Tallinn's public spaces ignore young people's needs, says psychologist Grete Arro, who proposes a youth mayor to help shape the city around them.

Estonian racecar driver Gregor Jeets has exchanged rallying for circuit racing this season, and will compete in the prestigious 2026 McLaren Trophy Europe

Varro Vooglaid announced that due to a loss of confidence in him, he is leaving the Estonian Conservative People's Party's Riigikogu group, though not parliament itself.

In light of the looming presidential election, ERR examined the approval ratings of Estonia's presidents, comparing how they changed over time and which demographic groups showed higher or lower levels of support.

Tallinn's public spaces ignore young people's needs, says psychologist Grete Arro, who proposes a youth mayor to help shape the city around them.

The state has launched an investigation into the ferry operating between Prangli and the mainland. According to the Safety Investigation Bureau conducting the probe, the move stems from the vessel's frequent problems.

Ukraina rindel toimus neljapäeval 202 relvakokkupõrget ja kaitseväed tõrjusid Pokrovski suunal 30 Venemaa rünnakut, teatas Ukraina relvajõudude peastaap, mille informatsiooni edastas uudistekanal Ukrinform.

Neljapäeva õhtul toimus Viinis Eurovisiooni lauluvõistluse teine poolfinaal, kus 15 riiki võistlesid kümne finaalikoha nimel. Eesti aja järgi kell 22.00 alanud saates astusid lavale ka mitmed tänavused favoriidid. Loe Elu24 blogist, kuidas meeleolukas õhtu möödus!

Two children are among at least 16 killed in Ukraine's capital in massive Russian drone and missile attacks, officials say.

Drones bound for Russia crashed down in Latvia last week, prompting a political fallout.

The economy grew by 0.3% in the month, official figures show, confounding analysts' forecasts of a small contraction.

The UK economy is showing resilience – it’s worth diving into the data in more detail to understand why.

Pete Hegseth’s last-minute decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland caught Pentagon staff and European allies by surprise — the latest example of an abrupt personnel move from the Defense secretary that blindsided both sides of the Atlantic. It wasn’t clear exactly why Hegseth issued the order, according to three defense officials familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed anger and frustration with European allies for their failure to help with the Iran war, although Trump has labeled Poland a “model ally” for its high defense spending. The decision was even more surprising because troops and equipment had already started to arrive in the country. It sent fresh waves of anxiety through European capitals and inside the Pentagon on Thursday about whether such moves could embolden Russia — and which ally might turn into the next target. “We had no idea this was coming,” said one of the U.S. officials, adding that European and American officials have spent the last 24 hours on the phone trying to understand the decision and figure out if more surprises are coming. The move follows Hegseth’s announcement this month that the Pentagon would withdraw 5,000 troops from bases in Germany. But that decision followed through on a threat Trump made after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the U.S. was “humiliating” itself with the conflict in Iran. The 4,000 Texas-based troops were preparing to leave on a long-planned nine month rotation to Poland that includes training with NATO allies when the order to halt came through. The cancellation of this routine mission is especially unusual given that American troops stationed on the continent are a key deterrent to Russia. Trump has insisted that Europe will have to fend for itself — even as he’s railed against allies’ opposition to the Iran conflict — and this latest order suggests the president is serious about reducing the American footprint on the continent. The Army’s role in Europe “is all about deterring the Russians, protecting America’s strategic interests and assuring allies,” said the Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. “And now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone.” The broader strategy remains unclear. The German withdrawal is still in the planning stages, according to two of the U.S. officials familiar with the matter, who like some others, were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. It amounts to a relatively minor drawdown of the 38,000 U.S. troops in the country, but sends a signal to European allies that they could pay a price for publicly disagreeing with the White House. “The Poles certainly have never criticized President Trump, and they do all the things that good allies are supposed to do,” said Hodges. “And yet, this happens.” The Pentagon declined to comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Polish officials took to social media to either defend the decision or vent about its impact on the alliance. Some hoped the Army would replace this rotational troop presence with a permanent one already deployed in Europe. Others tried to downplay the potential impact. “This matter does not concern Poland,” Deputy Polish Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a social media post. “It is linked to the previously announced realignment of a portion of U.S. military forces in Europe,” referring to ongoing U.S. efforts to reevaluate American troops on the continent. The majority of Poles favor having a U.S. military base on their territory, according to recent polling, unlike many other European nations. And Poland’s defense spending is projected to grow to 4.7 percent of its GDP this year, the highest such figure among NATO allies. The Pentagon recently conducted a review of U.S. troop presence around the globe, although it is not expected to be released publicly. Officials have indicated that the study does not call for a major withdrawal of troops from Europe. But another key document released this year, the National Defense Strategy, pledges to commit more military assets elsewhere and leave European security to European nations. The Pentagon announced in October that it would not replace an Army brigade that was scheduled to leave Romania late last year, a move that frustrated defense hawks on Capitol Hill. “This is a major challenge to Europe’s security and a severely disrupting way of shifting responsibility to Europeans,” said Joel Linnainmäki, a former Finnish official. “For allies next to Russia it will have to change their calculus.” But some in the alliance tried to downplay the impacts of the American brigade not showing up in Poland. A senior NATO official said that rotational forces, such as the American troop deployment to Poland, do not factor into the alliance’s long-term plans to build up a troop presence on the continent that can deter Russia. “We know that the U.S. is working to adjust its posture in Europe,” the official said. “And we’re already seeing increasing presence on the eastern flank from Canada and Germany, all of which contributes to a stronger NATO overall.” The official said France and Germany have 5,000 combined troops on NATO’s Eastern flank, a number which will increase by thousands by the end of next year.

LONDON — Britain’s embattled Keir Starmer stared down one leadership rival Thursday lunchtime. Another was banging on his door by nightfall. A putsch to oust the center-left prime minister by competing factions within his own party is finally taking shape after the most turbulent week in U.K. politics since former Conservative PM Liz Truss resigned weeks into the job in 2022. Deep election losses last Thursday led 96 of Starmer’s 402 Labour MPs to demand a timeline for his exit. By refusing to write one, Starmer — who won a landslide in 2024 promising politics would tread “lighter on all of our lives” — instead left his fate to the disorganized, warring tribes of his own Labour family. After days of false starts, red herrings, a vicious briefing war by all sides and a concerted fightback by Starmer, his MPs believe the competing routes to oust him are now becoming clearer.  The prime minister could cling on for at least a month or two. If he does not choose to set out a timetable himself, he could face one or both of two rivals: the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and the centrist former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, whose desire to launch an immediate challenge sputtered out Thursday. Waiting in the wings is Starmer’s former deputy Angela Rayner, a favorite of Labour’s “soft left” flank, if Burnham falls at one of the hurdles on the road to the top job. She announced Thursday that she had been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing in a probe into her tax affairs — and spent the afternoon at a Buckingham Palace garden party while parliament plotted. “We will get there eventually,” said one ally of Streeting, granted anonymity to speak frankly. A second Streeting ally added: “There’s not much option left, other than screaming into the void.” All are now likely to spend the ensuing time flitting between shadow-boxing and pact-forming, setting out agendas for a government that does not yet exist — while Starmer fights the prospect of becoming Britain’s fifth prime minister in seven years to be booted from office. The King of the North returns (maybe) First in the jostling line to replace Starmer is Burnham, who as the mayor of Greater Manchester has earned the moniker “King of the North” from his party and the public. But to run, he must first return to Westminster to become an MP. That hurdle prompted a round of vicious in-fighting between his camp and allies of Streeting, who preferred an immediate contest to reduce the time Starmer would spend as a lame duck while war in the Persian Gulf undercuts Britain’s economy. At one point, Burnham’s allies were even pressuring Labour’s ruling body to hold an extended leadership contest lasting three months to allow him time to return to Westminster. But in the end Burnham’s wait-for-me approach won out. The mayor announced Thursday evening that he will apply to stand for Labour in a by-election in Makerfield, a seat in northwest England newly vacated for the purpose by the former Starmer loyalist Josh Simons. Burnham attends the funeral of Gary Mounfield at Manchester Cathedral on December 22, 2025. | Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images Starmer’s allies gave the signal on Thursday evening that — unlike in a previous attempt in January — they would not seek to use Labour’s ruling body to block Burnham from launching his candidacy. In the end the British public could do the blocking. Burnham will have to win the most consequential by-election for decades while presenting voters with a surreal proposition: Vote Labour to kick out the Labour prime minister. The fight will not be easy. Makerfield was once one of Labour’s safest seats but the party’s majority was cut to 5,399 by Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist Reform UK in 2024. Last week Labour lost all 22 seats it was defending on Wigan Council, a borough covering some of the constituency. Farage said his party will “throw absolutely everything” at the contest, as will the Green Party eating Labour from its left flank. Reform will also fight to win the powerful Greater Manchester mayoralty that Burnham is leaving behind. Losing it, regardless of whether Burnham becomes an MP, would be a major blow to the ruling party. John Curtice, the leading British political scientist, said if a candidate other than Burnham was fighting Makerfield he would give Labour less than a 5 percent chance of victory. “If [Burnham] manages to win this, he will certainly be demonstrating his ability to win constituencies you would expect most Labour politicians to lose at the moment,” Curtice told POLITICO. Burnham’s pro-Europe stance will hang over the contest in the Brexit-voting constituency — but so will a political circus with nation-shaping consequences like no other. There will also be criticism of Simons for quitting on his constituents and questions about whether he was promised anything in order to do so; those questions were already swirling in his own party. “Josh is not the self-sacrificing type,” as one of his former colleagues put it. If Burnham fails, there is always Rayner — whose allies said Thursday that she was prepared to run for leader to stop Streeting if others could not. But she hedged her bets, leaving room for Burnham to become the “soft left” candidate while also urging the party to “pull together.” Two Labour officials told POLITICO the earliest possible date for the by-election is June 18, although Starmer’s whips control the timeline. The contrast between Britain’s domestic infighting and geopolitical turmoil will be stark — the beleaguered Starmer is expected at the annual summit of G7 leaders in France earlier that week. Streeting misses his moment Burnham’s announcement was the second shock of the day for Wes Streeting, one of Labour’s most high-profile figures who at just 43 has given the impression of hankering after the top job for more than a decade. Streeting leaves 10 Downing Street following a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer on May 13, 2026 in London, England. | Leon Neal/Getty Images Thursday’s newspaper front pages led on expectations that Streeting would launch his candidacy, but it faltered. At 6 a.m. Rayner made her surprise intervention over her tax affairs; then at 5 p.m. Simons resigned his seat, a development of which Streeting’s team was not aware. One person who spoke to Streeting privately on Wednesday said he had been determined to stand imminently; a second person said he had planned to make his decision on Wednesday night. Though he did resign as health secretary just before 1 p.m. Thursday with an attack on the “vacuum” and “drift” gripping his party, Streeting didn’t fire the starting gun. Several supporters swore blind that he had the support of the 80 colleagues required to trigger a formal challenge — despite Starmer’s allies saying forcefully that he did not — but there were signs it was all unraveling for him the night before. There were whiffs of desperation, with at least one MP who signed a loyalists’ letter in support of the PM being asked to back Streeting, as his team reportedly asked MPs to lend votes in order to trigger a contest. One MP aligned with Streeting said his resignation was “a recognition of the fact that in lieu of a launch, he had to do something today.” They said that Streeting had won over somewhere between 65 and 90 MPs; enough, in their view, to nominate him in a contest that was already up and running, but not enough to kick-start one against a sitting PM. Ultimately Streeting opted to play for time. A second MP aligned with him acknowledged that the labor unions that’ll play a role in electing the next leader — candidates must win the backing either of local Labour parties or at least two of the party’s 11 affiliated unions — were a big factor.  Streeting was already at a disadvantage as a right-winger by Labour standards. Then the affiliated unions declared this week that electing the new leader should involve a debate on economic policy rather than on “personalities” and “drama in Westminster.” “You can’t be seen to be the blocker of that,” said the second ally quoted above — adding that without the support of a wide base of the party, Streeting could not govern effectively. Streeting’s resignation letter acknowledged that MPs and trade unions each want a big battle of ideas, saying it should be broad and with “the best possible field of candidates.” Many MPs saw that as clear code for a Burnham comeback. Best of friends Attention will now turn in Westminster to any whiff of deal-making between Burnham and Streeting, or between the soft left figures Burnham and Rayner. Critical MPs have long doubted that Labour’s membership — which tacks left, even after many disillusioned former members joined the Green Party — would ever elect Streeting. There have long been signs that Streeting’s camp believed Burnham might have to be a man they do business with. Rayner attends the National Growth Debate at the Institute of Directors on April 21, 2026 in London, England. | Carl Court/Getty Images After hours of silence, on Thursday afternoon journalists’ phones suddenly lit up with figures from each camp praising the other. “Their relationship is warm,” a third Streeting-supporting MP said of their chosen leader’s relationship with Burnham; both men have been Labour health secretaries. “There’s a mutual respect there.” Streeting’s allies are planning to travel to Makerfield to encourage the Labour vote for Burnham. A fourth ally said: “Wes is opening the way for a proper contest, rather than a rushed coronation.” Likewise, one MP ally of Burnham rang POLITICO unprompted to praise Streeting for “coming to his senses,” adding: “It shows the consensus in the party now is that we need to have the best players on the pitch.” But the same ally of Burnham shot down any hope that the Greater Manchester mayor would cut a deal with Streeting to ensure only one of them ran. “There’s absolutely no deal with Wes,” this person said. “Wes was prepared to plunge our party into chaos.” Meanwhile, Starmer staggers on Starmer defied expectations all week to stay in office. He told his Cabinet that he would fight on for the sake of economic stability and to see out his 2024 mandate; his supporters believe — not without cause — that having a leadership contest at all would paralyze the government. Despite Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood urging him privately to set out a timetable for his departure Tuesday, the Cabinet danger seems over for now. Allies of Mahmood and Peter Kyle, the business secretary and close friend of Streeting, said they were not following Streeting in resigning. But governing will already be harder. Streeting’s replacement as health secretary, the Treasury minister James Murray, was announced eight hours after his exit. Starmer plans to bring forward contentious bills on immigration reform and reducing the number of jury trials this summer that could attract rebellions from his warring party. Some of Streeting’s backers are still pushing for their man to move quickly. A fifth Streeting ally said: “This has to happen sooner rather than later. We can’t go on like this. It’s hugely damaging.” This person added: “This is imminent in my view, it’s got to be soon. That is Wes’s view too.” But many others in Streeting’s camp are now resigned to waiting for events, still hoping that — despite all his earlier fightbacks — Starmer will decide to quit. A fifth Streeting ally said: “I think [Wes] is feeling a bit sad and just wants Keir to do the right thing and set the timetable to resign.” Noah Keate contributed reporting.

The comments came as a US delegation led by CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday.

Elon Musk accuses OpenAI of breaching charitable trust and prioritising profit over AI safety and nonprofit values.

Export’s performances scandalised Austria in the 1960s, but are now recognised for exposing the objectification of the female bodyValie Export, the Austrian performance artist and film-maker who inverted the male gaze in ways that were provocative, shocking and often outrageously fun, has died aged 85.The artist’s own foundation announced on Thursday evening that Export died in Vienna earlier the same day, three days before her 86th birthday. Continue reading...

There was wind, there was fire, there was Goodrem’s remarkable upper-range – resulting in a refreshingly self-assured offering from Australia‘Sung by a silver robot from 1984!’ The 11 biggest bangers in Eurovision 2026Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastStanding before a glistening crescent moon and adorned in more than 7,000 Swarovski crystals, Australia’s 2026 Eurovision hopeful Delta Goodrem delivered a powerful performance on the 70th anniversary of the global song contest – and become the first Australian act to qualify for the grand final since 2023.Heading into the competition as an early favourite behind Eurovision heavy-hitters Denmark and Finland, Goodrem delivered a note-perfect rendition of her power-ballad entry, Eclipse. The track is impressive if a little formulaic – and of the 35 countries competing, 15 are represented by solo female performers, so Goodrem needed to find a way to stand out in a crowded field. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor says he wants to contest a by-election and return to Westminster

Central bank increases target to 24% from 16% due to accelerating rise in prices triggered by Iran war