After the failed attempt to breach government blockades, opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared the fight would continue, and said “we must keep all our options open for the liberation of our homeland”.

He will head to Bogotá for a meeting on Monday with US vice-president Mike Pence, and other regional leaders in the Lima Group.

Florida senator Marco Rubio responded to Guaidó’s comments, saying he had spoken to regional leaders. He said President Nicolás Maduro’s regime on Saturday had “opened the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the table just 24 hours ago”.

Although Guaidó did not secure the mass defections he had hoped for, at least 60 border guards deserted their posts and fled into Colombia, as other members of security forces loyal to Maduro used teargas and rubber bullets to force back protesters and halt civilian convoys escorting aid supplies.

 

Three trucks of aid caught fire as they approached the first border checkpoints at the Santander and Simón Bolivar bridges connecting Venezuela to Colombia. It is not clear how those fires were started.There were injuries on both sides of the crossing, with Colombian authorities reporting at least 285 wounded
•https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/23/venezuela-border-latest-maduro-guaido

The former England wing, who started the season with Wasps, gambled everything by turning his back on job security and home comforts to chase his American dream.

His reward arrived at 3pm yesterday with a call from the Buffalo Bills to say they had added him to their squad.

“I’m a step closer to my dream and I’m almost lost for words,” said Wade, one of four players allocated to clubs as part of the league's International Player Pathway programme.

“It makes me emotional just how risky and big a move this has been. I knew it but this moment has made it even more apparent. Every time I think about it I well up. This 100 per cent makes the gamble worthwhile.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/christian-wade-gets-nfl-chance-14267108

Italian media say the girl burst into tears when she was given the reduced lunch, at a primary school near Verona.

"I'm ready to help the parents pay the canteen," Candreva told the mayor of Minerbe, 35km (22 miles) from Verona.

A political row erupted, as the mayor is in the anti-immigration League.

The League's most prominent politician is Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, in a populist coalition government with anti-establishment Five Star.

Minerbe's Mayor Andrea Girardi said the girl's reduced meal of tuna and crackers was simply a gesture of "correctness towards the families who pay the [canteen] fee regularly". 

The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) accused the authorities of "a discriminatory choice". 

Reports say other children ate pasta and a second dish, while the girl just had tinned tuna and crackers.

The story went viral on Italian social media and it emerged that other children from poor immigrant families faced a similar predicament at the school.

In some cases, according to the daily La Repubblica, teachers gave their lunches to children whose parents could not afford the canteen fee.

Mayor Girardi, quoted by Corriere della Sera (in Italian), said "we're helping about 30 families who are in difficulties at that school". 

Explaining the school meals policy, he said: "We face dozens of insolvent parents and can't cover the costs. So we decided on a line that could move things on. 

"We didn't want to get to this point, but we risked failing to provide meals for the families who did pay regularly."

 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47865311