Day: April 2, 2026

On April 2, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian made a phone call to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
Masoud Pezeshkian expressed his gratitude to the head of state for the humanitarian aid Azerbaijan has provided to Iran, News.Az reports, citing AZERTAC.
President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan’s humanitarian aid to Iran will continue and emphasized that the next shipment of humanitarian aid will be sent shortly.
Expressing his concern over the escalating situation in Iran, the head of state prayed for God’s mercy upon the Iranian citizens who lost their lives.
President Ilham Aliyev expressed his hope for a swift end to the confrontation.
During the telephone conversation, the parties emphased the necessity of achieving peace in the region as soon as possible.

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The Malaysian Tourism Federation said on Thursday that the cost pressures are creating significant challenges for businesses, particularly given the structure of the tourism market, News.az reports, citing BBC.
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Long lead contracts limit flexibility
According to federation president Sri Ganesh Michiel, the sector operates on a long lead business model, with travel packages negotiated months in advance under fixed contracts.
This leaves travel agencies unable to adjust prices when unexpected cost increases occur, squeezing margins and threatening profitability.
“Disruptions are creating new challenges for the sector,” he said, noting that companies are struggling to absorb rising operational expenses.
Transport costs drive domino effect
The impact is being felt across the tourism value chain, particularly among transport providers.
Many agencies depend on third party operators such as buses, boats, and ferries, which are now facing higher fuel costs. These operators, in turn, are finding it difficult to maintain services without passing on additional expenses.
The result is a cascading effect across the industry, increasing costs at multiple levels and placing additional strain on tour operators and service providers.
Calls for government intervention
The federation has urged the government to introduce immediate support measures to stabilise the sector.
Proposals include fuel subsidies for transport operators, temporary financial relief mechanisms for travel agencies, and broader short term policies aimed at cushioning the impact of rising costs.
Industry representatives argue that timely intervention is essential to prevent further disruption.
Concerns over competitiveness and demand
The federation warned that without support, Malaysia risks losing its competitive edge as a tourist destination.
Rising costs could lead to reduced service capacity, higher prices for travellers, and potential declines in demand.
There are also concerns that prolonged instability could erode international confidence in Malaysia’s tourism sector, particularly as global travellers become more price sensitive.
Analysts say the situation highlights the vulnerability of tourism dependent economies to external shocks, especially those linked to energy markets and geopolitical tensions.

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The show will report to OpenAI’s chief political operative, Chris Lehane, News.az reports, citing TechcRunch.

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TBPN, hosted by former tech founders John Coogan and Jordi Hays, is a daily live show that airs on YouTube and X for three hours, focusing on tech, business, AI, and defense.

The show has gained a cult following in Silicon Valley, a safe space where industry power players can speak candidly and be questioned by fellow insiders. The show has a reputation for being something of a Sports Center for the tech industry — a place where top tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Marc Benioff, and, yes, Sam Altman, come to chop it up, react to the news of the day, and occasionally make some of their own.

TBPN will continue to live on as its own brand, which OpenAI will help scale. Not that it necessarily needed help on that front; TBPN has grown into an empire that’s on track to pull in more than $30 million this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI already has its own podcast for long-form conversations with the people building tech at the company.

OpenAI will also tap the founders’ “amazing comms and marketing instincts” outside the show, according to OpenAI’s head of AGI deployment, Fidji Simo, who said TBPN will “bring AI to the world in a way that helps people understand the full impact of this technology on their daily lives.”

Simo went even further, noting that TBPN’s prowess is necessary for an atypical company like OpenAI where “the standard communications playbook just doesn’t apply.”

She said TBPN will have editorial independence and continue to “run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions.”

Still, the acquisition might give some pause. After all, OpenAI is a valuable AI lab on the brink of an IPO buying a buzzy talk show that often discusses the company and its competitors. And once the deal closes, TBPN will operate under OpenAI’s strategy team and report to Chris Lehane, the man who invented the phrase “vast right-wing conspiracy” as a tool to deflect press scrutiny of the Clinton White House.

Lehane, who has been described as a master of the “political dark arts,” is also behind the crypto industry super PAC Fairshake, which spent hundreds of millions to kneecap anti-crypto candidates in the 2024 election. He joined OpenAI that same year and has been in President Trump’s ear ever since, whispering recommendations for sweeping and controversial policies like preventing states from regulating AI and easing environmental restrictions that might slow data center construction.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who said in a social media post that TBPN is his favorite tech show, seems to believe the acquisition won’t change TBPN’s commentary and even criticism of the company.

“I don’t expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I’ll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions,” he wrote.

TBPN, meanwhile, sees the acquisition as a means to do more than just commentary.

“While we’ve been critical of the industry at times, after getting to know Sam and the OpenAI team, what stood out most was their openness to feedback and commitment to getting this right,” Hays said in a statement. “Moving from commentary to real impact in how this technology is distributed and understood globally is incredibly important to us.”

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The case involves a Libyan general who was wanted by the ICC at The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

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Osama Almasri Najim, also known as Almasri, the former chief of Libya’s judicial police, was arrested in November in Tripoli, Libya. He is accused of torturing prisoners, leading to the death of one. Najim was arrested in Turin, Italy, on the ICC warrant but was released two days later and flown to Tripoli on an Italian air force plane, The Guardian reported.

The ICC said, “a representative of Italy was invited to the April 1, 2026, meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly to discuss the implications of the Court’s decision regarding its non-cooperation and to present its views on how it would cooperate with the Court in the future.”

It’s unclear if an Italian representative appeared.

The ICC said the decision to refer Italy to the Assembly of States Parties was made Jan. 26.

The Assembly of States Parties is the management oversight and legislative body of the ICC.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said Najim was quickly sent back to Libya because he was a risk to Italy’s national security.

But some critics said her administration was pandering to Libya because the country helps stop the flow of migrants toward Italy, The Guardian reported.

Though Libya is not a part of the Rome statute — the founding treaty of the ICC — in May it accepted the authority of the ICC to investigate the alleged war crimes.

Meloni’s opposition criticized her after Najim was arrested in November.

Antonella Forattini, a politician in Italy’s Democratic party, said it was “a stain on our institutions and Italy’s image around the world. Libya is now demonstrating that it is ahead of our country in defending justice and legality.”

Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called the issue “a humiliation for the Meloni government.”

Elly Schlein, leader of the Democratic party, said: “The Libyan authorities ordered Almasri’s arrest on charges of torture and murder … the same criminal that [the Italian government] freed and escorted home on a government flight. This is a disgrace at an international level for which our government must apologize to Italians.”

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