The state can directly limit logging only in state forests, which account for about one-third of the timber reaching the market. Logging volumes in those forests are planned in advance and mainly change because of weather conditions, writes Erkki Keldo.

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest known Brandt's bat in the Piusa caves. The find is also the second-oldest bat ever recorded in Europe, across all species.

The Center Party has 24.2 percent support, followed by Isamaa at 23 percent and SDE at 17.4 percent, according to the latest Norstat poll commissioned by the Institute for Societal Studies.

After Republicans lost both houses of Congress in the US midterms, President Donald Trump may focus more on foreign policy, potentially harming Estonian, one expert said.

Avid travel fan Kevin Reisenbuk says the Faroe Islands aren't cheap and high winds can disrupt flights, but the stunning scenery and local hospitality make it worth the visit.

The Prosecutor's Office has terminated criminal proceedings against two boys in connection with an incident of vandalism at a cemetery on the island of Saaremaa, as children under the age of 14 cannot be held criminally liable.

Juba aastaid on USA üritanud eraldada oma vastaseid maailma finantssüsteemist. Aga paikadest nagu Iraan ja Venemaa on raha aina edasi voolanud – suuresti tänu pankadele Hiinas, ütlevad asjaga kursis olevad inimesed.

Teist tegutsemisaastat alustanud SADU teine album on debüüdiga võrreldes kindlakäelisem ja küpsem, orgaanilisem ja dünaamilisem. Debüütalbumi «PROBLEEMID PARADIISIS» puhul oli uudismoment kombineerituna bravuurika värskusega omaette väärtus. Nüüd tuleb tõestada, et tegemist pole lihtsalt õnnestunud valemi kordamisega, ning seda tehakse samuti.

At least 69 people were killed and dozens injured in the collision south of the capital, Madrid.

At least 38 people are killed in 24 hours and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky warns dozens more could be trapped under rubble.

Gordon Brothers will meet Jonathan Reynolds on Wednesday as the investment firm faces scrutiny over Poundland.

The food deal, ahead of a UK-EU summit later this month, is the most significant part of the so-called Brexit reset agreed so far.

BERLIN – Verteidigungsminister Boris Pistorius hat Kritik zurückgewiesen, Deutschland stelle seine Rüstungsindustrie über die europäische Verteidigungszusammenarbeit. Deutschland wolle diese Zusammenarbeit und agiere nicht anders als andere Länder, sagte der SPD-Politiker am Mittwoch bei der Berliner Sicherheitskonferenz. Pistorius reagierte damit auf Kritik von Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP). Die Vorsitzende des Verteidigungsausschusses des EU-Parlaments, hatte Deutschland vorgeworfen, sich zu sehr auf Waffen deutscher Hersteller zu konzentrieren, statt mit europäischen Partnern zusammenzuarbeiten. „Alle sagen einstimmig und jeden Tag – nicht nur sonntags –, dass wir mehr Zusammenarbeit im Verteidigungsbereich und mehr gemeinsame Rüstungsprojekte wollen“, sagte Pistorius. „Aber wenn es hart auf hart kommt, sagt jedes Land ebenso einstimmig, aber jeder für sich: ‚Meine Industrie darf nicht ins Hintertreffen geraten.‘“ Der Streit verdeutlicht ein Problem für Europas Ambitionen. Die EU-Staaten wollen stärkere Streitkräfte aufbauen und dafür mehr gemeinsam beschaffen, doch die Regierungen sind auch bestrebt, Arbeitsplätze und Fabriken im eigenen Land zu schützen. Das zeigen auch die Zahlen. 2025 gaben die EU-Länder 115 Milliarden Euro für militärische Ausrüstung aus. Laut der Europäischen Verteidigungsagentur entfielen 24 Prozent dieser Ausgaben auf gemeinsame Beschaffungen. Brüssel möchte, dass dieser Anteil bis 2030 mindestens 40 Prozent erreicht. Die EU hat das mit 150 Milliarden Euro dotierte SAFE-Programm für Waffenkredite ins Leben gerufen, um Länder zu bewegen, Waffen gemeinsam statt einzeln zu kaufen. Doch Regierungen zögern oft, große Rüstungsaufträge an Unternehmen in anderen Ländern zu vergeben. Die polnische Regierung erklärte, sie wolle 89 Prozent der fast 44 Milliarden Euro, die sie aus dem SAFE-Fonds erhält, für die heimische Industrie ausgeben. Pistorius verteidigte diesen Ansatz. Regierungen hätten auch eine Verantwortung dafür, ihre Volkswirtschaften und Industrien zu schützen. „Ich würde daher die Kritik in Ihrer Frage zurückweisen“, sagte er zu Strack-Zimmermann. „Und wenn es Kritik zu üben gibt, dann sollte sie sich nicht gegen Deutschland richten, sondern gegen buchstäblich alle Europäer mit einer Rüstungsindustrie.“ Dieser Artikel erschien zuerst auf Englisch bei POLITICO.

Europe is feeling more than a little bit of schadenfreude. In a stunning U.S. midterm election, Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as several governorships, winning big in Republican strongholds like South Carolina, Texas and even Kansas. While some races were yet to be called Wednesday morning, the result is a monumental rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump. For Europe, which has weathered Trump’s incessant verbal attacks and tariff threats for the last two years, it was a rare ray of hope in transatlantic politics — if not because Washington would become a more predictable partner, then at least because the U.S. president might be too distracted to focus his usual ire on Europeans. European Parliament Vice President Sophie Wilmès, a former Belgian prime minister, heralded a “major shift in the balance of power in the U.S. Congress,” adding: “I hope it will lead to a calmer, more constructive relationship with Europe.” It remains to be seen how Trump will shift his stance on Europe, if at all, with Congress no longer under his control. As president, he still retains many of the executive’s powers on foreign policy. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called the Democratic victory “historic” but cautioned against Europe expecting too much. “We will seek close contact with the Democrats,” he said Wednesday morning at the Berlin Security Conference. “But we do not know what the president will do after the election in the near future.” Two senior EU figures — both regular Trump antagonists — couldn’t resist celebrating the result, though. “American society voted against policies that only impoverish,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. “Against hate. Against sexism. Against climate change denial and against the privileges of the elites.” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski reshared his own tweet from June last year responding to Elon Musk, a key Trump ally. “See, big man, politics is harder than you thought,” he snarked. Headache for Europe’s far right For Europe’s ascendant far right, which has long balanced admiration for Trump with the reality that he is deeply unpopular across the continent, the midterms are an uncomfortable reminder of the political risks of being too closely associated with the U.S. president. Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally (RN), was keen to chalk up Trump’s “unfavorable” result to his decision to go to war with Iran more than anything else. “It’s the case that the U.S. intervention in Iran has had a very strong impact on the U.S. economy, but also on the European economy,” he said Wednesday morning. Bardella added that the RN’s presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was still leading in the French polls ahead of next year’s election and insisted defeats for nationalist politicians in Brazil, Hungary and now the U.S. did not bode ill for his party’s chances. Jordan Bardella arrives for an event in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France, on Sept. 27, 2026. | Thibaud Moritz/AFP via Getty Images But the cost-of-living crisis was top of American voters’ minds, according to polls. That’s also the case in European countries, from France to Spain to Greece, which are grappling with soaring rents and widespread anger at apparently impotent governments. Marine Tondelier, leader of France’s Greens, said Trump had “made the United States the laughingstock of the world” and called the result a “warning for France” ahead of the presidential election in April. “If our country brings the RN to power next year, it will meet the same tragic fate as the United States,” she said. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker sought to downplay the prospect of a shift in Washington’s foreign policy following the midterm elections, insisting that the issues facing the U.S. and its European allies remained unchanged. “The foreign policy of the United States has not changed,” Whitaker said, adding that “the issues that we’re facing as a country and as an alliance are the same.” European markets, meanwhile, greeted the results with cautious optimism. Paris, London and Frankfurt opened slightly higher on Wednesday, following the Democrats’ sweeping victory. Reality check for Trump For all the celebrations, European officials were also quick to acknowledge that a Democratic-controlled Congress does not automatically translate into a more accommodating U.S. administration. Trump retains considerable room to maneuver on foreign policy, including on the issues that have most strained transatlantic ties: European security, trade and Russia’s war in Ukraine. France’s Economy Minister Roland Lescure noted Wednesday morning that while Trump would be “quite weakened” domestically, the “unpredictable” president remained “in charge of international policy.” But a hostile Congress could make it harder for him to push through his domestic agenda, while opening the door to greater scrutiny of his administration. “Voters have a habit of balancing power,” Finnish MEP Mika Aaltola said on X, “and now the president’s hands are more tied in domestic and foreign policy.” Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta was more emphatic. Enrico Letta is pictured during an event in Milan, Italy on April 16, 2025. | Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images “Europe is much stronger” thanks to the “blue wave,” he wrote on X. Kathleen Van Brempt, vice-chair of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, shared a White House tweet predicting a Trump victory — and captioned it that it was, actually, America that won. “And he lost,” she said. Despite the ballot-box drubbing, Trump himself couldn’t resist a final shot at Europe, during an election night call with Fox News. “You look at Europe, it’s dying. You look at what’s going on in France, what’s going on in Italy and all these other countries. I mean, they’re going through a terrible time. And they may not even survive, frankly,” he warned. “And we are thriving.”

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk is the world's richest man and the largest individual donor in the US midterms.

The 42-year-old Democrat has defeated Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim senator in the US.

Blocking Swedish writer’s entry for event with Palestine Action co-founder is attack on free expression, letter saysMore than 900 academics have voiced their opposition to the government’s decision to block the climate academic Andreas Malm from entering the UK, warning that the move represents “a grave violation of academic freedom and freedom of expression”.Malm, the author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline and a leading climate scholar, was prevented from entering the UK last week by the Home Office after being told that his presence in the UK “may not be considered to be conducive to the public good”. Continue reading...

German carmaker slashes profit margin to between -0.5% and 0.5% this year in face of competition from ChinaThe German carmaker BMW has issued its second profit warning in a year, blaming the costs of a restructuring programme including significant job losses in the face of continuing competition from China.The company is the latest to issue a profit downgrade in the German car sector, with Mercedes-Benz last week cutting its profit outlook. Western automakers have struggled to keep pace with lower-cost domestic rivals in China, which has led to reduced sales there and a rise in exports to Europe. Continue reading...

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