Category: Azer News

Escalating processes in the Middle East have significantly disrupted global air travel, affecting hundreds of flights from various regions around the world.

AzerNEWS reports, citing aviation analytics firm Cirium, that 966 out of 4,218 flights scheduled to operate to the Middle East on Saturday were canceled. Including outbound flights from the region, the total number of cancellations exceeded 1,800.

On Sunday, of the 4,329 flights scheduled for the Middle East, 716 had already been canceled by early reporting, with expectations that the number would continue to rise throughout the day.

Major Gulf carriers – Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways – are reported to be among the most affected. More than 90,000 passengers use these airlines daily for transit connections alone, amplifying the impact of the disruptions.

Europe’s largest airline group, Lufthansa Group, has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until March 7.

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has halted all flights to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia until March 7.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines has suspended flights to 10 countries in the Middle East, while services to other destinations continue to operate as scheduled.

Airlines are closely monitoring the situation, with further schedule adjustments possible depending on developments in the region.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his “deep concern” over the situation in Iran and the escalation of tensions across the Middle East region after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Tehran, provoking a fierce response by the Iranian forces, AzerNEWS reports.

The pope called for an end to “the spiral of violence” and urged world leaders to pursue diplomacy and restraint.

“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war, before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” he added.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with top security officials, have reportedly been killed due to ongoing attacks by the US and Israel. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has vowed to seek revenge and claims to have launched attacks on 27 bases housing US troops in the Middle East, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv. Explosions have been reported in Qatar and the UAE.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that if it retaliates ‘very hard today,’ it will face a response ‘with a force that has never been seen before.’

In response to the turmoil, Iran’s government announced that an interim council, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, will oversee the country until a new supreme leader is elected. Iranian state media reports indicate that at least 201 people have been killed in the attacks across 24 provinces.

Iran’s retaliatory strikes have targeted US and Israeli assets in various Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Oman.

Due to the ongoing exchange of attacks, several countries in the region have closed their airspace.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has accused Israel of ‘seeking to partition’ the country following its joint attack with the US, AzerNEWS reports.

In a statement published by the Fars state news agency, Larijani said that the Israeli ‘regime has no choice but to resort to partitioning large countries in order to ensure its own survival’.

Larijani also described Trump as ‘the perfect symbol of plunder’ and accused him of seeking to grab resources from Iran.

‘America and the Zionist regime burned the hearts of the Iranian nation, and we will burn their hearts too,’ he added.

Israel Katz has congratulated Netanyahu and the country’s military for the strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

‘He who acted to destroy Israel – has been destroyed,’ Katz said in a post on X. ‘Justice has been served, and the axis of evil has suffered a mortal blow.’

He added that Israel will ‘continue to act with full force’.

A landmark legal battle over privacy, data control and the business model of big tech is unfolding in India, as WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy faces intense scrutiny from the Supreme Court of India, AzerNEWS reports.

At stake are not just the terms of WhatsApp’s controversial update, but broader questions about privacy rights, consumer choice and the regulation of dominant digital platforms in one of the world’s largest internet markets.

What the case is about

In January 2021, WhatsApp introduced a policy requiring users in India to accept expanded data-sharing terms with its parent company, Meta Platforms, in order to continue using the app. Critics described it as a ‘take it or leave it’ model that gave users no real alternative.

India’s competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), launched an investigation in March 2021, alleging ‘exploitative and exclusionary conduct’. It argued that Meta was leveraging WhatsApp’s dominant position – with an estimated 853 million users in India – to strengthen its advertising business and disadvantage competitors.

In November 2024, the CCI fined Meta $25m for abusing its dominant position. It also:

Ordered behavioural remedies within three months

Barred WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta entities for five years

Directed the company to clearly specify the purposes of data sharing

Meta and WhatsApp challenged the order before a company law tribunal, which upheld the fine but stayed the five-year data-sharing ban. In January 2026, the firms approached the Supreme Court to contest the penalty.

During recent hearings, the Supreme Court criticised the ‘take it or leave it’ approach, warning it would not allow companies to ‘play with’ Indians’ constitutional right to privacy or ‘make a mockery’ of the Constitution.

The court described the policy as a potential way of ‘committing theft of private information’ and expressed concern about personal communications being used for targeted advertising. It directed WhatsApp to create a consent-based framework for data sharing.

Privacy has been recognised as a fundamental right in India since a landmark 2017 ruling, raising the stakes of the current case.

WhatsApp’s response

In an affidavit submitted to the court, WhatsApp said it would comply by 16 March with the CCI’s order to give Indian users greater control over their data.

The company stated that:

Users will be able to opt out of sharing data with Meta for advertising

Access to WhatsApp in India will not be conditional on agreeing to data-sharing for non-service purposes

Future policy updates will follow the same requirements

A prominent settings tab will allow users to review or modify consent

WhatsApp also reiterated that personal messages remain protected by end-to-end encryption and claimed that it does not share user data with Meta for advertising purposes unless users opt into optional features.

The company added that it has begun preparing to comply with India’s new digital data protection law, which itself faces constitutional challenges and is due to be heard by a five-judge bench in March.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) are holding a meeting on Sunday, during which it is expected that the April crude production will be increased by 206,000 barrels per day (bpd), AzerNEWS reports.

The decision comes as chaos consumes the Middle East. Earlier, the United States and Israel conducted joint attacks against Iran, which led the latter to retaliate, targeting various countries in the region that host US military bases and other assets.

The OPEC+ move likely aims to minimize the impact the strikes might have on oil prices.

Data released by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) reveals a notable contraction in activity within the Interbank Card Center (ICC) during the first month of 2026. By the end of January, the center processed 21.4 thousand payment transactions, representing a total financial value of $5.6 million, AzerNEWS reports.

This performance marks a significant downturn when compared to the same period in 2025. According to the regulator, the number of transactions fell by approximately 7.2 thousand, a 25.2 percent decrease from the previous year. Similarly, the total volume of processed payments saw a reduction of $1.4 million, reflecting a 20 percent year-on-year decline.

For historical context, the ICC handled 28.6 thousand transactions totaling $7 million in January 2025. As a core component of the nation’s financial landscape, the ICC serves as the essential technological and financial infrastructure that ensures the secure and efficient processing of bank card payments. Its primary role involves facilitating the accurate transfer and final execution of payment obligations between domestic banking institutions.

China’s carbon dioxide emissions per 10,000 yuan (1,445 U.S. dollars) of GDP fell 5 percent year on year in 2025, as the country made notable progress in energy conservation and carbon reduction, official data showed on Saturday, AzerNEWS reports, citing Xinhua.

Energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP, excluding energy used as raw materials and non-fossil energy consumption, declined 5.1 percent year on year in 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Power generation from clean energy sources such as hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power reached nearly 4.25 trillion kilowatt-hours, up 14.4 percent over the previous year.

New energy vehicle (NEV) production totaled over 16.52 million units, marking a 25.1-percent increase from a year earlier. By the end of 2025, the number of NEVs in use had reached 43.97 million, an increase of 12.57 million from the previous year.

Environmental quality also continued to improve. In the 339 cities monitored at or above prefecture level, 72.6 percent met air quality standards, the NBS data showed.

Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei set a new course record with a commanding victory at the Tokyo Marathon, AzerNEWS reports.

The 32-year-old finished in 2:14:29 – more than two minutes ahead of Ethiopia’s Bertukan Welde, who was second in 2:16:36.

Welde’s Ethiopian compatriot Hawi Feysa came third in 2:17:39.

The previous course record was 2:15:55 – set by two-time Tokyo winner Sutume Asefa Kebede in 2024.

Kosgei, who won marathon silver for Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is planning to represent Turkey at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“We have a lot of athletes in Kenya,” said Kosgei. “I want some young generation to follow my step to join me in Turkey.”

In the men’s race, Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele defended his title in a thrilling sprint finish with Kenyan duo Geoffrey Toroitich and Alexander Mutiso Munyao.

Takele clocked 2:03:37, which was the same official time as second-placed Toroitich, with Munyao finishing just one second further back in third.

“I knew that the final stage would be decisive,” said 23-year-old Takele.

“Around 41km I wanted to wait and see what would happen and then I made my move right before the finish.”

As Germany prepares to implement the planned ‘Building Modernization’ law, discussions over the country’s gas supply and alternative energy sources have intensified.

AzerNEWS reports that German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche has raised the possibility of expanding domestic gas production.

In an interview with a local media outlet, Reiche stated that Germany possesses gas reserves, and the key question is whether they can be extracted under economically viable conditions. She stressed that, particularly in a complex geopolitical environment, energy security must be carefully assessed.

Reiche underscored the need to maintain a delicate balance between environmental protection and securing raw material supplies. She noted that the federal government has granted permission to the Netherlands to explore a gas field in the North Sea, suggesting that a similar approach could be considered for Germany.

At the same time, the minister highlighted the importance of expanding green energy sources. According to Reiche, Ukraine is capable of supplying substantial volumes of biogas, and future import opportunities in this area could be explored. However, she emphasized that existing regulatory issues at both the Ukrainian and European Union levels must first be resolved. If these obstacles are removed, significant volumes of biomethane could potentially be delivered to Germany.

Azerbaijan’s diplomatic missions in the region are continuing their work in an enhanced mode in response to the ongoing military escalation, AzerNEWS reports.

This was stated by Aykhan Hajizadeh, Head of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, commenting on the situation of Azerbaijani citizens in the affected areas.

‘In accordance with the crisis situation, our Embassies and Consulates General in the region continue their activities in an enhanced mode,’ Hajizadeh said.

‘In accordance with the appeals from our citizens, our diplomatic missions are providing appropriate support.

So far, only one of our citizens has been injured. The citizen is being provided with appropriate support by our diplomatic mission and his condition is good.’

Addressing the issue of evacuation, the MFA spokesperson noted that Azerbaijani citizens are currently leaving Iran through land borders.

‘Regarding the evacuation of our citizens, at present, in accordance with the travel warning shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Azerbaijani and Turkish land borders are being used for the exit from Iran of Azerbaijani citizens in Iran, depending on the region of their location. So far, 30 of our citizens have crossed the Azerbaijani border,’ he stated.

He also clarified that broader evacuation measures are not planned at this stage.

‘In general, taking into account the closure of airspace in the region, no evacuation of citizens is planned at this time.

Our citizens currently in the region are asked to carefully monitor the security situation, follow the instructions and recommendations of local authorities, stay away from mass gatherings and strengthen personal security measures,’ the statement said.