The first stretch of an upgraded highway in central Estonia opens to traffic on Friday.

Despite being behind schedule, work is ongoing to electrify a stretch of rail line between Tartu and Tapa.

Political communication expert Annika Arras said that although parties should step up public discussion about the presidential election, the potential candidate should be someone who genuinely wants to run.

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise has said she has not given her consent to be a presidential candidate ahead of this autumn's elections.

A European Environment Agency report ranks Estonia's bathing water quality among Europe's poorest. However, a marine biologist says that does not mean the country's beaches are unsafe for swimming.

Andre Farm, a cheesemaker based in Tartu County, has stopped selling its cheese through most major retail chains, saying the retail sales system has become too costly.

Holm Pank on viimastel aastatel kasvanud ülikiiresti, mullune majandusaasta tõi rekordilise portfellimahu ja puhaskasumi. Tõsi, jutt käib 4,1 miljonist eurost, aga suured ärid on kõik millestki alguse saanud. Panga varade maht on enam kui veerand miljardit, olles riigi väikseim.

Kui Venemaa ründab NATO sõjalist liitu, siis saab Saksamaast alliansi jaoks oluline logistikakeskus, kuid selleks vajalikud meetmed on seotud tõsiste õiguslike takistustega, vahendas väljaande Die Welt artiklit ukrainlaste uudisteagentuur Unian.

The latest barrage deployed the largest number of weapons on the capital and hit locations over a wide area.

Around 600,000 followers of the Society of Saint Pius X, a Catholic sect, are affected.

Wedding lists are being replaced by cash requests, but guests are divided over how much to give.

The government had initially said it would not relax licensing laws further for the World Cup.

LONDON — Britain’s prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham pledged Thursday to find billions of pounds in his first budget to close a defense funding gap left by his predecessor. Burnham said he will “take my responsibilities fully” to fund the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) announced earlier this week by outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The DIP committed an extra £15 billion for Britain’s armed forces, including £5 billion towards autonomous systems, such as drones. However, Starmer left £4.7 billion to be found in this fall’s budget. The outgoing government has also failed to specify how it will raise a further £10.3 billion through Whitehall cuts and asset sales. “I will take my responsibilities fully to fund the defense investment plan,” Burnham told LBC radio interviewer Andrew Marr. He added: “If I’m in the position to do so, I will take those responsibilities extremely seriously — no compromise on the security of the nation.” Burnham’s pledge will reassure U.K. military chiefs but trigger months of speculation about tax rises, spending cuts or tweaks to borrowing rules that Burnham could enact to raise the funds at the next budget, which is expected in October or November. Speaking in his first interview since winning a parliamentary by-election two weeks ago, Burnham — who is expected to become prime minister on July 20 — confirmed reports that he was not told about the spending gulf when Starmer’s government briefed him on the DIP. “I didn’t have all of the details, I wasn’t in all the discussions,” he said.  Burnham said he was examining a tax rise on specific businesses as he faces difficult choices on spending. “I believe there is a case for higher business rates on warehouses and the major developments we see on the outskirts of our cities,” he said, to cut business rates on pubs by 20 percent and on other high street establishments — such as bars, restaurants, coffee shops and hairdressers — by as much as 100 percent. He also said the welfare system must be reformed, while insisting he would not cut benefit entitlements in a “crude” way. However, he said he would stick to Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge not to raise income tax rates, national insurance or VAT — the three taxes which raise the bulk of revenues. Burnham also told Marr that he has still not settled on his finance minister amid heated divisions among his backers over whether to appoint Ed Miliband, the energy secretary.  Miliband’s pursuit of net-zero policies has endeared him to Labour’s left flank but angered the GMB and Unite unions, who represent workers in fossil-fuel industries. Some Burnham allies also fear an adverse market reaction if Miliband becomes chancellor. “It’s been a little frustrating for me in the last 10 days, two weeks,” Burnham said. “Westminster goes into its normal mode and wants to endlessly speculate about personalities before policy and direction. I very deliberately have said no, I’m going to set out a new direction for the country.” Burnham confirmed he plans to repurpose existing plans for a civil service campus in central Manchester to create what he has badged “No. 10 North” — an outpost of 10 Downing Street in northern England, at which his deputy chief of staff will be based full-time. Groundworks began at the site in Ancoats last month. The government has previously said it will be the workplace for around “8,800 people from multiple government departments with a focus on digital delivery.” Burnham did not set out a timescale for the creation of “No. 10 North” or discuss how many people it could involve. However, he has said it will be tasked with reforming utilities, regeneration and reindustrializing Britain, centralizing many powers held elsewhere in Whitehall. In the wide-ranging interview, Burnham also said the whipping system in Westminster should not be used to “punish” MPs and said he would be willing to work with opposition parties to tackle the issue of gangs, many of them in northern towns, grooming and sexually abusing young women. Burnham has been accused of avoiding scrutiny after he went weeks without giving an extended interview. Even on Thursday, he was a long way from clearing up all questions. Asked if he would grant a public holiday if England’s soccer team wins the World Cup, Burnham faltered, noting that it would be premature given the tough match looming on Monday against Mexico.  “We only beat … we struggled, let’s say,” he said, a day after England narrowly remained in the tournament by clinching a late 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo thanks to team captain Harry Kane. “I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves.”

Leader of Spain’s center-right People’s Party Alberto Núñez Feijóo alleged Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aimed to use migrants to expand his voter base following the government’s recent mass migrant legalization effort. “If we add up the number of immigrants who have entered Spain between 2019 and 2025, it’s four million, and now we’re adding 1.3 million with this legalization drive, and the 2.5 million that the government calls grandchildren,” the conservative leader said. “Seven or eight million citizens in seven years — no country can withstand that from a social, welfare, or cultural perspective.” When asked to elaborate, Feijóo said his accusations were in relation to the unrelated, so-called grandchildren’s law passed by Sánchez’s previous government in 2022. That legislation grants citizenship to the grandchildren of Spaniards who fled Spain as a result of the country’s civil war and Francisco Franco’s brutal dictatorship. Sánchez’s government called Feijóo’s comments “profoundly irresponsible” and said he had deliberately conflated two different policies. The beneficiaries of the legalization process that has just concluded cannot vote in Spanish regional or national elections because they are being granted resident permits, and voting rights are reserved for citizens. After being criticized for his inconsistency, Feijóo on Thursday appeared to reverse course. “We agree that a grandchild, where there is a very clear line of descent, should be entitled to Spanish citizenship,” he said during a speech in Santander, but added that he still believed the government had failed to be transparent while doing so. While Feijóo backtracked, the far-right Vox party renewed its criticism of the government’s migration policies, which parliamentary spokesperson José María Figaredo said amounted to “silent electoral fraud.” The party on Thursday called for a review of the existing legislation, as well as the suspension of mail-in voting rights for Spaniards living abroad, arguing the process was susceptible to manipulation and could result in a “delayed coup d’état.” Nearly 1.2 million unauthorized migrants applied for legal status within the framework of Spain’s mass legalization drive, the Spanish Ministry of Migration announced on Thursday. According to the Ministry, 609,737 of the 1,174,968 that applied before the June 30 deadline had already had their applications admitted for processing and received provisional residence and work permits. Nearly 11,000 applicants have already been granted full legal status under the terms of the extraordinary royal decree approved by the Spanish government last April. Migration Minister Elma Saiz noted that 67 percent of the applications had been filed by migrants from Central and South America. Colombians accounted for the largest share of applicants, followed by migrants from Morocco, Venezuela and Peru. The scheme, she added, allows “hundreds of thousands of people who already reside in our country, but with fear and without rights, to face the future with enthusiasm and hope.” The total number of applications filed far exceeds the government’s expectations. When the royal decree was approved, authorities anticipated that around 500,000 unauthorized migrants would seek legal status under the terms of the measure, which applies to people who had been living in Spain for at least five months and had no criminal record.

Portugal fans gather ahead of Ronaldo-Modric clash.

Former players and fans blame substitutions, lack of focus, and travel restrictions for Senegal's World Cup exit.

Yorgen Fenech said to have spent €400,000 on fees for men convicted of car bombing that killed investigative journalistA businessman accused of commissioning the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia spent more than €400,000 (£343,000) on legal fees for the hitmen convicted of her killing, prosecutors claim.Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to one of Malta’s largest fortunes, arrived in court for the second day of his trial on Thursday in an unmarked armoured police vehicle. He is on house arrest having pledged a record bail estimated at €50m. Continue reading...

NCA says offenders arrange to sexually assault and film victims via online networks with crimes often taking place in trusting relationshipsCriminal investigators in the UK say they have uncovered a “truly international network” of organised drug-facilitated sexual assault in which victims are sedated before being raped and sexually assaulted.The National Crime Agency [NCA] has said online networks, “many as yet unidentified by law enforcement”, were allowing offenders to arrange to rape and abuse victims or arrange for sexual assaults to be filmed. Continue reading...

Prime minister in waiting says he will stick by Labour’s manifesto promises on tax

Attack with 74 missiles and nearly 500 drones follows Zelenskyy’s warning that Moscow was preparing ‘massive strike’