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It's Thursday, the 16th of October.

Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, the Trump administration is raising the stakes in Venezuela,

giving the green light for the CIA to carry out covert action inside the country.

So not that covert, since we're talking about it. I'll have the details.

Later in the show, Europe's preparing for a new kind of war. A leaked defense roadmap gives us

more insight into its so-called drone wall stretching across the EU's eastern

frontier, linking member states in a high-tech shield against Russian incursions.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

Washington's ongoing campaign against Venezuela's Nicholas Maduro may soon be entering a new

phase. Until now, U.S. operations have been limited to

the waters off Venezuela's coast. Naval interdictions targeting boats allegedly tied to drug traffickers.

But, according to a new report from the New York Times, based on anonymous sources,

President Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela,

...