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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Feb. 19

Xinhua, February 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Germany rejected a request from Greece on Thursday to extend its loan agreement with eurozone creditors, saying the Greek proposal did not meet previously agreed criteria decided by the Eurogroup on Monday.

"The letter from Athens is not a substantial solution proposal," said German finance ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger in a statement.

"In truth, it aims at a bridge financing, without meeting the requirements of the program," Jaeger said. (Germany-Greece-Loan Agreement)

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KIEV -- The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Thursday that at least 13 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 157 others wounded during their pullback from the war-engulfed Debaltseve town in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

"The vast majority of those wounded have been sent to military hospitals, where they are receiving medical care," the statement on the ministry's website said. (Ukraine-Debaltseve)

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ANKARA -- Syrian rebels, who will be trained and equipped by the United States and Turkey, will fight both the Islamic State (IS) militants and Syrian government forces, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday.

"Forces that we'll train and equip will naturally fight against elements that threaten integrity of Syria," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, adding that the trained Syrian opposition groups are "expected to fight" the IS and "elements of the (Syrian) regime." (Turkey-U.S.-Syrian Rebels)

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BRUSSELS -- The European Commission (EC) has begun an in-depth investigation to assess whether UK's plan to support a Lynemouth coal-powered plant's conversion to biomass operation were in line with EU state aid rules, a statement said on Thursday.

The EC will investigate to make sure the public funds used in the project were limited to what was necessary and do not result in overcompensation. (EU investigation-UK-Power Plant) Endit