Category: Azer News

United States President Donald Trump repeated that a “big armada” is on its way towards the Middle East amid tensions with Iran, and would arrive in the region “pretty soon”, Azernews reports.

At the same time, he hoped an agreement would be reached with Tehran, although he remained cautious about a potential diplomatic solution. “Last time they decided maybe not to do it,” he told reporters, referring to last year’s talks. “But I think they probably feel differently. We’ll see what the deal is … could it be different this time,” he went on.

“We’ll see how that works out,” Trump concluded.

He also told the reporters that consequences “will be very steep” if Iran does not reach a deal with Washington.

Speaking with journalists while en route to Florida, the US president described the nuclear talks with Iran in Oman as good, adding that the Middle Eastern country wants to make a deal “very badly” and is now “willing to do much more than they would have done a year and a half ago, or even a year ago.”

“We’re going to meet again early next week. They want to make a deal. They should want to make a deal,” Trump said.

There is a phrase currently colonizing the digital subconscious, migrating from the niche corners of cultural theory into the rapid-fire aesthetic of TikTok and the introspective threads of Reddit. It is a sentence that feels both cryptic and deeply evocative: ‘You met me at a very Chinese time of my life.’

To be in a “Chinese time” is to adopt a specific psychological and social posture: one defined by collective resilience, long-term strategic patience, and an unapologetic embrace of a lifestyle that prioritizes pragmatic stability over the frantic pursuit of “self-actualization.”

For decades, the cultural flow was unidirectional. The “American Dream”-with its emphasis on the sovereign individual, the white picket fence, and the constant, restless movement toward “more”-was the global gold standard. However, as the West grapples with a burgeoning loneliness epidemic, skyrocketing living costs, and a sense of political fragmentation, the “Chinese model” of existence is offering a seductive alternative.

On digital platforms like Instagram and TikTok, this shift is being aestheticized through a lens of “meaningful materialism” and communal ritual. It is no longer just about the tea ceremonies or the sudden ubiquity of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Western wellness circles. It is about the “Big Family” energy.

In its place, people are seeking “synthetic clans”-groups of friends and neighbors who operate with the loyalty and financial interdependence typically found in Chinese social structures. They are adopting the Chinese virtue of Chiku (eating bitterness)-the ability to endure hardship today for the sake of a stable tomorrow.

This cultural adoption is visible in the way young Westerners are reorganizing their domestic lives. There is a move toward multi-generational living, not out of desperation, but as a deliberate strategy to pool resources and provide a buffer against economic volatility. They are looking at the “Made in China” label not just on their electronics, but on their social blueprints. The “Chinese time” of life is characterized by a high-definition focus on the tangible: the quality of the food on the table, the health of the elderly, and the educational trajectory of the youth. It is a lifestyle that finds beauty in the “commonwealth” rather than the “extraordinary individual.”

Professional circles are also feeling the ripple. The Western corporate ethos of “disruption” is being traded for “harmony” and “incremental mastery.” The fascination with Chinese tech giants and their rapid evolution has led to a Western appreciation for Shanzhai-the art of iterative improvement. To be in a “Chinese time” professionally is to stop trying to “break things” and start trying to build things that last, using the patient, persistent methodology that turned a rural economy into a global superpower in the span of a single generation.

The phrase ‘You met me at a very Chinese time of my life’ ultimately serves as a disclaimer. It suggests that the person is currently “under construction,” focused on internal strengthening and external stability rather than social spontaneity. It is a period of “deep work” and domestic consolidation.

As Western institutions face a crisis of trust, the Confucian emphasis on filial piety, social responsibility, and the “Middle Path” offers a stabilizing gravity. People are finding that the “Chinese way”-with its blend of ancient wisdom and hyper-modern efficiency-provides a more coherent response to the chaos of the digital age.

This trend also reflects a growing respect. For years, the Western narrative regarding China was focused on “copying.” Now, the roles are reversing. Westerners are copying the Chinese lifestyle to find a sense of belonging and purpose that their own culture has struggled to provide. As we move further into this decade, the “Chinese time” of life may cease to be a “phase” and instead become a permanent fixture of the global lifestyle. It represents a synthesis-a way to be modern without being lonely, and to be ambitious without being atomized. Whether through the adoption of Feng Shui in urban planning or the integration of Chinese communal values in Western suburbs, the message is clear: the East is no longer just a place on a map; it is a state of mind.

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Qaiser Nawab is Chairman of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development (BRISD), an international platform focused on fostering cooperation and innovation across Asia, Africa, and Latin America

China successfully launched a reusable experimental spacecraft on Saturday aboard a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Azernews reports, citing Xinhua News Agency, citing the China Manned Space Agency.

The mission reportedly aims to test technologies that support repeated spaceflight and long-term use of orbital vehicles.

It did not elaborate on the details of the mission or the spacecraft – such as launch time, mission duration, and specific plans – or publish pictures of the rocket’s liftoff or scenes inside the ground control hall.

The mission is the fourth related to reusable experimental spacecraft that China has made public.

The country’s first orbital test of a trial vehicle took place in September 2020, and the craft was in orbit for just under two days.

The second test started in August 2022 and the spaceplane stayed in the Earth’s orbit for 276 days before landing in May 2023.

The third was launched in December 2023 and lasted 268 days before returning in September 2024.

All of the spacecraft used in the previous tests – whether they were all of the same type is not known – were launched by a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan center.

Currently, only China and the United States have reusable spacecraft, which were first initiated by the US in the 1970s. The pioneer of this concept – the US space shuttle – operated for three decades before its retirement in 2011 due to technical and budgeting difficulties.

In January 2026, Azerbaijan imported $141.833 million worth of goods from Turkiye, which was 10.8% less than in the same period last year, according to the Turkish Ministry of Trade, Azernews reports. In the reporting month, exports from Trkiye to Azerbaijan accounted for 0.8% of Trkiye’s total exports.

By comparison:

January 2024: Azerbaijan imported $170.48 million worth of goods from Trkiye, marking a decline of 6.8% compared with January 2023.

Data for earlier years indicate broader year-on-year movements in Azerbaijan’s trade with Trkiye, which remains one of its key partners:

2024 (annual): Azerbaijan’s imports from Trkiye were valued at about $2.31 billion, slightly above the $2.29 billion recorded in 2023.

2023 (annual): Total imports from Trkiye stood near $2.29 billion, reflecting relatively stable trade ties after global disruptions in previous years.

2022: Detailed official monthly breakdowns from this period are not publicly available, but broader foreign trade data show that Trkiye accounted for a significant share of Azerbaijan’s imports in 2022, with trade turnover between the two countries among the highest globally.

In January 2026, the value of Trkiye’s total exports decreased by 4.3% year-on-year to $17.606 billion. The largest importers of Turkish goods during the month were Germany ($1.587 billion), Great Britain ($1.135 billion), the USA ($1.027 billion), and Italy ($959 million).

Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tofig Musayev, has drawn attention to the deep and long-lasting social consequences of armed conflicts during a meeting organized by the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN within the framework of the 64th session of the UN Commission on Social Development, Azernews reports.

In his remarks, Musayev stressed that ongoing conflicts worldwide continue to erode social cohesion and economic stability. He noted that wars lead to mass displacement, aggravate humanitarian crises, and create unprecedented challenges for social development, placing a heavy burden on already fragile economies and institutions.

The ambassador underlined that Azerbaijan has directly experienced these consequences as a result of war and occupation. Following the events of 2020, the Azerbaijani government launched a large-scale rehabilitation and reconstruction program aimed at ensuring the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of former internally displaced persons. For this purpose, more than $13.5 billion was allocated between 2021 and 2025, and today around 70,000 people are already living in the liberated territories.

Musayev emphasized that reconstruction is being carried out using innovative and forward-looking approaches. Destroyed cities and villages are being rebuilt from the ground up, with the implementation of smart city and smart village concepts, as well as the designation of the region as a green energy zone.

At the same time, he pointed to the serious obstacles slowing the resettlement process, particularly the mine threat. According to the ambassador, although the government has provided social support to more than 130,000 people, progress remains hampered by the presence of around 1.5 million landmines and large quantities of unexploded ordnance left in the formerly occupied areas, posing a constant danger to civilian lives.

He also recalled that the fate of over 4,000 Azerbaijanis missing as a result of the conflict remains unknown, describing this issue as a continuing humanitarian tragedy.

Concluding his remarks, Musayev stated that the grave social consequences of conflicts require not only sustained national efforts but also strong international cooperation and solidarity, stressing that global action is essential to ensure that no one is left behind in post-conflict recovery and development.

Newly released documents from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have revealed that his connections to the global scientific community were far more extensive and deeply embedded than previously understood, Azernews reports citing Nature magazine.

Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, cultivated close relationships with prominent researchers and invested millions of dollars in scientific initiatives. Although it was already known that some scientists continued to associate with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for sex crimes, the latest disclosure sheds new light on the scale and nature of those interactions.

The release, made public last Friday, includes more than three million files-emails, photographs, and financial records-marking the largest batch of Epstein-related materials disclosed by the US Department of Justice since the passage of the Epstein Transparency Act late last year. The law mandates the release of all federal documents related to the financier.

While the documents do not suggest criminal wrongdoing by the scientists mentioned, they illustrate how deeply Epstein embedded himself in the scientific projects and institutions he supported.

Among the newly detailed interactions are communications involving theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss, whose science outreach organization received $250,000 from Epstein. In a 2018 exchange, Epstein wrote to Krauss, ‘I thought we agreed no comment !!!!!,’ as Krauss responded to media inquiries about a sexual misconduct investigation that later led to his departure from Arizona State University.

Krauss told Nature that he sought advice from many acquaintances during that period and said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s ‘horrendous crimes’ at the time. ‘I was as shocked as the rest of the world when he was arrested,’ he said.

The files also show that Epstein maintained a list of nearly 30 prominent scientists, including Krauss, and reveal previously unknown links with several others. One of them is Lisa Randall, a theoretical physicist at Harvard University, who exchanged emails with Epstein that included jokes about his house arrest following the 2008 conviction. Randall also visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2014.

Although she did not respond to Nature, Randall told the Harvard Crimson: ‘I am appalled by the full extent of allegations against him and deeply regret maintaining contact.’

Some documents reveal scientists approaching Epstein directly with funding proposals. In 2013, Nathan Wolfe, then a virologist at Stanford University, suggested that Epstein fund a study on undergraduate sexual behavior to test what he described as a ‘horny virus hypothesis.’

Wolfe later stated that Epstein never funded the project and said he regretted ‘not recognizing at the time how inappropriate [Epstein’s] framing was.’

One of Epstein’s closest academic relationships was with mathematical biologist Martin Nowak, formerly of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and later at Harvard University. In his 2011 book SuperCooperators, Nowak described being invited to Epstein’s island, where Epstein allegedly offered to build an institute for him.

That offer materialized as the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) at Harvard, founded with a $6.5 million donation from Epstein. Epstein’s involvement went well beyond funding: he maintained a dedicated office in the PED building and visited several times a year to meet with academics. Following renewed scrutiny, Harvard shut down the program in 2021 and imposed sanctions on Nowak, which were lifted in 2023.

Emails in the newly released files also reference Corina Tarnita, a Romanian-born mathematician who was Nowak’s PhD student beginning in 2008. Documents show that she facilitated wire-transfer details in 2009 for two Romanian women who received payments from Epstein, sparking speculation due to similarities with alleged trafficking-related transfers.

Tarnita, now a mathematical biologist at Princeton University, said the payments were legitimate scholarships for young women in mathematics. In a statement to Nature, she said Epstein was ‘inspired’ by her career path to support early-career female mathematicians. Princeton University confirmed her account, citing corroborating emails from 2008, and emphasized that Tarnita has never faced criminal allegations related to Epstein.

Taken together, the documents deepen public understanding of how Epstein leveraged wealth, access, and prestige to embed himself within elite scientific circles-often long after his criminal history was known. While no evidence of scientific misconduct or criminal complicity has emerged from the latest disclosures, the files have reignited debate over ethical responsibility, due diligence, and institutional accountability in academic funding.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon is ending “all professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs” with Harvard University, Azernews reports.

Hegseth accused the university of being one of “red hot centers of America hate activism” and casting the country’s armed forces in a “negative light … all while charging enormous tuition.”

“This policy applies to service members enrolling in future courses of study at Harvard University while on active duty,” Hegseth explained in a video posted on X, adding that currently enrolled service members can continue their studies.

Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen captured gold in the men’s downhill at the Milan Cortina Games on Saturday, clocking 1 minute 51.61 seconds on the Stelvio course, Azernews reports.

Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni finished second, 0.20 seconds behind, while fellow Italian Dominik Paris took bronze, 0.50 seconds off the pace. Von Allmen’s teammates Marco Odermatt and Alexis Monney placed fifth and sixth.

The 24-year-old reigning world champion in men’s downhill now becomes the fifth Swiss racer to win Olympic gold, pairing his Cortina triumph with last season’s world title in Saalbach.

Despite the European Union’s accelerated energy transition, natural gas continues to play a stabilising role in the bloc’s energy mix. According to Eurostat, the EU’s inland demand for natural gas increased by 0.6% in 2024 compared to 2023, reaching 12.8 million terajoules. While modest at the aggregate level, this increase masks sharp divergences among member states.

Southern and Northern European countries recorded the strongest growth in consumption, with Greece (+31.3%), Finland (+9.5%) and Lithuania (+9.2%) leading the way. These increases largely reflect fuel-switching from coal, weather-related demand, and the need for flexible generation amid intermittent renewable output.

By contrast, significant declines were observed in Portugal, Malta and Croatia, highlighting the uneven pace of structural adjustment across the EU.

Germany, Italy and France remained the EU’s largest gas consumers in 2024, underscoring the continued importance of gas for industrial output, heating, and power generation in Europe’s core economies. This sustained demand in major markets reinforces the relevance of secure pipeline gas supplies, even as overall consumption gradually trends downward.

Looking ahead, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that OECD Europe’s natural gas demand will contract by 8-10% between 2024 and 2030. Crucially, this decline is not driven by supply insecurity, but by structural changes – particularly the rapid expansion of renewable energy capacity and improved energy efficiency.

The power sector is expected to account for the bulk of the decline, with gas-to-power demand projected to fall by around 25% by 2030, equivalent to roughly 30 billion cubic meters. Renewable electricity generation in Europe is forecast to increase by more than 40% over the same period, progressively displacing gas-fired generation.

At the same time, gas demand in industry and the broader energy sector is expected to remain relatively resilient. Lower LNG prices and the need for stable baseload energy could even lead to a slight uptick in consumption in these segments. This suggests that while Europe’s gas market is shrinking in volume terms, it is becoming more selective – prioritising reliability, flexibility and price competitiveness.

Europe as a premium market for Azerbaijani gas

Against this backdrop, Europe remains a strategically attractive market for Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly emphasised that Azerbaijan is the only country in the South Caucasus that not only possesses significant energy resources but also exports them regionally and beyond. Today, Azerbaijan supplies natural gas to 16 countries, 10 of which are EU member states, giving it the widest geographical coverage of pipeline gas exports globally.

From Baku’s perspective, the European market offers two key advantages. First, it provides long-term demand stability supported by institutional frameworks and intergovernmental agreements. Second, it remains a premium-priced market compared to alternative destinations, enhancing the commercial viability of Azerbaijan’s upstream investments.

For Europe, Azerbaijani gas strengthens diversification efforts by reducing dependence on a narrow group of suppliers and by offering pipeline-based deliveries that complement LNG imports. This balance is particularly valuable during periods of market volatility or infrastructure bottlenecks.

Energy cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan is anchored in the July 2022 Memorandum of Understanding signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Ilham Aliyev. The agreement envisages doubling Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe by 2027 and positions Azerbaijan as a key partner in the EU’s diversification strategy.

EU officials have consistently described Azerbaijan as a reliable and predictable supplier. Beyond gas, cooperation is expanding under initiatives such as EU4Energy and the Global Gateway, which aim to promote energy efficiency, cross-border connectivity, and investment in energy and digital infrastructure. These frameworks indicate that Brussels views energy ties with Azerbaijan not as a short-term crisis response, but as part of a broader, long-term partnership.

Azerbaijan currently exports gas to Europe via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the final segment of the Southern Gas Corridor. TAP’s existing capacity of 10 billion cubic meters per year can be expanded to 20 billion cubic meters, providing a clear pathway for scaling up exports without building entirely new routes.

In 2025, Azerbaijan produced 51.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, with the Shah Deniz field accounting for more than half of total output. Gas exports reached 25.2 billion cubic meters, of which 12.8 billion cubic meters were delivered to Europe. The start of additional long-term transmission capacity under a new Gas Transportation Agreement in 2026, along with new deliveries to Austria and Germany, further expanded Azerbaijan’s footprint in the European market.

While Europe’s overall gas consumption is set to decline over the coming decade, the importance of secure, competitively priced and politically reliable supplies is not diminishing. On the contrary, as the market contracts, supplier quality matters more than volume alone.

In this evolving landscape, Azerbaijan is well positioned as a medium-scale but strategically significant supplier that aligns with the EU’s diversification, security and transition objectives. EU-Azerbaijan energy cooperation is therefore likely to remain not only relevant, but increasingly strategic – bridging Europe’s short- to medium-term energy needs while supporting a gradual shift toward a low-carbon future.

Attracting private investment is critical for the development of transport infrastructure and for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor, according to an EU-funded meta-study cited by Azernews.

The study underlines that private-sector involvement goes beyond providing capital. Private participants also bring efficiency, innovation, and operational discipline, all of which can significantly enhance the quality, reliability, and competitiveness of transport services along the corridor.

Particular emphasis is placed on the role of European and other international companies, whose participation can introduce valuable market expertise, advanced technologies, and access to best practices in sustainable logistics, green solutions, and digitalization. These factors are seen as essential for modernizing the corridor and aligning it with global standards.

‘To realize this potential, governments and regional institutions should strengthen policy frameworks that promote public-private partnerships and reduce investment risks,’ the report states. Recommended measures include transparent procurement procedures, harmonization of regulatory standards, and the creation of clear mechanisms for cost recovery and revenue sharing.

According to the study, establishing a predictable and attractive investment environment would encourage more active participation by both local and international companies. This, in turn, would accelerate the implementation of critical infrastructure projects and support the creation of a modern, sustainable, and interoperable transport network across the region.

The Middle Corridor-also known as the Trans-Caspian route-connects Asia and Europe via China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Trkiye. As an alternative to the traditional Northern and Southern corridors, it offers a shorter land-based route linking eastern Asia, including China, with European markets while bypassing longer maritime routes.