Although young people's loneliness is often discussed in public, demographer Mark Gortfelder rejected that notion. According to him, while people are still forming partnerships at the same rate, the main problem lies in the instability of relationships.

Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur (Reform) expects the EDF to present possible options by the end of the week for how Estonia could contribute to the mission protecting the Strait of Hormuz.

Minister of Energy and the Environment Andres Sutt (Reform) has completed a new version of the Climate Resilient Economy Act and plans to seek principled approval for it at the government's cabinet meeting on Thursday. The coalition plans to pass the law before next year's elections.

A bill that would define sexual intercourse without consent as rape has been sent to its second reading by the Riigikogu Legal Affairs Committee after additional amendments were added to define consent.

Although young people's loneliness is often discussed in public, demographer Mark Gortfelder rejected that notion. According to him, while people are still forming partnerships at the same rate, the main problem lies in the instability of relationships.

The Riigikogu on Wednesday passed a law with 76 votes in favor requiring all conscripts entering compulsory military service to have at least B1-level proficiency in Estonian starting at the beginning of 2027.

Enam-vähem igal kevadel kerkib küsimus: kas Eesti korvpallimeistrivõistluste pronksiseeria peab tõesti kestma kolme võiduni? Tänavu on teema taas vägagi aktuaalne.

Saksamaa kergejõustikuliit teatas esimesed sportlased, kes osalevad augustis Birminghamis algavatel Euroopa meistrivõistlustel.

Six people have been killed after Zelensky warned of "more waves" of Russian strikes through Wednesday.

The ship, which set sail from Belfast on Friday, is at port in Bordeaux after 49 people fell ill from gastrointestinal illness.

Kevin Warsh was confirmed by the narrowest margin since the role required a Senate confirmation vote.

The travel operator says customers are delaying booking holidays over Iran war concerns.

As the world’s two most powerful leaders prepare to meet, the usual chorus of Republican warnings about the perils of dealing with Beijing has disappeared. The silence is a culmination of President Donald Trump’s stifling of GOP orthodoxy on China, which has washed away years of hawkish policy on everything from tech to defense. He has green-lighted the sale of advanced AI chips to Beijing, even as Congress warned about espionage risks. He signed off on a deal to allow Chinese-founded TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., despite intelligence concerns. And his National Defense Strategy abandoned tough rhetoric on China for a more conciliatory tone as the administration focuses on protecting the homeland. Now, as the president begins a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping — accompanied by tech executives, family members and Cabinet officials — Trump aims to make new deals on tech, trade and possibly even Taiwan. But senior Republicans inside the administration and on Capitol Hill have gone quiet, bowing to Trump’s vision for closer cooperation between once fierce rivals. “Donald Trump is the key dove,” said Dan Blumenthal, a former Defense Department official under George. W. Bush and U.S.-China Economic and Security Review commissioner. “He wants stability. He’s just very impressed with Chinese power and doesn’t believe that we’re in any position at the moment to win a strategic competition.” The shift from Trump’s first administration has been significant. The president, ahead of Wednesday’s summit, told reporters he would speak with Xi about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. That would repudiate longstanding American policy that has held across seven previous administrations — including the first Trump term — that the U.S. does not consult with Beijing on weapons transfers to Taipei. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hitched a last-second ride on Trump’s plane to Beijing, just months after the U.S. approved the company’s sales of H200 artificial intelligence chips to China. The move, lawmakers worry, could dent America’s lead in the AI race. Within the White House, voices that would have argued against those changes are gone. China hawks in Trump’s previous administration — from former national security adviser H.R. McMaster to John Bolton and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo — all had a seat at the table. They’ve been replaced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and White House AI adviser David Sacks, who have been quick to accommodate Trump’s newfound desire for deals with Beijing above all else. Sacks in particular has lobbied against bipartisan legislation pushing for tighter export controls on semiconductors. The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment. Still, there is a recognition within the upper echelons at the Pentagon that China remains the largest military threat facing the nation. “It is a pacing threat, precisely that,” said Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s top research and engineering official, at POLITICO’s Global Security summit, using a defense term that describes how an opponent — in this case China — helps set the pace for American strategy and weapons development. Michael, along with other Trump administration officials, has pressed for ways to counter Beijing, including efforts to reduce dependency on China’s supply of rare earths and drone technologies by backing American startups in those industries. And some lawmakers still remain wary of Trump’s moves. The president’s decision to approve sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, which was made a month following his last meeting with Xi in South Korea, was swiftly countered by a broad bipartisan push on Capitol Hill to limit exports of more advanced AI chips and expand congressional power over them. Several bills have advanced to the floor, but none has passed. Administration officials have since said none of those chips has actually been sold. And since Trump’s first term, China has constructed seven major artificial islands in the South China Sea, built the world’s largest Navy and established an arsenal of long-range missiles. “China was a main feature of the foreign policy of the first [Trump] administration,” said Ely Ratner, who led the Indo-Pacific Security Affairs office in the Pentagon under the Biden administration. “But the views within the administration are much more varied all around [in Trump’s second term]. All of this comes together to create this softer policy we see now, philosophically this group appears geared toward a more accommodationist approach to China.” Many of the GOP’s China hawks appear to be standing behind Trump, despite previous concerns. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who has been involved in bipartisan efforts to crack down on China’s access to advanced chips, said Wednesday he backed exporting some U.S. tech to Beijing. “If you can get into China and allow them some so that they’re using ours rather than creating their own, that gives us a technological advantage, even though they may be able to continue months behind us,” Rounds said in an interview. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who was part of a recent delegation visit to China, said he was “thrilled” that Huang would be in attendance. The CEO is “one of the greatest thought leaders” when it comes to chips, he said. “Jensen needs to be at the table.” But when Trump sits down with Xi, it may not matter who has counseled him. “The policy process is different with President Trump feeling much more confident, less willing to listen to his advisers,” said Blumenthal, the former Bush administration official. “There’s less input, and everybody who’s serving him knows that he’s going to make the decisions, particularly on China.”

PARIS — Team Brigitte is slapping back against allegations her relationship isn’t perfect. A person close to the First Lady, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, told POLITICO that Brigitte Macron “has categorically denied” allegations that her dust-up with her husband last year caught on camera was due to revelations of his purported relationship with an actress. The claim was made in a new book about the pair, “An (almost) perfect couple,” by Paris Match journalist Florian Tardif. Tardif writes in his book, which went on sale Wednesday, that Brigitte “lost her temper” while the two were on the plane in Vietnam after discovering by mistake a message on his phone from Iranian-French star Golshifteh Farahani. Speaking on RTL radio on Wednesday, Tardif alleged that President Macron maintained a “platonic relationship” with Farahani for several months. However, some exchanges — which Tardif said he was forwarded by people close to Macron — “went quite far,” the journalist said. Tardif said one message sent to Farahani said: “I find you very attractive.” Golshifteh Farahani attends the Grand Dîner du Louvre at Musee du Louvre on March 3, 2026 in Paris. | Aurore Marechal/Getty Images The Elysée, which initially called the reports of the slap fake news and later dismissed the incident as “horseplay,” has not given an official response. An individual close to the French president, also granted anonymity to discuss the matter, said Brigitte Macron’s team denies the allegations. President Macron himself said last year the ordeal had been blown out of proportion and he was “joking with [his] wife.” Still, however, the incident attracted much media attention worldwide. Even U.S. President Donald Trump joked about it last month. Farahani has previously shot down rumors of a relationship with Macron but has not publicly commented on the allegations in Tardif’s book.

The bill falls short, but vote shows cracks are growing in the Republican support for the US-Israel war on Iran.

Russia has launched a massive daytime drone barrage across Ukraine, killing at least six people.

Brand owner Mondelēz was accused of reducing weight of Alpine Milk bar from 100g to 90g without significantly altering the packagingMany chocolate lovers consider shrinkflation a serious crime – and they have been vindicated after a German court ruled that the makers of Milka cheated consumers by cutting the bar’s size, while keeping the wrapper the same.The three-week case in a regional court was brought by Hamburg’s consumer protection office. It accused the chocolate brand’s US owner Mondelēz of deceiving shoppers by cutting the weight of Milka’s classic Alpine Milk bar from 100g to 90g without significantly altering the distinctive purple packaging. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here:Streeting to resign and challenge Starmer, allies sayLibby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.An odd dispute of interpretation has emerged overnight between the Scottish and UK governments. Yesterday evening a Scottish government spokesperson announced that, during a call between first minister John Swinney and prime minister Kier Starmer, both parties agreed to meet face to face next month to discuss a referendum on independence.It is particularly welcome that the prime minister agreed to meet next month to discuss a referendum on independence.The PM committed to meeting to discussed shared issues including the cost of living.As the PM told the first minister, the manifesto this government was elected on was unambiguous that ‘Labour does not support independence or another referendum’. Our position remains unchanged.We, in Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, had a devastating set of election results and we were simply unable to articulate our offering, or indeed critique, of the SNP government because of the noise created at the centre.Therefore, we became, and the prime minister became, the inadvertent midwife of a fifth-term SNP government. And that scenario you saw then, people waiting for a speech to try and articulate his new direction, a strategy, and it simply was not forthcoming.This is not one faction of the Labour party. This is about the Labour party articulating, I think, now a commonly held view that this is unsustainable and unstable. Continue reading...

Fast-growing market comes under greater scrutiny for potential risks after series of setbacks

Study suggests Neanderthals had cognitive ability, dexterity and social support comparable with modern humans