Venezuela quake death toll rises to 3,685

The death toll from the earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 3,685, with 16,740 injuries, according to an official update released Tuesday by Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez.

A total of 17,907 people have been left homeless, according to the update released on Rodriguez's Telegram channel.

Since the twin earthquakes struck on June 24, Venezuela has recorded 1,076 aftershocks, according to the update.

The head of leading global mining and metals group Rio Tinto says the firm is looking to embrace the rapid technological changes taking place across the industry by refining its strategic approach and stepping up investments in key areas such as artificial intelligence.

Simon Trott, Rio Tinto's CEO, was speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing, where he said the company must look to identify key investment priorities that offer a competitive advantage and deliver the greatest business impact.

"It comes down to prioritization, because if you try and do everything, you get nothing done. And so you've got to focus on the ones where you think you've got real competitive advantage, or that you can translate into competitive advantage, but also one that's going to move the needle for your business," he said.

Trott explained that as part of Rio Tinto's strategy reset, the company is concentrating on areas where it can make a material difference.

He said the firm is focusing its digital efforts on a select number of data-rich projects rather than spreading its resources too thin.

"So on digital, for example, rather than doing many different projects, [we are] choosing one or two projects where we really have significant amounts of data in that space, for example, in geotech or some of our all-body knowledge work. We've got significant amounts of data. We've got tools now that actually can access that data in a different way and [we're] really putting resources to try and make progress in that area, rather than spreading it too broadly," he said.