Bakou - Azerbaijan strongman Ilham Aliyev on Thursday secured a fourth consecutive term with 86 percent of the vote in elections that international observers said were marred by "serious irregularities" and lack of competition.

Bakou - Azerbaijan holds a snap presidential election on Wednesday boycotted by the opposition and expected to extend the autocratic rule of President Ilham Aliyev.Here are five points on the culture and history of the Caspian Sea nation.

Bakou - Likened in leaked US diplomatic cables to the fictional mob boss Michael Corleone, Azerbaijan's strongman Ilham Aliyev is expected to secure his fourth term as president in snap polls on Wednesday.

Bakou - Azerbaijanis voted on Wednesday in a snap presidential election boycotted by the main opposition parties and set to extend the autocratic rule of President Ilham Aliyev.

Bakou - Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev is set to secure a fourth consecutive term on Wednesday in snap polls boycotted by the oil-rich nation's main opposition parties.

Bakou - Likened in leaked US diplomatic cables to the fictional mob boss Michael Corleone, Azerbaijan's strongman Ilham Aliyev is expected to secure his fourth term as president in snap polls on Wednesday.

Bakou - Twenty-five people perished in a fire which tore through a drug rehabilitation clinic in the Azerbaijani capital Baku early Friday, with activists saying safety standards had not been met.

Bakou - Twenty four people died as a result of a fire which tore through a drug rehabilitation clinic in the Azerbaijani capital Baku early Friday, officials said.

Bakou - Leaders of Azerbaijan's main opposition parties pledged Monday to boycott a snap presidential election which is expected to extend the autocratic rule of President Ilham Aliyev.

Bakou - Azerbaijan's strongman Ilham Aliyev on Monday called a snap presidential vote for April, six months ahead of schedule, as opposition politicians slammed the surprise move.

Bakou - Azerbaijan's strongman Ilham Aliyev Monday called a surprise snap presidential election for April 11, six months ahead of schedule, without providing an immediate explanation for the move.

Bakou - A European rights watchdog on Monday expressed concern over a wave of arrests in Azerbaijan last month of people who made "offers of sexual services" that human rights groups say targets the Muslim country's gay community.

Bakou - Azerbaijan has frozen the bank accounts of the country's only independent news agency, its director said Friday, in a step that could shutter the outlet.

Bakou - Azerbaijan on Thursday sentenced a Russian-Israeli travel blogger who wrote in support of Armenian separatists to three years in jail for visiting the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh.

Bakou - Azerbaijan has destroyed an Armenian air defence system in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region, officials in Baku said Tuesday, as separatist authorities vowed retaliation, raising tensions in the festering conflict.

Filipino-American chess player Wesley So has won the 2017 US Chess Championship title in a tightly-fought match held at the The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

Bakou - Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday appointed his glamorous wife as first vice president, the latest move seen as tightening the family's iron grip on the oil-rich Caspian nation.

Bakou - Azerbaijani security services have killed two men suspected of plotting "terrorist attacks" in the secular ex-Soviet country with a mainly Muslim population, authorities said Friday.

Bakou - Azerbaijan on Tuesday sentenced a pro-democracy activist to 10 years in prison as the ex-Soviet state faces growing criticism over its crackdown on dissent.

Bakou - Pope Francis has agreed to speed up the path to sainthood for French Catholic priest Jacques Hamel, murdered by two teenaged jihadists in July, Vatican sources said Sunday.