The Estonian Olympic Committee is forming a panel to assess the viability of three cities' bids to host the planned national sports arena.

An exhibition exploring migration, identity, memory, and belonging has opened in Tallinn.

The three-day Lennart Meri Defense and Security Conference will take place in Tallinn from Friday, drawing top politicians and experts to the event. You can watch the discussions live on ERR News.

Current Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has been in office as a government minister for a total of 4,227 days, while Marko Mihkelson just became the longest-serving Riigikogu member over 23 years and six compositions of the parliament.

The government has approved new pet identification rules requiring dogs and cats to be microchipped and recorded in a nationwide registry.

The U.S. will not appeal the fraud conviction and lenient punishment of Estonian crypto millionaires Ivan Turõgin and Sergei Potapenko, allowing them to return to Estonia.

Naftahinnad tõusid reedel üle kolme protsendi, kui turud reageerisid USA presidendi Donald Trumpi avaldusele, et tema kannatus Iraani suhtes on katkemas, kirjutab Reuters.

15. mail algas e-PRIAs pindala- ja maaelu arengu loomapõhiste toetuste taotluste vastuvõtt. Taotlusi saab esitada 15. juunini.

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.

Analysts say the moves have been fuelled by concerns a Burnham-led government would increase government borrowing.

The regulator say the energy supplier breached licence conditions aimed at protecting customers in vulnerable situations.

CHIȘINĂU, Moldova — European governments have agreed to “clarify” how the European Convention on Human Rights applies in migration cases — in a bid to fend of populist attacks on the 75-year-old agreement. At a meeting in the Moldovan capital Chișinău on Friday, the 46 member countries of the Council of Europe published a declaration giving the green light to national courts to set a “high” bar for the application of some rights. It comes amid public debate in some European countries about the convention’s effect on deciding migration cases — and threats by some parties to withdraw. The new declaration, agreed by consensus at a session on Friday, warns that failure to address the concerns would “weaken public confidence in the Convention system.” One of the countries pushing for the change was the U.K. — where two major opposition parties, Reform UK and the Conservatives, have both said they will leave the ECHR if elected in 2029. Ahead of the meeting, U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the declaration would “ensure that immigration systems can’t be unfairly gamed to prevent foreign criminals or those accused of crimes abroad being lawfully returned” and “reflect the realities of today.” Speaking on the doorstep of the Chișinău summit, Cooper said the agreement was “an example of how the partnerships that we build abroad make us stronger at home.” The country’s chief legal adviser, Attorney General Richard Hermer, meanwhile said the clarification would ensure the convention “endures for another 75 years and beyond.” Hermer told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Chișinău meeting that the U.K.’s Labour government was “using our partnerships” with allies cross Europe to pursue Britain’s interests. “Contrast that with both Conservatives and Reform — who simply want to walk away from our allies,” he said. “They said, indeed hoped, that this Political Declaration wouldn’t happen because it undermines their argument – change is possible, as we have shown.” He added: “Leaving the ECHR — as both the Conservatives and Reform advocate — would not solve any of our challenges. “It would simply mean the U.K. joined Russia and Belarus as the two European countries outside of the Council of Europe, isolating us on the world stage and offering false promises to the British people.” Balancing act Key points in Friday’s declaration include a statement that the bar for something to be considered “inhuman or degrading treatment” under Article 3 should be “high and consistent.” It also notes that the Article 8 right to family life must be applied with the right “balance” struck between individual rights and “public interests.” The document states that it has been drafted with a view to “avoiding unnecessary constraints on decisions to extradite, or to expel foreign nationals.” The declaration does not change the wording of the actual Convention rights but seeks to influence their application through domestic courts and their interpretation by national governments. “Parties have the undeniable sovereign right to decide on and control foreign nationals’ entry into and residence in their territory,” the declaration says. “They have the right to establish their own immigration policies, potentially in the context of bilateral or regional co-operation, and pursue immigration control as a public interest. However, these rights must be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.” Alain Berset, secretary general of the Council of Europe, which oversees the treaty, said: “We have been able to bring together countries across Europe, with different views and experiences, to agree a common position on how the system should work best, notably in the challenging context of migration. “Looking ahead, this will help to guide our own work as well as that of national authorities and domestic courts.”

WARSAW — Poland, one of the closest U.S. allies in Europe, was blindsided by this week’s surprise decision from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to cancel the planned deployment of 4,000 American troops to the country.   The government is now scrambling to respond while insisting that the move doesn’t undermine the country’s security. The Polish-American alliance is “durable and lasting,” Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Friday. “Poland continues to be the most stable American ally in Europe.” Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski told the TVN24 news channel on Thursday evening: “The assurance we have received is that the Americans do not plan to systematically reduce the U.S. presence in Poland.” But there was no disguising that the U.S. move left Poland flat-footed. It wasn’t clear why Hegseth canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division — a decision made after the unit had begun preparations to depart for Europe. Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said the move was “not an unexpected, last-minute decision.” Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed anger and frustration with European allies for their failure to help with the Iran war, however, Hegseth has previously labeled Poland a “model ally” for its defense spending, which is the highest in NATO. Although Poland is deeply divided politically between the pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and nationalist and MAGA-aligned President Karol Nawrocki, there is a broad consensus that the presence of American troops is crucial to Poland’s defense against Russia. Kosiniak-Kamysz said he called both Tusk and Nawrocki after the news about the deployment broke. He also held a Thursday evening call with U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. forces in Europe as well as NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe. “We are in constant contact with the U.S. side,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said in the Polish parliament Thursday. “Poland is a steadfast ally that fulfills all its obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty. We spend nearly 5 percent of our GDP on defense.” Polish officials insisted that the canceled deployment doesn’t undermine the broader U.S. commitment to European defense. “I have no doubts about the U.S. guarantees to Poland,” Tomasz Siemoniak, a former defense minister now in charge of Poland’s intelligence agencies, told Polish television Friday. But U.S. actions are confusing Europe. Poland’s Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz looks on before the signing of the SAFE loan agreement between the European Union and Poland at the Chancellery of the Polish Prime Minister in Warsaw on May 8, 2026. | Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images The Pentagon earlier this month confirmed the U.S. will withdraw 5,000 troops from military bases in Germany, following through on a threat Trump made after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war. Trump has since gone on to warn that the Pentagon would be “cutting a lot further than 5,000.” Poland, along with Romania and the Baltic countries, is hoping to get some of the troops being withdrawn from Germany, although it is still unclear if they’ll stay in Europe or go home. Trump last week said  he “might” move U.S. troops to Poland. “I have a great relationship with the president,” he said, “so that’s possible.” However, Trump has also questioned the U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article 5 common defense pact and threatened to annex Greenland, a territory of alliance member Denmark. Oana Lungescu, a former NATO spokesperson and senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said that while it’s still uncertain whether the Polish deployment decision is linked to the German troop pullout, what she called “haphazard and uncoordinated decisions by the Trump administration” risk alienating European allies and encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It makes no sense for the U.S. to punish Poland, which is a poster-child for defense investment and largely supportive of American policies,” she said. Poland has about 500 U.S. troops stationed permanently in the country at the naval support facility in Redzikowo, which supports an American naval anti-ballistic missile system; at the headquarters of the 5th U.S. Army Corps in Poznań, which coordinates U.S. ground forces deployed around Europe; and at an armed forces garrison, which provides infrastructure support. In addition, as many as 10,000 U.S. soldiers rotate regularly through the country. The majority of Poles favor having a U.S. military base on their territory, according to recent polling, making it an outlier among other European nations. Polish governments have pushed for years to increase the number of U.S. troops in the country — making Hegseth’s decision such a surprise to Warsaw. Krzysztof Bosak, leader of the far-right opposition Confederation party, condemned what he called “internal chaos and a loss of credibility on the part of our most important ally,” telling Polish radio that the unexpected decision “doesn’t build credibility.” Despite those doubts, the government maintains that there is no crisis. “I would like to reassure everyone who is concerned. The number of U.S. troops in Poland is not decreasing. We are working to increase both the size and the operational capabilities of the U.S. forces stationed in Poland,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said. This article has been updated.

Finnish defence authorities scramble fighter jets; defence chief warns of more alarms as Russian war persists.

On May 15, Palestinians mark 78 years since the Nakba. The count of land Israel has taken keeps growing today.

The death toll included three children, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saidResponding to the new death toll from Russian attacks, Kyiv officials declared Friday a day of mourning, with national flags at half-mast across the city of 3 million, Reuters reported. All entertainments were cancelled or postponed.Residents brought flowers, stuffed animals and sweets to a makeshift memorial at the destroyed housing block, Reuters said. Continue reading...

Large-scale attack on Russian regions and huge oil refinery comes after 24 were killed when missile hit flats in KyivUkraine has launched a large-scale long-range drone attack targeting several regions in Russia including the huge Ryazan oil refinery, after three days of massive strikes by Moscow against Ukraine.Kyiv’s attack on Friday followed a series of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including on the capital, Kyiv, where a cruise missile hit an apartment block on Thursday, killing 24 people including three children. Continue reading...

Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch remains a wild card in May 22 vote for Dublin seat

Plus, crypto’s not money