MUNICH; 16 Feb 2019; AA: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected U.S. calls to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and cancel a controversial gas pipeline project with Russia.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Merkel criticized Iran’s policies towards Israel, its ballistic missile program and its involvement in Syria and Yemen, but she also defended the nuclear deal with Tehran.

RAMALLAH, 17 Feb 2019; AA: Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat on Sunday accused Israel and the U.S. of seeking to destroy the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA).  

"Israel's intention to cut the PA tax funds is part of the Israeli-American plan that aims at destroying the Palestinian Authority,” Erekat told Palestine's radio in an interview.  

CHICAGO (AP) — The victims of a disgruntled employee Gary Martin who opened fire at a suburban Chicago industrial warehouse were co-workers ranging from an intern to the plant manager. A look at the victims:

The 21-year-old Northern Illinois University student was on his first day as an intern in human resources at Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora and attended the fateful meeting where the gunman was fired and then started shooting.

16 Feb 2019; DW: Torch-wielding, right-wing nationalists gathered in Sofia for the so-called Lukov March in remembrance of Bulgarian general and Nazi sympathizer Hristo Lukov. Many of the demonstrators came from outside Bulgaria.

17 Feb 2019; DW: British regional airline Flybmi announced Saturday it has ceased operations and filed for administration, citing among other things uncertainty caused by Brexit.

Parent company British Midland Regional Limited said it had canceled all flights with immediate effect and its 17 airplanes would no longer connect 25 European cities.

Ankara, Feb 16 (AFP) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not "turn back" on a deal with Moscow to buy Russian S-400 missile defence systems in comments published on Saturday.

Turkey's push to buy the systems has raised questions among NATO allies over their compatibility with alliance equipment as well as concerns over the burgeoning relationship between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

MUNICH (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister is blasting the United States’ “unhealthy fixation” with his country and condemning the Trump administration’s efforts to press European countries to pull out of the nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, a day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence prodded European powers Germany, France and Britain to follow Washington in withdrawing from the deal and to “stop undermining U.S. sanctions.”

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert withdrew herself from consideration for the nomination of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN), the department said in a statement on Saturday.

President Donald Trump will make an announcement on the issue "soon," the statement said.

MUNICH, February 16. /TASS/. Washington takes unscrupulous steps mobilizing its allies to put the blame for dismantling the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) on Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Munich on Saturday.

"Back in October, US officials told us that President [Donald] Trump announced a withdrawal from the treaty. It is not an invitation for dialogue but a final decision," Lavrov said.

16 Feb 2019; DW: Spanish authorities on Saturday said around 200,000 protesters marched through Barcelona against the trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders, calling for them to be released immediately.

The march was led by a line of protesters holding a long banner that read "Self-determination is not a crime." Other banners described the Catalan leaders on trial as "political prisoners."

MUNICH; 16 Feb 2019; AA: Russia will respect international humanitarian law in Syria’s Idlib, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.

Addressing the annual Munich Security Conference, Lavrov said efforts are currently underway in Idlib, to implement the memorandum signed last year between Moscow and Ankara to establish a demilitarized zone.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — As India considers its response to the suicide car bombing of a paramilitary convoy in the disputed region of Kashmir that killed dozens of soldiers, a retired military commander who oversaw a much-lauded military strike against neighboring Pakistan in 2016 has urged caution.