# Datetime utility functions for standardized timestamps and formatting.

from datetime import datetime, timezone

def now_utc():
    # Return the current UTC timestamp in ISO format.
    return datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()

def format_date(dt):
    # Convert datetime object to human-readable format.
    return dt.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")

def parse_date(date_str, fmt="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"):
    # Parse a string into a datetime object.
    return datetime.strptime(date_str, fmt)
