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President Donald Trump said he had ordered commercial airspace over Venezuela to be reopened Thursday, nearly four weeks after the US military operation to topple Nicolas Maduro.

Trump told a cabinet meeting he had just spoken to Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez “and informed her that we’re going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela.”American citizens will very shortly be able to go to Venezuela and they will be safe there. It’s under very strong control,” Trump said at the White House.Trump added that he had instructed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy “and everybody else concerned, including the military, that if you would, by the end of today, I’d like you to have the airspace over Venezuela” opened.

About two hours after Trump’s announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration announced on X that it had removed four notices to airlines warning about airspace in the region, including over the South American nation.Trump added that he had instructed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy “and everybody else concerned, including the military, that if you would, by the end of today, I’d like you to have the airspace over Venezuela” opened.

About two hours after Trump’s announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration announced on X that it had removed four notices to airlines warning about airspace in the region, including over the South American nation.

The alerts “were issued as precautionary measures and are no longer necessary,” the FAA said.

“We’ve got this, Mr. President,” Duffy said on X. “We are clearing the way for travel between the United States and Venezuela.”

American Airlines announced plans to reinstate service, saying it was in contact with US officials and would schedule flights “pending government approval and security assessments.The United States has kept Venezuelan airspace closed to commercial flights since the January 3 military operation that captured leftist leader Maduro, who now faces trial on drug and terrorism charges in New York.

Trump also said that major oil companies were “going to Venezuela now, scouting it out and picking their locations.”Following the fall of Maduro, Venezuela’s Rodriguez quickly signed oil agreements with Trump, who has declared that his administration now controls the sector — the main engine of the Venezuelan economy.

Turkey’s top diplomat urged Washington to start nuclear talks with Iran in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, as US warships arrived in the region ahead of a possible strike over Tehran’s protest crackdown.

“It’s wrong to attack Iran. It’s wrong to start the war again. Iran is ready to negotiate on the nuclear file again,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television in English.

“My advice has always been to our American friends: close the files one by one with the Iranians. Start with the nuclear issue and close it. Then move on to the others,” he said.

Fidan’s comments after a US naval strike force led by an aircraft carrier took up position in Middle Eastern waters, US Central Command said on Monday, without revealing its precise location.

Washington has not ruled out new military intervention against Tehran over its harsh response to the protests, which, according to rights groups, saw thousands of people killed within days.

Since Iran began its crackdown earlier this month, accompanied by a nationwide internet blackout, US President Donald Trump has given mixed signals on intervention.

NATO-member Turkey, which shares a 530-kilometre (330-mile) border with Iran, has often expressed opposition to military operations targeting the Islamic Republic.Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the unrest in Iran as a “new test” for Tehran, pledging Turkey would “stand against any initiative” that would drag the region into chaos.He said he hoped diplomacy and dialogue would help Iran get through this “trap-filled period”.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Fidan said the problems with Iran should be tackled individually.

“Do not treat them as a package. If you put everything together as one package, it will be very difficult for our Iranian friends to digest and truly process it,” he said.

“In some cases, it may even seem humiliating for them. It would be hard to explain not only to themselves but also to their leadership.”

Fidan also urged Iran to build trust in the region.

“When I was in Iran two months ago, I was very frank with my Iranian friends. They need to build trust in the region,” he said.They need to pay attention to how they are perceived by regional countries”.

Donald Trump warned Tuesday of “very bad things” if Republicans lose the US midterm elections, as the US president kicked off a travel blitz under the shadow of unrest in Minneapolis and voter worries about the economy.

At a rally in Iowa — one of the first stops for primary campaigns in US presidential elections — Trump said his party must win both the Senate and the House in November despite his own poor approval ratings.I’m here because I love Iowa, but I’m here because we’re starting the campaign to win the midterms. Got to win the midterms,” second-term president Trump said in his speech.If we lose the midterms, you’ll lose so many of the things that we’re talking about, so many of the assets that we’re talking about, so many of the tax cuts that we’re talking about — and it would lead to very bad things.”

But Trump’s economy-focused speech was largely overshadowed by events in the neighboring state of Minnesota, where two people have died this month in a deadly immigration crackdown.

Trump told Fox News earlier he would “de-escalate a little bit” after federal agents shot 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the weekend, but he largely avoided talking about it in his speech.The White House says Trump will be making weekly trips across the country ahead of the midterms, in which voters have historically punished US presidents.

Trump’s team has increasingly focused on the economy after polls showed mounting voter anger over the issue of affordability one year since the billionaire’s return to power.

In his Iowa speech, the 79-year-old president repeated his claims about a “Golden Age” in the United States and insisted prices were falling for most goods.

But he admitted that it may be hard to convince voters in November’s midterms, saying that in past elections “if something happens, the screw turns with the voters” no matter how good the president.Trump has raged at what he calls unfair opinion polls, but numerous surveys have showed him with low approval ratings. A New York Times/Siena poll last week put the figure at 40 percent.

Germany is offering a one-million-euro ($1.2 million) reward for information leading to the arrest of suspected far-left militants whose arson attack caused a massive blackout in Berlin, the interior minister said Tuesday.

The electricity outage left roughly 45,000 homes and around 2,200 businesses without power for nearly a week in the middle of winter in the southwest of the German capital.

Police are hunting members of the far-left “Vulkangruppe” (Volcano Group), which claimed responsibility for the early January blackout in several online statements.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Tuesday vowed to “strike back”.

“I think it’s appropriate to underscore the seriousness of the situation with a reward of this magnitude,” Dobrindt said.Authorities have deemed the online messages from the mysterious Vulkangruppe “credible”.

According to Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency, the group has been active since 2011 and is also believed to be behind several other arson attacks in and around Berlin.It claimed responsibility for two sabotage attacks targeting electric carmaker Tesla’s factory just outside Berlin.

Dobrindt said police would launch a publicity campaign to solicit tips and tout the reward, including leaflets and posters in Berlin’s subway system.

Dobrindt, a conservative ally of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, also vowed to put more resources into fighting “left-wing extremism” more broadly and urged greater police powers to use facial recognition technology and collect digital data.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has said he does not know who will succeed him after the expiration of his tenure in May 2027.

Speaking over the weekend at a critical All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ meeting in Maiduguri, Zulum reaffirmed that his administration is focused on strengthening security and providing much-needed development to the people.

He said he is committed to a fair, transparent, and just process in the election of party officials during the forthcoming congresses.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has said he does not know who will succeed him after the expiration of his tenure in May 2027.

Speaking over the weekend at a critical All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ meeting in Maiduguri, Zulum reaffirmed that his administration is focused on strengthening security and providing much-needed development to the people.

He said he is committed to a fair, transparent, and just process in the election of party officials during the forthcoming congresses.

According to him, the integrity of the process is paramount for the party’s unity and future success, advocating for a fresh set of individuals to occupy the various party positions.

The governor called on stakeholders to allow new faces to emerge through a democratic process, thereby strengthening the party’s grassroots structure and inclusivity.

While dismissing speculation about his influence on the party’s future ticket, Zulum firmly and publicly reaffirmed that he has not anointed any candidate for the upcoming party positions or for any elective office.

“I have no candidate for any position, and I do not know who will succeed me. I have entrusted the choice of leaders to Almighty Allah, in accordance with the democratic will of the party members and the people of Borno State,” he said

The US military is increasing materiel deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, Africom’s deputy commander told AFP, as part of a broader American push to work with African militaries to go after Islamic State-linked militants.

The Pentagon has also kept open lines of communication with militaries in the junta-led Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, Lieutenant General John Brennan said.The increased cooperation with Abuja follows Washington’s diplomatic pressure on Nigeria over jihadist violence in the country, but also as the US military is becoming “more aggressive” in pursuing IS-linked targets on the continent.Under the Trump administration, “we’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and (are) working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly ISIS,” Brennan said in an interview on the sidelines of a US-Nigeria security meeting in the Nigerian capital last week.

“From Somalia to Nigeria, the problem set is connected. So we’re trying to take it apart and then provide partners with the information they need,” he added.

“It’s been about more enabling partners and then providing them equipment and capabilities with less restrictions so that they can be more successful.”

Last week’s inaugural US-Nigeria Joint Working Group meeting came roughly a month after the US announced surprise Christmas Day strikes on IS-linked targets in northwest Nigeria.Africa’s most populous country is roughly evenly split between a mostly Muslim north and mostly Christian south. Though millions live peacefully side by side, religious and ethnic identity remains a sensitive topic in a country that has seen sectarian violence throughout its history.Brennan told AFP that US intelligence would not be limited to protecting Christians.

He also said that following the US strikes in northwestern Sokoto state, American support going forward would focus on intelligence sharing to aid Nigerian air strikes there, as well as the northeast, where a jihadist insurgency by Boko Haram and rival breakaway ISWAP has raged since 2009.

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is “our most concerning group”, he said.

Analysts have been tracking US intelligence flights over the country in recent months, though some have questioned whether air support alone can push back armed groups that thrive amid widespread poverty and state collapse in rural areasStill collaborate’ with AES militaries –
US-Nigerian cooperation going forward will involve “the whole gamut of intel sharing, sharing… tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as enabling them to procure more equipment,” Brennan said.

The initial strikes targeted militants linked to Islamic State Sahel Province, typically active in neighbouring Niger, Brennan said.

Analysts have voiced concerns about ISSP’s spread from the Sahel into coastal west African countries like Nigeria.

The impact of those strikes so far has been unclear, however, with local and international journalists unable to confirm militant casualties.

Asked about their effectiveness, Nigerian information minister Mohammed Idris said last week it was “still a work in progress”.In the Sahel more widely, Brennan said “we still collaborate” with the junta-led governments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which have broken away from their west African neighbours and largely shunned the West.

Security cooperation has been curtailed since coups toppled civilian governments across the three countries from 2020 to 2023.

“We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said. “We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.”

Brennan also said the US is not seeking to replace its bases in Niger after its troops were pushed out by the ruling junta.

“We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” he said, referencing the shuttered US drone operations in Agadez.We are much more focused on getting capability to the right place at the right time and then leaving. We don’t seek long-term basing in any of the western African countries.”