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On October 17, First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, visited Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City to review the progress of restoration work carried out with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of Saint Peter’s Basilica, provided First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva with detailed information about the Basilica and the restoration process there.

The largest church in the world – Saint Peter’s Basilica is considered the religious center of the Catholic world and is one of the four Papal basilicas in the Vatican. In terms of architecture, the church is one of the most outstanding buildings of humanity. While its foundation was laid in the 4th century, the current building represents the 16th-17th centuries.

The head of the Church is the Pope, and the management of the Vatican City State is entrusted to a Cardinal appointed by the head of the Holy See. That cardinal also holds the status of archbishop of the Vatican City State. Since February 20, 2021, Italian-born Cardinal Mauro Gambetti has been the head of Saint Peter’s Basilica.

On February 28, 2019, an agreement was signed between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Saint Peter’s Basilica on the restoration of the bas-relief of the “meeting between Pope Leo I and Hun Emperor Attila” located in the church and the “Tullius Zetus” mausoleum in the basilica’s necropolis. Restoration work on the project has been completed.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archbishop of Saint Peter’s Basilica, expressed his deep appreciation to First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva for the high-level and rapid implementation of the restoration work carried out in the church.

German flag carrier Lufthansa plans to scale back its domestic flight operations as part of efforts to cope with soaring operational costs, mounting taxes, and rising airport fees, Azernews reports, citing Germany’s media outlets.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told local media that expenses have doubled since 2019, prompting the airline to cancel approximately 100 domestic flights per week next summer. He warned that further reductions would be inevitable if local costs are not brought under control.

Spohr noted that certain routes – including Munich-Mnster/Osnabrck and Munich-Dresden – are particularly at risk, as operations on these lines have become unprofitable.

While international travel has largely recovered to pre-pandemic levels, domestic routes in Germany continue to lag behind. Business travel, in particular, remains significantly lower than before 2020. Lufthansa attributes this ongoing decline to the widespread shift toward videoconferencing, which has reduced the need for in-person meetings.

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, Hikmet Hajiyev, shared a post on his official X page regarding the visit of First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva to the Vatican, Azernews reports.

Hajiyev stated that the First Vice President’s productive meetings, including her meeting with Pope Leo XIV, clearly demonstrate Azerbaijan’s commitment to interfaith understanding and intercultural dialogue.

“The visit of the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, to the Vatican; her intense, productive meetings; and especially her audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the country’s support for the restoration of Catholic Christian heritage, and its long-term cooperation in this field vividly demonstrate Azerbaijan’s commitment to interfaith understanding and dialogue among religions, cultures, and civilizations. This visit is also a bright example of Azerbaijan’s cultural and humanitarian diplomacy.

Azerbaijan-a secular nation with a Muslim-majority population, rich Islamic traditions, and a long history of peaceful coexistence among Muslims, Christians, Jews, and representatives of other faiths-stands today as a shining example of inclusivity, tolerance, and multicultural harmony.

Proud of its strong record in women’s empowerment transforming the entire South Caucasus region into a space of peace and stability, Azerbaijan continues to advance a positive global agenda focused on peace, dialogue, and cooperation,” the post reads.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defense has extended its congratulations to Azerbaijan on the 34th anniversary of the restoration of its independence.

According to Azernews, the brotherly nation’s defense ministry marked the occasion with a social media post emphasizing the unbreakable bond between the two countries.

‘We sincerely greet the brotherly people of Azerbaijan. We will always stand united within the spirit of the saying, ‘One nation, two states.’ Long live Trkiye and Azerbaijan!’ the message read.

The post highlighted the enduring solidarity between the two nations, underscoring their shared history, mutual support, and common vision for peace and stability in the region.

The ‘CyberCell Hackathon,’ jointly organized by Azercell Telecom and Baku Engineering University (BMU), will be held on October 18-19, 2025, uniting young talents in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The two-day competition aims to enhance participants’ digital competencies, provide opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios, and foster teamwork capabilities.

During the competition, participants will work on Red Team (attack) and Blue Team (defense) scenarios to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities and develop innovative solutions for detecting, responding to, and preventing cyberattacks. Teams will also employ AI-powered tools to design solutions for anomaly detection, log analysis, and threat forecasting.

The ‘CyberCell Hackathon’ received nearly 200 applications. Following a rigorous selection process, 25 teams from the country’s leading universities, including Azerbaijan State University of Economics, ADA University, Baku Higher Oil School, Baku Engineering University, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, the French-Azerbaijani University, the Academy of the State Customs Committee, Azerbaijan Cooperation University, Khazar University, and Azerbaijan Technical University, earned the right to compete.

The top-performing team will be awarded a cash prize of 4,000 AZN, while the second and third place winners will receive 3,000 AZN and 2,000 AZN, respectively.

Germany will deploy three members of the Bundeswehr to Israel to help monitor compliance with the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Azernews reports, citing local media and the German Defense Ministry’s press service.

According to the ministry, two officers and one brigadier general will travel to Israel next week to perform their duties ‘in uniform but unarmed.’ The German contingent will operate in southern Israel at the Civil-Military Coordination Center, which is still under construction.

The center will host around 200 military personnel in total. Its mission includes monitoring adherence to the ceasefire and coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. government’s decision to cut hundreds of jobs at the Department of Commerce during the ongoing government shutdown is threatening to derail its national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, Axios reports, citing sources close to the department, Azernews reports, citing foreign media.

Since October 1, approximately 600 positions have been eliminated across key agencies, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Among those let go are technical experts critical to ensuring compliance with emerging AI regulations, safeguarding intellectual property, and maintaining industry collaboration. These personnel cuts have sparked concern within the tech community, as many of these agencies play a pivotal role in setting standards and guiding responsible AI innovation in the private sector.

Earlier this week, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction to halt some of the layoffs, acknowledging the potential long-term consequences for national security and technological leadership.

Experts warn that the disruption could give other global powers, including China and the EU, an edge in the race to shape international AI norms and standards.

On October 17, First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva met with Sister Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

During the meeting, Sister Raffaella Petrini expressed deep and sincere gratitude to the Azerbaijani state for the projects implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Vatican. She highly appreciated First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva’s visits to the Holy See, expressing gratitude for her valuable support in promoting mutual understanding, interfaith dialogue, and the development of cultural ties. She noted that such initiatives foster friendship, mutual understanding, and warm relations among peoples.

First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva thanked the Vatican City State Governorate for the warm reception and attention shown. She invited Sister Raffaella Petrini to make an official visit to Baku, emphasizing the importance of expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Vatican in new directions. Sister Raffaella Petrini warmly accepted the invitation, expressing her intention to visit Azerbaijan in the near future.

The meeting, held in an atmosphere of mutual respect, included an exchange of views on the prospects for practical cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Vatican Governorate in the cultural, religious, and humanitarian fields.

Researchers have discovered dozens of new methane seeps littering the ocean floor in the Ross Sea coastal region of Antarctica, raising concerns of an unknown positive climate feedback loop that could accelerate global warming, according to Live Science, Azernews reports, citing Azertag.

A potent greenhouse gas has begun seeping out of the Antarctic seafloor in dozens of places, scientists have discovered.

Researchers documented the emergence of these methane seeps in shallow regions of the Ross Sea, a bay off the southern coast of Antarctica. The patches of leaking gas could be caused by global warming, and they could also threaten to accelerate it further, according to a new study published Oct. 1 in the journal Nature Communications.

“Every time we discover or hear of a new one, we feel immediate excitement, but that excitement is quickly replaced with anxiety and concern about what it all means,” study lead author Sarah Seabrook, a marine scientist at the research institute Earth Sciences New Zealand, said in a statement.

“If they follow the behaviour of other global seep systems, there is the potential for rapid transfer of methane to the atmosphere from a source that is not currently factored into future climate change scenarios,” Seabrook added.

Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere by absorbing outgoing radiation. When methane first enters the atmosphere, it is a lot more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2), being about 80 times more potent across the first 20 years it’s in the atmosphere. This makes methane a particularly aggressive short-term driver of climate change. (CO2 stays in the atmosphere for longer, so it’s a more significant long-term driver.)

About 60% of methane emissions come from human activities such as farming and burning fossil fuels, while the remaining 40% come from natural sources. Scientists are concerned that as the planet gets warmer, more natural methane and carbon dioxide sources, such as those in melting permafrost, are being unlocked, creating a positive feedback loop that accelerates warming even further.

Researchers have previously spotted tens of thousands of methane leaks in the Arctic, but prior to the new study, there was only one confirmed Antarctic methane seep, identified in 2011. Underwater seeps create streams of bubbles as methane and other chemicals dissolve in ocean water following their release from beneath the seabed. White mats of microbial communities live around seeps, making them identifiable on the seafloor.

In the new study, researchers used acoustic surveys, divers and a remotely operated vehicle to explore seeps located between 16 feet (5 meters) and 787 feet (240 m) below the icy surface of the Ross Sea, off the Antarctic mainland. The team initially only went to investigate one seep in Cape Evans, located on the west side of Ross Island, and were surprised to find the seafloor littered with them.

“Last year, we went to Cape Evans to look at one small area where gas bubbles had been discovered and were hoping to find that one site still bubbling,” Seabrook said. “Instead, we found dozens more.”The researchers studied areas that have been regularly surveyed for decades, meaning that the seeps must be a new feature. It’s not known exactly what is causing the seeps to appear, but the researchers noted that similar processes in the Arctic and paleorecord (past environments) have been attributed to climate-driven cryospheric change – the degradation of Earth’s ice that previously locked these chemicals in place.

It’s unclear how much methane might be leaving Antarctica and reaching our atmosphere, nor how much remains trapped beneath its thawing ice, but the researchers are concerned that the seeps could be widespread. This raises fears of positive feedback loops as well as a variety of other knock-on effects caused by methane, such as ocean acidification.

Seabrook and her colleagues recommended coordinated, international efforts to urgently study the seeps.

“If these seeps keep emerging at the areas we are working in, it really begs the question of what the shallow coastal environment of Antarctica may look like five or 10 years from now,” Seabrook said. “This system is rapidly changing before our eyes from one year to the next.”

The ships and personnel of the Iranian Navy, who had arrived in Azerbaijan to participate in the AZIREX-2025 joint search and rescue exercise, departed from the Baku port on October 18, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry noted that Iranian naval vessels and crews belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy entered Azerbaijan’s territorial waters on October 15 to take part in the exercise and proceeded to the designated meeting area.

The AZIREX-2025 drills aimed to enhance coordination between naval forces in conducting joint search and rescue operations, improve operational readiness, and strengthen regional maritime cooperation.