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Venezuela says two light aircraft have been shot down after entering the country's airspace over the weekend. These were the first mid-air attacks by fighter jets since a bill authorising such action against illegal planes was approved earlier this month, the Bolivarian Armed Forces said. The aircraft were allegedly smuggling drugs from Central America and refused to follow the military pilots' orders. Another 11 unauthorised planes have been disabled on the ground this year. Venezuelan security forces say more than 35 tonnes of drugs have been found this year. The head of Venezuela's Strategic Operational Centre, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, told the country's state television that a plane had been targeted after "all other means of persuasion had been exhausted" in the early hours of Saturday. "This was the first plane shot mid-air in the country since the approval of the Law and Control Regulation for the Integral Defence of the National Airsp...

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has condemned what he described as a US ban on his plane using its airspace. In a speech in the capital Caracas, Mr Maduro also accused the US of refusing to issue a visa to a top official in order to attend a UN meeting next week. US officials have not confirmed or commented on the claims. Venezuela's relations with the US have been often been strained, both under Mr Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez and since his own election in April. Mr Maduro said that US authorities had barred his plane from travelling over the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, a US territory, on a planned trip to China later this week. He described the move as a "serious offence" while Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said it was "another act of aggression on the part of US imperialism". Local media in Puerto Rico quoted officials as saying they knew nothing about the alleged ban and that it was a matter for the federal US government. In July Venezu...