What recent actions has President Trump taken regarding Venezuela?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. In a post on social media, President Trump told pilots to consider the airspace over and around Venezuela closed. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, this is the latest ratcheting up in a pressure campaign on the regime of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.
The Trump administration has justified deadly airstrikes on Venezuelan boats in recent weeks as necessary to protect the American people from drug smuggling. Trump has also declared Maduro, the Venezuelan dictator, to be a narco-terrorist, which Maduro disputes. In remarks on Thanksgiving, Trump implied there would be more coming.
People aren't wanting to be delivering by sea, and we'll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier.
A U.S. official not authorized to speak on the record tells NPR training flights are being conducted in the southern Caribbean, but there's no indication military action against Venezuela is imminent. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
Some states are watching for a Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act that may spark a new wave of congressional redistricting. As NPR's Hansi Lewong reports... the timing of the court's decision could have implications for the gerrymandering fight ahead of next year's midterm elections.
It's not clear when the Supreme Court will issue its decision in a closely watched redistricting case out of Louisiana. But after the justices held a rare second hearing for the case in October, some court watchers say the court's conservative majority may soon issue a ruling that weakens the Voting Rights Act's protections against voting districts that dilute the power of racial minorities.
That could lead to Republican-led states, particularly in the South, undoing districts where Black voters have a realistic opportunity of liking their preferred candidates, who are usually Democrats. But congressional maps for next year's midterms have to be finalized before a state's filing deadline for candidates running in the primary.
And those deadlines are coming up in December for Mississippi, in January for Alabama, and in February for Louisiana. Anzi Luong, NPR News.
On this Thanksgiving travel weekend, travelers are being met by snow and chilly temperatures. NPR's Ava Pukach reports.
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