Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and international issues including the current situation in Iran will be discussed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Baku, a source in Kremlin said.
The source added that Russia and Azerbaijan enjoy “traditionally warm and trusting relations and the sides discuss the most pressing issues.”

Interview with Azerbaijani Ambassador to Italy Emil Karimov.
How do you assess the current political and economic cooperation between Italy and Azerbaijan? Is there room any for our ties to grow even more?
Azerbaijan-Italy relations are on the rise.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has visited Italy twice - in February 2005 and November 2008. He signed several intergovernmental documents during his official visits.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders sat down for their first direct peace talks in two years on Thursday, pledging to overcome deep skepticism spawned by disappointment with U.S.-brokered attempts in the past to resolve the long-running conflict.
Formally opening the negotiations after a day of discussions with President Barack Obama at the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton implored Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to make the difficult compromises needed to forge an agreement.

Japan's government will urge the Bank of Japan to ease monetary policy further as part of a package of steps to stem the yen's rise and support the fragile economy, the Asahi newspaper said, ratcheting up pressure on the central bank to take action before a policy meeting next month.

World stocks bounced off seven-week lows and Japan's yen weakened on Thursday in another burst of the risk-on, risk-off trading that has dominated financial markets this year.
MSCI's main gauge of global equities was up 0.6 percent after hitting its lowest level since July 7 on Wednesday. The Thomson Reuters global stock index was half a percent higher.

Inception meeting on KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) project 'Feasibility Study on the Baku Bay Marine Bridge Construction in Azerbaijan' was held on August 18, 2010 at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Deputy Minister of Transport Musa Panahov, Head of Transport Policy and Economy Department Sadraddin Mamadov, Resident Representative of KOICA office in Azerbaijan Young-woo Kim, experts of Korea Expressway Corporation and implementing organizations of the project Dongsung Engineering, Chungsuk Engineering and Dodam E&C attended the meeting and discussed future implementation plans of the project.

BHP Billiton is focusing on getting regulatory approval for its $39 billion hostile bid for Potash Corp before trying in earnest to win over the Canadian company's shareholders, a source said on Thursday.
BHP, the world's largest miner, is betting the absence of any rival offers will sway Potash Corp investors to support its bid, said the source familiar with the situation.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul ended a two-day official visit to Baku on August 17 with the signing of a strategic partnership agreement, but the details remain a guessing game. Local analysts say that they are left to conclude that the trip, coming a few days before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Armenia, was meant mostly for consultations.

BP company (operator of a project to develop the fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG)), produced about 20.2 million tons of oil (150mln barrels) in the first half of 2010. Daily production of oil from this block amounted to 827,600 barrels.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan’s relative Ohan Harutunyan is one of the Armenian soldiers, who crossed into the territory controlled by Azerbaijani Armed Forces in order to get rid of the tyranny in the Armenian army. APA managed to talk to the 19-yr old Ohan Harutunyan, who left the army together with Gevorg Tovmasyan and surrendered to Azerbaijani Armed Forces.