The Estonian State Fleet (Eesti riigilaevastik) will soon be getting a new workboat which is uniquely powered by biomethane derived from cow manure on Saaremaa.

The program for this year's I Land Sound festival on Saaremaa has been announced, featuring more than 100 artists.

The Prosecutor's Office has appealed to the Supreme Court the acquittal of Reform Party MP Kalle Laanet over expenses claims fraud charges, Õhtuleht reported.

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.

A criminal investigation has been launched after three under-18s were assaulted by adult males in Pärnu, leaving one of the victims requiring medical attention, Pärnu Postimees reported.

The state Environment Agency (Keskkonnaagentuur) has explained how exceptionally heavy rain led to severe flooding in the South Estonian town of Tõrva on Thursday, though neither the rainfall nor river levels ultimately proved unprecedented, Maaleht reported.

Sünoptik ja tormikütt Kairo Kiitsaku hoiatused on laupäeva õhtul täitumas. Venemaalt Eestisse jõudnud ulatuslik äikesesüsteem on toonud mitmele poole riigis tugeva äikese, paduvihma ja halva nähtavuse. Toimetusele saadetud videod näitavad, et Lõuna-Eestis on ilm muutunud kohati lausa ekstreemseks.

Üsna pikka aega käib rohepöörde sildi all tants ümber tuuleparkide, mille käigus on tavainimest püütud sageli näidata tuuleveskite vastu võitlejana, kellel on ilmselt probleem asjadest aru saamisega ehk mõistusega. On see nii?

At least four Britons are believed to be among the victims of the blaze, which left another 23 people missing.

In Zaporizhzhia, the densely populated city close to the front line, the security situation is deteriorating.

The White House has hailed the project as giving new generations a stake in the American dream, but the scheme has its critics.

A High Court judge said some major car manufacturers did not install a device to cheat emissions testing.

A Trump administration program aimed at making American AI the world’s default technology is off to a rocky start. The Commerce Department received 78 applications in the first round of its American AI Exports Program, created last year as a way for the government to promote U.S. semiconductors, AI models and software to foreign buyers. That number is far fewer than the hundreds agency officials had expected, according to three former department officials close to the program, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about current operations. Many of the country’s biggest AI companies remain unconvinced the government’s financing, advocacy and licensing incentives will meaningfully boost foreign sales, more than half a dozen technology executives, industry group leaders and analysts told POLITICO. They are also unnerved by the administration’s abrupt, since-reversed order forcing leading AI company Anthropic to cut off foreign access to its latest models — a move they warn may undercut the very pitch the program is making abroad. The relatively weak turnout marks an early setback for a program President Donald Trump has cast as central to the technology race with China, where AI startup DeepSeek, tech giant Alibaba and other Chinese firms are churning out low-cost, open-source models that developing countries are increasingly adopting. And it’s a sign of how the administration is struggling to balance its desire to dominate the AI sector globally while pursuing ad-hoc policies aimed at keeping it out of the hands of rivals and criminals. “It’s a problem that Commerce spent months telling the White House that the industry wanted this program and would show up in force,” said one former Trump Commerce Department official briefed on progress by current staff members, who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the program. “It’s still early. But it’s not where they hoped it’d be at this point.” Trump kicked off the initiative last July with an executive order, as part of a vision Commerce Undersecretary William Kimmitt described as working to “position America’s AI innovators and workers to win globally.” The department spent months gathering industry feedback before formally launching the program in October. Companies had until June 30 to team up and pitch complete AI packages the government could market abroad. In a Monday press release, the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, which promotes exports by U.S. companies abroad, said it received applications from a broad “cross-section of the AI industry,” including major hyperscalers and cloud providers, as well as semiconductor and hardware manufacturers. In a statement to POLITICO, Commerce declined to list specific companies involved with the initiative but rejected claims that submissions fell short of what the department had hoped, saying ”the volume of applications exceeded our expectations, and as industry innovates, we may consider another application period at a later date.” An official for the agency, who was granted anonymity to provide details of the proposals, told POLITICO they targeted sectors including agriculture, education, autonomous logistics, public safety and critical minerals supply chains. They said that the agency received applications from small companies, too, noting in an emailed statement that “the criteria for Program success is straightforward: American AI exports to foreign partners.” The cloud computing company Amazon Web Services submitted an application, the company confirmed to POLITICO. The chip giant Nvidia did not confirm whether its currently involved in any projects tied to the initiative, but a spokesperson said in a statement that it “looks forward to participating in this program.” Other leading American AI and tech companies that were expected to help anchor the program, such as OpenAI and Advanced Micro Devices, haven’t said whether they’re taking part, however. Neither company responded to a request for comment. Corporate skepticism stems in part from the way the Commerce Department structured the program, said the technology executives. Rather than seeking individual products or technologies, the department asked applicants to assemble complete AI export packages spanning advanced chips, cloud infrastructure, AI models, cybersecurity and sector-specific applications — capabilities that are typically spread across multiple companies and often concentrated among the industry’s largest players. Those are also the firms that already have established overseas customers, financing channels and government relationships, industry officials said. “The larger technology companies, the hyperscalers, and so on, they have strong global operations, so they may not be in every market, but they are adept at learning how to work in different jurisdictions and negotiate with the local governments,” said Paul Lekas, head of global public policy and government affairs at the Software & Information Industry Association, a trade group whose members include large tech companies like Google. If major companies do participate, part of the program’s value may come from the signal of government backing, added Mike Walsh, a partner at DLA Piper focused on national security and global trade. “The messaging device is important, the assistance of the United States government, the clearance of some red tape that even the largest companies still have to deal with, I think is helpful.” Others say the affiliation with the Trump administration has major downsides, which in many cases could outweigh the benefits of the program. “It’s not worth the headache and complexity, and it’s not clear there’s much upside to tying those projects to the Trump administration right now,” said a senior official at a Washington-based industry group representing major companies in the tech sector, who was granted anonymity to speak about why members opted not to participate. Much of that hesitation traces back to the administration’s order on Anthropic, an abrupt move that some in the industry viewed as a sign of how quickly Washington’s priorities can shift — and how risky it could be to tie overseas business to them. While the administration ultimately reversed its restrictions, the episode became another data point for governments already questioning whether critical AI infrastructure built around American technology could become subject to abrupt policy changes. The security vulnerabilities cited to justify the temporary restrictions also drew skepticism from industry officials, who argued that many less capable models — including some from OpenAI — could identify the same vulnerabilities. The doubts didn’t begin with the Anthropic order, however. The initiative has struggled with skepticism since its earliest days. The executive order’s original late-October deadline came and went without a request for proposals, and Commerce did not open the application window until April 1. In the interim, a coalition of more than a dozen industry organizations asked the department for more time to respond to its initial request for public input, citing the “complexity and breadth” of the topics it covered and saying additional time was needed to develop feedback to inform the program’s “design and implementation.” The coalition included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents millions of companies, and the Washington-based tech and trade association the Information Technology Industry Council. Months after applications opened, some industry groups say they are still waiting for greater clarity on how the program will operate. ITI, which represents companies including Nvidia, welcomed the initiative as an opportunity to strengthen U.S. technology leadership, but “clear implementation guidance will be essential to ensuring it achieves these goals,” said Kristin Najdi, the group’s senior director of trade policy. A second phase of the program, in which the government will bring companies specific deals to bid on, has yet to launch. “It’s pretty clear early on that the private sector appetite for participating in a USG branded AI initiative is not encouraging,” said Emily Benson, head of strategy at the Minerva Technology Futures intelligence firm. “My hot take from Day 1 was this is not going to go anywhere.” Daniel Castro, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington-based technology policy think tank that lists Apple and Samsung among its supporters, said the biggest risk is that foreign buyers start hedging. “People want American technology right now globally — they think it’s the best,” he said. “But if they think that there are limits to their potential future access to it, they’re going to be looking at alternatives, and that can seriously hold them back.” Whether foreign buyers actually show up is an open question, added Aaron Cooper, senior vice president of global policy at the Business Software Alliance, which represents major technology companies like Amazon Web Services and Cloudflare. “Right now, what I think the administration is trying to do is assemble the supply side.”

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday swore that Iran would avenge the killing of his father, the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “We pledge to avenge your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs,” said Khamenei, who took his father’s place as the head of Iran’s leadership after a deadly Israeli airstrike in late February. “This vengeance is what our nation is demanding, and this must definitely be done,” he added. The new threats come after the breakdown of a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. launched new strikes on Iran earlier this week in response to the Iranian regime’s attacks on shipping in the critical waterway of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has given Iran until Saturday to stop its attacks in the strait. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Oman for talks to mediate the dispute. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump issued threats of his own, promising to “completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran” in response to any attempts on his life. Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public for months, and has been rumored to have been left disfigured after being injured by an airstrike.

Analysts say door to diplomacy still open despite exchange of attacks and threats.

US decision to delist Syria as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' prompts cautious optimism among businesses and citizens.

Errol Musk says far-right activist is ‘a fine young man’ and held meetings with Russian business figuresElon Musk’s family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, according to the billionaire X owner’s father, who was with the British far-right activist in Moscow as he encouraged anti-migration protests in Britain.Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – appeared last month in Moscow, from where he issued calls for supporters to take to the streets after a knife attack in Belfast. He shared video of himself in a luxury Moscow hotel with the older Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson. Continue reading...

Sculpture of Jewish army officer wrongly accused of treason has been moved around the city for decadesFor 40 years, the statue of Capt Alfred Dreyfus has been moved around Paris, never finding a permanent home.The French army twice refused to allow it to stand at l’École Militaire, where Dreyfus, a Jewish officer it had wrongly accused of treason in 1894, was stripped of his rank in one of the most notorious acts of antisemitism in France’s history. Continue reading...

Suspense over the far-right leader’s fate plays into her party’s hands

The poorest pay the most in an energy shock