Category: Azer News

The United States has imposed 50% tariffs on around $20 billion worth of Canadian products, with Canada immediately vowing to retaliate after last-minute negotiations failed to resolve the latest dispute between the two countries.

The new tariffs, which took effect early Saturday, cover roughly 5% of Canada’s annual exports to the United States and affect a range of products, including hockey sticks, tongue depressors and other Canadian-made goods.

The move further escalates an already tense trade relationship between the two North American neighbours and raises fresh questions about the future of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA).

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would respond with equivalent measures.

‘Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,’ Carney said in a statement.

Canada had been seeking concessions from Washington on tariffs affecting key sectors, including steel, aluminium, automobiles and lumber. However, the negotiations broke down shortly before the new measures took effect.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer blamed Canada for the collapse of the talks, saying Ottawa had rejected the terms of a proposed agreement.

‘Tonight, Canada declined to finalise the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,’ Greer said. He added that the United States had offered Canada ‘the best treatment of any major exporter to our market,’ but accused Ottawa of introducing new demands and reversing previous commitments.

Carney rejected Washington’s account of the negotiations, saying the breakdown resulted from changes made by the US administration at the last minute.

‘Last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal,’ Carney said.

He subsequently suspended negotiations and instructed Canada’s negotiating team to return to Ottawa.

Carney also said the Canadian government would announce additional measures to support workers and businesses affected by the tariffs in the coming days.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Saturday that his country will provide Ukraine with more interceptors amid its war with Russia.

Macron said he told his Ukrainian counterpart about the new support in their phone call earlier today, during which the French president expressed “horror” at Russia’s attacks on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih.

“With these strikes and those this week against Kyiv, Russia is continuing and intensifying the crime of its aggression,” Macron stressed. “In this context, it is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression,” he added.

The US Department of Justice has joined Elon Musk’s xAI in challenging a Minnesota law that prohibits online services from enabling users to create non-consensual sexually explicit images of identifiable people using artificial intelligence.

The DOJ filed a statement of interest in the case this week, arguing that Minnesota’s law is overly broad and potentially restricts constitutionally protected conduct that is not prohibited under federal law.

Minnesota’s legislation prohibits operators of websites, applications and software from allowing users to access or use their services to ‘nudify’ images or videos, or from carrying out such alterations on behalf of users. Violations can result in fines of up to $500,000.

The law defines ‘nudify’ as altering or generating an image or video to depict an intimate body part that was not visible in the original image of an identifiable person, provided the resulting image is realistic enough that a reasonable person could believe the intimate part belongs to that individual.

In its filing, the Justice Department argued that the law ‘sweeps up constitutional and productive conduct not prohibited under federal law’ because of the way Minnesota drafted and intends to enforce the legislation.

The DOJ’s intervention comes after xAI filed a lawsuit against Minnesota last month, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment. The company has also argued that it could be held liable for content generated by users despite having moderation measures designed to prevent such activity.

xAI attorney Robert Dunn argued that the legislation could punish the company even when users generate images of themselves.

Minnesota officials have rejected xAI’s arguments, maintaining that the company remains responsible for preventing prohibited content from being generated through its services. Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Janine Kimble said that xAI points to its terms of service prohibiting such content while the state has continued to see large numbers of users generating such images.

The dispute has gained additional attention because of previous controversies surrounding Grok, xAI’s chatbot integrated with X. The system has faced criticism over its ability to generate sexually explicit deepfake images, including non-consensual images of real people. Musk previously acknowledged problems with the chatbot’s safeguards and attributed some incidents to ‘lapses in safeguards.’

The case places the Justice Department and xAI on the same side of a broader legal dispute over how far states can go in regulating AI-generated sexual imagery, particularly when laws impose liability on AI companies for content created by their users.

The distance between Kalbajar and Lachin will be shortened by 31.98 kilometres following the completion of a new highway currently under construction, according to the Azerbaijan State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads.

The 75.8-kilometre Kalbajar-Lachin highway is being built through complex mountainous terrain and will feature two to four traffic lanes, corresponding to technical grades I and II.

The project includes the construction of 17 tunnels, seven viaducts, 14 bridges and 212 culverts.

According to the agency, drilling work has already been completed in all tunnels, which have a combined length of more than 13 kilometres. Concreting work has been completed in 12 tunnels.

More than 2,085 workers and 509 pieces of construction equipment are currently involved in the project.

Overall, more than 50% of the construction work has been completed.

The new highway is expected to significantly reduce travel distances between Kalbajar and Lachin while improving connectivity across the mountainous areas of the region.

Beyond shortening the route between the two districts, the highway is also expected to contribute to the formation of a new transport corridor in the region, supporting mobility, economic activity and the development of surrounding areas.

A growing gasoline shortage is reportedly hitting Moscow and other parts of Russia, with fuel availability at filling stations falling to unprecedented levels, according to data compiled by the Russian fuel-monitoring service GdeBENZ.

The service’s data indicate that gasoline was available at only around 28% of monitored filling stations across Russia on August 19, down from roughly 40% at the beginning of August. The figure fell to a low of 27% on August 18, according to the platform.

The situation appears particularly severe in the Moscow area. In the Moscow region, the share of stations reporting available fuel fell from 62% on August 6 to 23% on August 19. Within Moscow itself, availability declined from 53% to approximately 20%, meaning that only about one in five monitored stations had gasoline available.

GdeBENZ relies on reports from motorists indicating whether individual filling stations have fuel and whether it can be purchased without lengthy queues. The data therefore provide an indication of actual fuel availability experienced by consumers, rather than official nationwide supply figures.

The platform’s charts suggest that Russia is experiencing a second wave of fuel shortages after an earlier deterioration in June. Following a temporary improvement, gasoline availability began falling sharply again in August.

The shortages are not limited to the capital. On August 19, the share of monitored stations with fuel stood at around 17% in Krasnodar Krai, 18% in Voronezh region, 21% in Penza region, 23% in Rostov region and just 15% in Arkhangelsk region.

Some regions were in a relatively better position but still recorded significant shortages, including Chelyabinsk region at 34%, Nizhny Novgorod region at 35% and Perm Krai at 33%.

The latest deterioration has raised concerns that Russia’s fuel problems may represent more than a temporary disruption. Analysts have pointed to refinery maintenance, logistical difficulties and disruptions to oil-processing capacity as contributing factors, while Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have added pressure to the country’s refining system.

A Ukrainian drone was recently reported to have struck a major oil refinery in Tatarstan, while Russian pro-war bloggers have also drawn attention to gasoline shortages.

The GdeBENZ figures are user-generated and do not constitute official Russian government statistics, but the sharp decline recorded across multiple regions suggests that gasoline availability has become an increasingly visible problem for Russian motorists.

Azerbaijan and Mexico are looking to expand cooperation in cinema, with a particular focus on documentary filmmaking, cultural exchange, and joint film projects.

The issue was discussed at a meeting at the Azerbaijan Filmmakers Union (AUF) attended by Mexico’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Victoria Romero, Cultural Attaché Aristeo González Guerrero, embassy staff member Gunel Hajiyeva, and representatives of the DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival (DokuBaku IDFF).

The meeting also highlighted the participation of Mexican director Roberto Ortiz in the 10th DokuBaku IDFF, where his documentary Ángeles FC has been selected for the DokuKids section. Dedicated this year to the theme “Stellar Civilization,” the festival will take place in Baku from October 5 to 11.

The participants discussed ways to strengthen creative and professional ties between the two countries, as well as opportunities for future joint film projects. Plans for Ortiz’s visit to Baku were also considered, along with the possibility of organizing a workshop and masterclass with the director as part of the festival.

The DokuKids section is designed to introduce young audiences to different cultures, perspectives, and real-life stories through documentary cinema. It aims to broaden children’s horizons while encouraging openness and critical thinking.

The meeting, jointly involving the DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival, the Azerbaijan Filmmakers Union, and the Embassy of Mexico in Azerbaijan, was seen as an important step toward creating new opportunities for cooperation between the film communities of the two countries.

Following the meeting, the guests toured the AUF’s cinema hall and learned more about the union’s activities.

Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said Thursday it does not expect gas shortages this winter, noting that storage levels of 60% to 70% would be sufficient for the heating season, while reserves in the country are currently around 50% full.

“A tight market situation with high prices does not yet constitute a supply crisis,” the ministry said, referring to rising commodity prices linked to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and growing tensions in the region.

Economic Affairs and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche stressed that the government is preparing “necessary” measures, including monitoring imports, LNG availability and demand, that could be ‘effectively’ deployed if the situation worsens.

A Ukrainian court has sentenced socialist activist Bogdan Syrotiuk to 15 years in prison for high treason, with his supporters arguing that the case amounts to a crackdown on political dissent during the war with Russia.

Syrotiuk, 27, was convicted on August 10 on charges of allegedly assisting Russia in its war against Ukraine. According to his supporters, however, the evidence presented by prosecutors consisted of six articles he wrote for the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).

The articles explicitly criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin and condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while also criticising the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Syrotiuk is a member of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), a socialist political organisation. The court has also ordered the destruction of the organisation’s political literature, according to his supporters.

More than 6,000 people from around 60 countries have signed an open letter calling for Syrotiuk’s release.

His supporters have also raised concerns about his health, saying that the 27-year-old’s condition has deteriorated while in detention. They argue that the conditions in Ukraine’s prison system pose a serious threat to his health and could amount to a “death sentence.”

The case has drawn broader attention to restrictions on political activity and freedom of expression in Ukraine during the war.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian authorities have taken a number of measures against political organisations and media outlets viewed as posing security risks. The government has banned numerous political parties and restricted or blocked a large number of websites.

Supporters of Syrotiuk argue that his conviction demonstrates how wartime security measures are also being used against domestic political opponents, particularly those who criticise both Moscow and Kyiv.

Azercell has received three awards at the 2026 Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards®, recognizing the company’s achievements in human capital development and digital transformation. Azercell’s ‘Digital Transformation of the Human Capital Management System’ project received a Gold Award, the ‘Leadership Skills Development Program,’ developed in collaboration with IE Business School, received a Silver Award, and the ‘AI Bootcamp’ received a Bronze Award.

‘Investment in human capital is one of the key drivers of our company’s long-term development. As one of the leading enablers of Azerbaijan’s digital ecosystem, we invest not only in advanced technologies and digital solutions, but also in developing the knowledge and capabilities of the people who will drive this transformation forward. We believe that technological transformation creates real value when people are ready to harness new opportunities effectively and translate them into tangible business results,’ said Dilara Huseynova, Chief Human Resources Officer at Azercell.

Azercell continues to accelerate its digital transformation, integrating robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence into business processes across the company. This transformation extends to human capital management. Following the implementation of SAP SuccessFactors, 80-90% of key HR processes have been automated. AI and automation are driving greater process efficiency and enabling more data-driven decision-making.

Azercell continues to invest in employee development and strong leadership capabilities across the organization. Developed in collaboration with IE Business School, the ‘Leadership Skills Development Program’ focuses on strengthening employees’ self-management, initiative, accountability and decision-making skills, while equipping managers to lead teams effectively and support employee development.

Azercell also invests in developing the next generation of technology talent. The ‘AI Bootcamp,’ supported by Azercell, gives university students from across Azerbaijan the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of artificial intelligence and gain hands-on experience with AI technologies. The initiative supports the development of emerging AI talent in Azerbaijan and builds the skills that will be increasingly important in the future workforce.

Azercell also holds the internationally recognized Great Place to Work® certification, a global benchmark for workplace culture and employee experience. The certification is based entirely on confidential employee feedback.

The Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards® recognize outstanding programs, practices and initiatives in human capital management and their measurable impact. Entries are evaluated by an independent panel of industry experts based on their alignment with business needs, program design and implementation, innovation and measurable outcomes. The awards attract entries from leading international organizations, including Accenture, EY, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone. Azercell’s three awards reflect international recognition of the company’s progress in technological transformation and human capital development.

‘Azerbaijan’s participation in this format (the ‘C6′ format – ed.) demonstrates our country’s contribution to strengthening interregional cooperation,’ President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with the Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA).

The president underlined that the dialogue and cooperation mechanisms established within the framework of this platform serve not only to develop interstate relations, but also to promote peace, stability and sustainable progress throughout the Eurasian space.