The official website of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, www.president.az, has been updated. The site will allow the country’s citizens to directly appeal to the head of state, the President’s Office said. The press releases issued by the presidential press service and information about the President’s work schedule and activity will be available on the website as well. Media representatives will also be able to contact the President’s press service through the site.*... читать

Government agencies that lack websites and fail to ensure proper access to information among the population could be sued, as they are breaking the law, director of the Multimedia Information Systems and Technologies Center says. Osman Gunduz told a roundtable on Tuesday that the December 2005 presidential decree On Access to Information stipulates that all government agencies are to create their websites, enabling citizens to acquire the needed information, including data on their activity....... полностью

The Ministry of Taxes is the top official body in Azerbaijan for transparency of information, a local NGO has found. It stands out with 46.5% ranking, according to a monitoring on the websites of government agencies conducted by the Multimedia Information Systems and Technologies Center from May till October, its director Osman Gunduz said while drawing up the outcomes of research. The ministry is distinguished for its emphasis on promptly and directly communicating with citizens through i...... полностью

The grant allocated by the US government to the Elmar Huseynov Foundation was presented in a ceremony held in the US embassy in Baku on Tuesday. Addressing the event, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse called Elmar Huseynov a symbol of independent journalism. She said the fact that the journalist’s killers have yet to be punished cast a shadow on freedom of press, calling on the Azerbaijani authorities to find the culprits. The diplomat said the United States was concerned over what s...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s cellular operator Bakcell that is constantly changing and developing has launched a new service in a bid to provide another useful novelty to its clients. The “Load Contours” service benefits Cin Kart (Gin Card) subscribers. It allowes one Cin Kart subscriber to load any Gin calling card to the balance of another Cin Kart user. The time spent is minimal and the service is activated instantly. The subscriber willing to share talk units can load them to the balance of any Cin ...... полностью

The speculations on explosion of a high-rise building collapsed in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku last month were not confirmed during the investigation, a prosecuting body executive said. First Deputy Prosecutor-General Rustam Usubov told reporters that the culprits would be determined after experts’ assessments. The article carried by Russian-speaking Zerkalo shortly after the accident put forth various theories on the causes of the deadly collapse. One of them suggested that the building cou...... полностью

Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General Zakir Garalov, who had been on short-term leave since September 17, will return to work by the end of this week, his deputy said. Rustam Usubov told reporters that Garalov’s health was currently normal and he felt well. He said that the prosecutor-general had a rest abroad during his holiday. Garalov was hospitalized with high blood pressure on September 13 but discharged from hospital two days later after receiving treatment.*... читать

An opposition journalist arrested recently by security officers in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic was released on Thursday. Police officers took Hakimeldostu Mehdiyev, the Yeni Musavat newspaper correspondent in Nakhchivan and a resident of the Sharur district, from the prison where he was being kept without providing explanations, seated him in a car and set him free by the road. The journalist returned home by other car, the head of the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Security (IRFS)...... полностью

Two police officers were wounded during an operation to detain a criminal wanted in Azerbaijan’s northern Gusar district on Wednesday. During the operation conducted by officers of the local National Security Ministry department and the district police department, 31-year-old resident Telman Abdullayev opened fire at the law enforcers from a Makarov pistol. The senior operations chief of the Gusar police department Galib Guliyev and district police officer Murad Malikov received injuries ...... полностью

Police prevented Wednesday members of the Dalgha (Wave) youth movement from marching barefoot without showing posters. Several young people gathering in the Sahil garden attempted to march barefoot, demanding radical reforms in education. 17 protesters were taken to a police precinct but set free after providing explanations. The movement members intended to demand to hold reforms in Azerbaijan’s education sector, including fulfillment of the requirements of the Bologna process, as well a...... полностью

Construction of a nuclear reactor in Azerbaijan has been verbally agreed with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the National Academy of Sciences president Mahmud Karimov told the press Wednesday. The unique facility is to be built in 2009-2011 with the agency’s financial assistance. The location of the research reactor has been determined. It will be based between Baku and the town of Sumgayit, 30 km north of the capital. The facility’s capacity will be below 1 MWt. Karimov s...... полностью

The chairman of the Azerbaijan State Border Service (SBS) Elchin Guliyev received Turkish Coast Guard commander, Rear Admiral Can Erenoglu on Tuesday. The two countries’ coast guard bodies signed a protocol on the outcomes of the meeting. Afterwards, Guliyev familiarized Erenoglu with the Scientific-Research Center named after Heydar Aliyev and the gymnasium of the SBS. The Turkish admiral told reporters that the Caspian Sea was important for both Azerbaijan and Turkey. He said that Turke...... полностью

Radical religious tendencies are on the rise among schoolchildren in Azerbaijan, with the increasing number of kids accepting Wahhabism, a local group says. “A monitoring conducted in schools has shown that the influence of radical religion is rising,” said Farid Shahbazly, chairman of the Youth Leaders organization. “They are making various sweet promises to lure the children.” Shahbazly went on to say that the research revealed that special missionaries promoting Iran’s ideas are active ...... полностью

An international symposium, “Natural cataclysms and global issues of modern civilization”, started in Baku on Monday. Some 100 scholars from 35 countries, including the Nobel Prize winners, are attending the three-day event, which aims to conduct monitoring of natural calamities meeting up-to-date requirements, capitalize on the experience of world countries in this area and seek ways of solving problems facing the present-day world. Minister of Emergencies Kamaladdin Heydarov, addressing...... полностью

Renowned Russian scientist Zhorez Alferov arrived in Baku on Sunday to attend a four-day international conference on information technologies to start on Wednesday. Professor Alferov, who is the scientific director of the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000. Scientists from Japan, the United States, Germany and Russia will participate in the conference the goal of which is to hold discussions on application of high t...... полностью

Boarding schools operating in Azerbaijan will be abolished over the next five years. The Azerbaijan Ministry of Education and the Open Society Mental Health Initiative organization of the Open Society Institute (OSI) – Assistance Foundation (SOROS) signed on Monday an agreement on a pilot project in this regard. The project called “The community initiative for everyone” envisions abolishing 54 nursery and boarding schools operating in the country and giving 17,000 children to families. ...... полностью

A new security chief of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport of Baku has been appointed. Fakhraddin Gazibayov, who earlier was a representative of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) state concern in Turkey, will succeed Emil Suleymanov who was arrested in early September on charges of aiding individuals engaged in human trafficking. Suleymanov is believed to have facilitated traffickers in taking their victims out of the country.*... читать

Law enforcers have arrested two individuals who recently robbed a British citizen’s apartment in Baku. Sanan Jabbarov, a resident of Terter District, and Aliyar Guliyev, a resident of the Mashtagha settlement of Baku, broke into the apartment of Nicolas Harrell Sep on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said. The thieves stole 100 US dollars, 70 euros, 10 Pounds, 25 manats, as well as a mobile phone and 2 computers from the apartment.*... читать

Azerbaijan’s cellular provider Bakcell has launched a new service to provide convenience and mobility to its subscribers. From September 20, the company’s Cin Kart (“Gin Card”) users will enjoy the “Balance transfer” service, which allows transferring 100 talk units from the balance of one Cin Kart subscriber to the balance of another. Customers willing to share talk units with their friends and acquaintances can load them to the balance of any other Cin Kart subscriber by dialing *105#, s...... полностью

The United Nations Economic and Social Council will hear Thursday a report on improvement of living standards of disabled people in Azerbaijan in its session that started in Thailand on Wednesday. An Azerbaijani delegation led by Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security Natig Mammadov is attending the event. Issues on integration of disabled people into society and work to be carried out to improve their living standards will be discussed at the meeting.*... читать

An Azerbaijani parliament member has proposed that the country’s top legislative body pass a separate law on restriction of smoking in public places. The deputy executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, MP Mubariz Gurbanly said that he came out with a similar proposal during the last session of the Milli Majlis (parliament), noting that he will continue his efforts to achieve the discussion of the issue during the fall session. Gurbanly said that a working group on drafting ...... полностью

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) met last month with the Azerbaijani national, who has been kept in the US jail in Guantanamo, Cuba since 2002. The family of 30-year-old Polad Sirajov, who was taken captive together with Taliban insurgents in Mazari-Sharif, Afghanistan, in January 2002, has been elaborated on the meeting, the ICRC office in Baku said. During the monitoring held in the Guantanamo jail, the ICRC representatives also got familiar with th...... полностью

An Azeri-language TV channel launched broadcasts in Canada on Saturday. The first broadcast of AzCan TV aired on the tenth channel of the Canadian Rogers TV channel was of a greeting nature. The new broadcaster, which was set up by the President of the Federation of Canadian Azerbaijani Associations Akbar Majidov, will further broadcast programs about Azerbaijan’s history, culture and geography, as well as the Azerbaijani Diaspora in Canada. It will also present interviews with the sta...... полностью

Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General Zakir Garalov has been hospitalized with acute health problems. According to unverified reports, he is suffering from either cardiac irregularities or high blood pressure. The illness was most likely caused by overly hard work, doctors say. Garalov is to be discharged from hospital in a day or two.*... читать

MAGATE (the International Atomic Energy Agency) will discuss Azerbaijan’s building a nuclear reactor at the 51st session of its General Assembly due September 17-21, an IAEA representative on nuclear science said. Adil Garibov, director of the Institute of Radiation Problems of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, said the Azerbaijani government has provided its consent for building the facility. “If the project is approved by the IAEA assembly, construction operations will kick ...... полностью

BP, the top foreign investor in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector, has allocated a $24,700 grant to support efforts at promoting biodiversity in the country. Shahin Isayev, an MSc student from Baku State University (BSU) and his team have been awarded the funds to determine the current condition of the imperial eagle and the lesser kestrel, the company said. The award is part of BP Group’s support for Azerbaijan’s biodiversity through the Conservation Leadership Program (formerly known as ...... полностью

Azerbaijani society is generally quite tolerant to the idea of gender equality, but there is still considerable misbalance in many spheres of the country’s social life, politics and economy, the United Nations said Monday. The equality of men and women is declared in the Constitution and other laws including the recent Law on Gender Equality. However, there are significant obstacles presented by gender stereotypes, says the Azerbaijan Human Development Report 2007 entitled “Gender Attitudes ...... полностью

A quake measuring three points on Richter scale hit Azerbaijan’s central Shamakhy district early Tuesday morning. Tremors of 2.5 points jolted some settlements of the district, according to the seismology center of the National Academy of Sciences. Tremors were also observed in the villages bordering on the Guba district. No human casualties or devastation are reported.*... читать

Azerbaijan’s leading cellular provider Azercell and Celtel operator of Niger have launched one-sided (Celtel’s subscribers in Azercell’s network) roaming service. This is the first such agreement inked with Niger’s mobile communication operators. Azercell Telecom JV has concluded 336 roaming deals with cellular providers from 140 countries so far.*... читать

The Baku-Nakhchivan-Baku bus route through Iran’s territory will open in October, the chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov said. A memorandum of understanding on opening the bus route was signed between Baku and Tehran during Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s official visit to Azerbaijan on August 21, he told reporters.*... читать