Category: Azer News

On November 4, internationally acclaimed violinist David Garrett performed at the Heydar Aliyev Center with his Millennium Symphony – Crossover Programme, a large-scale symphonic show spanning classical music, rock, pop and film scores.

First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, along with her family members, attended the symphonic show.

In his unique program, where classical music meets rock, pop, and cinema melodies, David Garrett presented works and musical hits by Beethoven, Hans Zimmer, Michael Jackson, as well as the bands Nirvana and Rammstein and other artists in his distinctive style.

David Garrett made his stage debut at the age of 10 and became the youngest-ever artist to sign with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 13.

After his graduation and continuing to this day David Garrett has been working with the most eceptional conductors in the classical field such as Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Riccardo Chailly, and Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

The classical album “ICONIC,” which holds a special place in the artist’s oeuvre, achieved an eceptional feat for classical music reaching number 4 in the German album pop charts. It also received the Golden Record and the Opus-Klassik 2023 as “Bestseller of the Year”.

David Garrett embarked on an international tour with this classical repertoire, giving 113 concerts on five continents.

Saudi Aramco has begun work to epand its East-West oil pipeline, aiming to strengthen the kingdom’s ability to transport crude oil while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. The company epects to have the capacity to increase oil production to a maimum of 12 million barrels per day in the coming weeks.

Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser announced the development at a press conference.

He said preliminary engineering work on the East-West pipeline epansion had begun. Nasser also noted that the company carries out emergency repairs si times faster than other companies in the energy sector.

The approimately 1,200-kilometre East-West pipeline runs from Abqaiq in eastern Saudi Arabia to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. Its current transportation capacity is around 7 million barrels per day.

Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Iran war have prompted Saudi Arabia to rely more heavily on alternative routes for oil eports. The East-West pipeline allows the kingdom to transport crude from its eastern oil-producing regions to Red Sea ports by land, enabling some eports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Following disruptions to oil flows through the strategic waterway, Saudi Aramco has been using the pipeline to redirect approimately 4 million barrels of crude oil per day to Yanbu.

French giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have set a new UEFA Champions League record after scoring four goals in just 17 minutes during their away match against Spanish side Villarreal in the competition’s fourth round.

PSG found the net through João Neves in the ninth minute, Désiré Doué in the 12th, Senny Mayulu in the 13th and Fabián Ruiz in the 17th.

The previous record dated back to November 2011, when a team scored four goals against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb within a 20-minute period.

PSG’s remarkable attacking display means the French club has now set a new benchmark for the fastest four-goal haul in the competition’s history.

Operating ependiture on Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field reached approimately $2.002 billion in the third quarter of 2026, while capital ependiture totalled around $1.078 billion.

According to BP’s third-quarter 2026 report, operating costs increased by 9% compared with the same period in 2025, while capital ependiture rose by 42.6%.

During the quarter, gas deliveries from Shah Deniz continued to markets in Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Georgia (GOGC) and Trkiye (BOTAS), as well as to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline facilities and buyers in Europe.

In the first nine months of 2026, the Shah Deniz Alpha and Shah Deniz Bravo platforms jointly produced approimately 20 billion standard cubic metres of gas and around 3 million tonnes of condensate, equivalent to approimately 21 million barrels. Compared with the same period last year, gas production declined by 4.8%, while condensate output fell by around 3 million barrels.

The eisting Shah Deniz facilities currently have a production capacity of approimately 79 million standard cubic metres of gas per day, or around 28.8 billion cubic metres annually.

Work on the Shah Deniz 2 project continued during the quarter, including subsea operations on wells at the eastern-northern flank. In September, the fourth well at this flank was brought online.

The Khankendi vessel remained primarily engaged in Shah Deniz 2 operations. During the first nine months of the year, it also carried out subsea intervention work at several wells in the Deepwater Gunashli area of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field. These operations aimed to identify opportunities to improve reservoir pressure management and increase production.

Meanwhile, the Tofiq Ismayilov diving support vessel provided maintenance, inspection and intervention services for subsea production facilities at Shah Deniz 2 and ACG.

Work on the Shah Deniz Compression (SDC) project also progressed safely and ahead of schedule during the third quarter. By the end of September, the project had recorded more than four million working hours without a lost-time injury.

A major milestone was reached in October with the completion of offshore tubular pile installation, marking the beginning of offshore construction. Four piles, which will form the foundation of the SDC platform’s jacket, were transported offshore and installed by the Khankendi subsea construction vessel.

The installation campaign also marked the first use of pile-plug technology in BP’s Caspian operations.

Valued at $2.9 billion, the Shah Deniz Compression project is designed to unlock lower-pressure gas reserves and maimise recovery from the field. It is epected to enable the production and eport of approimately 50 billion cubic metres of additional gas and nearly 25 million barrels of additional condensate.

The project includes the construction of a new electrically powered, normally unmanned compression platform, known as an eNUI, as well as associated facilities at the Shah Deniz contract area and modifications to eisting infrastructure at the Shah Deniz Alpha and Bravo platforms and the Sangachal Terminal.

Construction is scheduled for completion in 2029. The platform is epected to be ready to receive and compress gas from Shah Deniz Alpha in 2029 and from Shah Deniz Bravo in 2030.

During the third quarter, drilling of the SDA12 well at the Shah Deniz Alpha platform was completed.

A total of 24 wells have been drilled under Shah Deniz 2. These include five wells at the northern flank, five at the western flank, four at the south-eastern flank, five at the south-western flank and five at the north-eastern flank.

‘Our successful results are primarily the outcome of our training sessions. We know eactly what we want to achieve and work towards those objectives from the very beginning of the training process. I also believe that the team’s character plays a major role. Our main goal is to qualify for the group stage.’

Turan women’s volleyball team libero Jeyran Imanova made these remarks in an interview while commenting on her team’s 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-22, 25-20) over Bulgaria’s Maritsa Plovdiv in the third qualifying round of the CEV Champions League.

Imanova acknowledged that their opponents had delivered a strong performance, emphasizing that eperience proved decisive at crucial moments.

‘First of all, our team consists of eperienced players. Although Maritsa have a younger squad, I believe they played very well. However, as I mentioned, eperience made the difference at decisive moments. In matches like these, the team that makes fewer mistakes usually has the advantage.

‘I believe our ability to reduce errors towards the end of each set, combined with our confident performance, played an important role in securing the victory. Our coach’s instructions were also very helpful. He has a better overall view of the game from the sidelines, identifies our mistakes and communicates the necessary adjustments to us,’ she said.

The volleyball player also shared her epectations for the return leg, scheduled for November 10.

‘Winning the first match means we have already taken an important step forward. A 3-0 victory also allows us to prepare for the return match with greater confidence and peace of mind. Nevertheless, I am confident that we will prepare with full commitment for the net game and achieve another positive result,’ Imanova added.

The second leg between the two teams will take place on November 10.

United States Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that he is “nauseously optimistic” about the Democratic Party’s chances at the 2026 midterm elections. The polls officially opened today, with times differing depending on the state.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in New York, Schumer mentioned that he anticipates the Democrats will take control of the Senate once again. If they were to get the majority in the House of Representatives as well, it will be “up to” US President Donald Trump to decide whether he wants to work with them or not.

“The American people want us to do things that make their lives better. Trump has refused to listen to them. He’s even, at time to time, sort of dissed those costs, those kinds of things that people are caring about of costs and things like that. Will he change? I don’t think I don’t know. But we’re going to fight Trump tooth and nail and focus on the issues no matter what he does,” the Senate minority leader remarked.

Kazakhstan’s Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan Alimirzamin Asgarov, and AZCON Holding representative Shahin Babayev have discussed prospects for bilateral cooperation at a meeting in Astana.

Accoding to the Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, the parties reviewed the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor) and the implementation of the Caspian Bridge project.

Under the project, ferries will serve as an extension of the railway infrastructure, allowing railcars to be transported across the Caspian Sea without unloading their cargo. The project aims to guarantee the transportation of 8 million tonnes of cargo annually, with plans to increase capacity to 10-12 million tonnes in the future.

During the Azerbaijani delegation’s visit, Samruk-Kazyna JSC and AZCON Holding signed an agreement on cooperation in the development and implementation of the project.

In addition, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and Azerbaijan Railways CJSC signed a Term Sheet outlining the key terms for establishing a joint intermodal cargo terminal at the Port of Alat.

The discussions also covered the development of a joint terminal network, industrial cooperation in locomotive and shipbuilding, tariff policy, and measures to reduce cargo delivery times to Europe.

Following the meeting, the parties emphasized that relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are built on a solid foundation of mutual trust. Both countries share the goal of making the transport corridor across the Caspian Sea more reliable and efficient.

The Middle Corridor is a transport and trade route connecting Asia and Europe through several countries in the region. It serves as an alternative to the traditional Northern and Southern corridors.

The route starts in China, passes through Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, crosses the Caspian Sea, and continues through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Trkiye towards Europe. It provides a land-based connection between eastern Asia, including China, and Europe, offering an alternative to longer maritime routes.

China has shown no interest in holding trilateral talks with the United States and Russia on the war in Ukraine, with President Xi Jinping reportedly viewing the conflict as a European issue requiring European participation.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the remarks after returning to Berlin following a meeting with Xi in Beijing on Friday, October 30.

According to Steinmeier, he raised the possibility of a summit involving Xi, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine.

However, the Chinese leader’s response indicated that Beijing was not preparing for such negotiations.

‘From his perspective, there is absolutely no preparation under way for an Ukraine summit involving the US, Russia, and China,’ Steinmeier said.

‘He (Xi) explicitly pointed out that this is a European conflict in which Europeans would also have to be at the negotiating table,’ he added.

The German president said Xi appeared surprised when the proposal was raised during their discussions.

‘One could see the look of surprise on his face,’ Steinmeier recalled.

The Azerbaijan State Puppet Theatre will stage the premiere of its new children’s production, Little Traveller, on November 16, during the school autumn holidays.

According to the theatre, the production is based on How I Became a Traveller by Belarusian playwright, director and actor Dmitry Bogoslavsky.

The play explores how children’s biggest dreams require not only imagination and courage but also knowledge, learning and preparation.

The main character is a young boy who dreams of exploring the world, visiting new countries and travelling beyond familiar horizons. Setting off on his first journey, he encounters fascinating sea creatures and other colourful characters, experiences a series of adventures and discovers something new at every turn.

The central message of the production is to show young audiences the importance of education, school subjects and broadening their horizons in achieving their future ambitions.

Throughout his journey, the young protagonist realises that subjects such as mathematics and foreign languages are just as important as geography. Through his adventures, he learns that achieving his dreams requires dedication, preparation and continuous self-improvement.

Combining humour, fantasy, interactive dialogue and colourful puppet characters, Little Traveller promises to take young audiences on an entertaining adventure while introducing them to the world of knowledge.

Anar Mammadov is responsible for the adaptation and staging, while Igbal Aliyev serves as production designer. The music was composed by Honoured Artist Vugar Jamalzade.

The one-act children’s play features performances by Azerbaijan State Puppet Theatre actors, including Honoured Artist Jamila Allahverdiyeva, Rahim Rahimov, Sariya Mansurova, Bayram Agamaliyev, Araz Hasanli, Konul Nasibli, Sabina Mammadova, Ramiz Gambarov, Samira Najafova, Yusif Bakhshaliyev, Firuza Nasibli and Yasin Abbasov.

A 19-year-old Armenian serviceman has been found dead from a gunshot wound at a military unit, amid continuing concerns over non-combat fatalities in Armenia’s armed forces.

The soldier, identified as Tigran Stepanyan, was reportedly found dead on Sunday. Armenia’s Defence Ministry has not disclosed the circumstances surrounding his death, while some local media outlets have suggested suicide as a possible cause.

The circumstances of the incident remain unclear, and no official determination regarding the cause of death has been announced.

The latest case comes amid reports that more than 30 Armenian servicemen have died in non-combat circumstances since the beginning of 2026, despite government efforts to investigate such incidents.

Armenian authorities previously established a commission to examine non-combat deaths within the armed forces. However, the continued reporting of fatalities has raised questions about the effectiveness of measures intended to address the problem.

According to figures published by the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, Armenia recorded 34 non-combat military deaths in 2025, including nine classified under suicide and murder and 25 attributed to other causes.

The organisation’s data indicates that 40 servicemen died in non-combat circumstances in 2024, including 12 cases classified as suicide and murder and 28 deaths attributed to other reasons.

Earlier figures, which also include deaths recorded in Karabakh, show that 83 non-combat fatalities were documented in 2023, compared with 64 in 2022 and 76 in 2021.

Of the 83 deaths recorded in 2023, 14 were classified as suicide and murder, while 69 were attributed to other causes.

Overall, the organisation’s figures indicate that 297 non-combat military deaths were recorded between 2021 and 2025, including 67 classified as suicide and murder and 230 attributed to other causes.