The ruling Reform Party expects the speaker of the Riigikogu to take the lead in organizing discussions on the presidential election and believes the initiative in putting forward candidates should come primarily from the opposition.

A new survey on religion shows that traditional church‑based religiosity in Estonia is continuing to decline, and most Estonian residents do not consider themselves followers of any religion. The study also found that attitudes toward religion differ sharply between Estonians and Russian‑speaking residents.

The ruling Reform Party expects the speaker of the Riigikogu to take the lead in organizing discussions on the presidential election and believes the initiative in putting forward candidates should come primarily from the opposition.

Parliamentary parties will spend this week discussing ways to agree on a joint candidate in an effort to elect the president in the Riigikogu. Members of the European Parliament elected from Estonia believe reaching a consensus is possible.

A new survey on religion shows that traditional church‑based religiosity in Estonia is continuing to decline, and most Estonian residents do not consider themselves followers of any religion. The study also found that attitudes toward religion differ sharply between Estonians and Russian‑speaking residents.

Many women avoid traveling alone after dark and adjust their daily routines because of safety concerns. A recent master's thesis suggests that people's sense of safety is also shaped by whether others are present in public spaces and whether help is available if needed.

Monaco kortermajas sai esmaspäeval toimunud plahvatuses haavata kolm inimest, kelle hulgas teismeline, teatasid võimuesindajad.

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 1588. sõjapäeva sündmusi allolevas blogis.2026/ukraina-kalender 

The male suspect who has been arrested was in a custody dispute over his baby daughter, police say.

The Russian president acknowledged Ukraine's attacks were "obviously creating problems" but denied the shortages were "critical".

Three in five homes listed for sale since January remain on the market, says property portal Zoopla.

The Fire (Financially Independent, Retire Early) movement sees followers save as much as possible.

Ireland is set to spend more than three times as much as Cyprus and Denmark on its Presidency of the Council of the EU, with the estimated cost of chairing the bloc’s policy agenda between July 1 and Dec. 31 nearing €300 million. Almost half of the projected €293 million budget produced by Ireland’s public expenditure department — €125 million — is being allocated to policing and security, as the neutral country, long viewed as Europe’s defense blind spot, scrambles to ramp up security capacity for a series of high-profile visits. By contrast, Cyprus, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, expects costs to total about €95 million. Denmark, which preceded Cyprus in the six-month presidency rotation, spent an estimated €80 million. John Brady, an Irish lawmaker from the opposition Sinn Féin party and chair of Ireland’s public accounts committee, said the amount allocated by the government was “significantly more than recent presidencies in other countries” and something he would be monitoring closely. “The public deserves transparency and reassurance that the cost of Ireland’s EU Presidency will not become a runaway train.” Every six months, a different EU country takes the reins of the Council’s policy agenda, chairing meetings in Brussels and hosting a series of events and high-level political meetings in their own country. A meeting of the European Political Community in November will be the largest event of its kind ever held in Ireland, bringing together leaders from 47 European countries. Cyprus didn’t host an EPC event during its presidency. European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne played down the near €300 million budgeted figure for Ireland’s upcoming Council presidency. “We haven’t set it as high as that. The figure will be high … [but] we haven’t published a final figure really,” he said in an interview. A spokesperson for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said that Ireland is committed to resourcing and delivering a successful presidency of the Council of the EU, and is engaging in careful planning to manage costs and ensure value for money. The allocated funding will allow Ireland to deliver its policy priorities as well as an extensive program of presidency meetings and events, more than 250 of which will be held in Ireland, they added. Comparing costs Czechia’s independent audit office has studied the spending of 15 different countries during their Council presidencies. It noted that there is “limited comparability” of the available data, but concluded that the €84 million (2.033 billion Czech koruna) spent on Prague’s presidency in 2022 (around €95 million in today’s prices) was “just below average.” Ireland’s last presidency in 2013 was budgeted to cost €60 million (around €77 million today) excluding security costs. The actual expense was just over €40 million (around €51 million today) — although there was a focus on cost-saving at a time of austerity measures. While Ireland has provided a detailed public budget breakdown for its upcoming presidency, Cyprus and Denmark only gave POLITICO headline figures. According to an official from Cyprus’ presidency, granted anonymity to discuss internal figures, the country spent an estimated €68 million on operational expenses, including security, and €27 million on development projects and capital expenditure, mainly infrastructure. That figure could rise as costs shared between ministries are compiled in the coming weeks. The Danish foreign ministry said it hadn’t finalized figures, but estimates its presidency cost €57.7 million (432.5 million kroner) excluding security costs — specifying that this was a horizontal figure covering all government departments. Earlier estimates from the justice ministry put security costs at around €20 million (150 million kroner), bringing total outlays to around €80 million. Security in the spotlight Presidency events will include meetings between political leaders that entail greater security risks. Last year, during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Ireland, a handful of unmarked drones swarmed into Irish airspace, raising fresh questions about Dublin’s defense capabilities. Barely a week later, Ireland unveiled a €1.7 billion plan to beef up its defenses, including €19 million for counter-drone technology “as soon as possible, not least because of the upcoming European presidency.” Tom Clonan, an Irish senator, defense analyst and former Irish army captain, warned that budgeted costs could multiply if there are unplanned expenses due to a security incident like a cyberattack. “We’re manifestly not in a position to secure the environment, we don’t have any meaningful air, or maritime, or cyber defenses — we just don’t have them,” Clonan said. “Basically what’s happening is that Ireland has been caught with its pants down.” A spokesperson for the Irish police force, An Garda Síochána, said it has been preparing for the presidency since 2024, including by visiting other countries that recently held the presidency, and making a significant investment in counter-drone capability over the past 18 months. Ireland’s Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said in May he was satisfied that his police force has the capacity and capability to deal with threats during the Council presidency. Minister Byrne underlined that the presidency “will be secure.” “There may well be threats. There may well be incidents. I mean, we’ve seen them before in presidencies. So the question is, are we ready for them? … Yes, absolutely,” he told POLITICO.

PARIS — As Jordan Bardella edges closer to possibly replacing Marine Le Pen as France’s far-right presidential candidate, he is taking aim at one of her key economic promises. Le Pen has made the preservation of France’s generous pension system a major campaign issue, pledging to roll back President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms and keep the country’s legal retirement age at 62. Bardella has suggested that policy should be up for debate. Officials close to Bardella are now studying a plan to scrap a rule allowing individuals to retire on a full pension at 67, even if they haven’t paid in long enough to otherwise qualify, according to two National Rally party officials. Instead, workers would have to wait until they’ve contributed for 42 years, or opt to retire with a lower pension. The pension issue is sharpening tensions between Le Pen’s old guard, worried about losing the party’s working-class base, and officials close to Bardella who argue the party needs to boost its economic credibility and win over moderate voters worried about France’s crumbling finances. The split has become more urgent ahead of July 7, when an appeals court is due to decide whether to uphold Le Pen’s conviction for embezzling EU funds and the accompanying five-year ban on holding electoral office.  Le Pen has said that if she is unable to run, Bardella will be the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election. People participate in a demonstration about pensions, in Lyon, France on June 5, 2025. | Matthieu Delaty/Hans Lucas via AFP In the current system, French workers can claim a full state pension from age 62 and 9 months, rising gradually to 64 under Macron’s reform, if they have paid into the system long enough. Those who have not reached the required contribution period can still claim a full pension at 67.  Bardella’s allies argue that their proposal would make the system fairer by placing greater emphasis on how long people have paid in rather than on the age at which they retire. “Currently, the average length of contribution is 39 years,” said one of the National Rally officials. “Everybody knows the system is not viable.” The average length of contribution was 39.2 years for people born in 1950, according to government data. Dividing line Last month, Bardella caught some of Le Pen’s top lieutenants off guard by questioning whether retirement age should remain the party’s central measure of fairness on pensions.  “The retirement age means nothing,” he said on French television channel LCI. “To make the system much clearer and much fairer, we need to look at the number of years of contributions. That’s what matters. I think we’d be better off simplifying things and building a system that places greater emphasis on the length of contribution.” In both Le Pen’s and Bardella’s circles, pensions are seen as one of the most urgent questions to settle after the July 7 court ruling on Le Pen’s political future. The party is expected to unveil its full presidential platform in the fall.  “Pensions are sacred,” said National Rally MP Sébastien Chenu, a top Le Pen lieutenant, when pressed on Bardella’s comments earlier this month. “It’s something we built together.”  Last week, Le Pen herself weighed in, telling France Culture radio she wanted “a fair reform,” and that a legal retirement age of 62 was still part of that. But, she added, “there are injustices.” “Someone who started at age 30 pays into the system for 37 years, that’s not quite right,” she said, signaling an apparent openness on the issue of full pension age. One key question is who would be hit hardest by such a change. Data recently analyzed by researchers at the Public Policy Institute suggest it would affect primarily low-skilled workers whose careers have been interrupted by periods of unemployment and, to a lesser extent, executives and self-employed workers who entered the labor market late after extended studies.  

Paraguay produced arguably the greatest World Cup upset as Germany was defeated 4-3 on penalties in the last 32.

Search and rescue operations continue in Caracas, Venezuela nearly five days after the devastating double earthquakes.

Two people said to be in critical condition after CCTV shows man dropping backpack at residential building lobbyAn explosion in Monaco has triggered a police hunt for a man suspected of detonating a makeshift bomb that injured three people.The blast occurred on Monday evening in the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, French media reported. Continue reading...

Two sides agree to try to make bilateral relationship ‘more balanced’ after weeks of threatsThe EU and China have agreed to enter three months of talks to try to avoid a trade war over the bloc’s €360bn (£310bn) annual import/export imbalance.In their first joint statement in seven years, the two sides agreed in Brussels to open a formal trade consultation after weeks of threats and recriminations from China if the EU imposed any measures to stop the flood of goods and components into the bloc. Continue reading...

Government accepts proposal to appoint a national maternity and neonatal commissioner

FCA eases capital and disclosure requirements after complaints that incoming digital assets regime was too onerous