20.07.26 NEWS ... The 16th Pärnu Music Festival drew nearly 35,000 concertgoers and online viewers this year, with global talent, Estonian premieres and the renowned Järvi family of conductors.

20.07.26 OPINION ... Summer is probably the only season everyone wants to emerge from as a winner, notes Kaupo Meiel.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Although the Prosecutor's Office initially aimed to issue a procedural decision in June or July regarding the suspicion brought against Isamaa party, the complexity of the case has pushed the timeline back.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Tallinn is urging the Ministry of the Interior to update its funding model for vital statistics and population register services as workloads outpace current state funding.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Only after Russia's full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO became a "military machine," operating with the assumption that war could start at any moment, says outgoing Estonian ambassador to NATO Jüri Luik.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Estonia's eastern border will stay open as there is no immediate threat from Russia, although the country is prepared to close it if the situation changes, Minister of Interior Igor Taro (Eesti 200) said on Monday.

20.07.26 NEWS ... The Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs is set to introduce a series of new rules to curb minors' access to tobacco products, including limiting flavorings, raising fine rates and selling goods from abroad.

20.07.26 NEWS ... As summer evenings grow shorter, movie nights in Tallinn are moving outdoors, with screenings at Harjumägi, Ülemiste City and in Lasnamäe featuring classics and cult hits.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Many farmers have started harvesting winter barley. Yields are above average, but there are concerns about lodging in some areas and uneven ripening.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Hunters in Estonia are using drones to detect wild boar near pig farms in a new effort to curb the spread of African swine fever (ASF) back to domestic herds.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Eesti Kontsert and Vanemuine will present Richard Wagner's 1874 opera tetralogy "The Ring of the Nibelung" as a full staged production for the first time in Estonia at the Saaremaa Opera Days. This year, the first part of the cycle, "Das Rheingold," reached the stage.

20.07.26 NEWS ... While the Estonian Foreign Ministry has so far organized language camps for Estonian children living abroad, this year teenagers were sent to work for the first time. Young people who came from far away are very happy with this kind of Estonian summer.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Protected ospreys are nesting in Western Estonia again in a comeback ornithologists say reflects healthier rivers and successful habitat restoration efforts.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Tallinn plans to give its districts more freedom this winter to decorate their neighborhoods with holiday lighting, while the city will take responsibility for lighting major roads.

20.07.26 NEWS ... The first sections of Estonia's southeast border have been equipped with drone‑monitoring devices. The system is complex and uses several different technologies to detect unmanned aircraft.

20.07.26 NEWS ... Retailers have said plans to introduce a new fee for alcohol licenses would push up prices for consumers and may reduce the number of stores selling beer, wine and spirits.

19.07.26 NEWS ... Finland's Sami Pajari (Toyota) won Rally Estonia, marking his maiden World Rally Championship (WRC) win on the roads of South Estonia. Estonia's Robert Virves pushed himself to the limit to win the second-tier WRC2 class.

19.07.26 NEWS ... The annual Hiiu Folk festival began Friday, bringing music lovers to Estonia's second largest island for the weekend-long event.

19.07.26 NEWS ... The City of Tallinn is weighing the future of dilapidated Old Town properties, with a deputy mayor suggesting sales of some municipal buildings.

19.07.26 NEWS ... Estonia is to mark the 35th anniversary of the restoration of its independence on August 20 with a more extended program of celebrations than usual for the day.

19.07.26 NEWS ... Four people required emergency medical treatment after inhaling carbon monoxide at a spa center in Tallinn.

19.07.26 NEWS ... Estonia is getting beefed-up British forces from 2027, with 300 extra troops and drones with ranges of up to 250 kilometers, reflecting lessons from the Ukraine war.

19.07.26 NEWS ... A family of swans brought traffic to a standstill on a major Tallinn thoroughfare Friday, and first responders had to be called to deal with them safely, Maaleht reported.

18.07.26 NEWS ... Russia has imposed a blanket ban on freight transport by Estonia-registered trucks, extending restrictions to cover all categories of commercial cargo, news outlet newz.az reported.

18.07.26 NEWS ... Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi is to appear at this year's BBC Proms classical music festival next month.

18.07.26 NEWS ... Russia's Foreign Ministry has protested the removal of a Soviet monument which was located at a World War Two Red Army mass grave site in Valga County.

18.07.26 NEWS ... The great Estonia summer is in full swing and with people heading for the great outdoors, it is good timing for some summer myth-busting.

18.07.26 NEWS ... The ninth edition of the I Land Sound festival opened on Thursday, inviting visitors to reconnect with their inner child and bringing a feast of international acts to Saaremaa.

18.07.26 NEWS ... Interior Minister Igor Taro's (Eesti 200) recent inspection of the Internal Security Service (ISS) undermines the agency's independence, an opposition MP said.

18.07.26 NEWS ... A new exhibition in Tartu traces the 90-year history of a beloved Estonian lemonade, showcasing evolving bottle and label designs through some turbulent times.

18.07.26 NEWS ... Swedish crime author Carl-Johan Vallgren speaks with humor and ease, but his life has been anything but simple.

17.07.26 NEWS ... An Estonian-Finnish drama series about a 1980s double murder is one of seven projects to recieve funding from the Council of Europe's Pilot Programme for Series Co-Productions this year.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Although the world's major weather centers increasingly use artificial intelligence to improve forecasts, complex mathematical models and the value of forecasters' long experience have not disappeared, says Environmental Agency director Taimar Ala.

17.07.26 NEWS ... As of July 1, Hiiumaa Hospital provides only emergency maternity care because the hospital no longer has a pediatrician. Hospital board chair Agris Peedu says that the issue reflects Estonia's broader healthcare workforce shortage.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Unlike most of the European Union, Estonia's peak tourism season is primarily in July. Overall, Estonia does not rank among Europe's most popular tourist destinations

17.07.26 OPINION ... Estonia's leaders must understand that money does not ultimately come to the state from spreadsheets but from enterprise — and therefore the state's finances cannot be repaired without the economy, writes Mihhail Kõlvart.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Christopher Nolan's new epic "The Odyssey" won't be shown in its intended IMAX format in Estonia, as neither Cinamon nor Apollo cinemas currently have IMAX capability.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Fuel shortages in Russia caused by Ukraine's long-range strikes are expected to last for a long time and will likely impact the upcoming Duma elections and increase repression in the country, the Estonian Defense Forces' Intelligence Center has said.

17.07.26 NEWS ... A pedestrian died after being struck by a vehicle in the Mustamäe district of Tallinn on Thursday afternoon.

17.07.26 OPINION ... The first target for cuts should be the Ministry of Climate, which engages in outright foolishness such as turning healthy forests into wetlands, fighting packaging or imposing new bureaucratic rules, Aivar Kokk writes.

17.07.26 NEWS ... "Lihtsad uudised," meaning easy or simple news, is for anyone who wants to improve their Estonian language skills. Listen and read a selection of this week's news stories below.

17.07.26 NEWS ... The number of bears in Estonia continues to grow, a new report by the Environment Agency shows, while the number of foxes and roe deer has fallen.

17.07.26 NEWS ... The France‑based company Puidukoda has invested €1 million in its production facility in Näpi, Lääne‑Viru County. But Estonia's geopolitical location is making such investments increasingly difficult to attract.

17.07.26 NEWS ... The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) will not open an investigation into the Estonia National Opera's cast planner over reported corruption allegations, as no criminal offence was identified in her conduct.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Kristjan Prikk, Estonia's outgoing ambassador to the United States, considers Estonia's recognition and image in the U.S. remarkable given Estonia's population, economic size and distance from America. Even if many Americans do not know specific details about Estonia, they tend to associate it with something positive.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Estonian band and Eurovision entrants 5MIINUST is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week, and an exhibition marking the band's 10 years of activity has opened at the Estonian National Museum (ERM) in Tartu.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Swedbank's net profit in Estonia for the first six months of this year was €122 million, €6.2 million less than in the same period last year.

17.07.26 NEWS ... The Citizens' Hall (Tallinna Raekoda) on Tallinn's Town Hall Square will transform into an opera house in July and August for the seventh year in a row.

17.07.26 NEWS ... Around 300 additional British soldiers will be deployed to Estonia next year under a new bilateral cooperation plan signed by the two countries on Thursday.

16.07.26 NEWS ... A water sports center in Ida-Viru County wants to host international competitions in the future and is looking for interested people to help set up a new sports club and create a community.