Category: Azer News

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has dismissed the head of the Nakhchivan City Executive Authority of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azernews reports.

President Ilham Aliyev signed a relevant decree in this regard.

Under the decree, Jabbar Musayev has been relieved of his duties as head of the Nakhchivan City Executive Authority of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

Two more matches of the 19th round of the Azerbaijan Premier League will be played on February 9, Azernews reports.

The first match of the day will see Imishli face Kapaz in Guba. The game, scheduled to kick off at 14:30, will be officiated by Farid Hajiyev.

In the standings, Imishli are ninth with 18 points, while the Ganja-based Kapaz sit in 11th place with 12 points.

In the other fixture, Turan Tovuz will host Karvan Yevlakh at the Azersun Arena. The match will begin at 18:30, with Vugar Hasanli appointed as the referee.

Turan Tovuz currently occupy fourth place with 30 points and has one game in hand. Karvan Yevlakh, meanwhile, are bottom of the table in 12th place with six points.

On the opening day of the 19th round, Sabah defeated Araz-Nakhchivan 4-1 at home, while Zira secured a 3-2 away victory over Sumgayit. The round will conclude with two more matches to be played on February 10.

The Azerbaijan Premier League was first organized in 2007 and succeeded the Top Division, which existed from 1992 to 2007. FC Qarabag won the title in the 2022-2023 season for the tenth time.

The 2024-25 Azerbaijan Premier League marks the 33rd season of Azerbaijan’s top-tier football competition.

On April 27, 2025, during the 32nd round of the Premier League, Qarabag FC clinched the title with four matches to spare after a 1-1 draw against Sabah.

This victory made them the champions for the 12th time overall and for the fourth consecutive season.

This season is the final one featuring 10 teams, as the league will expand to 12 teams starting from the 2025-26 season.

On Sunday, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX has shifted its focus toward building a ‘self-developing city’ on the Moon, a project he believes could be achieved in less than 10 years, AzerNEWS reports.

SpaceX still plans to pursue Musk’s long-held dream of establishing a city on Mars within the next five to seven years, he wrote on social media, ‘but the primary mission is to ensure the future of civilization, and the Moon is a faster path.’

Musk’s comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, which noted that SpaceX had informed investors that a lunar mission would take priority, with a Mars flight planned later. The company is aiming for an unmanned lunar landing in March 2027.

Last year, Musk announced plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars by the end of 2026.

The United States faces stiff competition from China in the race to return humans to the Moon this decade. The last time humans walked on the lunar surface was during Apollo 17 in 1972.

On Monday, Musk responded to a user on X, revealing that NASA would account for less than 5% of SpaceX’s revenue this year. SpaceX is a major contractor for NASA’s Artemis lunar program and holds a $4 billion contract to land astronauts on the Moon using Starship.

‘The vast majority of SpaceX’s revenue comes from the commercial Starlink system,’ Musk added.

Musk envisions the Moon city as self-sustaining, with the potential to grow autonomously through robotic construction and resource utilization. If successful, it could serve as a blueprint for human settlements on Mars and beyond, marking a historic step in humanity’s expansion into the solar system.

A volunteer with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been killed while carrying out a humanitarian rescue mission during severe flooding in north-western Syria, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said.

According to AzerNEWS, in a statement issued on Sunday, the IFRC said Samiha Rakhamiya was responding to reports of people stranded by floodwaters in rural areas of Latakia province when the incident occurred.

According to the organisation, a vehicle carrying aid workers was swept into a valley in the Jabal al-Turkman area, killing Rakhamiya and injuring four other volunteers, some seriously. A fifth volunteer was injured separately while attempting to rescue a child trapped by rising floodwaters.

Rakhamiya had worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for more than 12 years and was widely regarded as an experienced first responder. She had taken part in emergency responses to earthquakes and wildfires and most recently served as disaster management coordinator in Latakia.

‘She was among the first responders to earthquakes and fires and most recently served as Disaster Management Coordinator in Latakia, leaving a lasting impact on her colleagues and the communities she supported,’ the IFRC said.

Flooding has affected several parts of north-western Syria in recent days, compounding an already severe humanitarian situation in a region struggling with years of conflict, economic collapse and weakened infrastructure. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that extreme weather events are placing growing pressure on emergency services and volunteers operating in high-risk conditions.

Azerbaijan’s delegation to the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo has been paying close attention to the preparation and well-being of its athletes, officials said on Wednesday.

AzerNEWS reports, citing Azertag that Chingiz Huseynzade, vice-president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Azerbaijan, NOC secretary general Azer Aliyev, and Fuad Naghiyev, president of the Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation, visited the Olympic Athletes’ Village in Milan.

During the visit, the officials met with members of the Azerbaijani delegation and figure skater Vladimir Litvintsev. Anar Baghirov, the team’s chef de mission, provided a detailed briefing on accommodation, training facilities, meals, and overall preparations for the competitions.

The discussions also reviewed the progress of training and preparations for upcoming events, with officials praising the facilities and support provided to the athletes.

Huseynzade, Aliyev, and Naghiyev wished the Azerbaijani team success in the Games, expressing confidence that the country’s athletes would represent Azerbaijan with distinction.

Azerbaijan is represented at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics by two athletes: alpine skier Anastasia Papatoma and figure skater Vladimir Litvintsev.

The XXV Winter Olympics features nearly 3,000 athletes from 92 countries competing across 16 sports, with 116 medal sets up for grabs. The Games are scheduled to conclude on 22 February 2026.

Azerbaijani products are being showcased at international exhibitions and fairs for foreign goods held in Beijing, organized jointly by China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Beijing Municipal People’s Government.

As reported by AzerNEWS, citing Azerbaijan’s Economy Ministry, the events are taking place on the eve of the Chinese New Year and are held under the slogan ‘A Big Market for All: Export to China.’ The exhibitions are designed as a shopping-festival-style showcase of international premium products.

With the support of Azerbaijan’s Trade Representation in China, the Azerbaijan Trade House in Beijing is presenting products manufactured under the ‘Made in Azerbaijan’ brand at the capital’s Ritan and Wanyuan-Wangfujing Outlet shopping centers. The dedicated pavilions feature Azerbaijani wines and other alcoholic beverages, pomegranate juices, compotes, jams, and tea. Visitors can also explore a selection of traditional Azerbaijani sweets and souvenirs reflecting the country’s national culture.

The series of fairs will run for six days and is being held across Beijing’s Chaoyang and Tongzhou districts.

The 19th round of the Misli Premier League gets under way today, with two fixtures scheduled for the opening matchday.

According to AzerNEWS, citing Azertag, the action begins with league leaders Sabah hosting Araz-Nakhchivan at the Bank Respublika Arena. Kick-off is set for 16:00 local time. Sabah currently sit top of the table with 43 points, while Araz-Nakhchivan are sixth on 27 points.

Later in the evening, Zira travel to face Sumgayit in the second fixture of the day. The match will take place at the Mehdi Huseynzade Stadium in Sumgayit, with kick-off at 18:30.

Sumgayit, known as the ‘Kimyachilar’, occupy fourth place with 30 points, while Zira, nicknamed the ‘Qartallar’, are just one point behind in fifth place with 29 points, setting the stage for a closely contested encounter.

The remaining matches of Round 19 are scheduled to be played on February 9-10, as teams continue their push for league positions in the second half of the season.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and U.S. businessman, has pledged to cover the legal expenses of anyone who agrees to testify in court in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein case.

As reported by AzerNEWS, citing foreign media outlets, Musk made the statement in a post on the social media platform X.

‘I will pay the legal costs for anyone who tells the truth about this and is sued as a result,’ Musk wrote in response to another user’s post.

He also questioned why the list of Epstein’s alleged clients had not been submitted to the U.S. Congress earlier or subsequently made public.

Jeffrey Epstein was arrested by law enforcement authorities in New York State on July 6, 2019. Prosecutors said they had evidence indicating that between 2002 and 2005 he arranged for dozens of underage girls to be brought to his Manhattan residence, with the youngest reportedly being 14 years old.

Epstein’s circle of friends and associates reportedly included numerous current and former officials, major business figures, and entertainment celebrities from the United States and other countries, including former heads of state. Criminal proceedings against the financier in the United States were discontinued after his death in a jail cell in August 2019.

The Indian Coast Guard has detained three oil tankers on suspicion of illegally transporting oil, the service said in a statement published on its official social media page, AzerNEWS reports via BelTa.

According to the statement, the operation led to the disruption of what was described as an international oil smuggling network. The action was carried out during a carefully planned maritime and aerial operation conducted off India’s western coast.

The coast guard reported that three suspicious vessels were intercepted about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai. Following a detailed inspection, including searches of the ships, verification of electronic data, and interrogation of crew members, authorities identified a consistent pattern of illicit activity linked to a globally operating network of organizers.

It was also noted that the vessels had frequently changed their names, a tactic often associated with attempts to evade detection and sanctions.

The detained tankers are currently being escorted to Mumbai, where further legal proceedings and investigations will be carried out by the relevant authorities.

United States President Donald Trump criticized the Super Bowl LX halftime show as “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER.” The headliner, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, sang entirely in Spanish for the first time in the show’s history, AzerNEWS reports.

Trump said Bad Bunny’s performance “makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.”

He claimed that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying” and called the show a “slap in the face to our Country.” According to the 2024 US Census Bureau data, around 45 million people in the US speak Spanish at home.

The average Super Bowl halftime show pulls in around 127 million, while last year Kendrick Lamar set a record with 133.5 million.

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is the first male solo Latin artist to perform the halftime show, as well as the first to perform their set entirely in Spanish.

Toward the end of his set, Bad Bunny was handed a ball with the words, ‘Together, we are America’ written on it, and a message on the big screen read: ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love.’

But the message of unity clearly did not go down well with the president.

‘Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,’ Trump raged.

‘This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day – including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History!’ the president fumed. ‘There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD.’