Ülle Madise is now backed by more than 60 MPs, but Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) still believes TalTech rector Tiit Land will also enter Estonia's presidential race.

The future of Latvian airline airBaltic is in the hands of its creditors, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said. Potential strategic investors are waiting for airBaltic to become viable and profitable. Under the new business plan approved on Wednesday, the airline will fly to fewer destinations but with higher frequency.

Ülle Madise is now backed by more than 60 MPs, but Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) still believes TalTech rector Tiit Land will also enter Estonia's presidential race.

Sixty-two MPs have signed in favor of Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise as a candidate at next month's presidential elections, up from the 55 received as of yesterday.

Estonia's bear population has grown for two decades, and one wildlife expert warns that new, tighter hunting limits could increase the risk of conflicts with people.

Economy Minister Erkki Keldo declined to approve a draft bill aimed at curbing the use of nicotine products among young people as the proposed changes could have a significant impact on sellers and importers.

Elektribörsi Nord Pool Eesti hinnapiirkonnas langeb elektri keskmine hind reedel neljapäevaga võrreldes 42,8 protsenti 73,21 eurole megavatt-tunnist.

Rooma linnast umbes 40 kilomeetrit kagus asuva Colleferro lähedal kärgatas neljapäeval laskemoonatehases plahvatus, teatas Itaalia politsei, mille informatsiooni edastasid teiste seas uudisteagentuurid AFP ja Ansa ning ajaleht Kyiv Independent.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg, Dmitry Muratov says the Kremlin leader can only "destroy Ukraine, not conquer it", with the war now in its fifth year.

The Cernavodă plant, which produces 20% of Romania's electricity, is not expected to be restarted within the next 10 days.

After the PM announced a crackdown on subscription traps, readers share how they got into and out of unwanted plans.

Some traders are reeling from heavy losses after a brutal correction in South Korea's stock market.

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music This week and next, the Brussels Playbook Week Ender podcast is away for the summer holiday.  So, we thought we’d re-up this popular installment on Europe’s quest to become independent from U.S. tech.  In this episode first released in June, Sarah Wheaton is joined by “The Tech Coup” author and former Member of the European Parliament Marietje Schaake and POLITICO’s Laurens Cerulus, as they look at what happens when the systems running Europe’s schools, ministries, banks, businesses and security are controlled elsewhere. They also discuss whether Brussels can build real alternatives or simply learn to manage its dependence better.  The Brussels Playbook Podcast will be back to its regular schedule on Aug. 24.  Questions? Comments? Send us a message to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a problem: Nobody wants the hardest job in Washington. The Ukrainian president is struggling to find someone of sufficient influence to represent Kyiv to the Trump administration, with prospective candidates proving reluctant to take on the grueling assignment at a critical moment in the war, according to two former senior Ukrainian officials and four lawmakers. The need to replace the previous envoy, Olga Stefanishyna, helped trigger Zelenskyy’s still-incomplete government reshuffle. Stefanishyna was formally dismissed on Aug. 3 over impending embezzlement charges.  Zelenskyy moved his reshuffle plans forward so he could offer the ambassadorship to Yulia Svyrydenko, the outgoing prime minister, according to a former senior Ukrainian official and a Republican foreign expert familiar with the background to the shake-up. But she declined, disrupting his plans.  “It is no secret that I counted on and offered Yulia Svyrydenko the post of ambassador to the United States,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in late July. He added that he was looking for a candidate with the highest possible qualifications: “a person at the level of a deputy prime minister, minister, or prime minister.” Since then, however, other prospective candidates have proved equally reluctant, spurning what would in any case be the difficult job of handling Donald Trump’s unpredictable White House. Ukrainians with sufficient heft and skill for the ambassadorship are looking at it askance, “worrying that they would not enjoy the conditions they would need to do the job properly,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a prominent Ukrainian opposition lawmaker and former deputy prime minister who is a regular critic of Zelenskyy. “Certainly that would be the case without having the ear of the president or his trust,” she added. That narrows Zelenskyy’s options sharply. The person would likely have to come from his tight inner circle of trusted aides, Klympush-Tsintsadze said, but there is no one there who seriously fits the bill.  “Framing it as if nobody wants the job would be a kind of oversimplification,” said a former Ukrainian diplomat who was granted anonymity in order to speak freely. “Of course, there are people who want the job, but there’s no one who really measures up to it. Zelenskyy is having a hard time filling the position.” Wrong direction The trouble filling the Washington post is part of a broader problem for Zelenskyy, whose office did not respond to a request for comment. The president’s approval ratings have deteriorated since he embarked a month ago on a government shake-up that remains incomplete and has proved turbulent. According to a Socis Center for Social Research survey, more than 55 percent of Ukrainians believe their nation is moving in the wrong direction. Zelenskyy’s dismissal in July of popular defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov sparked street protests and a political backlash, while several key posts remain unresolved. The reshuffle has also raised questions about how Zelenskyy chooses his senior team — and how far beyond his tight circle of trusted aides he is prepared to look.  “No one has explained to Ukrainians why exactly the government had to be changed,” Mykola Knyazhitskiy, an opposition lawmaker from Lviv and founder of Ukraine’s Espreso TV channel, said. Yulia Svyrydenko looks on during a press conference in Kyiv on March 3, 2026. | Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images “There had been no clearly articulated public complaints about Svyrydenko. In her farewell address to parliament, Svyrydenko received applause. MPs gave her a standing ovation. So why was she dismissed if her performance was considered so successful and was so highly regarded?”  Difficult timing The ambassadorial vacancy comes at an especially fraught moment for Kyiv. Washington remains central to Ukraine’s ability to sustain the war, and whoever takes the job will have to navigate a Trump administration that has repeatedly shifted course on military support and on how — and when — the war should end. In an interview with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns earlier this year, Stefanishyna acknowledged she had experienced “diplomatic whiplash” in the role.  Kyiv is trying to persuade Trump to give Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air defense systems, something he promised in June, only to reverse himself in July. The issue is becoming more urgent as Ukraine heads toward another winter of Russian attacks on its energy and civilian infrastructure and is already struggling to intercept intensified ballistic missile strikes. Zelenskyy has said this year’s deliveries of air defense missiles from Ukraine’s allies have fallen by two-thirds compared with 2025. At the same time, there are signs the White House may soon seek to revive stalled peace negotiations. That would put a premium on having an ambassador in Washington with the political weight to get through the door, the authority to speak for Zelenskyy and the skill to navigate an administration where policy can change quickly. And also to lobby Congress.  Leaving the post vacant, therefore, carries risks well beyond diplomatic protocol. Ukraine could find itself without a heavyweight operator in Washington just as decisions are being made over weapons, air defense, logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as the terms of any renewed peace push. “It is quite likely that Zelenskyy won’t appoint anyone this side of the midterm elections in the United States,” said Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, an opposition lawmaker. “It will be hard to judge who would fit the political landscape best until those elections have been held.”

The result could offer an early signal of shifting alliances and voter sentiment before the presidential race.

UN rights office and Palestine Foreign Ministry call days-long Israeli settler siege in Qusra 'criminal' and 'inhumane'.

Cernavoda shutdown poses immediate problems for Moldova, which relies on Romanian power ​to cover its own electricity shortagesRomania has been forced to shut down the last working ⁠reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova.Drought and record-low water levels have deepened fears of an energy crisis across Europe, which is facing a new summer heatwave. Continue reading...

Donald Tusk says it is first time ‘someone on the order of Russia’ has sought to attack US citizen in Nato countryA Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, the Polish prime minister has said.Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of another Nato country. Continue reading...

Three carriages on the Southern Rail service are flipped on to their side

Business columnist Pilita Clark and climate correspondent Attracta Mooney replied to reader questions