The Health Insurance Fund forecasts next year's expenditures at nearly €2.7 billion, and the deficit is expected to shrink to €44 million. The fund aims to reach budget balance gradually by 2030.

Police have opened a criminal case under the article "Damage and destruction of property" in connection with an incident in central Tallinn.

Two decades on, Toivo Tootsen, Jaanus Männik and Randel Länts look back at the heated 2006 presidential election and the political maneuvering that ultimately brought Toomas Hendrik Ilves to Kadriorg.

Rain Rosimannus and Tõnis Arro recall some of the key nuances of the 2001 presidential election.

The Health Insurance Fund forecasts next year's expenditures at nearly €2.7 billion, and the deficit is expected to shrink to €44 million. The fund aims to reach budget balance gradually by 2030.

Police have opened a criminal case under the article "Damage and destruction of property" in connection with an incident in central Tallinn.

Festival on jõudmas oma piduliku finaalini. Ees on veel kaks erilist muusikaõhtut Tallinna südames.

Hispaania eksklaavis Ceutas puhkesid rahutused, kui kohalikud üritasid takistada migrantidele abi jagamist ja ajada laiali nende laagrit ning sisserändajad omakorda ründasid sõjaväelasi, mistap pidi politsei võtma olukorra ohjamiseks kasutusele jõulised võtted, sealhulgas hoiatuslasud.

Haakon becomes the king at a turbulent time for Norway's monarchy.

The late king, who reigned for 35 years, broke with tradition by marrying a commoner and was widely loved by Norwegians.

Younger generations are thought to be more susceptible to impulse spending. The BBC looks at ways to get it under control.

The AI startup has been at loggerheads with the Pentagon over the use of AI by the US military.

REYKJAVÍK — The leader of Iceland’s Centre Party doesn’t think his country’s upcoming referendum binds Reykjavík to reopening discussions on joining the EU — even if voters back the “Yes” campaign, he told POLITICO. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, whose opposition party currently polls at around 15 percent, was Iceland’s prime minister when the country dropped its previous bid to join the EU in 2015 over the issue of fishery quotas. He argued that the wording of the referendum question is so loose, its mandate could be satisfied by simply asking Brussels what it would offer Iceland if it joined the bloc, and then dropping the accession process. “If I become foreign minister or prime minister later, have I fulfilled this simply by asking the EU, ‘what are you willing to give us?’ And is my job done?” wondered Gunnlaugsson. “They can’t explain how to honor the vote if it’s a ‘Yes,’” he said, referring to the current Social Democrat-led government. The right-wing politician rose to prominence during the 2008 financial crisis as the spokesperson for a campaign against using Icelandic taxpayer money to bail out the country’s largest bank and repay foreign creditors in the U.K. and the Netherlands. He founded the Centre Party in 2017. Gunnlaugsson describes his party as “small ‘c’ conservative and centrist” — though some of his opponents disagree. “People sometimes call us populist, and it always annoys me because I always see myself as anti-populist. I’m always talking about things that are difficult to explain, and I’m always annoyed about how politics is becoming all about just the surface and easy ideas,” said Gunnlaugsson. In June of this year, however, his Centre Party joined the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, which includes right-wing nationalist parties that often receive the populist label, such as Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Poland’s Law and Justice party. A geopolitical vote On Aug. 29, Icelanders will answer either “Yes” or “No” to the question: “Should negotiations on Iceland’s membership in the European Union start again?” A Gallup poll in mid-August gave the “Yes” camp a slight advantage, with 51.5 percent support. U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland — Iceland’s closest neighbor — have added a geopolitical dimension to the vote, with pro-EU campaigners, such as former Reykjavík Mayor Dagur Eggertsson, citing it as a reason why Iceland needs a closer relationship with the bloc. But Gunnlaugsson played down the American leader’s reported desire to make Greenland the 52nd U.S. state. “I can understand that it’s both annoying and worrying for our friends in Greenland and in Denmark,” he said. “But I don’t think we should read too much into the hyperbole.” Adding that he never thought there was “a real chance” of an invasion, he said: “I always saw this as one of his shenanigans.” The Schengen factor  Speaking about Schengen zone membership, which allows passport-free travel in and out of the country, the Centre Party chief said Icelandic politicians needed to be bolder about taking up border controls. “Just in recent weeks, we’ve seen many, many countries in Europe go against Schengen,” said Gunnlaugsson, referring to reactions from Europe’s capitals over the influx of unauthorized migrants from Morocco into Ceuta, Spain. But, he added, he didn’t think Iceland should leave the Schengen zone in case of a “No” win. In a separate interview with POLITICO, the Centre Party’s 29-year-old deputy chair Snorri Másson was more scathing about the Schengen zone and the free movement of people into Iceland. “We’re a small nation. 400,000 people, unique culture, unique language. And, you know, the number of immigrants has just skyrocketed in the past few years,” he said. Másson explained he didn’t want Iceland to exit the European Economic Area, which enshrines the right to the free movement of people. But, he added, a revision may be in order. “If we’re genuinely headed toward actually losing control over our demographic destiny, then of course I would want to respond to that,” he said. “That’s just obvious for me.”

Brussels’ top prosecutor is angry. Last year, public prosecutor Julien Moinil demanded more resources to battle drug-related violence plaguing the Belgian capital. But those demands have “absolutely not” been taken seriously, Moinil said Friday, speaking in the aftermath of a new series of shootings. “I don’t see a reaction — no concrete help,” he continued. The Belgian capital witnessed a recent wave of violence across various municipalities, including an attack on a police station in Anderlecht and multiple shootings in Molenbeek and Saint-Gilles. “As you can see, this hellish streak, which has been going on for several years, continues,” Moinil said, adding that Brussels has already seen 69 gun-related incidents in 2026, against the 102 that took place in 2025. The incidents reported in Saint-Gilles were linked to a fight between two drug-trafficking gangs. Still, innocent citizens were caught in the crossfire, the prosecutor said: In one attack, clients of a pizzeria had to seek cover from the flying bullets.  Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is convening a meeting with the country’s security services Friday afternoon to discuss drug-related shootings, Le Soir reports. “Today, as a prosecutor, I am concerned for the citizens, since what I had pointed out — that anyone could get shot — has turned out to be true,” the prosecutor warned. Since 2025, the police have arrested 93 adults and 14 underage suspects; closed 350 stores; and seized 3,500 luxury cars — which traffickers like to tour Brussels in, according to Moinil — and several thousand users were penalized. By Thursday, the prosecutor’s office had also seized €203 million from criminals in the capital. “We are working tirelessly with limited resources, since I have not received any additional funding at all despite this crisis,” continued Moinil. He noted that the €10 million in extra resources he’d requested to step up his fight against drug violence was not “excessive” compared with the €203 million already seized. Moinil also called for stricter measures against undocumented and underage people involved in crimes, claiming undocumented people constituted a “cheap and easily available workforce” for drug gangs and warning of major gaps in enforcement. He also called for better resources to deal with drug addicts; bolstered resources for federal judicial police, which he said is grappling with a shortage of 80 investigators; and more international collaboration to target major gang leaders who he said are either in prison or abroad. “I can only hope that the fight [against drug crime], and efforts to strengthen that fight by political authorities, will proceed at a faster pace than the renovation of the Palais de Justice,” Moinil said.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to speak at an event in New York on Saturday.

Al Jazeera investigation reveals UK public money flowing to companies linked to Israeli settlements in occupied land.

Speech part of effort to strengthen National Rally party’s international ties before Marine Le Pen’s presidential bidThe French far-right leader Jordan Bardella is to give a speech at Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham next week, as he attempts to boost international ties before Marine Le Pen’s bid for the French presidency next spring.Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN), is high in the polls and she is predicted to reach the final round of the French presidential race in May. Continue reading...

Monarch’s death comes at turbulent time for royal family over association of crown princess with Jeffrey EpsteinKing Harald V of Norway, Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, has died aged 89, the royal palace in Oslo has announced. He was succeeded immediately by his son, King Haakon VIII.“It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald passed away today. King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University hospital on Friday 28 August at 6.35am,” the palace said in a statement. Continue reading...

Spanish prime minister accused of ‘putting on flip-flops’ while illegal border crossings remain unresolved

Indictment means pro-Palestinian activists could face tougher sentences if convicted of ‘malicious mischief’