Category: Azer News

Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, embarked on a visit to Azerbaijan on April 1, AzerNEWS reports.

The Uzbekistani PM was welcomed at Heydar Aliyev International Airport by Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, Deputy Foreign Minister Samir Sharifov, along with other officials.

An informative meeting was recently organized at the International Mugham Center for teachers from music and art schools operating under the Karabakh Regional Department of Culture and based in Baku, AzerNEWS reports.

The session aimed to support teachers in navigating recent reforms in arts education led by the Ministry of Culture. Participants were provided with detailed guidance on the procedures for professional attestation, systematic presentation of program topics, and preparation for the attestation process.

The event, organized by the Culture Ministry’s Scientific, Methodological and Qualification Center for Culture (MEMIM), included discussions on the purpose and legal framework of teacher attestation, the content of attestation programs, and both theoretical and practical topics relevant to specific specialties.

Recommendations and practical advice were also shared with participants.

Note that MEMIM has previously held similar sessions in Baku and across other regions.

Plans are underway to organize additional informative meetings for teachers from music and art schools under other regional departments of culture.

The United States Department of Defense announced on Wednesday that it made a new framework agreement with the Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation to triple the output of seekers for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) as part of US President Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to build the “Arsenal of Freedom”, AzerNEWS reports.

The new deal will build on the US government’s seven-year agreement with Boeing, which supplies the PAC-3 missiles, and it represents an application of the Pentagon’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy.

“This agreement with Boeing is a direct reflection that speed, volume, and a resilient supply chain are paramount. We are moving beyond the old model and forging direct partnerships with critical suppliers to ensure the entire defense industrial base is postured to expand production and deliver the decisive capabilities our warfighters need at speed and scale,” US Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey said.

Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, arrived in Azerbaijan on 1 April.

AzerNEWS reports, citing Azertag that, the guest was received at Heydar Aliyev International Airport by Gursel Ismayilzadeh, Head of the Department for Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, Western and Central Asia at Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with other officials.

The Azerbaijan Under-21 national football team has played its latest match in the qualifying round of the UEFA European Championship, AzerNEWS reports.

The team, competing in Group B, faced their Bulgarian counterparts away from home. The match took place at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv and ended in a goalless 0-0 draw.

With this result, Azerbaijan U-21 increased their points tally to six and currently sit in fifth place in the group standings.

The team will play their next match on September 25, hosting the Czech Republic.

Organized by UEFA, the UEFA European Championship brings together the top national teams from across Europe to compete for continental glory. First held in 1960, the tournament has grown significantly in scale and popularity, evolving from a small four-team finals event into a major spectacle featuring 24 teams since 2016.

The competition is held every four years and includes a lengthy qualification phase, where national teams are divided into groups and compete for a place in the final tournament. The finals consist of a group stage followed by knockout rounds, culminating in a high-profile final watched by millions worldwide.

Seventeen editions of the UEFA European Championship have been claimed by ten different national teams.

The Spain national football team lead the way with four titles, followed by the Germany national football team with three. The Italy national football team and the France national football team have each secured two championships.

So far, Spain remains the only side to have won back-to-back European titles, achieving this remarkable feat in 2008 and 2012.

The UEFA Euro 2028 is scheduled to take place from 9 June to 9 July 2028, spanning a full month of top-level international football.

The tournament will begin with the opening match in Cardiff and conclude with the final at Wembley Stadium in London, bringing together Europe’s best national teams to compete for the continental title.

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into art, music, and media has created a paradox. AI-generated cultural content is increasingly widespread and sophisticated, yet public trust in it remains deeply unstable.

Research in psychology, sociology, and media studies suggests that people’s trust in AI-driven creative work depends not only on the work itself but also on their perceptions, beliefs, and broader cultural concerns.

At the center of this is what researchers call ambivalent trust. Many people recognize AI’s technical skill but remain uncertain about its intentions and whether its output can be fully relied upon. Audiences may appreciate that AI can produce convincing art, music, or writing, but they often hesitate to accept it as a cultural creator in the same way they would a human artist.

One of the clearest patterns observed is that knowledge about AI influences trust. When people know a piece of content was AI-generated, their perception changes. Even when the content is identical, labeling it as AI-made tends to reduce trust and emotional engagement.

This is tied to a broader psychological principle: belief shapes aesthetic experience. People evaluate creative works differently depending on whether they think a human or a machine created them. AI-generated works often face negative bias in terms of creativity and authenticity, even when their quality matches that of human-made works. Paradoxically, many people cannot reliably distinguish AI-generated content from human-created content, which highlights a tension between perception and reality.

Trust also depends on individual attitudes and personal factors. A person’s prior experience with AI, openness to technology, and familiarity with creative tools strongly influence how they respond to AI-generated music, art, or writing. In other words, trust is not an inherent property of the content, it is constructed through personal and cultural frameworks.

Broader social concerns also play a role in skepticism. Many audiences associate AI-generated content with risks such as misinformation, manipulation, or the erosion of human creativity. People often expect AI to become a dominant force in cultural production while still showing a preference for human-created work.

Another emerging trend is what some scholars describe as sensorial distrust. As AI produces increasingly realistic images, voices, and performances, traditional sensory cues are no longer reliable indicators of authenticity. This shifts audience engagement toward critical evaluation, where emotional trust is replaced by careful scrutiny.

Importantly, skepticism is not purely negative. In many cases, it acts as a form of cultural resistance. Online communities develop verification practices to distinguish human work from AI-generated content, reflecting the ongoing importance of authenticity and trust in shared cultural spaces. Younger audiences, in particular, often show a mixture of curiosity and caution, engaging with AI content while questioning its reliability.

Looking ahead, the long-term trajectory of trust in AI-generated culture appears dynamic. While AI adoption continues to accelerate, public concern and skepticism remain high. Exposure alone does not guarantee acceptance; trust must be nurtured through transparency, ethical practices, and cultural adaptation.

Ultimately, the relationship between trust and AI-generated cultural content is defined by contradiction. People recognize AI’s technical sophistication, yet question its authenticity, intentions, and cultural legitimacy. Trust is shaped less by the content itself and more by context, belief, prior attitudes, and social narratives.

What this research suggests is that society is not simply adapting to a new creative tool. We are renegotiating the foundations of cultural trust.

In an environment where human and machine outputs are increasingly indistinguishable, trust becomes a psychological and social construct rather than a given.

European Union member states must be ready for potential long-term disruptions in energy supplies due to the ongoing conflict in Iran, EU Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has warned in a letter to ministers of the bloc, AzerNEWS reports.

Although the current impact on Europe’s energy supply remains under control, Jorgensen stressed that governments should take timely measures to prepare for any prolonged interruptions.

The warning comes against the backdrop of renewed tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 group, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2231, suspending previous sanctions and limiting Iran’s nuclear activities.

However, after the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, Iran gradually abandoned some of the plan’s restrictions, drawing international concern. By September 28, 2025, UN sanctions against Iran were reinstated.

According to a May 2025 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has stockpiled 9,247 kilograms of enriched uranium, including 408 kilograms enriched above 60%.

Despite multiple negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over the nuclear program, no concrete agreement was reached, and tensions escalated. Since February 28, 2026, the U.S. and Israel have carried out airstrikes against Iranian targets, prompting Iran to respond with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military sites in the region. The conflict has since spread across several countries in the Middle East.

The escalation has placed the region’s energy infrastructure and maritime transport at serious risk. Heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have driven global oil prices sharply higher, with Iran maintaining strict control over which vessels may pass through the strategic waterway.

The EU is now being urged to develop contingency plans to mitigate potential disruptions in energy supplies amid the ongoing regional instability.

Azerbaijan National Library has introduced a virtual exhibition titled “March 31 – A Genocide That Cannot Be Erased from Our Historical Memory,” along with an electronic database called “March 31 – Day of the Genocide of Azerbaijanis”, AzerNEWS reports.

In addition, it has organized a large traditional book exhibition under the same title for its users.

The virtual exhibition showcases official documents on the tragic events of the March 31 genocide against Azerbaijanis, along with photographs illustrating atrocities committed by Armenian-Dashnak armed groups. It also highlights the mass killing of tens of thousands of peaceful Azerbaijani civilians in the cities of Baku and Shamakhi, as well as in villages across the Shamakhi, Goychay, and Javad districts.

The exhibition also features articles published in periodicals about this horrific tragedy, alongside literature in Azerbaijani and other languages.

The electronic database offers systematically organized full-text resources accessible online through sections such as “An Unforgettable Tragedy,” “Official Documents,” “Opinions on the Genocide,” “Course of Events,” “Political and Legal Assessment,” “The Bloody History of Mass Repressions,” “Books,” “Articles,” “Filmography,” and “The Genocide in Memory”.

The traditional book exhibition will run for one week.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has shared a post on his social media accounts on 31 March – the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis.

On April 15, the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum will unveil the solo exhibition “In the After-Image” by multidisciplinary artist Medina, AzerNEWS reports.

The exhibition will feature works in oil and acrylic painting, mosaic, stained glass, digital media, and carpet technique. These works reflect the artist’s visual language and creative method.

It reveals the unity of sensitivity and inner strength in Medina’s artistic practice, as well as the transformative potential of the struggle for survival that leads to personal renewal.

Within the framework of the project, the same image appears in different forms, transitioning from painting into the digital realm, and later acquiring new meaning through material carriers such as stained glass, mosaic, or carpet. In this way, the image does not remain confined within a fixed framework; instead, it transforms and continues its existence across diverse materials.

The internal rhythm of the exhibition is shaped by recurring motifs – the change of seasons, floral compositions, female and male portraits, urban landscapes of Baku, and abstract forms presented through a variety of materials and techniques to create a visual, emotional, and immersive environment.

Here, a sound installation specially created for the exhibition is presented, based on recordings of the carpet-making process. The composition is structured around the working rhythm of master weavers, drawing the viewer into a living point of contact with tradition.

The exhibition is further complemented by two fragrances created for the project by the Nose perfume brand. As a result, the exhibition is experienced not only visually, but also through the senses of hearing and smell.

Five new carpets, woven in the Museum’s Traditional Technology Department based on the artist’s sketches, form an essential part of the display. These works demonstrate the expressive potential of contemporary imagery in textile form, creating a meaningful dialogue between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art.

Within the framework of the exhibition, four manifestations of the work Flowers for Mothers – a painting, a carpet, a stained-glass piece, and a digital interpretation are added to the museum’s permanent collection. This fact underscores the institutional and cultural significance of the project.

Organized by the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum with support from the global domain “ART”, the exhibition fosters a dialogue between traditional textile heritage and interdisciplinary contemporary art.

The exhibition will run until May 15, 2026.