NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Washington to celebrate the alliance’s 70th anniversary amid rifts between members over security and trade issues.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened the meeting Thursday with an appeal for unity to confront “great power” challenges from Russia, China and Iran.

He said the alliance was well positioned to move forward.

But a deepening dispute with Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defence system and US demands for allies, particularly Germany, to boost their defence spending threatened to overshadow the proceedings.

Pompeo said every NATO member had an obligation to explain to its citizens the need to increase their defence budgets.

He rejected what he called “tired” arguments about public opposition to such spending.

China has deployed its latest guided missile destroyer and frigate in the fleet of naval ships participating in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and Somalian coast in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, a media report said Thursday. China’s 32nd convoy fleet to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters set sail from a military port in Zhoushan, East China’s Zhejiang Province on Thursday, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy official announced.

The naval fleet includes the guided-missile destroyer Xi’an, the missile frigate Anyang and the Gaoyanghu, a comprehensive supply ship, state-run Global Times reported. It is the first time Xi’an and Anyang are participating in an escort mission, it said. One of the country’s new generation of self-developed Type-052C guided missile destroyers, Xi’an, which entered into service in February 2015, possesses over-the-horizon strike capability at sea, the report said.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that it stood by Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan’s assessment last week that debris from an Indian anti-satellite weapons test would eventually burn up in the atmosphere, despite a subsequent, more negative assessment by NASA.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Monday more than 400 pieces of orbital debris from the test had been identified, including debris that was traveling above the International Space Station — something he called a “terrible, terrible thing.”

Asked whether the Pentagon stood by Shanahan’s earlier assessment, spokesman Charlie Summers said: “Yes.”

Nepal-India Franchise Investment Expo and Conclave will be held in Kathmandu from 15th to 16th May, 2019. 

The event primarily focuses on building the relations between India and Nepal through entrepreneurship development. 

The conclave is organised by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FNCCI) in association with Embassy of India and Franchise India. 

Briefing media persons in Kathmandu this afternoon, FNCCI President Bhawani Rana said the event is expected to introduce new investment opportunities to Nepalese market. She said one of the core areas will be to focus for networking between investors of Nepal and India. 

According to Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri the summit will help in bringing the leading Indian iconic brands to Nepal. 

The United Arab Emirates has conferred the prestigious Zayed Medal on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states. 

The award comes in appreciation of Prime Minister Modi’s role in consolidating the long-standing friendship and joint strategic cooperation between the two countries. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked the UAE President  Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for conferring the prestigious Zayed Medal on him. 

In a tweet, Mr Modi said he accepts the honour with utmost humility. He said, under his visionary leadership, India-UAE strategic ties have reached new heights. 

The Prime Minister said, this friendship is contributing to the peace and prosperity of our people and the Planet.

A Russian delegation led by the Russian Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media,  Alexey Volin met Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare in New Delhi yesterday.  

During the meeting, it  was mutually agreed  that an annual Indo-Russian Forum for Media Cooperation be organized alternately in India and Russia  to institutionalize the process of cooperation between the two countries in the media and entertainment sector. 

Television, news agencies, digital distribution platforms, new media, news gathering, co-production of programmes, sharing of content and exchange of professionals were identified as possible areas of collaboration. The need to forge strong connections between the young journalists of the two countries was also highlighted in the meeting.

Lori Lightfoot, a political newcomer, was elected the first black female mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, defeating opponent Toni Preckwinkle by a landslide in a runoff to take over a city struggling with crime and weak finances.

A former federal prosecutor, Lightfoot won 74 percent of the vote with nearly all precincts counted compared with 26 percent for Preckwinkle, a long-time local politician, to become Chicago's 56th mayor.

Lightfoot, 56, who will also become the first openly gay mayor of the third-largest US city, appealed to voters who are tired of politics as usual. She has never held political office, while Preckwinkle, 72, was a city councilwoman for almost 20 years before becoming Cook County board president in 2010.

"You did more than make history. You created a movement for change," Lightfoot told hundreds of supporters at her election night party, promising to end corruption and make the city's streets safe again. "We can and will remake Chicago."

India's exports are expected to reach 32.4 billion dollars in March, the highest in any month so far, on account of healthy growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals.

In an interview to news agency PTI, Commerce and Industry minister Suresh Prabhu today said, that exports would cross 331 billion-dollar-mark in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

The minister said that for the first time, India has crossed 19 billion-dollar-figure in pharma exports this fiscal. The Commerce Ministry will release the trade data on 15th April.

UAE has conferred the prestigious Zayed Medal on Prime Minister Modi, the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states. 

The award comes in appreciation of Prime Minister Modi’s role in consolidating the long-standing friendship and joint strategic cooperation between the two countries. A report from our correspondent. 

"Never have the relationship and bond between the two countries been so strong. In yet another sign of growing relationship between India and UAE , the leadership here has conferred the prestigious Zayed Medal to Prime Minister Modi, the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states.

Referring to Prime Minister Modi as a dear friend , the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan in a tweet today said that the PM had played a pivotal role in enhancing bilateral ties between the two countries to the level of comprehensive strategic relations.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed operators to submit before it all tariff plans that they offer to select segments of customers at the end of every month. 

Telecom regulator in its order on Wednesday issued the new direction to telecom operators directing them to submit before it details of rates, terms and conditions of scheme, quantum of service that customers will get, name of the plan, validity period of subion and benefits available to the subscriber under the plan in which segment offer has been given. 

TRAI also directed service providers to share with it the number of subscribers at the end of each month who have availed the segmented offer.