Russia & CIS

Azerbaijan's People’s Artist Fuad Poladov has passed away, APA reported.

Oil prices rose about 2 percent on Friday, with U.S. crude hitting its highest in more than three years, as global supplies remained tight and the market awaited news from Washington on possible new U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Military units of the armed forces of Armenia violated ceasefire 87 times throughout the day, using large-caliber machine guns.

The fact-finding mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has completed its work in Syria’s Douma and returned to the Hague, the OPCW said on Friday.

Four people were briefly detained on May 3 by police while the investigation has been ongoing about a mysterious crying girl in a cemetery in the Central Anatolian province of Çorum.

The Azerbaijani Taxes Ministry will create a Cooperation Council, which will become a platform for communicating with entrepreneurs, the Azerbaijani National Confederation of Entrepreneurs said in a message on May 4.

Saudi Arabia has agreed a deal with the Vatican to build churches for Christian worshippers in the Arab country, it is claimed by Middle Eastern media.

Israel withdrew on Friday from a race against Germany and Belgium for two seats on the United Nations Security Council in 2019/2020 due to its low chances of winning, a UN source told Reuters.

Country Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Furio De Angelis has revealed the organization`s plans to implement several projects relating to internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan as he met with chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Rovshan Rzayev.

Turkey will maintain its presence in Afrin until it has been secured, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The 6th Arena Polo World Cup will take place in Azerbaijan on June 15-17, 2018, according to the information published on the website of the World Polo.

The capitalization of Azerbaijan's banking sector amounted to 3.87 billion manats in the first quarter of 2018, which is 4.34 percent or 160.9 million manats more compared to the beginning of the year, according to a report by Azerbaijan's Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) published on May 4.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he is willing to be interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia meddling probe, but only if he gets fair treatment.

The State Examination Center (SEC) has made public the results of the final exams held on March 18 for 9th form pupils of special schools in Shamkir, Gadabay, Agstafa, Gazakh, Tovuz, Mingechevir, Balaken, Zagatala, Gakh, Yardimli, Jalilabad, Masalli, Lerik, Goychay, Agdash, Ujar, Ismayilli, Gobustan, Agjabadi, Khojavend, Fuzuli, Beylagan, Salyan, Neftchala, Hajigabul, Gusar, Guba, Siyezen, Khizi and Baku, school in Chilov island, and schools in jails.

A regatta of sailing yachts (Baku Sailing Regatta-2018) dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the birth of national leader Heydar Aliyev will be held in Baku on Saturday, May 5, the Azerbaijani Sailing Federation announced May 4.

President Vladimir Putin considers an attempt to restore relations between Russia and the West, but his maneuver is limited to one man only - Alexey Kudrin, The Financial Times believes. An article in the authoritative newspaper about the upcoming reshuffling in the upper echelons of the Russian authorities after Putin's inauguration says that Putin considers appointing ex-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to an important position to make him responsible for the economic strategy and efforts to establish contacts with Europe and the United States.Western leaders would see such an appointment as a sign of Russia's desire for compromise, although it remains unknown when Mr. Kudrin managed to become a symbol of this desire, let alone the assumption that Putin was considering such an option. References to "an unnamed official of the Russian government" and "a former official from the Cabinet" are not very convincing.However, the article gives the name of one expert - economist Yevgeny Gontmakher. "If Kudrin joined the administration or government, it would indicate that they have agreed on a certain agenda of change, including in foreign policy, because without change in foreign policy, reforms are simply impossible in Russia," he said, the newspaper wrote, adding that "it would be a powerful message, because Kudrin is the only one in the top echelons with whom they will talk in the west and towards whom there is a certain trust."Why is Kudrin the only one? Why is there "a certain trust" to him in the West? There are no answers to these two questions either. It is worthy of note that Mr. Gontmakher is a member of the Kudrin Committee of Civil Initiatives. During the recent election campaign, he was a confidant of presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky, whose electoral program was built around the need to come to terms with the West as soon as possible. It is an open secret that Mr. Kudrin, who was dismissed from the post of the Finance Minister in 2011, is still a part of the Kremlin. He participates in the development of economic programs. In 2012 and 2015 he was offered to head a relevant department at the presidential administration, but it did not go any further. Of course, it never occurred to anyone to assume that Mr. Kudrin was perhaps the last chance for Russia to restore relations with the West.Judging by the article in The Financial Times, the idea is about the effectiveness of Western sanctions, which began to influence both the domestic political situation in Russia and personnel decisions. Mr. Kudrin believes that it is impossible for Russia to adapt to them now. In general, the motives behind the hypothetical appointment of Mr. Kudrin seem very doubtful, just like the sources that substantiate such a development. Oleg ArtyukovPravda.RuRead article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he may go to Jerusalem, where the United States is moving its embassy from Tel Aviv later this month after Trump broke with other world powers last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Reuters reported.

Police in Paris have used water cannons to break up a tumultuous rally. Amid May Day demonstrations, hooded individuals have been throwing smoke bombs and setting vehicles on fire in the French capital, RT reports.

Morocco will sever diplomatic ties with Iran over Tehran’s support for the Polisario Front, a Western Sahara independence movement, the Moroccan foreign minister said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan has not been elected as the country's interim prime minister amid ongoing protests, Sputnik reported.