President Bush is playing host today to the leader of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, in what some say is a litmus test of the president's so-called freedom agenda.

NPR: Azerbaijan President Visits Washington

The Conference is organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia with support of the UNESCO Moscow Office for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation, Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO) and in partnership with the Armenian Linguistic University "Interlingua" and the Russian Institute for Cultural Research.

UNESCO: The Regional Conference of the CIS countries with participation of international experts ��Cultural Policy and Policy for Culture: Towards a New Cultural Policy Profile�� | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan is celebrating the first flow of oil from the Caspian Sea for decades.

BBC: Oil flows from the Caspian Sea