A recent audit has highlighted major problems in the Ministry of Defense's area of responsibility for the second year in a row. Defense agencies acknowledge the problems but do not see them as sufficient grounds for resignations.

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.

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.

A recent audit has highlighted major problems in the Ministry of Defense's area of responsibility for the second year in a row. Defense agencies acknowledge the problems but do not see them as sufficient grounds for resignations.

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.

Lockheed Martin esitles Patrioti süsteemile mõeldud uut püüdurraketti PAC-3 ACE kui odavat ja kiirelt toodetavat lahendust raketinappusele, kuid kulude vähendamiseks tehti olulisi järeleandmisi. Uue raketi puhul loobuti otsetabamusega hävitamise tehnoloogiast lihtsama mootori ja tavapärase lõhkepea kasuks. See tähendab, et tegemist pole imerelvaga, vaid pigem vanema mudeli kompromisslahendusega, mille masstootmine algab alles kümnendi lõpus.

Ees ootab üks suve tihedamaid ja meeleolukamaid nädalavahetusi. Augusti viimasest reedest – rahvasuus tuntud kui AVR – on saanud meie mitteametlik rahvuspüha ja suvelõpu kulminatsioon. Linnad on servast servani täis melu, kontserte ja sumedat augustiöist energiat.

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.

Kevin Warsh remarks suggest interest rates could be increased if policymakers think inflation is running too high.

Climate and artificial intelligence are set to feature prominently in Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address, according to two officials. Bjoern Seibert, the European Commission president’s powerful head of cabinet, discussed the likely themes of the speech with the other 26 commissioners’ chiefs of staff at their traditional post-summer meeting on Friday, held this year in Jodoigne, Wallonia. The gathering included a session dedicated to the Commission president’s Sept. 16 address, which is currently being drafted, where cabinet heads pitched Seibert their departments’ priorities for inclusion in the speech. During Friday’s discussion with the cabinet chiefs, Seibert linked the expected focus on climate to the damage caused by floods and wildfires over the summer, according to the two officials, who were briefed on the gathering. They were granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks. The climate focus comes as von der Leyen’s Commission tries to defend its 2040 emissions-cutting target while responding to mounting pressure from industry and national capitals to limit the economic cost of the green transition. The discussion also touched on how to present AI’s impact on jobs. Von der Leyen’s team has asked the Commission’s relevant policy units, in particular DG Connect, to provide fresh statistics for the speech on the number of jobs likely to be lost and created as AI adoption spreads, according to one of the officials. Seibert also raised migration as a likely topic in the address, referring to the crisis in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, according to one of the officials. The Commission is expected to revamp the mandate and operations of EU border agency Frontex, a third official said. The Commission president’s speech is expected to include references to social policy around the 10th anniversary of the European Pillar of Social Rights next year, alongside Ukraine and enlargement, according to one of the officials. But the topics have yet to be finalized. The meeting was the second major opportunity for commissioners to get their priorities name-checked, with their cabinets having already submitted two- to three-page pitches to Seibert. The Commission’s policy units, known as the directorates-general, also submitted documents outlining the topics they want von der Leyen to cover. For commissioners, even a fleeting reference in the State of the Union matters. A line in the speech can propel a policy file up the executive’s political pecking order, giving cabinets every incentive to fight for space. But with limited room in one of Brussels’ most closely watched speeches, not everyone will make the cut. Commissioners will get another opportunity to lobby von der Leyen when they gather for the traditional College seminar in Tervuren next week, marking the start of the new political season. “It will be the last chance for commissioners to catch her eye before the speech,” said one of the officials. The Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

KYIV — Before I go to sleep, I make a second bed — my air alert bed. When the chorus of sirens announcing a Russian attack howls behind my windows and jolts me out of my slumber, I’m trained to jump up and run to my hallway, where this other bed is waiting. There, I usually try to sleep and wait until the attack ends in the morning. Over the past two days, however, the alerts did not end at sunrise; they droned on into the day and the following night. It’s a nerve-wracking wailing, on top of explosions and the knowledge that your life is constantly under threat. Kyiv has survived more than 20 air raid alerts since Thursday night. Some were an hour long, while others lasted for up to 10 minutes. Indeed, every alert, as Russia continues its persistent destruction of millions of books, food warehouses and liquor factories, also means everything has to stop until we hear the words: “Air raid alert is over.” Dozens of trains are delayed, and businesses shut down and wait, losing customers and money. But “survivors must still go to work,” as we like to joke bitterly. People are still expected to commute, even though Kyiv’s subway has stopped running between the left and right banks of the River Dnipro. Sleep-deprived civilians need to walk for hours, squeeze themselves into buses, or get stuck in traffic on bridges, just to get to work and back home. Transport chaos overground means even more danger for people stuck in large groups all around the city. But our wartime economy, on which we need to rely more and more due to the slowing of foreign aid, cannot afford to stop. “The country’s defense spending is constantly growing, and this requires maximum mobilization of domestic resources,” said Hlib Vyshlinsky, the executive director of the Center for Economic Strategy think tank based in Kyiv. “The policy of zero tolerance for the risk to the life and health of civilians under constant missile and drone strikes becomes irrelevant, because the state is still not able to protect them at 100 percent.” As a Kyivan, I can tell you that this terror sends your mental stability into a spiral. And that is exactly why Russia keeps it going. “You think we are calling for some kinds of atrocities, while we are aiming to demoralize the public to such an extent that they come out with their little paws raised to meet our troops,” Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma Pyotr Tolstoy said this week. That cuts no ice in Kyiv. “Such statements by a Russian official calling for war crimes and demanding unbearable living conditions for civilians should lead to an ICC arrest warrant. As for ‘raised hands’ — the only reason to raise them is to give Tolstoy and his fellow war criminals the middle finger,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi responded. Of course, it’s not as if Ukraine isn’t giving Russia a taste of its own medicine. While peace negotiations have stalled, both sides have turned to total war tactics to the extent their capacity allows. While Ukraine has now also extended its targets from oil depots and military factories to bombing retail warehouses and energy facilities, Russia has embarked on a maximum escalation, attacking civilian housing, postal services, businesses, book and food warehouses — and that list covers only the past couple of days. In July, the U.N. recorded the highest mortality rates among civilians in Ukraine since March 2022. Russia also reports more civilian deaths caused by Ukrainian attacks, even though, unlike Moscow, Kyiv does not deliberately target civilians but aims to bring the war “where it came from.“ Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal best described the situation when talking to me about the attacks on the energy system last month: “It’s like the 12th round and each boxer hopes their rival will fall first.” While troops on the frontline are largely stuck, with neither side making much progress on the ground, it’s us, civilians, who are being targeted more and more frequently. Ukrainian military analyst Mykola Bielieskov called it “a mutual driving of each other into the Stone Age, with the hope to do it before the other side does.” While our soldiers hold the Russian army at the front line, it’s ordinary Ukrainians — with our mental fortitude, our ability to outlive yet another missile, our capacity to adapt and go to work to keep the economy running no matter what — who will eventually decide the outcome of this war, Vyshlinsky said. “As Mr. Tolstoy said, this is a tactic of deliberate exhaustion of civilians, pushing the rear to accept a war outcome unfavorable to the state,” Vyshlinsky added. So we must endure until the other fighter falls. And first, we need to wait for the best words that can boom from our loudspeakers: Air raid alert is over!

Kevin Warsh in speech underscores Fed's commitment to tackling inflation, with rate hikes possibly on horizon.

Healthy domestic demand, led by consumer spending and business investment, shows Canada was brushing off past tariffs.

Moscow recruits an estimated 1,000 people a day but western officials say it cannot keep up with casualty levelRussia is losing about 6,000 more troops in Ukraine each month than it can recruit, western officials have said.While Russia is still acquiring new battlefield recruits at speed, with an estimated rate of 1,000 a day, in the last two months even this has not been sufficient to replace those killed or injured. Continue reading...

Norwegians mourning King Harald V outside the Royal Palace in Oslo on Friday described the late monarch as a beloved grandfather figure who made all citizens feel at home. Mourners gathered to lay floral tributes after news of his death. Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, also paid tribute to King Harald, saying the 'entire nation is in mourning'. Harald's 53-year-old son will become Norway's new king, Haakon VIII, while Haakon's 22-year-old daughter, Ingrid Alexandra, becomes crown princessNorway’s King Harald dies aged 89 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’