Outside the White House, demonstrators protested against human rights violations in Vietnam, while a group of US lawmakers wrote an open letter to Mr Obama complaining about the invitation.

Tokyo: Japan and South Korea on Saturday held the first dialogue of their financial chiefs in two and a half years, agreeing to improve economic ties despite diplomatic frictions between the two Asian countries. Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and his South Korean counterpart Choi Kyung-Hwan held a one-day meeting in Tokyo, the first since November 2012 and since conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December that year.

France has ratified an intergovernmental agreement with Azerbaijan on the establishment of cultural centers between the two countries.  The MPs noted the importance of this agreement in expanding bilateral and cultural relations between the two sides.

The diplomat emphasized the importance of arranging Belarus-India cultural events, soirees and exhibitions. In an interview with BelTA, the Indian Ambassador noted that the year 2015 will be very fruitful for the bilateral cooperation. The year will mark a number of important visits and a session of the Belarus-India intergovernmental commission for trade and economy. 

The United States, Japan, and South Korea signed a military pact that will lead to the three countries sharing intelligence and other sensitive information on North Korea’s progress toward a nuclear missile as well as the state of the country’s general military preparedness.

President of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), academician Akif Alizade has met Israeli Ambassador to the country Rafael Harpaz to discuss the expansion of scientific cooperation.  Alizade hailed long-term cooperation and relations between the two countries, which he described as “friendly”.