 11 were hospitalised after clashes.

–IANS

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Sao Paulo, July 31 (IANS) At least three people died, including a one-year-old baby, 16 others were injured and nine were missing after a boat capsized in northern Brazil’s Amazon River, police have reported.

The boat, “M. Monteiro”, was carrying more than 200 passengers when it caught fire after an explosion on Monday near the municipality of Uarini in the Amazonas state, Xinhua news agency reported.

Police spokesperson and a statement from the Navy on Tuesday said that at least 183 people managed to survive.

The vessel left Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, on Saturday, bound for Tabatinga, a Brazilian city on the border with Colombia and Peru.

It was the second fire on a passenger boat in Amazonas in three days.

On Saturday, the boat “Comandante Souza III” capsized following a fire, leaving four people dead and five missing.

–IANS

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