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Azerbaijan

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Azerbaijan. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Baku

Head of State

President Ilham Aliyev

Head of Government

Prime Minister Ali Asadov

French national Martin Ryan (left) attends his trial on spy charges in Baku, Azerbaijan, on January 6. Photo: AFP

France

‘I’m not a spy’: Frenchman jailed for 10 years in Azerbaijan

Prosecutors say Martin Ryan passed on secrets about Azerbaijan, as well as Russian and Chinese firms, to the French security service.

16 Mar 2026 - 8:54PM

Central Asia

Beyond a ‘buffer zone’: how the Iran war is recalibrating Central Asian ties

15 Mar 2026 - 2:00PMvideocam

Malaysia

Malaysia vows to hold petrol prices as Iran war pushes oil past US$100

9 Mar 2026 - 2:11PMvideocam

US, Israel war on Iran

Macron to visit Cyprus, French warships deployed as war in Middle East rages

The president’s visit will demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus following Iranian strikes and underscore the importance of maritime security in the region.

9 Mar 2026 - 8:14PMvideocam

The French aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle passes through the Strait of Gibraltar off the coast of southern Spain in Tarifa on March 6. Photo: AFP

Iran

How far could the war with Iran spread beyond the Middle East?

From Turkey and the Caucasus to South Asia, analysts warn the war could ignite new flashpoints along regional fault lines.

6 Mar 2026 - 6:29PMvideocam

US, Israel war on Iran

Azerbaijan vows to respond after Iranian drones injure 4

Azerbaijan and Iran already have tense ⁠relations over Baku’s growing economic, energy and military ties to Turkey and Israel.

5 Mar 2026 - 8:33PM

Middle East

Air freight costs for China shippers may jump 30% as Middle East airspace closes

China-Europe cargo flights face longer routes and higher fuel costs after Middle East airspace closures, the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding & Logistics says.

4 Mar 2026 - 8:54PM

The Hong Kong association said on Tuesday it was still evaluating the war’s impact on ocean freight. Photo: Elson Li

Hong Kong economy

Middle East conflict to drive up airfares for Hong Kong travellers: analysts

Suspension of major transit hubs in Dubai and Doha sends travellers scrambling for flights on ‘conflict-free’ paths to Europe.

2 Mar 2026 - 11:00PM

Hong Kong transport

Hongkong Post’s airmail services to 24 countries affected by strikes in Middle East

Public postal service suspends airmail to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, affecting ‘services transiting through these locations’.

1 Mar 2026 - 11:50PM

Israel-Gaza war

‘Plan B is war’: Gaza truce faces late April test despite Trump’s peace push

Observers say the unresolved question of Hamas’ disarmament leaves the fragile truce vulnerable to collapse.

20 Feb 2026 - 4:57PMvideocam

US President Donald Trump raises the gavel during the “Board of Peace” meeting in Washington on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong won’t pursue carbon-based taxes under bid to go green: Paul Chan

Finance chief takes question from CEO of Swiss chemicals producer Clariant on whether to take ‘broader approach’ to decarbonisation.

23 Jan 2026 - 12:32AM

Hong Kong is tackling decarbonisation through its Climate Action Plan 2050, focusing on net-zero electricity by phasing out coal for backup, increasing renewables and promoting green transport with electric vehicles. Photo: Karma Lo

World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos

‘For the world’: Trump launches his Board of Peace that some see rivalling UN

The US president signed the board’s charter at a ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

22 Jan 2026 - 8:49PMvideocam

Pakistan

Pakistan’s arms deals cleared for take-off as orders soar for JF-17 jets

The jets, co-produced with China, proved their worth during the India-Pakistan tensions, when they destroyed an S-400 air defence system.

16 Jan 2026 - 11:12AMvideocam

Aviation accidents

Turkey says 20 troops killed in military plane crash in Georgia

Video showed the aircraft corkscrewing towards the ground and then bursting into flames.

12 Nov 2025 - 4:20PM

Wreckage at the crash site in the Sighnaghi area, the Georgia-Azerbaijan border. Photo: AFP

Israel-Gaza war

As fragile Gaza ceasefire holds, world powers plan stabilisation force

Future stabilisation force is unlikely to be a formal UN peacekeeping mission, but could be modelled on action for Haiti, diplomats say.

17 Oct 2025 - 2:40PMvideocam

Buildings in Gaza City destroyed during two years of Israeli army bombardments. Photo: AP

Russia

Putin admits Russian missiles downed Azerbaijan jet last year

Putin promised compensation for Azerbaijan Airlines crash victims after Russian missiles downed the plane amid Ukrainian drone incursions.

9 Oct 2025 - 9:12PM

Diplomacy

Opinion | China’s moment to rewire the world is arriving. What will it do?

For the first time since the Cold War, the world is between orders and the momentum is with Beijing as geopolitical winds shift eastward.

16 Sep 2025 - 6:30AMvideocam

Israel-Gaza war

The end of IMEC? US-backed answer to China’s belt and road falters

A grand economic vision to link India and Israel to Europe is crumbling, a casualty of the carnage in Gaza and shifting US priorities.

13 Sep 2025 - 4:00PMvideocam

Protesters attending a pro-Palestinian rally in Mumbai last month hold a poster showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: EPA

Donald Trump

Trump’s push for the Nobel Peace Prize won’t sway us, says committee

US president claims he ‘deserves it’, but the Norwegian Nobel Committee insists its decisions are based on merit, not media campaigns.

12 Sep 2025 - 2:02PM

Donald Trump

Trump was put up for Nobel Peace Prize, so he must be a top mediator. Right?

The US leader claims credit for resolving friction but experts in China say he reduces historical complexities to ‘mere schoolyard fights’.

18 Aug 2025 - 10:30PMvideocam

Russia

Advantage America? Revived Silk Route puts US back on track in South Caucasus

The Trump-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal, which gives the US an interest in the ‘Zangezur Corridor’, shifts regional power dynamics.

14 Aug 2025 - 2:50PMvideocam

Azerbaijani soldiers drive a truck near a mosque in Agdam in the Karabakh region in 2020. Photo: Reuters

Central Asia

‘Surrender document’: Armenians doubt Azerbaijan peace deal brokered by Trump

The treaty, signed in Washington, sparked controversy over a new transit zone and accusations that Armenia’s PM has made ‘endless concessions’.

10 Aug 2025 - 1:08PMvideocam

Donald Trump

Armenia and Azerbaijan sign ‘Trump Route’ peace deal at White House

The leaders of the two nations also suggested sending a joint appeal for the US president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

9 Aug 2025 - 2:51PMvideocam

Donald Trump

Trump to host Armenia and Azerbaijan for historic ‘Peace Signing’

The leaders of the two ex-Soviet republics will be in Washington for a summit aimed at ending their decades-long conflict.

8 Aug 2025 - 8:00AMvideocam

Russia

From colony to kingmaker: Azerbaijan redraws Eurasia’s balance of power

The ex-Soviet republic aims to play a bigger role in the Caucasus and is willing to upset Moscow and Tehran in the process, analysts say.

13 Jul 2025 - 5:00PM

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (right) with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting on the sidelines of the 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Azerbaijan on July 4. Photo: Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office/AP

US-China relations

Rubio-Wang meet, China GDP, Nvidia and more

This week: Marco Rubio meets Wang Yi, Donald Trump revives tariff war, EU seeks to reduce reliance on China. Next week: China’s economy may slow, Nvidia’s Huang in China, Australian PM discusses Port Darwin and more.

11 Jul 2025 - 5:30PM

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Photo: AFP

Diplomacy

Exclusive | Armenia looks to deepen ties with China for foreign policy beyond Russia

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan says his country’s Crossroads of Peace and China’s belt and road project are interdependent.

3 Jul 2025 - 3:37PMvideocam

Russia

Opinion | As attacks on Iran show, Russia can now do very little for its allies

Moscow’s credibility is sinking after it failed to stand up for allies in Iran, Syria and Armenia.

30 Jun 2025 - 10:30AMvideocam

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Azerbaijan

‘I’m not a spy’: Frenchman jailed for 10 years in Azerbaijan

Prosecutors say Martin Ryan passed on secrets about Azerbaijan, as well as Russian and Chinese firms, to the French security service.

Beyond a ‘buffer zone’: how the Iran war is recalibrating Central Asian ties

Malaysia vows to hold petrol prices as Iran war pushes oil past US$100

Macron to visit Cyprus, French warships deployed as war in Middle East rages

The president’s visit will demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus following Iranian strikes and underscore the importance of maritime security in the region.

How far could the war with Iran spread beyond the Middle East?

From Turkey and the Caucasus to South Asia, analysts warn the war could ignite new flashpoints along regional fault lines.

Azerbaijan vows to respond after Iranian drones injure 4

Azerbaijan and Iran already have tense ⁠relations over Baku’s growing economic, energy and military ties to Turkey and Israel.

Air freight costs for China shippers may jump 30% as Middle East airspace closes

China-Europe cargo flights face longer routes and higher fuel costs after Middle East airspace closures, the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding & Logistics says.

Middle East conflict to drive up airfares for Hong Kong travellers: analysts

Suspension of major transit hubs in Dubai and Doha sends travellers scrambling for flights on ‘conflict-free’ paths to Europe.

Hongkong Post’s airmail services to 24 countries affected by strikes in Middle East

Public postal service suspends airmail to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, affecting ‘services transiting through these locations’.

‘Plan B is war’: Gaza truce faces late April test despite Trump’s peace push

Observers say the unresolved question of Hamas’ disarmament leaves the fragile truce vulnerable to collapse.

Hong Kong won’t pursue carbon-based taxes under bid to go green: Paul Chan

Finance chief takes question from CEO of Swiss chemicals producer Clariant on whether to take ‘broader approach’ to decarbonisation.

‘For the world’: Trump launches his Board of Peace that some see rivalling UN

The US president signed the board’s charter at a ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Pakistan’s arms deals cleared for take-off as orders soar for JF-17 jets

The jets, co-produced with China, proved their worth during the India-Pakistan tensions, when they destroyed an S-400 air defence system.

Turkey says 20 troops killed in military plane crash in Georgia

Video showed the aircraft corkscrewing towards the ground and then bursting into flames.

As fragile Gaza ceasefire holds, world powers plan stabilisation force

Future stabilisation force is unlikely to be a formal UN peacekeeping mission, but could be modelled on action for Haiti, diplomats say.

Putin admits Russian missiles downed Azerbaijan jet last year

Putin promised compensation for Azerbaijan Airlines crash victims after Russian missiles downed the plane amid Ukrainian drone incursions.

.css-1pcrwvc{color:#2aa191;}Opinion | China’s moment to rewire the world is arriving. What will it do?

For the first time since the Cold War, the world is between orders and the momentum is with Beijing as geopolitical winds shift eastward.

The end of IMEC? US-backed answer to China’s belt and road falters

A grand economic vision to link India and Israel to Europe is crumbling, a casualty of the carnage in Gaza and shifting US priorities.

Trump’s push for the Nobel Peace Prize won’t sway us, says committee

US president claims he ‘deserves it’, but the Norwegian Nobel Committee insists its decisions are based on merit, not media campaigns.

Trump was put up for Nobel Peace Prize, so he must be a top mediator. Right?

The US leader claims credit for resolving friction but experts in China say he reduces historical complexities to ‘mere schoolyard fights’.

Advantage America? Revived Silk Route puts US back on track in South Caucasus

The Trump-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal, which gives the US an interest in the ‘Zangezur Corridor’, shifts regional power dynamics.

‘Surrender document’: Armenians doubt Azerbaijan peace deal brokered by Trump

The treaty, signed in Washington, sparked controversy over a new transit zone and accusations that Armenia’s PM has made ‘endless concessions’.

Armenia and Azerbaijan sign ‘Trump Route’ peace deal at White House

The leaders of the two nations also suggested sending a joint appeal for the US president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump to host Armenia and Azerbaijan for historic ‘Peace Signing’

The leaders of the two ex-Soviet republics will be in Washington for a summit aimed at ending their decades-long conflict.

From colony to kingmaker: Azerbaijan redraws Eurasia’s balance of power

The ex-Soviet republic aims to play a bigger role in the Caucasus and is willing to upset Moscow and Tehran in the process, analysts say.

Rubio-Wang meet, China GDP, Nvidia and more

This week: Marco Rubio meets Wang Yi, Donald Trump revives tariff war, EU seeks to reduce reliance on China. Next week: China’s economy may slow, Nvidia’s Huang in China, Australian PM discusses Port Darwin and more.

.css-19im5qg{color:#c79a00;}Exclusive | Armenia looks to deepen ties with China for foreign policy beyond Russia

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan says his country’s Crossroads of Peace and China’s belt and road project are interdependent.

Opinion | As attacks on Iran show, Russia can now do very little for its allies

Moscow’s credibility is sinking after it failed to stand up for allies in Iran, Syria and Armenia.

Opinion | China’s moment to rewire the world is arriving. What will it do?

Exclusive | Armenia looks to deepen ties with China for foreign policy beyond Russia