WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed Friday that Japan’s prime minister had nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize for opening a dialogue with North Korea.

Trump also complained about President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize and doubted he would be similarly honored.

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States have just concluded a new round of high-level trade talk in Beijing.

A string of positive signals released from the meeting have shown that on the basis of equality, the two countries are moving towards a final deal, led by the consensus reached by top leaders of the two countries.

When meeting with U.S. negotiation delegates on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China stands ready to resolve trade disputes through cooperation and reach a deal that can be accepted by both sides.

Mumbai, Feb 15; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Friday said she and her husband, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, have decided not to attend Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of Pulwama terror attack.

The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

Islamabad, Feb 15; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  Pakistan has condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and said it is a matter of grave concern even as it rejected India pointing out Islamabad's link to the incident without investigations.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) A day after it was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's first semi-high speed train, Vande Bharat Express, ran into some trouble twice on Saturday while returning to Delhi from Varanasi, officials said.

The first incident occurred around 15 kilometres from Tundla junction in Uttar Pradesh, with officials calling it a case of "skidding wheels".

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have discussed the issues of European security during their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, a message by the Russian Foreign Ministry informs.

"They have discussed the state of security in Europe and the relations between Russia and NATO," the ministry stated.

Earlier, Stoltenberg said that he plans to discuss the possibility of maintaining the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Lavrov in Munich.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government has suddenly stopped force-feeding a group of men on a hunger strike inside an El Paso immigration detention center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

The dramatic reversal came Thursday as public pressure was mounting on ICE to halt the practice, which involves feeding detainees through nasal tubes against their will. Last week, the United Nations human rights office said the force-feeding of Indian hunger strikers at the facility could violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

16 Feb 2019; DW: Following a brief but harsh row between France and Italy, Christian Masset had been recalled. But despite the ambassador's impending return, relations between the two country are likely to remain tense.

France is redeploying its ambassador to Italy on Friday, French officials said, in an apparent bid to heal the rift that saw its envoy Christian Masset recalled eight days ago.

Jaisalmer, Feb 15 (PTI) The Indian Air Force will demonstrate its full spectrum combat and fire capabilities during 'Exercise Vayu Shakti-2019' in Pokharan firing range close to Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan on Saturday.

Akash missile firing, gun firing from Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and MiG 29's air-to-ground role will be among four "first-time demonstrations" in the exercise which is scheduled to be attended by Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will nominate a former Alabama official to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Jeffrey Byard held several positions with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency before he joined FEMA in 2017 during the agency’s response to Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida. Byard is currently the associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery.

New Delhi, February 15; GANASHAKTI: The Kashmir Police on February 8 had sent an intelligence input to the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, Army and the Air Force warning of a possible IED attack, according to a letter written by the state police Inspector General.

It is not known why despite the early warning, the CRPF allowed its 78-vehicle convoy carrying 2,547 security personnel to go from the transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar -- a 270-km stretch.

KIGALI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- African coffee products could dominate the global market in the next five years as some countries have expanded coffee growing acreage and raised quality of coffee produce, experts told Xinhua on Friday.

Production of coffee in Africa could rise by more than 2 million bags in each of the next five years, as farming improves in most coffee-growing countries like Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania, said Peter Kettler, global product manager for coffee at Fairtrade International.