WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Democratic Party said Wednesday that it would not allow conservative Fox News to host a presidential primary debate.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement that the news channel had an "inappropriate relationship" with the Trump administration which led him to make the decision.

07 Mar 2019; AFP: Convicted Australian Cardinal George Pell faced a fresh legal challenge Thursday after a civil suit was filed against him for further alleged abuse in the 1970s.

Pell -- the most senior Vatican official to be found guilty of child sex crimes -- is currently in detention awaiting sentencing for assaulting two choirboys in Melbourne in the 1990s.

He maintains his innocence and an appeal is scheduled for June.

06 Mar 2019; DW: A statement from Venezuela's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said German Ambassador Daniel Kriener had repeatedly "interfered in the country's internal affairs, in clear contravention of the norms that govern diplomatic relations."

The government of acting President Nicolas Maduro said he had 48 hours to leave Venezuela.

06 Mar 2019; AFP: Trade tensions and political uncertainty including Brexit are weighing on the world's economy, the OECD warned Wednesday as it again cut its 2019 forecast for global economic growth.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development lowered its forecast to 3.3 percent for this year, down from the 3.5 percent it predicted in November, which was itself a downgrade from a previous 3.7 percent.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Border agents have been told to explicitly target Spanish speakers and migrants from Latin America in carrying out a Trump administration program requiring asylum seekers wait in Mexico, according to memos obtained by The Associated Press that reveal some inner workings of a top government priority to address the burgeoning number of Central Americans arriving in the country.

07 Mar 2019; DW: Chinese investments in the European Union fell sharply for the second consecutive year in 2018, a report by the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and US consulting firm Rhodium Group showed.

Chinese companies completed FDI deals worth €17.3 billion ($19.6 billion) last year, down 40 percent from 2017 levels and way below the record €37.2 billion investment seen in 2016.

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday that the United States would impose sanctions on foreign financial institutions that benefit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his administration.

"The United States is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in facilitating illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network," Bolton said in a statement.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military said Thursday it is carefully monitoring North Korean nuclear and missile facilities after the country’s spy agency told lawmakers that new activity was detected at a research center where the North is believed to build long-range missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft approaching the Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Russian fighter jet approached the target at a safe distance and identified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force, according to the statement.

"The Russian fighter jet returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border," the ministry said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, turned over documents to lawmakers Wednesday as he tried to back up his claims that a false statement he delivered to Congress in 2017 was edited by the president’s attorneys, two people familiar with the case said.

It’s unclear who edited the documents or what exactly was changed.

07 Mar 2019; DW: US journalist Cody Weddle was held for more than 12 hours by Venezuela's security services, Miami-based Local 10 news broadcaster reported on Wednesday. Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) confirmed the detention and said Weddle would be deported.

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss the latest findings by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the chemical weapon use in Syria.

The report from the UN-backed watchdog concluded, based on its Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) assessment, that there were "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place, on 7 April," during the battle for control of Eastern Ghouta.