A wave of spa and spa hotel projects is spreading across Estonia's tourism and hospitality sectors as developers respond to cautious consumers and changing travel habits.

The sale of the assets of bankrupt dairy company E-Piim Tootmine began on Wednesday, with the company's production units in Paide, Põltsamaa and Järva-Jaani set to go up for public auction in August.

A failed bid by EKRE chair Martin Helme to appoint a political ally to a key post in Viljandi may cost a deputy mayor in that town her job, Sakala reported.

Opposition MPs from Isamaa have sent a letter to Interior Minister Igor Taro seeking clarification on how oversight of surveillance agencies is organized. Coalition MP Kalle Laanet also joined the inquiry.

A wave of spa and spa hotel projects is spreading across Estonia's tourism and hospitality sectors as developers respond to cautious consumers and changing travel habits.

Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) has proposed terminating its contract with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) to develop online courses for occupational health and safety specialists, citing significant differences between the parties' views on the scope and methodology of the courses.

MM-finaalturniiri avapäeva teises kohtumises lähevad Guadalajaras vastamisi Lõuna-Korea ja Tšehhi. Mäng algab Eesti aja järgi kell 5.00 ja selle kulgu saab jälgida käesolevas uudises.

1184 eKr – Kreeka teadlase Eratosthenese arvutuste järgi õnnestus täna Trooja piirajatel linna tungida ning linn maatasa põletada.

The Pope is appealing for a humane approach and respectful welcome for migrants seeking a better life.

Bruel was released from custody under judicial supervision while an examining magistrate looks more deeply into the case.

From trade wars to soaring ticket prices, the 2026 World Cup is unlike any before it. Faisal Islam explores what this tournament reveals about our changing global economy.

It is never easy to speak up when a fellow diner says "let's just divide it!"

Soon after President Donald Trump posted Thursday morning that he would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” leaders from Gulf and South Asian countries called the president in a last-ditch effort to change his mind. They assured him a preliminary agreement that paves the way for more detailed talks was, in fact, at hand. The calls, which have not been previously reported, came from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Pakistani defense chief Asim Munir, according to two administration officials and a diplomat briefed on the calls. Both were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic mediation. These countries have sway over Tehran and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump said Thursday, and their assurance that a deal was near led him to walk back his attack plans , according to one of the administration officials. The president announced on Truth Social that a deal could be signed as early as this weekend. “We just made a great settlement of the war in Iran and we’ll be subject to finalization of documents,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office later Thursday. “We should get done over the next few days.” The message from Iran was different. Iranian state media reported that Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, said that while large parts of the negotiating text have been finalized, Iran would not compromise on its red lines, Reuters reported. “Iran has not yet reached a final conclusion on an agreement,” he said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Still, U.S. and Arab officials were cautiously optimistic that Trump’s Thursday announcement portends an actual agreement, even as much stands in the way of a lasting resolution to the four-month conflict. What appears to be on the table is only an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade on the vital waterway, according to an Israeli official and a person briefed on the diplomacy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress last week that detailed nuclear discussions would take more time, with opening the Strait of Hormuz being a first step. Harder discussions over Iran’s nuclear program would come later. And it remains unclear whether Khamenei has signed off. U.S. officials have said he suffered significant injuries in the war’s first days and is hiding underground without access to technology out of fears of American and Israeli attacks. It has therefore taken several days for him to comment on proposals. Many diplomats were skeptical that Khamanei had actually agreed to anything. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” one Arab diplomat said. A person close to the White House said that the veracity of a deal will depend on who the Trump administration is negotiating with. “If it’s the political leadership in charge then it’s real. If it’s the IRGC, not so much,” said the person, granted anonymity to provide candid assessments of the talks, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The U.S. and Iran have passed proposals back and forth via Qatar and Pakistan in recent days, but Trump has grown increasingly frustrated and wondered aloud whether Iran was stringing him along. Then this week, the two sides started trading strikes again after Iran downed an American helicopter and Trump sought to further press Tehran to agree quickly to a deal. As part of the negotiations, the U.S. and Iran have discussed giving Tehran access to restricted funds held in Qatar and elsewhere that could total more than $16 billion, according to a European official and another person briefed on the talks granted anonymity to describe the contours of negotiations. The U.S. had previously deemed the assets usable by Iran for limited purchases but asked that banks stop their release in 2023 during the Israel-Hamas war. A U.S. nod could allow for workarounds that let Iran access the money without technically violating American sanctions or touching frozen funds. Rubio told Congress last week that the U.S. would not grant Iran any sanctions relief upfront to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That would only happen in follow on talks when Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program. But restarting the flow for limited purchases could satisfy Iran’s repeated demands for economic relief upfront before the two sides get into the more difficult work of negotiating over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s economy is in freefall, with inflation soaring and the government struggling to keep basic services running. Unlocking restricted assets could give Tehran something tangible to show its population while negotiations over the harder issues continue. Any deal is likely to face resistance from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who encouraged Trump in February to attack Iran over its refusal to accede to their nuclear demands. Trump and Netanyahu spoke about the emerging agreement on Thursday. “The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Donald Trump tried a new strategy this week for ending the war in Iran — bombing while negotiating peace. But he seems to have quickly abandoned that missile diplomacy. Four months into the war — with oil held hostage in the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran refusing to make key concessions on its nuclear program — the president upped the ante with two days of back-and forth air strikes with the country. He threatened to take “total control” of Iran’s oil industry on Thursday and then canceled the scheduled attacks — all before lunch ended in Washington. The administration insists both sides are still in a ceasefire and the U.S. has the upper hand. But the shifting strategy highlights the bind Trump is in to resolve the war when American airpower and an energy-choking naval blockade don’t compel Iran to back down. “The question is: You’re bombing what to get what at this point?” said a former Trump administration official. “It doesn’t seem like bombing and the types of bombing that they’re talking about necessarily aligns with making meaningful gains or creating such a position that Iran is so weakened that they will be forced to the table.” The reversal — from vows of a quick deal to language of all-out war and back to prospective peace — is a microcosm of a conflict that has led to higher gas prices and damaged Trump at home. The president and his top advisers have repeatedly declared the war over and a large nuclear deal in the works. “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved,” Trump wrote in a social media post Thursday announcing he would pull back on attacks that would have hit Iran “hard.” The Iranian regime has already weathered an unprecedented air war that killed much of its senior leadership, sank its navy and damaged Tehran’s defense manufacturing. And it’s found new leverage to squeeze the U.S. by threatening oil shipping. As far as negotiations for a peace deal go, the Iranians ”blame Trump for constantly asking for modifications and then modifying his own modifications,” said Ali Vaez, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit think tank focused on global conflicts, who has contacts in Tehran. Iran continues to threaten equal retaliation. Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, said Thursday on social media that Iranian troops will “defend every inch of the country’s soil.” He also warned U.S. allies that they will be in Iran’s crosshairs should they assist the U.S. with strikes. The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment. Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, announced that the U.S. and Iran could sign a deal as early as this weekend. “We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we’re going to be subject to finalization of documents, which should get done over the next few days,” he said, adding that Vice President JD Vance would attend a signing ceremony somewhere in Europe. Trump said he understood the Iranian supreme leader had agreed to a deal, although conceded the memorandum of understanding “is a little conceptual.” The president has declared an imminent deal multiple times since the start of the war on Feb. 28, and Iran has not confirmed this one. Republican lawmakers largely voice support for Trump’s efforts, even as they question the war’s end point. “The president has been incredibly patient on this matter,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said. “He’s given the Iranian regime, the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] every opportunity to resolve this appropriately. They have declined every opportunity he has given them. So we’ll see where this goes from here.” American defense officials, though, are starting to question how long the troops can remain. The U.S. retains a formidable presence in the region with fighter and bomber wings, two aircraft carriers and several destroyers that are enforcing a U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping through the strait. Thousands of Marines are still aboard ships in the Arabian Sea. “We’ve kept the assets in the region for months,” said a U.S. official, who like others, was granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. “They’re there and they’re ready, but those ships can’t stay forever.” And both analysts and officials doubt Trump would get what he wants by taking Iran’s Kharg Island, the key node for Tehran’s ability to ship oil through the Gulf. Trump, before canceling the Thursday strikes, threatened to take control of it. The Pentagon has had plans ready for seizing the island since the start of the war. But the operation would require ground troops to hold the terrain, further risking American lives in a deeply unpopular war. U.S. forces could use overwhelming firepower to control the island and its oil infrastructure, but remaining there for an extended period of time would leave them vulnerable, the official said. And destroying the export facility would serve no tactical purpose that the U.S. blockade of Iranian tankers isn’t already accomplishing, analysts said. Reducing Kharg to rubble would likely cause oil prices to rise even further. “We’re already blocking them,” said Jason Bennett, global projects leader for law firm Baker Botts. “I don’t see what we’d get by blowing it up other than convincing the international markets there’s no Iranian oil coming for five years. That’d be a long-term problem.” And Trump isn’t interested in making a case for all-out war as midterms approach, said a former administration official. He “doesn’t want to do what it takes to condition Americans,” the person said. “There is no political upside to Iran. You either do it because you believe it’s the right thing to do, which I do believe that he’s doing, or you don’t do it. There’s no scenario, none, zero, nada where you gain anything politically.” Ben Lefebvre, Leo Shane and Myah Ward contributed to this report.

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European Central Bank increases main deposit rate to 2.25%, with two further rises expected by next springBusiness live – latest updatesThe European Central Bank has raised interest rates for the first time since 2023 in response to higher inflation caused by the war in Iran.The ECB raised its main deposit rate from 2% to 2.25% in a move that financial markets expect to be the first of three rises by next spring. Continue reading...

Lawyers ask prosecutors to upgrade charges from manslaughter in light of text messages discussing fire riskLawyers for victims of the deadly New Year’s Eve fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana have formally asked prosecutors to upgrade the charges against the bar’s owners after text messages emerged discussing the danger.Forty-one people were killed and 115 injured in the blaze at Le Constellation bar, which investigators believe started in the basement when sparklers attached to champagne bottles were held too close to sound-insulating foam on the ceiling. Continue reading...

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