The Venezuelan government has responded defiantly to heightened pressure by the US government, including Donald Trump\u2019s statements on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Venezuelan government said Trump\u2019s comments were a \u201ccolonialist threat\u201d against their sovereignty and violated international law. The government also said it demanded respect for its airspace and would not accept foreign orders or threats.<\/p>\n
Here are the key stories:<\/p>\n
Venezuela denounces \u2018colonialist threat\u2019 as Trump orders airspace closed<\/p>\n
Trump on Saturday, in a Truth Social post said: \u201cTo all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to Trump\u2019s announcement, all migrant deportation flights were \u201cunilaterally suspended\u201d, the Venezuelan government said. Deportation flights to Venezuela have been a significant point of contention for the Trump administration<\/a>, as it continues to engage in its mass deportation program. The US defense department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean<\/a> have been under way for months, along with a US military buildup in the region, and Trump has authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n The White House rolled out a new section of its official website on Friday that publicly criticizes and catalogs media organizations and journalists it claims have distorted coverage.<\/p>\n At the top of the page<\/a>, the text reads: \u201cMisleading. Biased. Exposed.\u201d The feature names the Boston Globe, CBS News and the Independent as \u201cmedia offenders of the week\u201d, accusing them of inaccurately portraying Trump\u2019s remarks about six Democratic lawmakers who released of video encouraging military members to not follow illegal orders.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Pete Hegseth denies he gave orders to \u2018kill everybody\u2019 on alleged \u2018narco-boat\u2019<\/p>\n The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth<\/a>, has declared recent reporting that he may have illegally ordered all people to be killed in a military strike in the Caribbean as \u201cfake news\u201d on Friday evening, adding that the series of strikes of people on boats had been \u201clawful under both US and international law\u201d.<\/p>\n The remarks came after a Washington Post report<\/a> this week alleged that Hegseth ordered defense officials to \u201ckill everybody\u201d traveling on a boat that was being surveilled by analysts on 2 September, the first strike of many carried out in recent months by the Trump administration. The White House said \u2013 without proof \u2013 that the people in the boats in the Caribbean, killed in Pentagon operations, were drug smugglers.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Experts say strict new FDA protocol for vaccine approval is \u2018dangerous\u2019<\/p>\n The leading vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a far stricter course for federal vaccine approvals, following claims from his team that Covid vaccines were linked to the deaths of at least 10 children. Experts suggest the announcement will make the vaccine approval process significantly more difficult.<\/p>\n Dr Vinay Prasad, whose vaccine policy direction has been supported by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr<\/a>, told FDA staff that the agency would rethink its approach to vaccination programs, according to an internal agency email circulated on Friday.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n What else happened today:<\/p>\n