Significant traffic changes are to affect Tallinn public transport, drivers and pedestrians this coming weekend as the city hosts the annual Ironman triathlon event.

Peep Männil, a wildlife expert at the Environmental Agency, says that estimating the numbers of large carnivores involves drones, trail cameras, tracking signs, observations and bioacoustics. No large wild animal in Estonia seeks out humans, he adds.

The new ruling coalition of the Pärnu city council passed a vote of no confidence in Mayor Kristel Voltenberg at its Monday session, even though she announced at the start of the meeting that she would resign. The council elected Siim Suursild (Isamaa) as the new mayor.

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise, who announced that she has agreed to run for president, will meet with the Riigikogu parliamentary groups on Monday to discuss her candidacy with MPs.

Dozens of kilograms of Lego bricks donated to an Estonian NGO are being eagerly embraced by girls in Kenya.

The Estonian Refugee Council has established an official presence in the Palestinian territories to expand its humanitarian assistance and livelihoods programmes.

Õiguskantsler Ülle Madise, kes teatas esmaspäeval oma kandidatuurist presidendi ametikohale, sõnas pressikonverentsil, et aastatepikkune kogemus õiguskantslerina teeb temast tugeva kandidaadi, kuid ei kavatse hakata veenma neid riigikogu liikmeid, kes talle seni toetust avaldanud ei ole.

Sellised on planetaarsed ühismõjud, mis saadavad meid kuupäevadel 17. – 23. august 2026. Loe lähemalt, mida nädal toob.

Moscow says nine people have been killed in the past 24 hours, while Kyiv reports four deaths.

Lev Schlosberg is found guilty of "discrediting" Russia's army - a verdict he condemns as punishment for his political position.

Firm wants to run up to 20 daily journeys to Europe but it must get additional approval for overseas tracks.

New research suggests staying put is costing British savers billions in missed interest every year.

Welcome to Day 2 of Canberra Playbook ESSENTIALS Party room meetings will progress the debate on gambling reform, while Taylor awaits a response on his NDIS ultimatum to the PM. Pat Conroy calls bullshit on AUKUS myths. The secessionist movement Canberra forgot to pay attention to. DRIVING THE DAY LETTERS AND LEVERAGE: Labor and the Coalition are poised to reach a deal on gambling reforms today after Communications Minister Anika Wells introduced an opt-out register for online advertising, the ABC reports. A list of amendments will be put to the full caucus and party room meetings this morning for final approval. Listening and preempting: “The government has listened carefully to the evidence presented during the recent Senate inquiry,” Wells said, ahead of the committee actually dropping its report. Technically the Labor-strong committee recommended the reforms pass, but pages of extra comments from the Greens and independent Sen. David Pocock expressed dissent, while the Coalition called for amendments. “The government’s reforms respond to these concerns by introducing new restrictions on inducement-based marketing and establishing the Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register, which will provide Australians with a ‘one-stop shop’ to opt out of seeing wagering advertising on online platforms,” Wells said. OK, JANE AUSTEN: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor aren’t just holding talks, they’re now exchanging letters. Taylor has written to Albanese to say the Coalition won’t support the government’s NDIS amendments until slated tax concessions for widows and divorcees are passed, The Australian reported. Given the “widow tax” amendment is open for public consultation until Aug. 21, no deal there means no NDIS deal this week. As we went to bed, the Treasurer wasn’t committing to a deal on the “widow tax.” Potential loser: Jenny McAllister, who had high hopes that the NDIS legislation would pass this week. A message from Amazon: Thousands of businesses in Australia sell on Amazon. Like Freshwater Farm, a family-run business on the NSW Mid-North Coast. After buying the farm, Allan Hutcherson and his family revived its native plants and turned the oils and honey into premium body care. Already well known in Australia, they wanted to make a splash overseas — and Amazon helped them reach customers in the US, where repeat customers have nearly doubled. Learn more about how businesses in Australia grow on Amazon. THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW PAT CONROY, MINISTER FOR DEFENSE INDUSTRIES AND PACIFIC ISLAND AFFAIRS Finn McHugh interviewed Conroy in his Canberra ministerial office. Explain the Pacific’s importance to national security for the average Australian. We are in a permanent state of contest with other countries in the region. What’s the deeper point of rugby league diplomacy? This is the first time in the history of the world a country’s used sporting diplomacy to this level. It’s essential in building people-to-people connections. It interlinks our countries at fundamental levels. I call it “PM Marape’s Nelson Mandela vision.” Marape sees this as one of the ways to uniting a very diverse country of 800 languages spoken across 1,000 tribes. We’re using every lever of statecraft to be the partner of choice. We’ve now got a league fan in Number 10. Is that a point of leverage? And is Andy Burnham coming to the World Cup in October? Well, I hope so. I have no idea. The northern English Rugby League heritage is incredibly powerful. So it’s a great opportunity. One of my greatest rugby league heroes is Adrian Morley. Barrow-in-Furness, where Britain builds its nuclear subs is facing an uphill battle just on ballistic submarines, let alone the new attack class. I think declarations of the death or struggles of the U.K. sovereign industry have been completely overblown. They’ve got challenges but now they’re scaling up massively. I was in Barrow in February 2023: they had 8,000 people in a shipyard. Now it’s 16,000. Do you expect the path on AUKUS to change at all under Burnham? No, it’s survived changes of government in all three countries. John Healey is a great friend of Australia, and having him as Chancellor is a great boon for us. Do you think the public understands that there might be multiple paths to what are our ultimate AUKUS goals? This is the most complex industrial undertaking this country’s ever attempted, and that’s going to be challenging. [In the U.K.] their plan is probably to have their first two AUKUS submarines come off the production lines before we get our first. So a lot of risk is being borne by them. What’s the biggest common misconception in the reporting of AUKUS? That somehow this is selling out our sovereignty. That’s absolute bullshit. We retain full sovereignty. I’m a descendant of Irish Catholics and recently you said, “They had a very different culture to our English Protestant jailers.” What do we need to remember about our history? Go back to the indigenous pre-European settlement, there were hundreds of tribes, hundreds of different cultures. The Irish convicts were the original boat people. It is what it is, and we’ve never been a monoculture. Read the full interview here. REQUIRED READING U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham engaged with messages from somebody impersonating one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers, Sam Blewett reports from London. CANBERRA MEETS WORLD CANBERRA VS. NORFOLK ISLAND Australia has an independence problem on its own Pacific island, but you’d never know it from the nonchalance of everyone representing the Islanders in Canberra. While the government won plaudits for its deft Pacific diplomacy, it can’t figure out how to manage less than 2,000 voters on Norfolk Island, writes Finn McHugh. Secessionists held an independent referendum Jan. 1, have set up a rival authority, and they’re taking their claim to the United Nations. The Infrastructure department says the Jan. 1 vote has “no basis in law.” The island’s administrator, Fiona McKergow, doesn’t want to talk to POLITICO, and not even the member of Parliament representing Norfolk Island is getting involved. Kristy McBain, the minister responsible, recently announced she hopes to “restore local democracy” through the imminent creation of the Norfolk Island Transition Assembly. CAN DAVID SMITH COUNT? OR WILL DAVID POCOCK DO IT FOR HIM? Smith holds the ruling Labor Party’s most marginal seat — Bean, which includes Norfolk Island, by just 700 votes. Norfolk Island has double that number of voters. Smith told Playbook he’s steering clear of the independence debate, but independent Sen. David Pocock — who backed Smith’s 2025 rival Jessie Price and would love nothing more than to supplant ACT Labor — visits the island annually, and is on-record to POLITICO providing a sympathetic ear to the disaffected. SPLIT SCREEN — SMITH AGITATES FOR MORE DEMOCRACY IN CANBERRA: Smith might be dampening down democracy demands on Norfolk Island, but he’s found time to develop reform ideas for the ACT. Smith wrote an op-ed for The Canberra Times, published Monday, reminding citizens that “being well served by an institution must never stop us asking whether it could serve us better.” What he said: ACT concentrating state and local governance in one Assembly exhibits patterns that “should concern anyone who values strong local democracy.” What Canberra heard: Oh no, not more politicians! What Norfolk Island heard: More democracy is good for Canberra, but not for Norfolk Island. FUN NORFOLK FACTS: Norfolk Island’s independent streak runs deep. Roughly a third of Norfolk Islanders are descendants from mutineers on the HMAS Bounty — the tale that spawned four Hollywood films starring giants Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson. You couldn’t make it up: One of Nigel Farage’s MPs, Andrew Rosindell, has offered to negotiate with Canberra on the islanders’ behalf, if called upon. DON’T MENTION THE MELONS! Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles will host his Japanese counterpart, Japan’s Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro at Parliament House over lunch. There’s a press conference: two questions total. Useful reading: Can Australia, Japan and the U.S. integrate their missile defense systems as our region gets more dangerous? The United States Studies Centre explains why they should. STATE OF THE NATION MILTON DICK, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE There’s too much attention on Anthony Albanese’s sprawling power base and not enough on Speaker Milton Dick’s cunning moves. Dick — easily the most popular figure in the building in Playbook’s assessment — has ambitions far beyond running one chamber in one Parliament. There is a factory line of democracy enthusiasts coming in and out of the Speaker’s Courtyard on any given day that Parliament sits, and he’s reinvigorating Parliamentary friendship groups covering dozens of countries. This week he’s teamed up with The Y to launch a National Youth Parliament and is also branching out into merch. The Parliament Gift Shop now stocks a range of onesie suits training Australia’s babies to aspire to one day be Speaker of the House or President of the Senate — the result of a joint lobbying effort with Senate President Sue Lines. At this rate we wouldn’t be surprised to learn if he has a reality TV deal in the works. New baby onesie suits on sale at the Australian Parliament gift shop that read “Future President of the Senate” and “Speaker of the House.” | Ryan Heath/POLITICO ON THE DL: Dick is discreetly running (not discreetly enough!) to become President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which is based in Switzerland. He won’t have to do any of the dirty work, like getting a tan sitting beside Lake Geneva or skiing in Davos at weekends — that’s for the full-time Secretary-General. If he wins, he’ll be more of a soothing therapist for the elite group of people tasked with keeping MPs in line, including the speakers of notable parliaments such as Afghanistan, Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Milton has a Nobel ring: Every parliamentary speaker gets a vote in the election — so hopefully our new Pacific allies will run up the numbers for Milton, and give him a shot at a Nobel: Nine IPU leaders have won the Nobel Peace Prize. EX-FILES: Former Speaker Tony Smith will oversee National Youth Parliament Question Time. Y NOW: Dick was bubbling with excitement when Playbook spoke to him Monday on his way to introduce Governor General Sam Mostyn to the students. “My vision is to bring in people who are less engaged. Kids in boater hats and ties are already engaged,” he said, unfussed at whether that might ruffle debate team feathers. The Youth Parliament has 150 school student representatives, one for each federal electorate. While the national project is Dick’s brainchild, every state has one. Labor Sen. Charlotte Walker is, at just 22, a very recent alum of the South Australian edition. A message from Amazon: QUESTION TIME CANBERRA GOES FULL SCHOOLYARD Question Time in the House started promisingly Monday, as MPs around the chamber lauded National Youth Parliament members watching proceedings. Dan Tehan, Manager of Opposition Business, went as far as to praise the “quite extraordinary” organization and cooperation the young visitors had sparked across the building. He suggested that if any MP were to be thrown out of the Chamber for bad behavior, capable and willing substitutes were waiting in the gallery. Almost like magic, Tehan (Xavier College) set about getting expelled. One could say there were 147 willing members of the playground punch-on. Exasperated House School Principal Milton Dick was left constantly interrupting proceedings, “Resume your seat!” … “Show some respect in this house” … “That is in direct defiance of what I just ordered!” … “That language is beneath the dignity of this house!” After Tehan urged Chris Bowen (St. Johns Park High School) to “cut the crap,” Head Prefect Zali Steggall (Queenswood School for Girls) urged Principal Dick to expel Tehan for setting a bad example to other students. Given one last chance, Tehan returned to the dispatch box to reframe the question: “Will the minister just cut the fecal matter.” He was, finally, ejected. Playbook noticed Nicolette Boele (Killara High) squeezing into the Opposition benches — camouflaged in head-to-toe blue — to pass notes to Alison Penfold (St. Clare’s High, Taree). Do either of you want to fess up to what was being discussed at length? HUMBLED BRAGG: Over in the Senate, Liberal Sen. Andrew Bragg (Notre Dame College) had a terrible day. Dogged by rumors he’d been given a wedgie by the Shadow Cabinet bullies behind the toilet block after his recent Press Club field trip, Bragg then got detention for a rude comment before class began. “Don’t talk back to me!” Senate School Principal Sue Lines snapped. At least he was on time … Late mark: Sen. David Shoebridge (James Ruse Agricultural High School) missed his question slot, forcing Green house captain Larissa Waters (Kelvin Grove State High School) to beg Mrs. Lines for a reprieve. QUESTIONS WITHOUT BEING NOTICED: When the Opposition isn’t busy getting thrown out of QT, it’s almost like the government is pushing them out by other means. In the House yesterday, Tony Burke (St. Patrick’s College, Strathfield) was nicer to One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce (Riverview) than Labor MPs were to any other member asking a question. Labor also focused their fake (Dorothy Dixer) questions around the themes where they see One Nation as being vulnerable, such as superannuation and paid parental leave. Given the government just chooses not to answer the substance of most Opposition questions, it must be a lonely 75 minutes each sitting day for them. EMBASSY ROW AWARDED: The hand of Pierre-André Imbert, recently France’s ambassador to Canberra, and from this month Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff, is detected in a new round of promotions and appointments to the Ordre du Mérite agricole, which is conspicuously heavy with Australian names. Queensland’s Romain Bapst is now a Chevalier Mérite Agricole (French Knight). Peter Gilmore is an Officer, and Knighthoods were awarded to Emmanuelle Bekkers, Shannon Bennett, Geraud Fabre, Gordes Frobenius, Alexandre Rougeot, Kirsten Tibballs, and Clement Demarais. IN TOWN: John Spellar, the U.K.’s Trade Envoy to Australia. ONLY IN AUSTRALIA WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE DFAT TOILETS: Playbook spoke to 19 diplomats and contractors, and the results are not pretty. For your own sake, we’re not printing all we’ve been told, and without a pass to the highly secure R.G. Casey Building it’s impossible to verify each report. But it’s clear that something’s up when the feedback falls into categories such as “truly disgusting,” “lack of personal responsibility” and “I actually hold it in until I get home rather than use them.” We hear that the bathrooms are in better shape in DFAT’s Civic outpost. But all this begs the question: If the government can’t maintain toilets at a prestige location on a lease that costs more than $20 million a year, and if the people in that building can’t be trusted with toilet brushes and paper: what else on the world stage do we need to worry about them handling? Do you know more? WhatsApp us on 0494 380 487 or email canberraplaybook@politico.com DEAR DOROTHY Should I tell on an MP if I see them letting their friend tailgate into the Parliament gym on the weekend? AFTER HOURS PLAYBOOK READER FEEDBACK Thank you for your messages about our exclusive story on how Paul Keating has been trying to sway Albo to soften his line on China. Our favorite reply: Memo to Keating: “Australian power can only ever be about working with other powers to leverage our own. The problem with Keating is that he just wants to delete U.S. and replace with China. Sucking up to a new superpower is not the solution when our interests are clearly not aligned.” We also noted frustration at how the Productivity Commission report on dividing GST Funds is being handled. The top reply: Memo to Roger Cook and Anthony Albanese: “Why are we not being smarter on the W.A. deal? There is a deal to be done. We know we need to electrify mining to become self-reliant, instead of being dependent on diesel. So why not help them future proof the mines with clean energy, with a tax credit, in exchange for more of the GST money being split with other states? All this can be done without bringing a gas tax into it!” SPEAKING OF THE WA DEAL: He might sit in a swanky Parisien office, but OECD chair Mathias Cormann still has one eye on Canberra. The former finance minister called into ABC radio to defend his “very important” sweetheart GST deal for his home state. How convenient: Asked about multiculturalism and One Nation’s rise, Cormann suddenly lost his courage for commentary: “I’m now in a non-partisan job … I’m just not going to get into that sort of party political commentary.” REQUIRED READING YOUR NACC NEEDS YOU: In the midst of its identity crisis, the National Anti-Corruption Commission is begging federal public sector staff to share anonymous feedback on corruption risks in order to inform its education and prevention work. (That’s a much bigger chunk of the work of the NACC and many integrity bodies than often recognized.) Submissions are open until Sept. 25 and public servants have already received an email with the survey link: Check your inbox! NACCKERED: NACC has received 222 referrals this financial year, has launched 19 preliminary investigations and has another 33 full-blown investigations underway. Nepotism and stationary fiends: Top corruption concerns captured in the last report included nepotism, fraud and undisclosed conflicts, but also a whopping 50,000 respondents pointing to petty crime within their organization, including theft, vandalism and intimidation. Playbook takes corruption seriously. If you know someone who’s stolen a pen or notebook recently, or if you want to provide us with your concerns, let us know on WhatsApp 0494 380 487 or canberraplaybook@politico.com. LOCAL CANBERRA COMMUNITY CORNER This is your place to share tips about life and drama in Canberra. WhatsApp 0494 380 487 or email canberraplaybook@politico.com SPARE A THOUGHT: Jason Koutsoukis, beloved press gallery veteran, Saturday Paper special correspondent, and husband of Berlin Playbook editor Ulrike Putz, has suffered two lost teeth and a broken hand after being attacked by a magpie while riding an e-scooter into Parliament. You should see the other guy. CITIZEN OF THE YEAR goes to Josh Martin, a 7NEWS press gallery reporter who tackled a man attacking shoppers in Dickson Woolies. The supermarket chain says the man had been responsible for nine earlier incidents at the supermarket. The modest Martin said his effort “probably wasn’t your standard rugby league tackle. It was more just to bring the guy down and not injure him.” EX-FILES: Tickets are still available to watch Alastair Campbell, former spin doctor for Tony Blair, in-conversation at The Canberra Theatre on Nov. 23. There are 10 tickets left if you want to join former PM Kevin Rudd at the annual Australian Institute of International Affairs ACT branch dinner on Sept. 9. MOVES, APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTIONS MEET THE ANTI-JULIE BISHOP, READY FOR CLEAN UP ON AISLE ANU: ICYMI, Gordon de Brouwer is the new Chancellor at the ANU. De Brouwer, who’s an alumnus of the university, has just finished up a gig as Australian Public Service Commissioner where he spent two years cleaning up after the unlawful robodebt scheme. He’s now been brought in to mop up at Australia’s national uni, which was at pains to point out in its announcement materials what a good, integrity-minded guy he was. Doyenne of Australian higher education journalism Julie Hare writes that he is the “polar opposite” of outgoing chancellor Bishop. Let’s see if Playbook readers can boost his 78 Instagram followers. Chris Gatenby has been sworn in as a Tasmanian Senator, replacing retiring Sen. Wendy Askew. Gatenby was previously a senior adviser to Jeremy Rockliff. David Turvey, Australian Tertiary Education Commission CEO, has been promoted to SES Band 3, Veterans’ Affairs. Debbie Arnold has been promoted to SES Band 2, First Assistant Secretary, Ministerial, Engagement & Communications. BIRTHDAYS Independent Sen. Lidia Thorpe, Global Strategic Communications Council’s Tim Nuthall turns 50, POLITICO’s Hanne Cokelaere, The AFR’s business reporter Zoe Samios, and senior writer Myriam Robin. It takes a village. Playbook is brought to you by a global team, today including editor Joe Schatz and producer Rachel Confetti, with thanks to Paul Karp and to Milton Dick for supplying us with so much content. If the Real Housewives ever build a Canberra franchise: we want you on it. A message from Amazon: Thousands of businesses in Australia sell on Amazon — helping turn local products into global brands. On the sun-drenched NSW Mid-North Coast, Allan Hutcherson runs Freshwater Farm, a family business that makes body and hair-care products. After buying the farm, the family revived its native plants and used the oils and honey to craft premium body care, including their signature Lemon Myrtle range. They were already well known in Australia, but wanted to make a splash overseas. Amazon helped them reach more customers in the US, where repeat customers have nearly doubled. And it stays a family affair: Allan, his wife, their kids and their grandkids all get their hands dirty on the farm.

LONDON — The personal mobile phone numbers of three U.K. Cabinet ministers — including Defense Secretary Wes Streeting — have been found published online alongside their names. The discovery comes after POLITICO reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham fell victim to a texting scam — engaging with messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, before becoming suspicious the contact was illegitimate and ending the conversation. After checking through a list of Cabinet members, POLITICO found three published on the web, for Streeting, Justice Secretary Alex Norris and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant. POLITICO is not pointing to where the numbers can be found to avoid further risking security. All three ministers declined to comment on the record. The reference to Streeting’s number online has since been deleted, and officials are working to remove the other two. Ministers are given secure government devices to conduct business for their briefs, in particular for high-risk roles like defense, and are expected to use those for non-personal comms. A government spokesperson said: “The government has robust procedures in place to ensure the security of sensitive information.” But Prerana Joshi, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, said that having direct numbers for Cabinet ministers in the public domain is a risk, warning that numbers could be spoofed and used to call others at a time when the U.K. is “in a high threat situation” globally. “In any civil space, if your number is exposed, a whole host of malign, nefarious or even opportunistic cyber criminals or cyber actors could get hold of it, and they have tactics,” Joshi said. ‘No significance’ Downing Street would not comment on the revelation that Burnham exchanged messages with the impersonator, citing “national security.” One person briefed on the communications said a “few messages” were exchanged after the PM entered No. 10 but insisted they were “of no significance.” It is unclear how the fraudster obtained Burnham’s number. POLITICO could not find it published online. British officials initially feared Wiles’ phone had been hacked again. But a White House official said: “This incident had nothing to do with the Chief of Staff’s devices being hacked.” It is not clear whether Burnham will change his phone number, as Boris Johnson did after the Popbitch newsletter revealed in 2021 that the then-prime minister’s details had been sitting online for years. ‘Full of traps’ The episode has sharpened questions over whether Burnham — who built his political brand on his informal style and being more approachable than other prime ministers — can carry on that way in No. 10. A former national security adviser, granted anonymity to speak frankly, said the prime minister needs to “get into the habit” of having his security staff verify that messages reaching him are authentic. National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell “could have phoned the White House in five minutes and checked whether Susie Wiles genuinely was texting the prime minister,” they said. “Being a domestic politician and going on listening tours around the U.K. is one thing, but when you engage in the international world, it’s full of traps and full of risks,” the former adviser added. “What starts off as a very informal chat can quickly get into some kind of business, and you could give away key details of an upcoming trip or the movements of Donald Trump,” they said. Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace — himself targeted by imposters posing as Ukraine’s prime minister in 2022 — said the incident “demonstrates our adversaries are always looking for weak points in our communications.” While Downing Street has said nothing significant was discussed in the exchanges between Burnham and the imposter, Wallace said “there is always a risk of kompromat” being obtained by hostile actors. As technology, such as AI voice cloning, improves, these sort of incidents are going to “happen more and more,” Wallace added. Others have urged Burnham not to change tack. Guto Harri, Johnson’s former director of communications, said: “It’s only a threat and it’s only an embarrassment if they give something away — and it doesn’t seem that he’s done anything like that.” Harri said it was “good to have someone big enough not to have his calls screened from everyone” as prime minister. “I don’t think it’s healthy that the civil service wants to control all access to the principal. If they had their way, nobody would be able to talk to a prime minister without going through them,” he said. “We can’t say that politicians are not living in the same world as us … and then moan about them speaking to people like a normal human being.” Harri conceded a new number might be a “good idea,” giving the prime minister a “clean slate.” Dan Bloom contributed to this report.

A boat has left Bristol as part of a wider campaign to break Israel’s blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.

At least 68 killed in eastern Indonesia as aftershocks and landslides hamper aid.

Operator granted UK track access for as many as 20 daily return trains to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030Business live – latest updatesVirgin Trains has been granted track access by the rail regulator to enable it to run services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030, in a key step towards breaking Eurostar’s monopoly on the cross-Channel passenger route.The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it had given approval for Richard Branson’s company to run as many as 20 daily return services using the High Speed 1 line that runs between London St Pancras and the Channel tunnel. Continue reading...

Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide droughtSuccessive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes. Continue reading...

Andrei Klepach dismissed after bleak remarks about economic toll of conflict

Boom-bust pattern could become ‘question of financial stability’ for euro area, central bank team writes in blog post