Latest Estonia News
news | ERR
Estonian MOD official: Ukraine's focus on attacking Russia's rear
Ukraine has shifted its focus to striking Russia's rear areas in an effort to disrupt its supply chains, said Gert Kaju, head of the defense readiness department at the Ministry of Defense.
news | ERR
Pärnu, Tallinn and Tartu all still in the running for planned new sports arena
The Estonian Olympic Committee is forming a panel to assess the viability of three cities' bids to host the planned national sports arena.
Politics | ERR
Watch live: Lennart Meri Defense and Security Conference 2026
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.
Politics | ERR
Pevkur and Mihkelson become longest-serving minister and MP, respectively
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.
Society | ERR
Microchipping dogs and cats made mandatory in Estonia
The government has approved new pet identification rules requiring dogs and cats to be microchipped and recorded in a nationwide registry.
Society | ERR
US prosecutors will not challenge Estonian crypto millionaires' conviction
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.
Postimees
Kinnisvaraekspert: kodukontor mõjutab järjest rohkem kinnisvara ostuotsuseid
Viimaste aastate jooksul on inimeste ootused kodule märgatavalt muutunud. Kui varem piisas paljude jaoks kompaktsest elamispinnast, siis nüüd peetakse üha olulisemaks võimalust eraldada töö tegemine ülejäänud kodusest elust.
Postimees
Iraani droonide hirmus: Araabias kerkivad naftahoidlate ümber hiiglaslikud metallist kaitsepuurid
Pärast tuhandeid Iraani drooni- ja raketirünnakuid, mis on riigi energiataristut laastanud, on Araabia Ühendemiraadid (AÜE) asunud oma strateegilisi objekte kaitsma ebatavalisel moel. Venemaa ja Ukraina sõjast eeskuju võttes ehitatakse nafta- ja gaasihoidlate ümber massiivseid metallkonstruktsioone, et ennetada droonitabamuste katastroofilisi tagajärgi.
BBC News
Ukraine rescuers pull dead from rubble of Kyiv flats after massive Russian strikes
Two children are among at least 16 killed in Ukraine's capital in massive Russian drone and missile attacks, officials say.
BBC News
Latvian PM resigns after row over stray Ukrainian drones
Drones bound for Russia crashed down in Latvia last week, prompting a political fallout.
BBC News
UK borrowing costs rise and pound falls as leadership drama continues
Analysts say the moves have been fuelled by concerns a Burnham-led government would increase government borrowing.
BBC News
British Gas pays £20m over prepayment meter force-fitting scandal
The regulator say the energy supplier breached licence conditions aimed at protecting customers in vulnerable situations.
POLITICO
Farage can’t block Labour’s mega solar farms, Reform energy chief admits
LONDON — Reform UK will not be able to block government-approved large-scale solar farms hated by local campaigners, the party has admitted. Richard Tice, energy spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s populist poll-leaders, has tried to channel frustration among some voters at Labour’s plans to back vast solar developments, as ministers rush to hit climate goals by the end of the decade. Super-sized solar farms are “so unfair” on local residents, Tice told parliament last May. “Those living in a village or small town in the countryside might all of a sudden find themselves surrounded not by glorious fields, but by black plastic. There is no justification for that, or fairness in it.” He regularly rails against “net-zero madness.” But now Tice has admitted to anti-solar groups he is powerless to block many of the projects on their way to development. Reform “must be honest” about the scale of the challenge opposition groups face, he said in an exchange of letters with local campaigners last month, seen by POLITICO. “I won’t mislead anyone: not every scheme currently in the pipeline can be stopped retrospectively under today’s rules,” he wrote to campaign groups. “When we say we will stop or delay these developments, we are not pretending we can magic them all away overnight from opposition,” he added. Tice was responding to an open letter organized by campaigners who had met with him and his colleague, Treasury Spokesperson Robert Jenrick, and had grown frustrated over Reform’s perceived failure to match their NIMBY rhetoric with action. “There remains growing concern about a potential gap between public statements and deliverable policy, particularly in relation to claims that developments might be ‘stopped,’ ‘delayed,’ or ‘quashed,’” campaigners told Tice in the letter. Reform constituencies are a key battleground for large-scale solar development. Jenrick is the MP for Newark, where two massive solar farms — One Earth and Great North Road — are proposed. Both await a decision from Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. For now, the party is “using every lever available” to block developments, including legal challenges, Tice said. This includes Reform-run local authorities Lincolnshire County Council and North Kesteven District Council, which have committed up to £500,000 in public funds to finance a potential judicial review against another development, Springwell Solar Farm. That project was approved by Miliband in April. Tice argued there are “excellent grounds” for a challenge, but the numbers are not on the party’s side. There have been 230 appeals against solar schemes by English councils since 2011, according to data provided by lobby group Solar Energy UK. Most — 125 — found in favor of developers. And since 2024, out of 27 challenges, all but one have gone the way of developers. David White, leader of the Say No to One Earth Solar Farm, who organized the letter sent to Tice, has asked Reform to spell out its approach to challenging new developments. White said: “Reform’s position has raised hopes among communities most affected by large-scale solar developments. … The key question now is what is actually deliverable — communities need clear, realistic answers, not just broad commitments.”
POLITICO
Europe ‘clarifies’ how human rights apply to migration
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 the declaration would help “guide our own work as well as that of national authorities and domestic courts.” He told POLITICO after the meeting: “What is seen as a migration concern in Denmark is not the same thing as what is seen as a migration issue in Italy, and it is not the same as what is seen as a migration issue in the Baltic states, with high grade threats at the border. “If we want to have productive discussions, if we want to make some progress, and not just to create frustration, we need to start like we like we did in the Council of Europe, addressing things together. “It is a movement. It is a dynamic. It will continue. I’m quite sure that we will have further discussions on migration. It is not the end, but we also demonstrated that it was possible to have productive discussion on this.” This story has been updated
Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
Health officials raise alarm over new Ebola outbreak in DR Congo
Concern is high regarding the potential spread of the virus amid a precarious security situation in the affected area.
Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
Finland ends drone alert amid regional fears of Ukraine war spillover
Finnish defence authorities scramble fighter jets; defence chief warns of more alarms as Russian war persists.
Europe | The Guardian
At least 24 killed in Kyiv in one of deadliest Russian attacks since start of war – Europe live
The death toll included three children, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saidGerman chancellor Friedrich Merz said he just spoke with the US president, Donald Trump, as he’s on his way back to Washington from China.In a post on X, he said:“I had a good phone call with @POTUS Donald Trump on his way back from China. We agree: Iran must come to the negotiating table now. It must open the strait of Hormuz. Tehran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Continue reading...
Europe | The Guardian
Ukraine attacks Russia with drones after suffering three days of massive strikes
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...
Europe
Britain’s padel boom attracts converts — and cowboys
Planning restrictions have served as a brake on faster growth for the sport
Europe
Irish gangster runs for former finance minister’s seat
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch remains a wild card in May 22 vote for Dublin seat