CARACAS, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed to defeat the "new imperialists who seek to rob our sacred treasure, freedom" as the country marked the 209th anniversary of the start of its independence from Spanish rule on Friday.

On April 19, 1810, Venezuelans deposed the governor and captain general, Vicente Emparan, as well as other high-ranking Spaniards, sending them into exile. A year later, in 1811, Venezuela celebrated the signing of the Act of Independence.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia is upgrading its Black Sea forces in the context of NATO’s approaching infrastructures and proportionately to its real defense requirements, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS in an interview on Friday.

"It goes without saying that we have been upgrading our forces in view of the fact that NATO’s infrastructures are approaching our shores. All of our efforts are absolutely adequate and proportionate to the real defense security requirements," he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public at last, special counsel Robert Mueller’s report revealed to a waiting nation Thursday that President Donald Trump tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Mueller’s removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. Trump was largely thwarted by those around him who refused to go along.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — The eldest son and daughter of a couple who starved and shackled 12 of their children spoke publicly for the first time Friday, alternately condemning and forgiving their parents before a judge sentenced the pair to up to life in prison.

20 Apr 2019; DW: US President Donald Trump labeled accusations in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report as "total bullshit" in a series of Twitter posts on Friday.

"Statements are made about me by certain people in the Crazy Mueller Report, in itself written by 18 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, which are fabricated & totally untrue. Watch out for people that take so-called "notes," when the notes never existed until needed," Trump railed on Twitter.

BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- In the countdown to China’s deadline to eradicate absolute poverty by 2020, the socialist system is playing a crucial role.

"Socialism means development. Development must serve the common prosperity for everyone," President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts to win the battle against poverty on time during a recent inspection tour to southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

KIEV, April 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky has told incumbent president Pyotr Poroshenko that Zelensky is not his opponent, but his sentence, during the debates at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.

"I am not your opponent, Pyotr Alexeyevich [Poroshenko], I am your sentence," he said. "You ask me about war. We are currently at war. And you, as commander-in-chief, must answer it: why is the war not over yet?"

Beijing, Apr 19 (PTI) China said Friday it was ready to hold a Wuhan-style summit meeting with India this year to improve ties, notwithstanding the differences over the trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project.

20 Apr 2019; DW: Two suspected United Arab Emirates (UAE) intelligence agents have been arrested in Turkey, state news agency Anadolu said Friday.

Istanbul prosecutors are investigating whether the suspects have any links to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it said. The alleged agents were detained on suspicion of "political and military spying" and "international spying," prosecutors said. 

GAZA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 48 Palestinians were wounded on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, the Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, said in a press statement that among the casualties were five paramedics and four local photojournalists, adding that dozens were treated in the field after inhaling tear gas.

BELGRADE, April 19. /TASS/. Despite foreign pressure, Serbia will never impose sanctions on Russia and will stay out of any military bloc, including NATO, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a pro-government rally in Belgrade on Friday evening.

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Michael, which devastated a swath of the Florida Panhandle last fall, has been upgraded to a Category 5 storm, only the fourth to make recorded landfall in the United States and the first since 1992.

The announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday came as no surprise to those still struggling to recover from the storm’s destruction.