09 Feb 2019; DW: "We're no one's beggars," Maduro said as supplies were being stockpiled along the Colombian border. He has rejected calls from Europe and the Americas for fresh elections.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that he would not allow "fake" humanitarian aid to enter the country. Convoys of food and medicine supplied by the US at the request of self-declared opposition president Juan Guaido have been brought to the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

09 Feb 2019; AFP: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed on Friday not to let in "fake" aid from the United States requested by opposition leader Juan Guaido, which is being stockpiled at the border with Colombia.

"Venezuela won't allow the spectacle of fake humanitarian aid because we're no-one's beggars," Maduro said at a press conference in Caracas.

09 Feb 2019; DW: Palestinian protests along the fence separating Israel and Gaza are in their 46th week. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed and some 6,000 injured by live Israeli fire during this period.

Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinian teenagers during protests along the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip on Friday.

09 Feb 2019; DW: Talks between the Spanish government and Catalan separatist parties ground to a halt before they even began on Friday, with both sides accusing the other of stubbornness.

Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said the pro-independence groups had refused to accept a framework for talks proposed by Madrid because they wanted an independence referendum included on the agenda.

09 Feb 2019; DW: A Quebec City court handed a life sentence on Friday to the gunman who fatally shot six members of a Quebec mosque in 2017.

Alexandre Bissonnette had already pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and another six accounts of attempted murder.

Judge Francois Huot rejected a request by the prosecution for Bissonette to be given a 150-year sentence, which would have the longest-ever in Canada.

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A five-day naval exercise kicked off in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Friday with an aim to bridge gaps and operate together in pursuance of shared objectives, local media reported.

Senior navy officials, ambassadors and delegates of various countries attended the inauguration ceremony of the AMAN-19 maritime exercise in which 45 countries are taking part with ships and observers, Radio Pakistan said.

Dubai, Feb 9 (AFP) Public debt has rapidly increased in many Arab countries since the 2008 global financial crisis, due to persistently high budget deficits, the International Monetary Fund warned Saturday.

"Unfortunately, the region has yet to fully recover from the global financial crisis and other big economic dislocations over the past decade," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

"Among oil importers, (economic) growth has picked up, but it is still below pre-crisis levels," she told the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai.

09 Feb 2019; DW: It cost over €1 billion ($1.13 billion) to build. It will house around 4,000 secret agents. It covers an area the size of 36 soccer pitches. The new headquarters of the German Intelligence Agency (BND) has completed its move from Pullach, on the outskirts of Munich, to the center of Berlin, close to the former Wall. 

DUBLIN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived here on Friday night for talks with her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar, local media RTE reported.

According to the report, May arrived at Farmleigh House, an official Irish state guest house in the western part of Dublin, at about 8:30 p.m. local time where she will hold a two-hour talk with Varadkar over a private dinner.

There will be no joint press conference after their meeting, noted the report.

CARACAS, 09 Feb 2019; AA: A Venezuelan Supreme Court justice said Friday that National Assembly leader Juan Guaido’s decision to declare himself interim president was “null and void”. 

In a statement, Justice Juan Mendoza said Guaido’s interim government conflicts with the country’s constitution and he is usurping presidential powers.  

The court has already barred Guaido from leaving the country and frozen his bank accounts. 

BANGKOK, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn said late Friday that his elder sister Princess Ubolratana Mahidol is still a member of the royal family and thus "inappropriate" to be involved in politics.

A televised royal statement said Princess Ubolratana, although relinquished her royal titles in 1972, is the eldest child of revered late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, and elder sister of current king and other princess, thus is still counted as a member of the royal family.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump was declared "in very good health" after receiving his second periodic physical exam Friday afternoon.

White House physician Sean Conley said in a memo that he and 11 specialists put the 72-year-old president through a battery of medical tests "over the course of approximately four hours."