BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Sony Ericsson Open women's singles results

Sony Ericsson Open women's singles third-round results on Sunday.

Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat 11-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-0, 6-1

Miamis jätkuva WTA Tour'i 3,77 miljoni dollari suuruse auhinnafondiga turniiri Sony Ericsson Open 3. ringi kohtumises alistas Kaia 50 minutiga 11. asetusega Šveitsi tennisisti Patty Schnyder'i 6-0 6-1.

The best of Baltic cruise bargains

The deal
You may have heard rumors that the Baltics are the next hot destination on European cruises. And it’s true! So true, in fact, that spring and summer sailings feature sky-rocketing prices few of us can afford. But we sifted through the current specials to this Northern European region and found a threesome of bargains you simply can’t skip. Sailings start as low as $1,299 and discounts run as high as 49 percent!

Baltic odyssey with Holland America
This summer, Holland America’s upscale Rotterdam sets sail on a 12-night Baltic odyssey. The regular price of this terrific cruise is $2,679 but CruisesOnly offers a deal for just $2,399. That saves you a substantial $280 ! Even the oceanview units on this August 21 departure are on sale, for $2,589. En route from London to Copenhagen, the ship calls in eight countries : England, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. Plus you’ll have an entire day at sea to explore all the deluxe bells and whistles of the elegant Rotterdam.

Helsinki-Tallinn rail tunnel link ?

Planning work is to start for a railway tunnel beneath the Gulf of Finland linking Helsinki and the Estonian capital Tallinn.

The mayors of Helsinki and Tallinn, Jussi Pajunen and Edgar Savisaar signed a letter of intent on a rail tunnel project on Friday.

The two agreed that in May both cities will apply for EU funding for preliminary studies of the scheme. Costs of an initial study are estimated at 500,000 to 800,000 euros. Each city itself will provide 100,000 euros.

A working group made up of deputy mayors and specialists is being established that will hold its first meeting in Helsinki at the start of April.

Pajunen : Depends on EU funding

Helsinki's Mayor Jussi Pajunen was not ready on Friday to speculate on a timetable for a rail tunnel construction project.

However, he did tell YLE that in such cases initial studies usually take about a year to complete. He said that he expects that a report will be finished no later than at the end of next year.

Pajunen added that a lot depends on how the EU responds to the application for funding.

Applications for enhancing administrative capacity were submitted for 118 million EEK

As of 14 March, a total of 118 million EEK had been applied for in the first call for proposals in the “fund of wise decisions” and the organisation development and internship programme. The projects will be funded from the European Union Structural Funds.

Within the framework of the “fund of wise decisions,” 71 preliminary applications were submitted by local government unit associations, representative organisations of non-governmental organisations, associations of undertakings, trade unions and ministries and other governmental institutions, and support was applied for in the amount of  91.3 million EEK. The projects help to enhance the capability of shaping and implementing state policies, and increase general cooperative capacity. Support was also applied for shaping policies for conducting required field studies and analyses.

Within the framework of the organisational development and internship programme submeasure, ministries and other governmental institutions, as well as local government units and associations thereof were eligible for support. Applications were submitted for projects aimed at enhancing the management and cooperative capacity of state institutions and local government units, and involved partners. All together, 77 applications were submitted. 54 applications were submitted to the submeasure for the development of organisations, and support in the amount of 23.4 million EEK was applied for. 23 applications were submitted to the internship programme submeasure, and 3.1 million EEK was applied for.

In April, the projects that will be supported will be identified after a conformity check and evaluation of applications.

More information on the application process can be found on the web page
www.avalikteenistus.ee/haldusmeede

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :
Head of Structural Fund Unit at the Department of Public Service of the State Chancellery
Urmo Merila 693 5467

_____________________________________
Valitsuse kommunikatsioonibüroo briifinguruum
http://www.valitsus.ee/brf/ 
press@riik.ee 

Husband attacked wife with stun gun

HUSBAND who attacked his wife with a stun gun after they split up was fined £660 today.

Marek Ilves held the weapon against his wife Jana's body and tried to give her an electric shock because he was upset about the separation.

When the stun gun failed to activate Ilves, 36, slapped his wife Jana in the face.

The couple, from Estonia, had been married for ten years and moved to the UK in 2005 but had separated a month before the attack, Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told.

Ilves had moved out of the family home in South Queensferry but arrived unannounced at 2.20pm on December 29 last year and was let in by their seven-year-old son and his wife's 11-year-old daughter.

He seized his wife by the arm as she came out of the bathroom wearing a dressing gown and argued about where the children were going to live.

Ilves, who works for a security company, then took the stun gun out of his pocket and pushed it into her side.

He left the house when his wife's daughter called the police but was detained later that night.
Ilves told officers he did not know the weapon was illegal in the UK and said it belonged to his wife who had brought it into the country and kept it in a cabinet in the house.

He pled guilty to assaulting his wife at Provost Milne Grove, South Queensferry, by seizing her by the arm, holding a stun gun against her body and attempting to discharge the weapon.

Ilves, of Greendale Park, Muirhouse, also admitted slapping her on the face.

Sheriff Noel McPartlin said: "What makes this assault serious was that you had in your possession during it a stun gun.

"However it is accepted that it was not used and ultimately there was no serious injury. There is no doubt it was a frightening attack."

Ross Gardner, defending the first offender, said he was regarded as "trustworthy" by his associates and had lived his life responsibly prior to the incident.

He added that it was unlikely the couple would be reconciled.

LOITS and MUST MISSA nominated for 'Metal/Punk' Estonian Music Award

LOITS' "Must Album" and MUST MISSA's "Martyr of Wrath" have been nominated in the "Metal/Punk Artist" category at this year's Estonian Music Awards (the Estonian Grammy equivalent), which will be held on April 1 at the Pärnu Concert House. LOITS will also perform at the event, which will be televised live on TV3 beginning at 8:30 p.m.

Watch excerpt from LOITS' DVD "Leegion Laval 12.01.07" :

Russia acknowledges 26 December 2007 violation of Finnish airspace

Russia has acknowledged a violation of Finnish airspace by a military transport aircraft off Porvoo on Boxing Day last year, the Finnish defence ministry said Wednesday.

The Tupolev 154 aircraft flew in Finnish airspace for about three minutes. A Finnish fighter intercepted the Russian aeroplane. Russia denied the incident at the time.

"The acknowledgement of the airspace violation went according to the standard procedure," said Jyrki Iivonen, director of public policy at the Finnish defence ministry.

Mr Iivonen added he did not regard the Boxing Day incident as serious.

"The situation was probably caused by the fact that the international airspace corridor is so narrow at the point in question. Russia, Estonia and Finland have recently discussed how similar incidents could be averted."

Russian aircraft have violated Estonian and Finnish airspace on numerous occasions in the current decade.

USD advances against EEK

The US dollar advanced against the Estonian kroon during Asian trading on Thursday. The pair added to its gains during the early European session and hit a high of 9.9431 by about 4:05 am ET. The pair closed yesterday's deals at 9.8690.

Latest report from the Estonia showed that the country's trade deficit narrowed to 3.15 billion kroons in January. The deficit totaled 4.08 billion kroons in December and 4.14 billion kroons in the prior year. Export value grew 4% from the previous year, while imports declined 4%.

Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates seeking solutions to Church in Estonia

Moscow - The Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates have expressed the hope to settle the problems of the Orthodox Church in Estonia.

"Both sides found it expedient to find a universal solution at negotiations," says a memorandum posted on the Moscow Patriarchate's website after the Zurich meeting of church delegations.

In particular, the solution will center on the "church's real estate in Estonia in line with the Zurich agreements of 1996," the website said.

The agreement reached between the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates in Zurich on April 22, 1996, said that all Orthodox believers would have equal property and other rights in Estonia. It also said that the believers were free to chose their leaders.

The prospective solution "will refer to the canonical status of the Constantinople and Moscow Patriarchates in Estonia," the website said.

The status of the so-called Estonian Autocephalous Church, which was established by the Constantinople Patriarchate in Estonia in 1996, despite the objections of the Russian Orthodox Church, forced the Moscow Patriarchate's delegation to leave the Ravenna meeting of the Joint Orthodox-Catholic Theological Commission in October 2007.

Estonia's trade deficit for January declines on higher exports

Estonia's trade deficit was 3.1 billion kroons in January 2008, a report published by Statistics Estonia said. Higher exports and lower imports were attributed as the primary reason for the drop in trade deficit for the month, which incidentally was the lowest in the past 12 months.

The overall trade deficit declined on account of increase in exports by 4% to 10.1 billion kroons and decline in imports by 4% to 13.2 billion kroons. The trade deficit to the EU nations declined to 3 billion kroons in January from 3.8 billion kroons in the previous year, while trade deficit with the CIS countries declined to 0.6 billion kroons from 1.6 billion kroons in the previous year.

Among the individual countries, Estonia registered trade surplus with Norway and Sweden while the country had trade deficits with Germany, Russia and Lithuania.

Exports to the EU countries, which make up for 75% of Estonia's exports, increased 1.1 billion kroons compared to the year ago period. Finland, Sweden and Latvia, accounting for 46% of the total exports of Estonia. The main export trading partners of Estonia were Finland, Sweden and Latvia, accounting for 46% of the total exports. Exports to the CIS countries constituted 10% of total exports.

However, imports to the EU countries constituted 79% of total imports increased to 272 million kroons compared to the previous year. The most important partners in imports were Finland, Germany and Sweden, accounting for 38% of the total imports. Imports to the CIS countries constituted 12% of the total imports.