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☆ A year in Azerbaijan: From the Grand Prix to the ski slopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Words Cnn Staff | Photo Illustrations Woojin Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

CNN —Anyone who has tuned in to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has seen a tantalizing glimpse of what the capital Baku has to offer. This year’s Grand Prix comes at the height of spring, often said to be Azerbaijan’s most beautiful season. Juan Vilata/Alamy Stock Photo Explore Azerbaijan in spring Prev NextSummers in Azerbaijan are hot, so getting out of the city is a good idea. Alexander Melnikov/Alamy Stock Photo Explore Azerbaijan in fall Prev NextWrap up, because even at its coldest Azerbaijan still has plenty to offer. You’ll learn much more at the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum in Baku.

☆ Leclerc has a hit with a different kind of track
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Charles Leclerc is flying low in the Formula One standings but climbing high in the music charts with a different kind of track success. The Ferrari driver is a keen piano player and this week released a four minute composition entitled 'Aus23 (1:1)' on streaming platforms. The track was soaring in the Apple iTunes top song rankings alongside hits by the likes of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus. Leclerc said the song might be sad, but it was not connected to the disappointing Australian Grand Prix where he spun into the gravel on the opening lap. On track, Leclerc has had two retirements in the first three races and is 10th overall in the championship with just six points.

☆ Vasseur says Ferrari recruiting massively, Mekies exit is no drama
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Ferrari are recruiting massively as they reorganise the Formula One team and the announced departure of sporting director Laurent Mekies is no drama, team boss Fred Vasseur said on Thursday. He was the second senior team member to head for the exit since Mattia Binotto was replaced by Frenchman Vasseur in January. "I think it’s a mega opportunity for Laurent," Vasseur told reporters at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. "The group is there, we are recruiting massively -- that we are not communicating but we are recruiting massively -- and we will do step by step. Vasseur recognised Mekies' current role was 'quite large" and said it could ultimately be split in two, as some other teams have done.

☆ Ferrari's Leclerc denies talks with Mercedes: 'Not yet'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Ferrari's Charles Leclerc denied on Thursday he was talking to rivals Mercedes after a nightmare start to the Formula One season, but his 'not yet' comment was unlikely to dampen speculation. Leclerc has scored only six points from three races so far, retiring twice. Not for the moment," the Monegasque told reporters in Baku when asked about media speculation in Italy that his discussions with former champions Mercedes were an open secret. "For now, I am fully focused on the project I am in today, which is Ferrari and I fully trust and am confident for the future. Asked if Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had called him, Leclerc replied: "No.

☆ F1 braced for chaos as sprint season starts in Baku
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Formula One is braced for chaos on the streets of Baku this weekend as Azerbaijan hosts the first sprint race of the season and kicks off a run of five grands prix in six weeks. "It’s absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan," Red Bull boss Christian Horner told reporters at the previous race in Australia. Verstappen won last year. "We are bringing a new floor to Baku amongst some other aerodynamic and mechanical items," said Alpine technical director Matt Harman. "We then have a further development at the following race in Miami and something further for Imola after that."

☆ Mekies to leave Ferrari and replace Tost at AlphaTauri
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Tost to step down as AlphaTauri boss at end of seasonMekies to replace him from FerrariFormer FIA executive Bayer also joins teamApril 26 (Reuters) - AlphaTauri's Franz Tost, Formula One's second longest serving team principal, will step down at the end of the 2023 season and be replaced by Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies. "With Peter as new CEO and Laurent as Team Principal, we found two very professional people, who will bring the team to the next level. "I am honoured to take on the role of team principal and to return to the Team where I spent a large portion of my early career," he said. Only Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been in his job for longer than the Austrian who first came into Formula One in 2000 as track operations manager with Williams's then-partners BMW. Mekies' departure continues something of an exodus from Ferrari after the Italian team changed principals, with Fred Vasseur replacing Mattia Binotto in January.

☆ Russia names new peacekeeping head as tensions rise between Armenia and Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Francesco BrembatiApril 26 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had appointed one of its most senior army commanders to lead a peacekeeping force in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as tensions rise again between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russian peacekeepers were deployed in 2020 to end a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, the second that Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought since the 1991 Soviet collapse. The Russian armed forces said the peacekeepers were now headed by Colonel-General Alexander Lentsov, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian ground forces. He added: "We continue to be in close contact with the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and the Russian peacekeeping contingent to best facilitate humanitarian access." An Armenian spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

☆ Formula One statistics for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 25 (Reuters) - Formula One statistics for Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, the fourth round of the 23-race 2023 world championship:Lap distance: 6.003 km. read moreThe street circuit made its debut in 2016 as the European Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo won for Red Bull from 10th on the grid in 2017 and Perez from sixth in 2021. Red Bull have been on pole in every race so far in 2023 and the last four in total. Aston Martin have had three successive podium finishes, a first for the Silverstone-based team in its many incarnations dating back to Jordan Grand Prix.

☆ Tensions over Karabakh rise after Azerbaijan blocks land route from Armenia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Azerbaijan "took appropriate measures to establish control at the starting point of the road," the foreign ministry said. Armenia said the checkpoint at the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor was a gross violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement which ended a 2020 war. It called on Russia to implement the agreement which states that the Lachin corridor, the only road across Azerbaijan that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, must be under Russian peacekeepers' control. Azerbaijan then claimed that Armenian soldiers fired on Azeri units at around 1110 GMT in the Lachin district, a claim Armenia denied. In recent months Armenia has repeatedly called on Moscow to do more to support the peace and ensure unfettered access between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor.

☆ Exclusive: Kazakhstan has ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Pavel MikheyevMOSCOW, April 21 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia in the first quarter of 2023 as it seeks to reduce its dependency on its vast neighbour, data from industry sources and Refinitiv showed. While Kazakh oil exports through the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus are relatively small, they have risen sharply since Moscow began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in February last year. Last year, Kazakhstan's oil exports via routes other than Russia reached 1.8 million tonnes (36,000 barrels per day), up by 638,000 tonnes from 2021. The main, and most profitable, route for oil exports from Kazakhstan remains the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which supplies the global market via a Russian Black Sea terminal. Supplies via CPC dipped 1% last year to 51.99 million tonnes, but they still represented more than 80% of total oil exports from Kazakhstan.

☆ Half the F1 calendar could become sprint races, says Steiner
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Half the Formula One calendar could be turned into sprint weekends if changes to the format are given the go-ahead and prove a hit in Baku next week, according to Haas team boss Guenther Steiner. MotoGP has already turned its whole calendar into two-race weekends, with a sprint on Saturday and the main event on Sunday. "I don’t know if we will do it every race weekend. But the F1 promoter will know what to do," Steiner told Reuters in an interview through team sponsor MoneyGram. Steiner said there would still be a need for some race weekends with three practice sessions and just a Sunday grand prix but the current Saturday sprint format needed changing.

☆ Azerbaijan protests 'barbaric' flag-burning at weightlifting championship in Armenia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BAKU, April 15 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan lodged a strong protest on Saturday after its national flag was grabbed and set on fire during the opening ceremony of a weightlifting championship in neighbouring Armenia. Azerbaijan said it had become impossible for its athletes to take part in the championships and they had already left Armenia to travel home via Georgia. They condemned it as a "barbaric act" and as evidence of ethnic hatred and racism, saying Armenia was unfit to ensure the safety of athletes and host international sporting events. Armenia rejected that criticism, saying the incident had been resolved quickly and without any danger to competitors at the European Weightlifting Championships. Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted a lawyer for the man allegedly involved in the flag incident as saying he had been released without charge.

☆ Iran, Azerbaijan foreign ministers in talks amid tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, April 8 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan discussed "problems and misunderstandings" between the two countries in two phone calls, Iranian state media reported on Saturday, days after Baku expelled four Iranian diplomats over "provocative actions". The expulsions came amid a deterioration of ties, partly due to Baku's improving relations with Tehran's arch-enemy Israel. "The two sides emphasised good neighbourliness and mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the report said. During the row, Azerbaijan suggested that Iran may have been connected to an attempted assassination of an anti-Tehran Azerbaijani lawmaker. Iran, which has a large population of ethnic Azeris in its northwest, has strongly criticised Azerbaijan for moving closer to Israel, with its foreign ministry saying it sees the relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel as "anti-Iranian".

☆ Taekwondo-Russians, Belarusians set to return at world championships
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 4 (Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian taekwondo athletes are set to compete at next month's world championships after the sport's global governing body said it would allow them back as neutrals following the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) guidance. Table tennis, fencing and judo are the other Olympic sports which have readmitted Russians and Belarusians as neutrals. World Taekwondo said a review committee will oversee a verification process to "ensure strict neutrality" of individual athletes and support personnel after its ruling council met remotely for an extraordinary meeting on Monday. "World Taekwondo will continue to support Ukrainian athletes in ensuring they can participate in taekwondo events," the organisation said. The world championships are scheduled to begin on May 29 in Baku.

☆ Formula One under scrutiny over balance between safety and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Stewards had hoped racing would decide the winner but the carnage only served to trigger a third red flag and a processional win behind a safety car for Red Bull's Max Verstappen. DAMAGE BILLSStriking the right balance between safety and sport has long challenged Formula One, which moved to tighten its safety car rules after controversy hit the title-deciding 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Officials no longer have such discretion but the application of safety car rules continues to flummox drivers and team bosses alike. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he was not sure when to expect a standard safety car versus a virtual one or a red flag after incidents. "Standing starts are the most vulnerable part of any grand prix and we did three of them," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

☆ Long April break gives F1 time to take stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Formula One teams will welcome more than their drivers the breathing space provided by a long April break in a record 23-race season. "I don't want to have that break, because you know which race was missing from that break," said Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou, the sport's only Chinese driver. "You will use it (the break) just to prepare for the next race in a better way and review the first three races. "For the race team, there's an opportunity to have a little bit of rest because the rest of the season will be tough." The break provides more time also for teams to work on upgrades and add spares after a bruising weekend for some in Australia.

☆ Formula One rewrites the rule on shortened races
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Formula One has rewritten a rule to ensure reduced points are given for shortened races after Red Bull's Max Verstappen clinched his second title in confusing circumstances last October. A statement of key decisions -- to be rubber-stamped by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council -- included a change of wording "to ensure that shorter races have reduced points even if they don’t finish with a suspended race." It turned out to be full points, enough for Verstappen to clinch the title with four races to spare. The FIA explained at the time that the reduced points rule only applied to grands prix that were suspended and could not be resumed. The meeting was chaired by Formula One Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis.

☆ Leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan set for first meeting since October
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are set to meet for the first time since October at trilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Munich on Saturday, the U.S. State Department said. The U.S. State Department said Blinken would meet Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev at 1235 GMT. Armenia has sent Azerbaijan a draft proposal for a peace settlement, Pashinyan said this week. Azeri civilians identifying themselves as environmental activists have been facing off since Dec. 12 with Russian peacekeepers on the Lachin corridor. Saturday's meeting would be the two leaders' first face-to-face encounter since late October, when Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi.

☆ Ceyhan loadings of BTC pipeline oil could begin within two days, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Summary Manual loadings while BTC control room repaired -officialKirkuk loadings resumed on TuesdayISTANBUL, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Turkey's Ceyhan port could resume loading oil from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in one or two days using "manual" procedures, a Turkish official and a shipping source said on Saturday. It is the storage and loading point for the BTC pipeline which carries oil from Azerbaijan as well as the Kirkuk pipeline from Iraq. The Kirkuk pipeline resumed flows on Tuesday evening and a tanker docked at Ceyhan to load that day. The control room for BTC pipeline loadings there was damaged, the Turkish official said, but added loadings were expected to resume "manually" while the control room is repaired. Loadings could begin within a day or two days, a shipping source said, quoting information received from the terminal.

Companies Bp Azerbaijan FollowBp Plc FollowLONDON/BAKU, Feb 8 (Reuters) - BP Azerbaijan has declared force majeure on loadings of Azeri crude from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, after a series of earthquakes on Monday, the company said on Wednesday. The notice was issued to oil shippers following a temporary suspension of loading operations from the Ceyhan Marine Terminal (CMT), BP Azerbaijan spokeswoman Tamam Bayatly told Reuters by email. BP Azerbaijan operates the Azerbaijan and Georgia sections of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Azerbaijan uses the Turkish port of Ceyhan as its main crude export hub, with a flow of about 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Iraqi crude pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan oil export hub resumed flows on Tuesday evening and a tanker docked to load Iraqi crude at Ceyhan earlier in the day.

☆ Azeri BTC crude loadings suspended at a major oil export hub in Turkey after earthquakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Crude oil loadings from Turkey's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan terminal in the Mediterranean have been suspended following a twin set of earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria on Monday, leaving over 9,000 dead. The BTC terminal loads Azeri BTC Blend crude, which is transported to the Ceyhan port through the BTC pipeline. A force majeure notice seen by CNBC — which removes contractual liability from exporters or producers for circumstances outside of their control — was issued on Tuesday evening. The BTC pipeline was not impacted by the earthquakes, the Botas International Company that operates its Turkish section said on Monday. The BTC crude oil loadings schedule that is typically published on the 8th of every month will be delayed, two trade sources said.

A massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria early on Monday had halted operations at Ceyhan and stopped key crude oil flows from Iraq and Azerbaijan. A trading source said the vessel was given the all clear to load Iraqi oil from storage. While Iraqi crude flows and exports have resumed, exports of Azeri crude were still stopped. The Azeri BTC pipeline was however still working and sending oil to storage in Ceyhan, two sources said. The Alfa Baltica and the Nordlotus tankers were waiting in the area for the Azeri crude BTC terminal at Ceyhan to reopen.

☆ Turkey’s Ceyhan oil port disrupted by weather as earthquake damage assessed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Operations were interrupted at the Ceyhan oil port — a critical hub for the discharge of crude oil and oil products, along with the loading of Azeri crude and a stream of Iraqi crude oil — on Monday, following two earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria, leaving over 5,000 dead. It also exports volumes of two crude oil streams — the Azeri crude oil delivered through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) consortium's pipeline, and the Iraqi Kirkuk blend crude oil transferred through the separate Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. Loadings of the two crude oil terminals are undertaken from two different points within Ceyhan port, with BTC crude oil leaving the BTC terminal, while the Kirkuk blend sails from the Botas terminal. An oil trade source familiar with KRG operations told CNBC that the pipeline could likely begin flows later Tuesday. An oil tanker ship is awaiting to berth to load Kirkuk blend crude.

☆ Turkey oil pipelines undamaged, flows continue after quake -official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - There is no damage to the Kerkuk-Ceyhan pipeline carrying oil from Iraq to Turkey, or to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and oil flows are continuing on both after a major earthquake hit Turkey, an energy official told Reuters on Monday. However, operations at the Ceyhan oil terminal in southern Turkey were suspended, the Tribeca shipping agency said, adding that an emergency meeting was being held on the issue. The magnitude 7.8 quake struck southern Turkey and northwest Syria early on Monday, killing more than 500 people and injuring hundreds as buildings collapsed across the region, triggering searches for survivors in the rubble. Earlier state pipeline operator BOTAS said natural gas flows were halted to Gaziantep, Hatay and Kahramanmaras provinces and some other districts as a result of damage to a gas transmission line. Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Can Sezer; writing by Daren Butler; editing by Jonathan Spicer and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Armenia tells World Court Azerbaijan blockade is 'ethnic cleansing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Stephanie Van Den Berg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

THE HAGUE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Armenia told judges at the World Court on Monday that a blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region by neighbouring Azerbaijan was designed to allow "ethnic cleansing", a claim rejected by Baku. Monday's hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, was called to hear an Armenian request for the court to order Azerbaijan to lift the blockade. "Such blatant acts of ethnic cleansing have no place in the modern era and this court is the last hope for the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh," Kirakosyan said. Mammadov also said that Armenia's claims of ethnic cleansing were "distorting reality deliberately" and were "fanning the flames" of conflict. On Tuesday the ICJ will hear a competing demand from Azerbaijan for the court to order Armenia to stop planting landmines in territories it once occupied.

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