BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Surprise visit reveals abuse at school

By Vincent Freeman

TALLINN - A surprise visit to a correctional facility for children has unveiled widespread malpractice and child abuse. The discovery prompted Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder to label the facility a “hotbed of criminal activity.” “That an educational institution is managed in such a manner is a disgrace to our entire country. An institution like this can be described not as offering education and social rehabilitation but as a hotbed of criminal activity,” the chancellor said.

3 fishermen found dead off Estonia's south west coast

TALLINN - Estonian news agency BNS says three fishermen have been found drowned near their capsized boat off the southwestern coast of Estonia.
The agency says border guards found the men and their boat between the islands of Abruka and Vahase late Saturday.
BNS says the guards started searching for the fishermen after they failed to arrive at their destination at the island of Osel.

The cause of the accident was unknown.

Estonia mulls buying 122mm artillery from Finland

Estonian daily Eesti Päevaleht reported Monday that the country's military was considering buying Soviet-made 122mm gun-howitzers from Finland.

Earlier this year, Finland offered the towed artillery pieces to Estonia for a keen price.

Baltic News Service (BNS) quoted the Estonian defence ministry as saying that the procurement was meant specifically for the purchase of the howitzers from Finland and excluded offers from Nato countries.

"It is about money. Of course every member of the artillery forces dreams of modern self-propelled devices, but Estonia's limited resources do not allow to buy them. Even the modern and light 105mm units are very expensive," BNS quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.

The guns in question were built for East Germany in the 1960s and 1970s and later sold to Finland.

Pro-Russian parties unite in Estonia

TALLINN - The Russian Constitutional Party of Estonia   and  the  Left-wing  Party  of  Estonia  signed  a  treaty  of association on Monday.

     Sergei  Jurgens,  chairman  of  the Russian Constitutional Party of Estonia, said the new party will be called the United Left-Wing Party of Estonia.

     "After  the treaty is signed, it will be approved at the congresses of both  political organizations and at the association congress on June 28," Jurgens said.

     Among the objectives of the new party will be the protection of the rights of  ethnic  minorities and representation of the interests of the Russian-speaking population.

     "Because  the  Left-wing  Party  of  Estonia is a co-founder of the European  Left-wing  Party, all documents were developed with regard for the program of the European Left-wing Party," Jurgens said.

     "The United Left-wing Party intends to expand its representation of the local self-government bodies in the municipal elections scheduled to take place next year," Jurgens said.

     The Constitutional Party of Estonia (formerly United People's party of Estonia)  was  represented in the parliament before the most recently parliamentary elections, but failed to make the 5% barrier, getting just a little  more  than  11%  of  the  votes. The Left-wing Party, which is composed of mainly Estonian-speaking people, received 0.1% of the votes.

The land of the free gives way to a nation of crushing uniformity

Leonard Pitts Jr.

I'd like to think it was the sangria talking.

But the plain truth is, when Anna said she doesn't find this country to be especially free, it was Anna talking. Granted, her complaint is hardly new. People often grouse about the lack of freedom in the land of the free.

But you see, Anna - a friend's fiancee - is from Estonia, a former republic of the old Soviet Union. As in the Evil Empire, world's leading exporter of communism. So when Anna says she feels less free in the United States, where she now lives, than in the once-totalitarian regime where she was born, well ... it gets your attention. And when she says Americans sometimes remind her of the gray, fatalistic men and women who shuffled along under communism, unwilling to think too deeply, say too much or laugh too loudly for fear of offending the State, it is striking, to say the least.

Americans, she said, love to trumpet their freedom. But it's hard to square that with political correctness that straitjackets communication for fear of giving unintended offense, hair-trigger litigiousness that requires major corporations to treat customers ("Caution : Coffee is hot") like idiots for fear of being sued, zero-tolerance policies and mandatory sentencing guidelines that remove human judgment from human encounters for fear of rendering unequal justice.

Kind Estonians

The results of a public opinion survey study showed that Estonians’ interest towards developing co-operation has increased significantly.
The population’s interest in global issues has grown from 57% to 67% since 2005. Out of regular residents, 81% had heard about Estonia’s development co-operation, while 99% of opinion leaders knew about this topic. It was also clear from the survey that the population’s support for providing aid to poorer countries had grown from 65% to 76% since the last study. The reason for providing aid that was most often mentioned was to help those in need while opinion leaders also brought up moral obligation as a reason.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet believes that every person can make a contribution to help developing countries and their citizens. “I’m pleased to see that more than three quarters of Estonian people believe that we should help those who have less than we do,” said Paet.
“However, we must continue to explain to the population why Estonia, the European Union, and international organisations co-operate to alleviate the situation for many nations struggling in the grip of development problems,” Paet said.

Gardening : Today is the last day .....!

Toimumisaeg: 09. - 11.05.2008
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Farmers to be taxed for cattle's flatulence

TALLINN — Estonian farmers have received tax notices for methane emissions from their cattle, the country's opposition party, the People's Union of Estonia said.

Livestock produce large quantities of methane gas through belching and flatulence when they digest grass, which accounts for about 15-25 percent of overall gas emissions, according to different estimates.

No other EU country imposes a flatulence tax on farmers.

Nearly 1,000 people on board liner when it hit sand bank off Latvia

RIGA - Latvia's coast guard on Monday removed more than 650 people from a stranded cruise ship after tugboats failed to pull the luxury liner off an underwater sand bank in the Baltic Sea.

In a five-hour operation, 651 passengers — most of them elderly Germans — and 11 crew members were transferred from the 660-foot-long Mona Lisa onto two naval ships, coast guard officials said.

They were taken about 22 miles to Ventspils, a port city in northwestern Latvia, and from there will go to the capital, Riga.

The passengers and crew members left the ship without incident, descending ladders to the naval ships, coast guard spokeswoman Liene Ulbina said.

She said 322 crew remained on board at the captain's orders as the salvage operation continues.

The 30,000-ton cruise ship ran aground early Sunday about 10 miles off Latvia's coast, as it passed through the Irbe Strait between Latvia and the Estonian island of Saaremaa.

Estonian and Russian Border Guards hold joint exercise

The first joint exercise of border guards of Estonia's north-eastern border guard district and the Russian Sosnovyi Bor border service was held a couple of weeks back.

According to the statement about the exercise, a criminal group was attempting to set up a channel for smuggling illegal immigrants across the border on the dry river bed of the Narva River. The border may be crossed by perpetrators of serious crimes wishing to hide from law enforcement in the territory of the neighbouring country, the legend said.

An operation for the detention of individuals was started by Russian border guards in collaboration with their Estonian colleagues after receiving the message from Estonia.

Emergency exchanges of information were conducted and a plan of action worked out. Soon the border guards in Russia detained two individuals.

The chief of the exercise in Estonia was Maj. Harry Kattai and in Russia Col. Igor Yuvshenko.