President Alar Karis called for the Balkan accession process to be sped up during a meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, saying the country had made significant progress towards joining the bloc.

Prominent Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov, who is taking part in the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, said many Russian émigrés in the West are against the war, but not all of them are prepared to support Ukraine.

President Alar Karis called for the Balkan accession process to be sped up during a meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, saying the country had made significant progress towards joining the bloc.

Varro Vooglaid's recent exit from the EKRE group means that the Riigikogu now has more unaffiliated or independent MPs than at any time before in the 21st century.

A court has sentenced a teacher in South Estonia to seven years' prison time after finding him guilty of pedophile offenses, Lõuna Postimees reported.

The Estonian Education Personnel Union (EHL) will demand during teachers' salary negotiations that the government fulfill its pre-election promises by raising teachers' minimum salary to 120 percent of the national average.

Rahvusvahelise korvpalliliidu (FIBA) Euroopa juhatus otsustas, et erinevalt paljudest teistest spordialaliitudest nemad veel Venemaa ja Valgevene koondiseid rahvusvahelistele turniiridele võistlema ei luba.

Läti kaitsejõud andsid täna varahommikul taas õhuhoiatuse, kirjutab lõunanaabrite uudisteportaal LSM. See saadeti Rēzekne, Ludza, Krāslava, Balvi ja Alūksne omavalitsustes.

Eight people were injured, four seriously, before passers-by gave chase and stopped the man.

Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee died while diving in the search-and-rescue operation, the Maldives government tells the BBC.

The government is cracking down on third parties who use bots to buy tests and resell them at inflated prices.

John Hammond is one of 30 parents who told BBC Your Voice they'd experienced problems with the CMS.

China’s commerce ministry said on Saturday that Beijing and Washington had struck a preliminary agreement to reduce some tariffs, and also confirmed agricultural and aircraft deals reached during U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing. The ministry’s statement came the day after Trump concluded a state visit to China for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump had indicated on Friday that tariffs were not discussed in his meetings with Xi. In a statement posted on its website Saturday, the commerce ministry in Beijing said the two ⁠sides had agreed to establish a trade council and an investment council. The trade council will seek to ​negotiate reciprocal tariff reductions on specific products, as well as broader cuts on unspecified goods including ​agricultural products, it said. “Through the trade council, the two sides will discuss issues such as tariff reductions on specific products, and they have agreed in principle to lower tariffs on products of respective concern on an equivalent scale,” the ministry said without providing further specifics. In addition, the two sides “agreed to promote two-way trade, including in agricultural products, through arrangements such as mutual tariff reductions on a range of products,” the ministry said. The two countries also “will resolve or make substantive progress toward resolving non-tariff barriers and market access issues involving some agricultural products,” according to the statement. In the aviation sector, the two sides “reached arrangements” concerning China’s purchase of aircraft from the U.S. and over U.S. guarantees for the supply of aircraft engines and related parts to China, the ministry said. Trump had announced earlier that China agreed to buy 200 Boeing aircraft as well as General Electric engines. Tariffs were a big issue going into last week’s summit in Beijing, but Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that the two sides did not talk about U.S. tariffs on imports from China. “We didn’t discuss tariffs,” Trump said. Trump and Xi may meet as many as four times this year as part of Washington’s efforts to stabilize U.S.-China relations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in January. Their next face-to-face encounter will be when Xi makes a state visit to the White House in September. 

The Republican Party is starting to splinter over support for Israel — and President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters are largely aligned with the embattled U.S. ally. New results from The POLITICO Poll find that self-identified “MAGA” Trump voters are more supportive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its relationship with the U.S. than those who don’t identify as MAGA but still voted for the president. Nearly half of MAGA Trump voters say they back Israel and approve of the actions of its current government, while just 29 percent of non-MAGA Trump voters say the same, according to the survey. A plurality of MAGA voters (41 percent) say Israel is justified in its military campaign in Gaza — compared with 31 percent of non-MAGA voters. And 24 percent of MAGA voters say the country was initially justified but has gone too far, compared with 31 percent of non-MAGA voters. MAGA voters are moderately supportive of Israel, and the survey suggests they remain more willing to stick with the longtime U.S. ally even as divides inside the party deepen. The emerging fractures carry significant implications for the future of the U.S.-Israel alliance and GOP efforts to keep together the coalition that powered Trump back to the White House in an unfavorable midterm election. Politics around the Middle East have rapidly changed in recent years. Support for Israel has long divided the Democratic Party, with some Democrats blaming the Biden administration’s approach to Gaza for costing them the White House in 2024. A 35 percent plurality of Americans who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris say Israel was initially justified in its actions in Gaza but has gone too far, while 27 percent say Israel’s military campaign in Gaza was never justified and 28 percent don’t know. Only 10 percent of Harris voters believe that Israel is still justified in its conduct of the Gaza war. That figure underscores the near-total loss of support among Democrats for a military campaign that drew significant support from the Biden administration. Republicans were powerfully unified in support of Israel in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. But amid the war with Iran and a growing unease about Trump’s foreign interventions, the country’s standing appears shaky among the non-MAGA wing of the GOP and among young conservatives. Non-MAGA voters are 10 points more likely than MAGA Trump voters to believe the Israeli government has too much influence over U.S. foreign policy, the survey conducted by Public First found. Some of those cracks have spilled into public view, with high-profile Republicans like Tucker Carlson, former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Steve Bannon all criticizing America’s close relationship with Israel, especially as the war in Iran escalates. Most Republican members of Congress, as well as conservative influencers like Laura Loomer and Ben Shapiro, have remained pro-Israel voices defending the president’s actions. “There is a sentiment right now within the Republican Party of, ‘America First,’ let’s get out of all of the conflicts in the world, let’s not be committed to those conflicts,” said Amnon Cavari, an associate professor at Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University in Israel. The poll reflects that dynamic, with a notable share of Trump 2024 voters — 29 percent — saying that the president has spent too much time focusing on international affairs instead of domestic issues. MAGA Trump voters are more tolerant of Trump’s global agenda, with just 19 percent complaining that he has spent too much time on international affairs. That figure doubles to 40 percent among non-MAGA Trump voters. The Israel issue is a particularly urgent flash point within the GOP coalition, but POLITICO’s polling shows a consistent gap between Trump voters who identify as “MAGA” and those who do not. That divide has shown up on views of Trump’s deportation campaign, the war in Iran and even his handling of economic concerns. Generational divides on Israel The POLITICO Poll finds sharp generational divides among Republicans on issues related to Israel, with the youngest Trump voters more likely than the oldest to express uneasiness over America’s relationship with Israel. Thirty-two percent of Trump voters below 35 say the U.S. is too closely aligned with Israel’s government, while 11 percent of Trump voters over 55 say the same. When asked whether the U.S. should distance itself from Israel — even when the two nations face common threats — or work closely with the longtime ally to fend against common threats, the generational divide holds. Nearly half of Trump voters ages 18 to 34 say there should be distance between the two countries, while just 13 percent of Trump voters over 55 say the same. James Fishback, a far-right 31-year-old Republican gubernatorial candidate in Florida who is highly critical of Israel and has gained traction among younger online “America First” voices, said the GOP is poised for a “massive reckoning” on the Middle Eastern nation, “the first of which we’re going to see this November, and in the primaries right before that.” “And then we’re set up for the ultimate proxy war on this Israel question in the [2028] Republican primary, and then in the general,” he said. “I just don’t see a staunchly pro-Israel candidate becoming the Republican nominee.” The generational divide in the GOP in many ways mirrors breaks within the Democratic Party, whose younger voters also hold stronger views against Israel’s influence and actions, driven in large part by the rising death toll and ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, polling shows. “The fact that [Israel has] lost support among young Democrats is not surprising,” said Cavari. “The fact that they are losing rapidly among young Republicans is especially alarming, and the trend is very clear.” The AIPAC factor The involvement of pro-Israel groups in competitive primaries has become a flashpoint on both sides of the aisle. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential advocacy group that aims to elect candidates in both parties who strongly support Israel, has faced backlash for its involvement in Democratic primaries in New Jersey and Illinois. AIPAC is also involved in Republican primaries, and some GOP voters are uneasy about its role. But AIPAC is also playing on the Republican side — and the GOP is beginning to split over it. The survey finds that MAGA Trump voters are 14 points more supportive of AIPAC’s political interventions than their counterparts in the coalition, while non-MAGA Trump voters are 11 points more likely to oppose AIPAC’s efforts. Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for AIPAC, said in a statement that “millions of Americans are members of AIPAC because they want to strengthen an alliance that advances America’s interests and values, and we will stay focused on building the largest possible bipartisan pro-Israel coalition in Congress.” AIPAC has bundled for several GOP incumbents, including Sens. John Cornyn in Texas and Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, who are both at risk of losing their seats. The group, along with the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund, has also poured millions into attempting to oust GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky, in part for opposing aid to Israel and attempting to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran and elsewhere. Even as AIPAC has become a dividing line among highly engaged voters in both parties, a 30 percent plurality of Americans have never heard of the organization or don’t know enough to share an opinion. “Polls will go up and down,” said Patrick Dorton, the spokesperson for AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project. “Obviously we’re in a post-Gaza, Iran war environment.” AIPAC’s electoral arm, Dorton said, will continue to be “substantive in making the case for the U.S.-Israel relationship.” About the survey This edition of the POLITICO Poll was conducted by Public First from April 11 to 14, surveying 2,035 U.S. adults online. Results were weighted by age, race, gender, geography and educational attainment. The overall margin of sampling error is ±2.2 percentage points. Smaller subgroups have higher margins of error.

Prime Minister Modi says his talks with the Dutch PM also focused on expanding cooperation in defence and security.

Opposition leaders hope to end Israel's isolation, even as they retain policies towards Palestinians that led to it.

Unlike its Nordic neighbours, finding a place in the Swedish capital to bada bastu is hard, with years-long waiting lists at member clubsThere is little doubt that Stockholm is a city of sauna-goers. All year round, from early morning to late into the night, the city’s residents can be seen emerging from wooden huts, a trail of woodsmoke coming from the chimney, and lowering themselves into the deep brackish waters of the Swedish capital’s shoreline.But, for locals and visitors alike, getting access to one of these saunas can be a bit like getting into the world’s most exclusive private members’ clubs: the most popular waterside venues have years-long waiting lists of thousands and when new places open up they disappear in minutes. While a proportion of spots are sometimes bookable to non-members, they are difficult to come by. Continue reading...

Man in 30s arrested over incident in Modena that left two seriously hurtEight people were injured, two seriously, on Saturday after a car rammed into a group of pedestrians in the northern Italian city of Modena.Police said the driver, in his 30s, had been arrested. He is also alleged to have attempted to stab a passerby who had tried to stop him from fleeing the scene. Continue reading...

Brussels’ proposed quota reduction could cost Kyiv up to €1bn in lost export revenue

Europe’s largest local authority has no leadership after the political scene fragmented in this month’s local elections