
A C-17 cargo plane of the United States Air Force took off Saturday from the Homestead Air Force Base, in Florida, with the Venezuelan-Colombian border as the destination. The aircraft is one of three that will transport 250 tons of food, hygiene kits and nutritional supplements, a congressional aide to the US Congress told the Associated Press (AP).

President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border without congressional approval, an action Democrats vowed to challenge as a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Prince Charles will make the first-ever official British royal visit to Cuba in March, his office announced on Friday, to mark improving ties between the two nations. The heir to the throne and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will make a four-day visit to Cuba during a wider tour of the Caribbean, his Clarence House official residence said.

Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay are to submit a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, Chile's President Sebastian Piñera announced on Thursday. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay had already submitted a joint bid to host the centenary edition of football's most prestigious tournament, but Piñera said on Twitter that those countries' presidents had agreed to Chile's participation in the joint candidacy.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guido told a huge rally of supporters on Tuesday that humanitarian aid would enter the country on Feb. 23, setting the stage for a showdown with President Nicolas Maduro who has refused to let supplies in.

The government of the United Kingdom announced on Tuesday that it will grant 6.5 million pounds, approximately 8.4 million dollars, to finance the different humanitarian agencies that are in the region assisting Venezuelan citizens inside and outside their country.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, recognized by some 50 countries as Venezuela's interim president, warned the military on Sunday that blocking humanitarian aid from entering the country is a crime against humanity.

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro is increasingly leaning on the protection and support of his Cuban backers, amid mounting global pressures to leave office, according to several senior U.S. officials. Adm. Craig Faller, head of U.S. Southern Command, told U.S. senators on Thursday that Havana owns the security around Maduro and is deeply entrenched in the intelligence service.

The European Union and a group of Latin American governments that have kept a moderate line on Venezuela called on Thursday for democratic and fresh elections, during a meeting held in Montevideo. The EU-backed International Contact Group on Venezuela said overly forceful intervention could aggravate the crisis.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for crisis-stricken Venezuela arrived in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Thursday as diplomatically-isolated President Nicolas Maduro appeared set to block its entry amid an escalating political crisis.