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.

Vasakpopulistliku erakonna juht ulatab käe parempopulistlikule erakonnale Alternatiiv Saksamaale (AfD), et tõrjuda koos nendega kõrvale Saksamaa peavooluparteid, kirjutab Politico.

Rahvusvaheline teadlaste rühm tegi üllatava avastuse, mis seob armastuse sibula lõhna ja maitse vastu madalama riskiga haigestuda kroonilistesse haigustesse. Uudne geneetiline lähenemine aitab tulevikus paremini mõista, kuidas meie igapäevane toidulaud tervist päriselt mõjutab.

The young migrants heading to Europe say they were stripped and had their hands tied in freezing temperatures.

Kyiv's mayor declares a day of mourning after the major drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.

The government had initially said it would not relax licensing laws further than they already have been for the World Cup.

Holidaymakers face long waits under the EU's new Entry-Exit System, the head of Berlin's airport says.

LONDON — England is among the last 16 nations left in the World Cup after a tense win over DR Congo, and hope is tentatively starting to spread that this tournament could finally end 60 years of hurt for the nation. This week’s Westminster Insider podcast explores the strange but powerful relationship between football and politics — and the unwritten rules politicians should follow if they want to use the unique emotional power of the beautiful game to their advantage. 1. Get your timing right It looks highly likely that Andy Burnham will become Britain’s new prime minister on July 20 — just one day after the World Cup final. If England were to lift the trophy, Burnham’s first day in office would coincide with a wave of national euphoria. History suggests this could be somewhat helpful to a new prime minister. Ten days before England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, then Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson had introduced an emergency package of tax rises and spending cuts as Britain grappled with inflation and economic pressure. Morale was low. Then came Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick and England’s glorious win over West Germany.  England’s victory at Wembley gave the country a huge psychological lift — and boosted the standing of the government. Richard Crossman, then leader of the House of Commons, said in his diaries there was “a big change in Harold’s personal position.” But if Burnham is hoping for a well-timed World Cup-inspired polling boost on arrival, he should be aware that there are obvious risks if England doesn’t go all the way. In 1970, Wilson had hoped another deep England run would help create a feel-good factor before a general election. Instead, England surrendered a two-goal lead to West Germany in the quarter-finals just four days before polling day. After canvassing between the result and polling day then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins reported that voters were despondent — less about the economy or immigration — but about who was to blame for England’s defeat.  Wilson lost to Ted Heath’s Conservatives. The electoral impact of the 1970 World Cup disappointment is still the subject of debate, though an intriguing fact has only added to the folklore: English voters swung more towards the Conservatives than Scotland and Wales.  2. Be authentic No discussion of the potential peril of mixing football and politics is complete without mentioning David Cameron. The former prime minister — supposedly an Aston Villa supporter — famously claimed to support West Ham during the 2015 election campaign. He later blamed a “brain fade” — but the damage was done. Scarlett McGwire, political commentator and former Labour adviser, says authenticity is everything. “One of the reasons it’s so important for politicians to be authentic is there’s this myth that politicians always lie,” she says. “If they’re not authentic, people think: if they’re lying about this, they could be lying about everything.” Football fans can smell performative fandom instantly. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage recently faced criticism after posting what appeared to be recycled football content from Euro 2024 during this World Cup. Writer and journalist Adrian Goldberg says when politicians are genuine fans “football can just be a little bridge between the electorate and the prime minister.” Although this didn’t seem to help genuine Arsenal supporter Keir Starmer. 3. Remember the home nations Navigating football loyalties across the United Kingdom is hard. McGwire recalls former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s advisers deciding he was “too Scottish.” “[They] decided to get the Daily Mail in and he had to cheer on the English team. It was completely set up. Nobody believed it,” she recalls. Scottish Labour backbench MP Brian Leishman — a long-suffering supporter of the Tartan Army — is less concerned about courting England fans. “It would be intolerable if England won the World Cup,” he says. “I would hate it.” That result could boost support for Scottish independence, he adds — only half-jokingly. 4. There is no single football audience Football teams are cheered on by a wide range of people — from younger fans to older traditionalists, England obsessives to club loyalists, politically engaged supporters to those who simply want politics kept out of the game. That makes targeting your desired crowd crucial. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater sees football primarily as a force for connection. “It’s a powerful opportunity to show the kind of country we are,” she says. “The very best of people coming together.” But she warns against over-politicization. “Let’s use sport for good,” she says. For politicians, that balancing act is becoming harder as football increasingly overlaps with wider culture-war debates. Goldberg reckons the controversy over players “taking the knee” during the Black Lives Matter protests in the early 2020s left fans on the terraces divided.  “There were some fan bases where taking of the knee was booed, there were others where it was embraced and others where fans were kind of somewhere in the middle around that,” he says. “I’d say there was a substantial core of supporters who felt somehow uncomfortable about it,” he adds. Farage and his Reform UK party appears to be seeking the support of football fans with a campaign of turquoise football shirts, and visits to clubs like Ipswich Town. 5. It’s more than a game Football is never just football. Playwright James Graham, creator of the hit play and BBC TV series Dear England, argues politicians often underestimate football’s deeper social importance. He says that football matters not just every two or four years during major tournaments, but every single week, shaping people’s routines, their communities and even their identities. Amid the “hollowing out” of British civic life — declining high streets, weakened public spaces and fractured communities — the football stadium is one of the few places left where people still gather physically and collectively, he says. When people support their club, they are investing in something bigger than themselves: shared rituals, symbols, songs and belonging. “You have to turned up in person and in proximity with your physical community,” he says. Graham argues that politicians who understand this are more likely to connect to voters in what he sees as an age of growing disconnection, as people’s lives are increasingly shaped by AI, growth targets and digital life.  On whether Football’s Coming Home, Graham didn’t miss a beat: “Of course.”

TIRANA, Albania — Ongoing protests in Tirana continued to intensify Thursday, with nine police officers injured and 18 protestors arrested after serious clashes outside Parliament. Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted to the unfolding scenes on X, writing in an ironic tone that the once “beautiful protest of citizenship, patriotism, and purity has given way to the old story of conflict, strife and violence,” and adding several clown emojis. Albanians have been protesting for 33 days in the so-called Flamingo Revolution, initially in opposition to a proposed luxury resort on the southern coast linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, then evolving into a broader movement against the political elite. Protesters have asked for the resignation of Rama, opposition leader Sali Berisha and the entire government, as well as the installation of a non-political technical government and sweeping changes to the electoral code and laws related to protected areas and investment, which activists say will bring about a “new Albania.” Following tussles between police and protesters outside Parliament on Tuesday, police erected metal fences to ensure the safety of members of parliament as they arrived for a plenary session on Thursday, heightening tensions and resulting in further confrontations with protesters. One protester smashed a police car windscreen with a metal barrier while others threw rocks and paving tiles at police. Footage has also emerged on social media of police dragging protesters and hitting them with batons. Opposition Democratic Party deputy, Jorida Tabaku, condemned on Instagram the “insane images of police violence,” calling it unacceptable. While Rama — who has alleged foreign interference in the movement — has offered to enter into dialogue with some protesters about their environmental concerns, he has refused to resign. Protesters say they will continue to protest until their demands are met.

Iranian oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani has been sanctioned by the West over his shadow fleet.

Anderson will become the most expensive British player in history when the transfer is finalised with Nottingham Forest.

Damage recorded in 30 locations across in the city from overnight attacks, with ‘most of them ordinary residential buildings’in DublinVolodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes not to wait too long for the results of an Irish government investigation into alumina exports to Russia thought to be feeding the Kremlin’s war machine.“Unfortunately there are companies in Europe that are owned or effectively controlled by Russia and its sanctioned oligarchs. They keep supplying the aggressor with essential materials even now.” Continue reading...

More than 70 missiles fired at Ukraine capital as Russia faces fuel shortages after strikes against its oil refineriesAt least 21 people were killed and dozens injured overnight in Kyiv, local authorities said, in what the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, called the worst Russian attack on the capital during more than four years of air assault on Ukraine.Russia used nearly 500 drones and more than 70 missiles in the hours-long attack on Kyiv and other parts of the country in the early hours of Thursday. Loud explosions shook the capital for several hours as waves of drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles came towards it and Ukraine’s air defence attempted to shoot them down. Continue reading...

More than twice the expected number of unauthorised immigrants applied for legal status, mostly from Latin America

Take part in a live Ask an Expert Q&A with the FT’s chief foreign affairs commentator on Tuesday July 7 at 10.30am BST