Festival & Heritage: The Gala Fig Festival returned to the Gala State Historical and Ethnographic Reserve, turning Absheron’s fig tradition into a full day of crafts, music, DJ sets, puppet shows, and hands-on workshops like “Paint Your Own Fig,” plus a “Fig Laboratory” tasting area and carpet-weaving demos. Tourism Push: Azerbaijan’s Tourism Board rolled out roadshows in Shymkent, Almaty, Astana and Tashkent, drawing 400+ industry players from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for B2B meetings and presentations on Caspian seaside holidays, mountain and health tourism, gastronomy, and cultural experiences. Education & Culture Skills: The Culture Ministry’s MEMİM unveiled curricula for new arts-school disciplines—artistic ceramics, fashion design, digital music, 3D character animation and photography—aimed at preparing teens for modern creative careers. UNESCO & Mugham: Azerbaijan’s new UNESCO envoy, Fakhraddin Ismayilov, presented credentials and discussed preparations for the 7th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku; meanwhile, the Presidential Library marked the International Day of Azerbaijani Mugham with an event on spiritual values and cultural revival. Governance & Oversight: Azerbaijan’s Chamber of Accounts held a collegium meeting approving audit reports on education quality assurance and on public funds use in Shahbuz (Nakhchivan). Human Rights Spotlight: International attention grew around detained opposition leader Ali Karimli, with his family alleging prison authorities are denying him safe drinking water. Regional News: CIS news agencies met in Kyrgyzstan to coordinate information support for tourism and promote the World Nomad Games as culture, sport and identity.