The 16th Pärnu Music Festival drew nearly 35,000 concertgoers and online viewers this year, with global talent, Estonian premieres and the renowned Järvi family of conductors.

Summer is probably the only season everyone wants to emerge from as a winner, notes Kaupo Meiel.

Although the Prosecutor's Office initially aimed to issue a procedural decision in June or July regarding the suspicion brought against Isamaa party, the complexity of the case has pushed the timeline back.

Interior Minister Igor Taro's (Eesti 200) recent inspection of the Internal Security Service (ISS) undermines the agency's independence, an opposition MP said.

The 16th Pärnu Music Festival drew nearly 35,000 concertgoers and online viewers this year, with global talent, Estonian premieres and the renowned Järvi family of conductors.

Tallinn is urging the Ministry of the Interior to update its funding model for vital statistics and population register services as workloads outpace current state funding.

Iltalehti kirjutab, et Itaalia on teinud erakordse sammu otse kõige tihedama puhkusehooaja keskel: 2026. aasta juulis eemaldas riik kasutusest ligi tuhat kiiruskaamerat.

Ungari pangandusgrupp OTP Grupp sõlmis lepingu erakapitalifondide konsortsiumi ja DNB Bank’iga, et omandada Balti regiooni suuruselt kolmas pangandusgrupp Luminor.

Russian strikes on the Odesa region have killed 28 people in July alone, local authorities say.

The three-year-old brother of Yamal has been hailed one of Spain's World Cup breakout stars by fans

The former defence secretary is seen as a safe pair of hands - and is now in charge of the government's finances.

Every tricky decision and trade off is being watched by the country and the markets at the same time

LONDON — Britain’s EU Relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds is to leave government following Andy Burnham’s reshuffle. The Torfaen MP said in a letter to the new prime minister that he was stepping down “following our conversation.” The close ally of Keir Starmer, who was delivering the prime minister’s EU reset, said Burnham had his “full support.” As Cabinet Office minister, Thomas-Symonds also had responsibility for other policy areas including public inquiries and civil service reform. His departure comes at a key time for negotiations between Britain and the EU. Before Starmer’s resignation, a U.K.-EU summit had been scheduled for Wednesday July 22 to round off talks on issues like an agri-food agreement, youth mobility scheme, and emissions trading deal. Starmer had also planned to use the meeting as a launchpad for a closer relationship with the bloc. The meeting was postponed upon Starmer’s resignation and is now expected to be rescheduled for later this year — with a new minister in charge on the British side. “I hope that you will continue the negotiations I have started for U.K. participation in the EU’s internal electricity market, and implement the key pillars of the Common Understanding: the food and drink agreement; the linking of the U.K. and EU Emissions Trading Systems; and the Youth Experience Scheme that will provide opportunities for young people to travel, work and study across Europe,” Thomas-Symonds wrote in his letter. Shortly after Burnham’s appointment as prime minister on Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had had a “very good first discussion” with him over the phone. Von der Leyen said she and her new British counterpart were “both committed to bringing the EU and the U.K. closer and closer.” “Together, we will work towards a successful Summit that delivers for our businesses, our young people and our shared security,” she said in a post on social media. “And we will continue our excellent cooperation in support of Ukraine. Europe is stronger when the EU and the U.K. work side by side.”

BRUSSELS — The European Commission is betting that profit-hungry gas and oil companies will continue exporting into Europe next year, resisting calls by companies to rewrite new climate laws that they say will force them to seek other markets. Fossil fuel companies and member countries say new EU rules requiring them to track emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — beginning in 2027 will be impossible to comply with in time, diverting vast chunks of the EU’s supply as exporters strain to avoid legal risk. But the EU executive doesn’t buy their rhetoric, and has resisted calls to reopen the legislation, which could give member countries and lawmakers an opportunity to radically weaken the law designed to mitigate one of the top causes of global warming. Instead, it has issued new guidelines advising EU countries’ governments to hold off on fining offenders for three years. While that doesn’t officially remove the requirements, it would suspend enforcement to give companies more time to comply. The guidelines, first reported by POLITICO, were made official Monday after months of speculation. Member countries will discuss them Wednesday. The Commission’s gamble is that companies are raking in so much money from selling to Europe — especially as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sends energy prices soaring — that they won’t kill a lucrative trade just because of some legal uncertainties. The executive is also confident that compliance won’t be a problem in the first place, and has reassured diplomats that its three-year “grace period” for penalties will stand up in court if member countries implement it properly. Last week it issued further guidance to help companies prove the emissions intensity of cargoes — a key detail they say has been missing.  “People will come to their senses” over the summer, said one EU official, granted anonymity to speak openly. The guidelines “will make it clearer how and when to comply, and it will become clearer that most importers can comply and will comply rather than lose their sales in a liquid global gas market.” It’s true that business is booming for companies exporting to Europe. In the first 100 days after the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran, the EU paid an additional €62 billion for energy supplies, according to the Jacques Delors Institute. In particular, the bloc massively increased its imports of jet fuel and liquefied natural gas from the U.S., one of the most vocal opponents of the methane rules.  The conviction that companies won’t abandon Europe was illustrated in a meeting of EU ambassadors last week, during which the Commission told member countries that it would be best to wait until 2028 to assess the impact of the rules, instead of tearing them open on the basis of industry speculation, according to two diplomats briefed on the meeting. To some, that only underscored the sense that the Commission is simply trying to run out the clock. “It’s a stand-off, a western, and the Commission is trying not to blink,” said one diplomat of the diplomats. Even some of the strongest advocates for delaying the rules admit that companies may prefer to risk the legal consequences over cutting trade with the bloc. Andreas Guth, secretary-general of premier EU gas lobby Eurogas, pointed out that supply deals are still being cut between the U.S. and the EU. A “lot of non-compliant gas” may end up in Europe from January, he told POLITICO, adding that was the “best-case scenario” and that cargoes could still be diverted. One company that seems to have no qualms about the rules is Venture Global, a U.S.-based liquefied natural gas exporter that has brokered a series of long-term supply deals in Greece and the wider Balkans, in line with the explicit policy of the Trump administration. Such deals demonstrate the “strong commercial demand for U.S. LNG and that the methane rules are not preventing European companies from signing U.S. deals,” an industry executive told POLITICO. Analysts also say that if the Iran war resolves, it could quickly tilt global markets into oversupply, undercutting the argument that Europe must pick from a narrowing pool of sellers. But other industry executives insisted to POLITICO that no company would continue trading with Europe if there was any risk of being in breach, whether or not penalties are imposed. The Commission itself acknowledges in the draft text of its recommendation to suspend penalties that the grace period “may result in a period of non-compliance.” “The industry cannot send cargoes to the EU if the cargoes are not in compliance,” Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, told POLITICO, adding that he had conveyed this position to policymakers since the rules were first introduced. Indeed, industry argues that the diversion of cargoes from European energy markets will be catastrophic for the bloc’s supply. Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based international body that coordinates energy supplies among wealthy countries, lent support to that view, warning that the rules could leave 50 percent of the bloc’s crude oil imports as non-compliant. The EU executive never bought the conclusions of a previous, more dramatic report commissioned by Brussels’ top oil lobby, officials say, but the Commission told diplomats Wednesday it would “assess” the conclusions of the IEA report, according to a diplomat present. It has also acknowledged the impact on energy prices from the Iran war, which it says gives legal weight to the temporary suspension of penalties.  Industry lobbyists and executives also note that even though the Commission is refusing to reopen the rules, its proposal to suspend the relevant penalties implies it is not blind to the supply risks.  “⁠It is clear from the Recommendations that the Commission now recognises that the Regulation’s design flaws would negatively impact security of supply, and this recognition is a good thing,” Nareg Terzian, head of communications at oil and gas lobby IOGP, told POLITICO. But in the broad scheme of things, Commission officials are “sticking to their guns,” said the diplomat quoted above.

Paramount risks $650m quarterly fees if merger delays extend beyond September, as per the merger agreement terms.

A look back at the World Cup's moments of glory and controversy, and their impact on fans, teams and the sport.

Judit Polgár says she does not ‘feel enough strength within me’ to take on the responsibility of uniting a divided nationThe Hungarian chess ⁠legend Judit Polgár has said she will not accept the nomination for president, only a day after the ⁠prime minister, Péter Magyar, ⁠said he ​would ask her to take up the largely ceremonial role.Magyar had said he would meet Polgár on Monday to discuss the matter. “Our country needs unity, peace and a president that all Hungarians can be proud of,” he wrote on social media. “Judit Polgár’s name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades.” Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff hints government may be about to sack Oleksandr SyrskyiUkraine’s commander in chief Oleksandr Syrskyi is widely expected to lose his job amid signs that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has bowed to pressure from protesters and will reshuffle the army’s top leadership.Over the past five days, thousands of demonstrators have gathered outside the presidential office in Kyiv, chanting: “Syrskyi out”. Some have waved cheese graters – a pun on the commander’s name, which sounds like cheese in Ukrainian. Continue reading...

Trust is not a prerequisite for peacemaking — and Iran and its neighbours should follow the example of cold war détente

The mystique of its intimidating door policy still convinces people to fly in from all around the world