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Cult Tartu venue spends renovation crowdfunding to stay afloat
A Tartu venue has spent nearly €30,000 crowdfunded for renovations on keeping itself operating.
news | ERR
Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebukes Russia over disinformation aimed at Estonia
Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday summoned Russia's chargé d'affaires and delivered a diplomatic note condemning Moscow's ongoing disinformation campaign targeting the Baltic States.
Politics | ERR
Ratings: Social Democrats gaining in support
Support for the opposition Isamaa and Center Party has stabilized in recent weeks, while support for the Social Democrats (SDE), also in opposition, has risen, according to a poll.
Politics | ERR
Reform Party withholds support for ending EU foreign policy veto
The Reform Party did not support a proposal by ALDE to adopt a resolution calling for an end to the EU's unanimity rule in foreign policy.
Society | ERR
Finance minister criticises study looking into government's tax package
A study by the Praxis think tank on the impact of the government's tax package has sparked disagreement. It concludes the tax changes have had the greatest negative impact on lower-income households.
Society | ERR
Rare waterspout sighted on Estonia's Lake Peipus
A rare waterspout formed over Lake Peipus and was captured on camera by witnesses at the lake.
Postimees
Asepeaminister Novak: Venemaa keelas diislikütuse ekspordi
Venemaa keelas diislikütuse ekspordi, kuna Ukraina rünnakud energiataristule on süvendanud riigis kütusekriisi, teatas kolmapäeval asepeaminister Aleksandr Novak.
Postimees
GRAAFIKUD ⟩ NATO riikidest võtavad kaitsekulude poodiumi endale Baltimaad
NATO kaitsekulutuste ülevaatest selgus, et liikmesriigid on viimase kahe aastaga suurendanud kaitsekulusid 258 miljardit dollarit. Kaitsekuludesse panustavad enim Baltimaad.
BBC News
German doctor jailed for murder of 15 patients and suspected of more
The German palliative care doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 15 of his patients.
BBC News
Teenager arrested after two girls, 13, seriously injured in German school attack
Police said a major operation was under way in the area of Welfen-Gymnasium secondary school in Schongau, Bavaria.
BBC News
Virgin Media fined after hanging up on customers trying to cancel contracts
Millions of phone calls from customers were "likely mishandled" over nearly a three-year period, the regulator says.
BBC News
From mouthwash to hair dye: How weight-loss jabs are changing shopping habits
The BBC looks at how spending habits have shifted as users report feeling less hungry.
POLITICO
Trump warns fresh attacks on Iran could come Wednesday night
ANKARA, Turkey — The U.S. plans to bomb Iran again as soon as Wednesday night and could attempt to take Kharg Island, President Donald Trump earlier in the day at the close of the annual NATO leaders’ summit. Iranian leaders “are behaving very badly, as they have for 47 years, and we hit them hard last night,” Trump said. “I’ll give him a little warning. We’re going to hit them hard tonight, but we’ll see how it all works out.” Trump said that the U.S. already hit some targets Tuesday on Iran’s Kharg Island, the nation’s primary oil export hub, though Pentagon statements have made no mention of it. Trump’s remarks — made shortly after he said the ceasefire with Iran was “over” in his eyes — mark the most concrete sign of a full resumption of military operations after getting fed up with roundabout talks. The Pentagon struck Iranian military sites during the night in response to Tehran’s attacks on ships attempting to move through in the Strait of Hormuz. His comments were a head-snapping reversal from the president, who only a day prior had indicated Iran’s leaders had become more reasonable before calling them “cuckoo” on Wednesday. Trump hinted the U.S. could wrap up the war without a peace deal because “it’s easier.” “There’s not a thing they can do about it, but I said, don’t hit the pipes, just hit everything else, and they hit it,” he said, referring to oil pipes in Kharg Island. “They may hit it again tonight.” Also on the table: resuming a blockade on Iranian ships in the strait, a critical waterway for some 20 percent of the world’s oil. The president’s bluster comes after Iran launched a series of strikes on commercial ships in the corridor. Even with his threats to increase attacks, Trump gave the White House’s main Iranian interlocutors — Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — permission to continue peace talks. “My whole life is deals. I don’t see it, I don’t see it with them,” Trump said. “There may be a big attack and it will knock out a lot of stuff. We don’t knock out nothing, we knock out a lot.” Trump repeatedly expressed palpable frustration that Tehran had not been negotiating in good faith in talks that have rotated venues between Switzerland and Pakistan since March. “We’ve made a lot of progress, and they’ll get out of the room,” he said, “We’ll talk about it like we hear, they’ll agree on everything, and then they’ll go and have a news conference and say we never even talked about it.” Trump expressed confidence that the U.S. economy could handle renewed hostilities with Iran in a later press conference, telling reporters, “if we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit, it’s alright. You know what we’re doing, we’re de-nukeing it. We’re de-nukeing Iran, they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
POLITICO
Family drama: The dynamics behind the NATO group photo
NATO leaders stood shoulder to shoulder for a group photo this morning before taking off from Ankara after a whirlwind two-day summit. The reality behind the scenes is much thornier. Interpersonal spats, dealmaking negotiations and desperate pleas for assistance ran as undercurrents during the confab of alliance leaders. And taking center stage at the summit’s proceedings, President Donald Trump renewed his NATO-bashing, accusing allies of taking advantage of the U.S. and failing to be good partners — a stark reminder that placating the American leader is no easy task. But Trump wasn’t the only main character this week. Here’s a breakdown some of the players in this year’s family photo — and the frictions behind their smiles. Tensions to watch The fault lines behind the photo. 01 The wild card Donald Trump Allies were on their best behavior going into this week’s summit to avoid drawing Trump’s ire, pledging to increase their defense spending and buy American-made weapons. It wasn’t enough to stop the anti-NATO tirade Trump immediately unleashed upon setting foot in Ankara. Trump told reporters shortly after arriving in town that he “was very disappointed with NATO” and slammed allies for failing to recognize the U.S.’s outsize role. “Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us?” Trump said. “We’ve always been there for them.” He went on to reiterate his longstanding grievances with the alliance, complaining that members weren’t doing enough to boost their defense spending goals, bashing European immigration and energy policy and once more floating that the U.S. should take control of Greenland, reigniting a feud with allies over the future of the Arctic island. The two-day summit didn’t seem to do much to change his mind. In a flare of frustration during a pull-aside with NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday, Trump declared, “I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran.” He went on to name Germany, France, the U.K. and Italy as laggard allies before ripping into Spain as a “wasted cause” and ordering a halt to trade with the country. His outburst underscored the new reality: Washington’s relationship with NATO has fundamentally shifted, as the world’s most powerful military pulls back from the alliance. 02 The chief Mark Rutte As Trump pressures the alliance’s foundation, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is working overtime to keep it all together. His strategy: kiss the ring. Rutte, who has so mastered the art of Trump-whispering that he called him “daddy” during last year’s summit, has landed on a thus-far successful playbook for dealing with the U.S. president: focus on the finances. Last year, he won Trump’s favor by promising allies would boost their defense spending. This year, he vowed that members would invest in U.S. defense companies. In a conversation with POLITICO ahead of this week’s summit, Rutte gave a full-throated endorsement of Trump’s controversial policies, arguing that getting allies to boost defense spending and modernize their militaries was a winning move. And he didn’t stop there, saying that launching the Iran war was also a smart decision by Washington. “I just like the man. I think what he is doing for NATO is great news,” the alliance chief said. After the U.S. launched major retaliatory strikes against Iran and Trump said the ceasefire was all but over, Rutte offered his support for the move, saying it was “absolutely necessary” and a “very strong response.” Despite Trump’s constant grousing, Rutte is determined to send the message that the U.S. is still a full partner in the alliance. “I think the president has a point that there are individual cases where he is rightly disappointed, but when you look at the bigger picture of what the Europeans are doing, it is massive,” he said, pointing to a slew of defense spending commitments and assistance from European countries during the U.S.’s campaign against Iran. 03 The host with the most (to gain) Recep Tayyip Erdogan Every family has its problem child. Turkey has long been that for NATO, whether it’s maintaining close relationships with both Moscow and Beijing or a track record of human rights violations (including a recent crackdown against protesters), not to mention its occupation of Cyprus and constant feuding with Greece. But as Washington pulls back from the alliance, members are considering closer military ties with Ankara, which has the second-largest military after the United States. That’s not all Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had going for him as he hosted this year’s summit — he’s also a Trump favorite. If not for Erdogan playing host, the U.S. president may not have shown up this week at all, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office last week. Ankara is expected to leverage that favor to clinch a deal to rejoin the U.S.’s F-35 fighter jet program — which Trump tossed Turkey out of in 2019 over Ankara’s purchase of Russian antiaircraft systems. Trump teased that the deal could be on the horizon, telling reporters Tuesday that “it’s a decision we’re going to make,” and adding that “Turkey in many ways has been much more loyal than other countries we think would be loyal.” But even if Turkish and American leaders ink a deal, it’ll likely be met with significant bipartisan pushback from Congress, which has the ability to block the sale of the fighter jets. 04 The friend breakup Giorgia Meloni Before Erdogan stepped up to the plate, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni played the part of chief Trump-whisperer. That relationship went off the rails earlier this year over Meloni’s lack of enthusiastic support for the war in Iran. It worsened further after the recent G7 summit in France, when Trump claimed that Meloni had begged him for a photo, prompting a harsh rebuke from his former Italian pal. “Italy and I never beg,” Meloni said at the time. Trump appeared to escalate their public feud ahead of this week’s summit, posting a meme on social media that he needed a restraining order against his Italian counterpart. While Meloni’s allies jumped to her defense, Rome brushed off Trump’s comments as insignificant. That strategy seemed to defuse the tensions — at least a little. “I think she’s a nice person actually,” Trump told reporters when asked about his post on Tuesday. But all is not forgotten: “She refused to get involved … so it soured my relationship with her a little bit,” he added, seemingly referring to Italy’s refusal to help with Trump’s Strait of Hormuz operations. 05 The last hurrah Keir Starmer It’s U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s last big global event before he hands over the keys to 10 Downing Street to challenger Andy Burnham later this month. He didn’t land in Ankara set up for success. Starmer showed up without a clear plan for the U.K. to meet the defense spending goals demanded by Trump. The Defense Investment Plan Starmer released last week only outlined a plan to reach 2.7 percent GDP defense spending by 2029 — and skipped laying out a plan for how the U.K. would get to 3.5 percent by 2035. U.K. Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis — whose predecessor abruptly quit the position less than a month ago over defense spending frustrations — told POLITICO that he believes it’s “mission critical” to come up with a path to 3.5 percent as soon as possible. That’s the message he planned to deliver in Ankara, he added. That may not be enough to avoid drawing the wrath of Trump, who is already displeased with his British counterpart over what he perceives as Starmer’s failure to back the U.S. during the Iran war. 06 Not pictured — The neighbor in need Volodymyr Zelenskyy Not all key players are part of the NATO family. After weathering multiple deadly attacks from Moscow’s ballistic missiles in recent days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed up to speak with his NATO neighbors in Ankara with air defense top of mind. “Please help us get more air defense missiles. This is our top priority right now,” Zelenskyy told the NATO Defense Industry Forum on Tuesday. The Ukrainian leader made that ask repeatedly in recent weeks. He even penned a letter to Trump and Congress to make his case for more U.S.-made Patriot defense systems, which are uniquely equipped to combat Russian ballistic missile attacks. But the Iran war further eroded an already limited global stockpile of Patriots, leaving the U.S. in short supply to rearm a battered Kyiv. Trump’s solution? Have Ukraine produce their own Patriots. “We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots,” Trump told Zelenskyy ahead of a bilateral meeting Wednesday. “This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I say make them yourself.” Though he added that “we haven’t told the company yet,” Trump assured that everything would “work out alright.” As for the status of efforts to end the war, Trump said “you can’t have a deadline, it’s too much going on, but I think you’re going to have a deal.” In an ominous sign of the state of the U.S.’s commitment to ending the conflict that has set nearby NATO on edge for more than four years, Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the war “doesn’t affect us.”
Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
Egypt criticises ‘influential refereeing’ in Argentina World Cup match
Egyptian football officials have reportedly lodged a complaint with FIFA against the referees in their last-16 match.
Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
Far-right leader Le Pen starts campaign, faces mixed reactions in France
A court ruling has allowed Le Pen to campaign despite embezzlement conviction, sparking heated debates across France.
Europe | The Guardian
Nato summit: Trump says US could let Ukraine make Patriots and renews criticism of Spain and UK – Europe live
US president say Spain ‘very bad’ in relation to Iran conflict and UK’s approach ‘not in spirit of Winston Churchill’Trump renews call for US to take over Greenland as he arrives for Nato summitAnd that ends their short briefing, with Trump saying he will be back later, and Rutte desperately throwing in that he will also do a press conference if anyone is interested in it please.Trump also heaps praise on Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, praising the Turkish military might, and, amusingly, out of nowhere praises China, too. Continue reading...
Europe | The Guardian
Trump gives Zelenskyy vague promise of licence to manufacture Patriot missiles
Licence would be diplomatic coup for Kyiv but process of making munitions would likely be expensive, complex and longEurope live – latest updatesDonald Trump has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine may be allowed to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors to counter Russian ballistic attacks. It would be a diplomatic coup for Kyiv, which has been struggling to counter Moscow’s increasing missile threat.The US president’s commitment, however, was vaguely framed, and he admitted he had not spoken to the US defence and aerospace companies Lockheed Martin and RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon) that produce the Patriot system. It also remained unclear how quickly manufacturing of the expensive and complex munitions could be stepped up. Continue reading...
Europe
Trump grants Ukraine licence to produce Patriot missiles
US president agrees to longstanding demand from Kyiv to make its own PAC-3 interceptors
Europe
Le Pen revives presidential bid echoing Trump
French far-right leader portrays herself as a modern-day Joan of Arc going against the political establishment