Tax policy works best when people understand what is being taxed, why it is being taxed and where the money goes. Once that connection disappears, trust in the system quickly disappears as well, writes Tõnu Kolts.

An iconic Setomaa landmark is back after reservists and U.S. allies teamed up during Estonia's Spring Storm exercise to rebuild a giant stone "7" on Seitsmemägi Hill.

Russia is trying to draw Europe into the role of peace mediator to escape new sanctions, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said after the U.S. stepped back from leading the process.

The Riigikogu opposition does not think the Reform-Eesti 200 coalition will collapse before the election next spring, but believes a minority government is possible if MPs start joining other parties.

An iconic Setomaa landmark is back after reservists and U.S. allies teamed up during Estonia's Spring Storm exercise to rebuild a giant stone "7" on Seitsmemägi Hill.

The Ministry of Justice wants to raise the so-called blank media levy paid on every recording device, while businesses say the move would create an unjustified competitive advantage for foreign online retailers.

Laupäeval, 16. mail algab korvpalli Eesti meistrivõistluste finaalseeria Tartu Ülikool Maks & Mooritsa ning Kalev/Cramo vahel. Pronksiseerias Pärnu Transcomi alistanud TalTech lõpetas pika medalipõua.

Eesti disaini- ja majutusettevõte ÖÖD House on astunud olulise sammu Aasia turu suunas, sõlmides Lõuna-Koreas esimese koostöömemorandumi kohaliku majutuskontseptsiooni ettevõttega Dear Cabin.

It comes after the Ukrainian capital suffered one of the biggest aerial assaults of the war overnight on Saturday.

The pontiff also warned of a "new digital slaveries" in his first encyclical since becoming Pope last year.

Trump said on Saturday that an agreement would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without giving further details.

The UK's brewery scene is shrinking as pubs close, costs rise and drinking habits change.

MEP Fidias Panayiotou on Monday said he will remain a lawmaker in the European Parliament and decline to take the seat to which he was elected in this weekend’s legislative elections in Cyprus. Panayiotou’s Direct Democracy group finished in sixth place, gaining four seats, as it and other anti-establishment parties performed well. “I’ll stay in the European Parliament because it would be good for the Direct Democracy party to have a European Parliament member,” the YouTube influencer told reporters before attending a ceremony for newly elected national lawmakers in Nicosia. Cypriot law forbids legislators from simultaneously holding seats in the European Parliament and the country’s House of Representatives. The center-right Democratic Rally party scored the most votes in Sunday’s elections, which saw the ultranationalist National Popular Front double its share of seats in the 56-member parliament. “Fidias,” as Panayiotou styles himself, has gained some 2.6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel since he began posting in 2019. The 26-year old influencer shot to fame after embarking on a mission to hug tech billionaire Elon Musk, and in 2024 launched a successful bid to become a lawmaker in the European Parliament. Since his election, Panayiotou has raised eyebrows with a visit to Russia and caused uproar by referring to paralympians with intellectual disabilities as “loonies.” He created the anti-establishment Direct Democracy party six months ago, and in the lead up to Sunday’s vote he regularly campaigned wearing a clown nose. Panayiotou’s group ultimately finished in sixth place, securing four seats. “We could’ve done better but we’re happy with what has happened, this is a small victory,” he said. Yiannis Laouris, a neuroscientist considered by some as Panayiotou’s ideological mentor — a label he rejects — will take up the seat instead.

PARIS — A France-led group of five EU countries is calling on Brussels to make a broader use of tariffs and other defensive measures to take on China and other countries’ abusive trade practices. In a joint non-paper seen by POLITCO, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania urged the EU to launch probes into unfair trade practices more frequently. The document, which was shared with the European Commission and other member countries on Friday, also proposed the creation of new, more defensive trade tools. The non-paper was issued at a moment when the European Commission is working on a “more assertive and effective trade defense policy” to deal with Beijing. Brussels is due to hold an internal strategy debate on the competitive threat posed by China next Friday. While the document didn’t explicitly name China, it implicitly refered to Beijing by stressing that “some of the European Union’s (EU) main trading partners are breaking with this multilateral framework by imposing new trade barriers or contributing to systemic and structural industrial overcapacity.” The non-paper’s signatories, which include all of the EU’s biggest economies except Germany, urged the Commission to “contemplate more frequently the opportunity to open safeguard investigations in case of sector-wide trade disruptions.” The countries also called for the bloc to “be more proactive” in bringing breaches of trade rules before the World Trade Organization, and to allocate more human resources to its investigative units. In what appears to be a push to make trade enforcement more geopolitical, the five countries also called for adding “economic security” among the criteria that are assessed when deciding whether to open trade defense probes which can result in tariffs and other trade sanctions. “This approach would help preserve the Union’s remaining production capacities in strategic sectors and value chains, thereby protecting the Community’s industrial base,” they wrote in the document, first reported by the Financial Times. Other proposals include technical tweaks to existing legislation to make sure that foreign companies can’t circumvent EU trade probes, and a move to allow the Commission to apply anti-subsidy duties directly on companies. At present, those duties can only be applied to countries and products. The group also pitched the idea of a so-called “resilience tool” — a “cross-sector trade defence tool” which could be activated when no other trade defense tool is applicable — and the idea of additional duties or tariff rate quotas “in order to protect European producers.” On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron called on the EU to take inspiration from the U.S. on trade measures aimed at protecting strategic industries. Tackling “global imbalances” — including China flooding the rest of the world with its exports — is also the top identified by the France for the summit of G7 leaders which it will host in Evian-les-Bains on June 15.

The spiritual and physical challenge is described by pilgrims as a transformative and deeply meaningful journey.

With nearly two million worshippers performing Hajj this year, technology is key to ensuring everything runs smoothly.

Scientists say record-breaking heat is a reminder of how climate crisis is affecting livesThe fierce heat sweeping across Europe over the bank holiday weekend has beaten the UK’s all-time temperature record for May, with scorching highs of close to 35C.A temperature of 33.5C was recorded at Heathrow airport on Monday lunchtime, according to provisional data from the Met Office, beating the previous May record that was set in 1922 and reached again in 1944. Later in the afternoon a temperature of 34.8C was recorded at London’s Kew Gardens. Continue reading...

Brent crude futures down 6% to lowest level in two weeks and stock markets riseOil prices fell below $100 a barrel on Monday and stock markets rose on hopes that the US and Iran are inching closer to a peace deal.Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were down 6% to $97.43 a barrel, the lowest level in two weeks, with hopes that an agreement to end the near three-month US-Israeli war on Iran can be struck. Continue reading...

Proximity of people appears to reduce stifling effect of wolves on small predator populations, scientists find

John Healey is latest government figure to be affected by suspected Russian electronic attack