Azerbaijan intends to increase electricity exports to neighboring countries and enter the European energy market, said the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev.
“By expanding our export capabilities to neighboring countries, we will also enter the European market. After all, we have already entered the European market with our oil and gas, but we want to enter it with electricity as well,” Aliyev said in an interview with the Azerbaijani state television channel AzTV.
According to him, the only route for supplying electricity to Europe currently runs through Georgia and Turkey, but Azerbaijan intends to expand the number of export routes. In this regard, a feasibility study for the Black Sea Energy project has already been prepared.
In addition, in November 2024, as part of COP29, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan signed an agreement to lay an electrical cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea.
“Azerbaijan will establish itself as a country that generates, receives, transmits, and exports electricity,” Aliyev said.
He also noted that the capacity of solar power plants in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) could reach 500 MW, and up to 1 GW in the future.
“The main issue here is export capacity. To achieve this, of course, negotiations must be held with the relevant authorities in the respective countries, and these are already underway,” the president said.
At the same time, Aliyev noted that the existing power transmission lines from the NAR to Iran and Turkey have limited capacity, which needs to be increased.
“That is, for exporting 500 megawatts—or even 1,000 megawatts—of electricity, there are currently two routes: one to Turkey and the other to Iran. But in the future, this could also include Europe,” he said.
The head of state added that Azerbaijan’s plans to export electricity are in line with the interests of the countries “surrounding us.”
“It’s just that coordination efforts here must be carried out properly, at the necessary level, and negotiations must be accelerated. I can say that negotiations on this matter are currently underway with both Turkey and Iran. It’s too early to say anything for sure,” the president said.
András Baku has become Hungary’s new president, according to Hungarian media reports.
“On Tuesday, the Hungarian Parliament elected 73-year-old lawyer and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court András Baku as the country’s new president,” the reports state.
It is noted that 140 lawmakers voted in favor of his candidacy, while six voted against it. Representatives of the former ruling coalition, Fidesz—the Christian Democratic People’s Party—had announced in advance that they would not participate in the vote.
Hungary’s new Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, has repeatedly stated since his election in May that he intends to reform the Hungarian government; in particular, he has sought the resignation of President Tamás Szujók. Magyar believes that Szujók was not fulfilling his role and was serving the interests of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government.
Szujok refused to step down voluntarily, stating that he saw neither constitutional nor legal grounds for doing so. Later, in July, the Hungarian parliament approved a package of constitutional reforms that, among other things, provided for the president’s resignation. As a result, last week Szujok signed the constitutional amendments and stepped down from his post.
Magyar nominated renowned Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgár for the position of the country’s new president, but she declined the offer.
The president in Hungary performs mainly ceremonial functions. The government is headed by the prime minister.
In July 2026, Ukrainians purchased 22,600 used passenger cars imported from abroad, which is 1% more than during the same period in 2025, according to a report by “Ukravtoprom” on its Telegram channel.
Gasoline-powered cars accounted for the largest share of this segment of the auto market, increasing their share by 7 percentage points compared to July 2025—to 55%.
Next came diesel cars at 17% (19%), while the share of electric vehicles fell to 15% from 24%, though they still outpaced hybrids, which accounted for 10% (6%). The share of cars with LPG systems remained unchanged at 3%.
The average age of imported used cars was 8.8 years.
The Volkswagen Tiguan confidently tops the list of the ten most popular imported used models with 937 units. It is followed by the VW Golf with 862 units, the Audi Q5 with 803 units, the Nissan Rogue with 799 units, the Skoda Octavia with 661 units, the Renault Megane with 618 units, the Tesla Model Y with 509 units, the Ford Escape with 465 units, the Tesla
Model 3 with 456 units, and the Mazda CX-5 with 432 units.
As reported with reference to “Ukravtoprom,” in 2025 Ukrainians purchased 274,300 used passenger cars imported from abroad, which is 24% more than in 2024, and the top three most popular models after the Volkswagen Golf included two Tesla electric vehicles—the Model Y and Model 3.
Nur ein kleiner Teil der Menschen ist in der Lage, zwei komplexe Aufgaben gleichzeitig zu erledigen, ohne dass sich die Ergebnisse merklich verschlechtern. Dies zeigte eine Studie der Psychologen Jason Watson und David Strayer von der University of Utah.
Die Arbeit mit dem Titel Supertaskers: Profiles in Extraordinary Multitasking Ability wurde in der wissenschaftlichen Fachzeitschrift Psychonomic Bulletin & Review veröffentlicht. An der Studie nahmen 200 Personen teil.
Die Teilnehmer wurden in einem hochrealistischen Fahrsimulator getestet. Zunächst erledigten sie die Aufgaben getrennt. Anschließend steuerten sie gleichzeitig ein Auto und absolvierten den komplexen auditiven OSPAN-Test, der das Einprägen von Informationen und die Lösung kognitiver Aufgaben erforderte.
Bei der überwiegenden Mehrheit der Teilnehmer verschlechterten sich beim Übergang zum Multitasking entweder die Ergebnisse beim Autofahren, beim kognitiven Test oder bei beiden Aufgaben gleichzeitig.
Allerdings zeigten 2,5 % der Teilnehmer – also etwa fünf von 200 Personen – bei der gleichzeitigen Ausführung beider Aufgaben keinerlei Verschlechterung ihrer Ergebnisse. Die Forscher bezeichneten sie als „Supertaskers“ – Menschen mit einer ungewöhnlich hohen Fähigkeit zum Multitasking.
Darüber hinaus erzielten diese Teilnehmer auch bei der getrennten Ausführung jeder einzelnen Aufgabe hohe Ergebnisse: Bei allen wichtigen Messwerten des Fahrens und des Arbeitsgedächtnistests gehörten sie zum besten Viertel der Stichprobe. Statistische Modellierungen zeigten, dass das Auftreten einer solchen Gruppe nur mit geringer Wahrscheinlichkeit durch reinen Zufall erklärt werden konnte.
Die Studie stellte die Annahme infrage, dass die Fähigkeit, die Aufmerksamkeit effektiv auf mehrere komplexe Aufgaben zu verteilen, bei allen Menschen gleich ausgeprägt ist. Die Autoren kamen zu dem Schluss, dass erhebliche individuelle Unterschiede bei den Mechanismen der Aufmerksamkeit und der kognitiven Kontrolle bestehen.
Dabei sollte der Wert von 2,5 % nicht unmittelbar als Beweis dafür interpretiert werden, dass genau dieser Anteil der gesamten Weltbevölkerung über außergewöhnliche Multitasking-Fähigkeiten verfügt. Die Studie wurde mit einer Stichprobe von 200 Teilnehmern durchgeführt und untersuchte eine konkrete Kombination von Aufgaben – das Autofahren und eine komplexe Belastung des Arbeitsgedächtnisses.
Die Arbeit hat zudem praktische Bedeutung für die Frage der Nutzung von Telefonen am Steuer. Ihre Ausgangsannahme basierte auf früheren Studien, die zeigten, dass Telefongespräche in der Regel die Fähigkeit des Fahrers beeinträchtigen, die Verkehrssituation zu kontrollieren. Die Entdeckung einer kleinen Gruppe von „Supertaskers“ war eine Ausnahme von der allgemeinen Regel und kein Beweis dafür, dass Multitasking für die meisten Fahrer sicher ist.
Die Studie wurde am Fachbereich Psychologie der University of Utah durchgeführt.
Pharmaceutical products, medical goods and equipment in Ukraine cost an average of 2.9% less in July 2026 than a year earlier, while outpatient medical services increased in price by 13.3%, according to data from the State Statistics Service.
Overall, the healthcare category rose in price by only 2.2% over the year, significantly slower than the general consumer inflation rate of 7.7%. Prices in this group increased by 0.6% in July.
Pharmaceutical products, medical goods and equipment became 0.9% cheaper from the beginning of 2026. In July, however, this category rose in price by 0.6% compared with June.
Outpatient services, by contrast, increased in price by 0.8% over the month, by 8.3% from the beginning of the year and by 13.3% year-on-year. On average, they cost 13.6% more in January–July than during the same period of 2025.
Thus, a noticeable gap can be observed within the medical segment between the price dynamics of medical goods and those of services themselves.
The premiere of the Ukrainian short film Another Day in the Metal Box, directed by Hlib Feldman, took place on 9 August at the 79th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.
The film was included in the Pardi di Domani — Concorso Internazionale international competition, according to the official programme of the Locarno Film Festival. The film was produced in Ukraine in 2026 and has a running time of 18 minutes.
According to the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the story takes viewers to Ukraine in 2008 and tells the personal story of an ordinary person faced with a difficult choice. A representative of the Ukrainian embassy attended the festival screening and met with the film’s creative team.
The Locarno Film Festival is one of Europe’s largest international film festivals. Its Pardi di Domani programme focuses on short films and works by emerging filmmakers from around the world. Another Day in the Metal Box was presented in the international competition of this section.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE METAL BOX, HLIB FELDMAN, LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL, Ukrainian cinema
