Although young people's loneliness is often discussed in public, demographer Mark Gortfelder rejected that notion. According to him, while people are still forming partnerships at the same rate, the main problem lies in the instability of relationships.

Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur (Reform) expects the EDF to present possible options by the end of the week for how Estonia could contribute to the mission protecting the Strait of Hormuz.

Minister of Energy and the Environment Andres Sutt (Reform) has completed a new version of the Climate Resilient Economy Act and plans to seek principled approval for it at the government's cabinet meeting on Thursday. The coalition plans to pass the law before next year's elections.

A bill that would define sexual intercourse without consent as rape has been sent to its second reading by the Riigikogu Legal Affairs Committee after additional amendments were added to define consent.

Although young people's loneliness is often discussed in public, demographer Mark Gortfelder rejected that notion. According to him, while people are still forming partnerships at the same rate, the main problem lies in the instability of relationships.

The Riigikogu on Wednesday passed a law with 76 votes in favor requiring all conscripts entering compulsory military service to have at least B1-level proficiency in Estonian starting at the beginning of 2027.

NATO juht Mark Rutte kutsus liitlasi üles eraldama Ukrainale 0,25 protsenti sisemajanduse koguproduktist (SKP), kui püüdis leevendada alliansi sees kasvavaid pingeid seoses Kiievile antava abiga, kirjutas kolmapäeval väljaanne Politico, mida vahendas uudisteagentuur Unian.

2022. aasta 24. veebruaril alustas Venemaa režiimi juht Vladimir Putin sissetungi Ukrainasse. Pärast seda, kui Ukraina lõi tagasi pealetungi Kiievile, on lahingute kese kandunud Ida- ja Lõuna-Ukrainasse. Postimees kajastab 1541. sõjapäeva sündmusi allolevas blogis.2026/ukraina-kalender 

Six people have been killed after Zelensky warned of "more waves" of Russian strikes through Wednesday.

Passengers on the ship showing no symptoms are allowed to leave, authorities say, after 49 people fell ill from gastrointestinal sickness.

Flying by air will get more expensive as oil prices remain high after the US and Israel's conflict with Iran.

Kevin Warsh was confirmed by the narrowest margin since the role required a Senate confirmation vote.

BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission structure is proving a headache for green and equality advocates, who say industry has a smoother path to lobbying the institution. With many portfolios split among commissioners, it’s increasingly difficult to reach the right person to try to shape legislation, the advocates told POLITICO’s EU Influence newsletter. Lobbyists of all kinds are also concerned about the top-down nature of the von der Leyen Commission, where power tends to be concentrated in the hands of the president and her close advisers. The changes at the top of the Commission, introduced when von der Leyen started her second term in December 2024, reflect a broader political shift away from environmental topics — the Green Deal having been a key part of her first term — toward business and defense. The Commission now has its first commissioner dedicated to defense issues, while many European governments have shifted to the political right. As a result, said Sven Harmeling, head of climate at civil society organization CAN Europe, “sometimes it’s not clear which DGs [directorates-general, or departments] are involved,” which “creates challenges in terms of understanding where some of the discussions are.” One Brussels-based consultant who represents corporate clients, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: “I think the structure [problem] is a Green Deal issue” rather than one that affects industry or other areas, adding that in their specialist area of health, “things have not changed that much.” Asked about Internal Market Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné’s meetings with businesses, a member of his team said bluntly: “The fact that the commissioner in charge of the industry is meeting primarily the industry representatives seems a bit self-explanatory.” Who you gonna call? The structure that von der Leyen put in place when she secured a second term atop the Commission has six executive vice presidents, who are meant to coordinate and oversee the work of other commissioners (under EU law, all commissioners are supposed to be equal). In von der Leyen’s first term it was fairly obvious whom to approach if your focus was climate: Green Deal architect Frans Timmermans and his team. Now, according to Mike Walker, a lobbyist working mainly on climate issues, it’s more ambiguous: Timmermans’ successor, EVP Teresa Ribera, is also responsible for competition policy. Walker said the “structural ambiguity” of the College of Commissioners makes “targeted advocacy with limited resources a challenge for civil society.” One example of this was the omnibus simplification proposal, which “basically cut off a lot of the normal consultation procedures,” Walker said. He added that the consultations “were rushed” and were “often only [conducted] with a very select group of stakeholders” — befitting a political climate in which green policies have been superseded by competitiveness and security. EU Executive Vice President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera gives an interview in Brussels on Jan. 30, 2026. | Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images Walker said the problem was likely “aggravated by the clear focus of decision-making on VDL and her team.” In September 2024, in unveiling her new team, von der Leyen said she was ridding the Commission of “former relatively rigid stovepipes,” making the institution less hierarchical. She claimed it would promote cooperation between commissioners and their civil servants, and give them an “equal responsibility” to deliver on their priorities. But there was concern that the new structure would allow von der Leyen to divide and conquer.  “I don’t think that is a bug but a feature in the system of the new college,” German MEP René Repasi said of von der Leyen’s strategy. It’s a pattern that Greenpeace’s farming lead, Marco Contiero, has noted as well. “Decisions within the Commission happen in a much more vertical way, even compared to von der Leyen I,” he said. “The amount of people involved has shrunk, and I have staff in the cabinet of commissioners, as well as high-level functionaries and directors, not knowing what’s coming.” The consultant who represents corporate clients agreed, saying: “It seems that a lot of decisions are taken at a higher level.” “If you want something done it might be easier to set the political direction, or get things overturned or pushed, at a political level versus services,” the consultant continued, referring to a commissioner’s close advisers versus departments in the EU executive. ‘Scaled-down on equality’ The commissioner for preparedness and equality, Hadja Lahbib, has frustrated activists working in human rights, who say her attention is captured more frequently by the other part of her portfolio. “The Commission has scaled down totally on equality,” said Alejandro Moledo of the European Disability Forum. It’s become a “second-class objective.”   While Lahbib has come out with plenty of strategies, they haven’t received glowing reviews. Her LGBTQ+ blueprint “clearly falls behind the ambition” of the previous one, according to advocacy group ILGA-Europe. Her anti-racism program was a “missed opportunity” that “recycl[ed] old approaches,” according to anti-racism network ENAR. And her gender equality strategy was full of “empty promises leaving the most marginalized at the margins,” which Mental Health Europe branded “another missed opportunity.”  An EU official, granted anonymity to speak freely, said while the commissioner has a “broad” portfolio, her commitment is “clear and consistent,” adding: “She is personally dedicated to advancing equality.”  Lahbib has “consistently engaged with a wide range of stakeholders,” the official said, pointing to an implementation dialogue on Roma inclusion, a youth policy dialogue on disability rights, and a trip to Budapest last year to meet stakeholders and to “demonstrate that the EU stands firmly with” the LGBTQ+ community. The European Commission did not respond to a request for comment.

LONDON — Keir Starmer has failed so badly in his first two years as prime minister that his Labour Party is now widely seen as unelectable, no matter who ends up leading it. That is the brutal assessment from The POLITICO Poll run by Public First, which questioned more than 2,000 people across the U.K. after last week’s local elections. With the British prime minister clinging onto his job by a thread, only 6 percent of respondents said Labour had changed the country for the better as much as they’d hoped. While 31 percent thought Starmer and his team had changed the country in the right way, “but not enough,” more than half — 56 percent — said Labour has either not changed anything since winning power in 2024 or changed the country for the worse. And a similar proportion — 53 percent — said Labour has no realistic chance of being re-elected whenever the next election comes.  !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

Families of 10 Pakistani crew members taken hostage by Somali pirates have rallied in Karachi to demand their release.

Trump and Xi's summit comes at a crucial moment for the global economy, as the war on Iran continues to disrupt trade.

Brand owner Mondelēz was accused of reducing weight of Alpine Milk bar from 100g to 90g without significantly altering the packagingMany chocolate lovers consider shrinkflation a serious crime – and they have been vindicated after a German court ruled that the makers of Milka cheated consumers by cutting the bar’s size, while keeping the wrapper the same.The three-week case in a regional court was brought by Hamburg’s consumer protection office. It accused the chocolate brand’s US owner Mondelēz of deceiving shoppers by cutting the weight of Milka’s classic Alpine Milk bar from 100g to 90g without significantly altering the distinctive purple packaging. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here:Streeting to resign and challenge Starmer, allies sayLibby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.An odd dispute of interpretation has emerged overnight between the Scottish and UK governments. Yesterday evening a Scottish government spokesperson announced that, during a call between first minister John Swinney and prime minister Kier Starmer, both parties agreed to meet face to face next month to discuss a referendum on independence.It is particularly welcome that the prime minister agreed to meet next month to discuss a referendum on independence.The PM committed to meeting to discussed shared issues including the cost of living.As the PM told the first minister, the manifesto this government was elected on was unambiguous that ‘Labour does not support independence or another referendum’. Our position remains unchanged.We, in Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, had a devastating set of election results and we were simply unable to articulate our offering, or indeed critique, of the SNP government because of the noise created at the centre.Therefore, we became, and the prime minister became, the inadvertent midwife of a fifth-term SNP government. And that scenario you saw then, people waiting for a speech to try and articulate his new direction, a strategy, and it simply was not forthcoming.This is not one faction of the Labour party. This is about the Labour party articulating, I think, now a commonly held view that this is unsustainable and unstable. Continue reading...

Fast-growing market comes under greater scrutiny for potential risks after series of setbacks

Study suggests Neanderthals had cognitive ability, dexterity and social support comparable with modern humans