Summer capital Pärnu

Summer capital Pärnu Pärnu is a popular summer destination, a seaside resort, and a town with a lively cultural life. Its shady parks, beautiful sandy beach and quality restaurants, cafés, spas and nightclubs help you recharge your batteries whether you travel with a family or look for adventures on your own. For a change one can visit the local theatre, museums, numerous concerts and exhibitions. A dedicated visitor to the summer capital Pärnu is likely to have neither time nor mood to go to the countryside. Yet some landmarks of Estonian culture and plenty of sites of natural heritage in Pärnu County are worth mentioning. Vändra and its neighbourhood which was the home of a number of important figures in the history of Estonian culture the Kurgja farm museum Tõstamaa Islets Protection Area Tori Stud Farm and the part of Soomaa National Park belonging to Pärnu County.

Estonian Art Museum Kumu won the title of European Museum

Estonian Art Museum won the title of European Museum of the Year 2008.According to the jury of the European Museums Forum the decisive factor was the museum s role in creating Estonia s national identity. Minister of culture Laine Jänes stated that the award granted to Kumu is recognition of the entire Estonian culture and again confirms that in addition to Estonia, Kumu is an important cultural temple for Europe as well, writes EPL Online. The final event that took place in Dublin, in Irish National Museum, 38 of the 140 presented candidates were introduced.

War hero faces Estonian life sentence

If convicted, 88-year-old Arnold Meri could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Meri fought on the front in World War Two before seeing his homeland liberated from the Nazis by Soviet troops. While his Russian brothers-in-arms enjoy respect and honour at home for putting their lives on the line to stop the Nazis, Arnold Meri continues to fight. Almost blind and suffering from lung cancer, Meri would have to serve a life sentence if found guilty. The veteran calls the case political. In 1941 Meri became the first Estonian to receive the honour of Hero of the Soviet Union, at just 22 years old. Estonian prosecutors have not recognised the fact that Meri was stripped of his hero status in Stalin s Russia for questioning the deportation. He was there to see that the minimal legal responsibility was met at the time.

Eurovision Belgrade 2008

To facilitate your work, Host Broadcaster RTS gathered the most interesting quotes from today s press conference. MONTENEGRO: Stefan Filipovi 263 «The atmosphere in our team is really great and I hope it will stay like that till 20th May» Stefan said. They are very happy with their performance. Mr Gor 269 in Stojanovi 263, the director of the performance, said that the basic idea of the song was both «simple and strong,» «It is my pleasure to represent Montenegro which I have already mentioned before», Stefan stated, adding that he would do his best to justify the trust of the people who voted for him at the Montenegrin national selection. ISRAEL: Boaz «We re having fun in Belgrade and at the rehearsals», the Israeli delegation said. They added they had met many performers, they met Kalomira and Hind.

NATO launches cyber defence centre in Estonia

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, seven member nations -- Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain -- signed documents formally establishing the Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in the Estonian capital. The need for a cyber-defence centre to be opened today is compelling, said General James Mattis, who heads NATO s transformation efforts. It will help NATO defy and successfully counter the threats in this area. The centre, due to open officially in 2009 but which has already been working informally, will conduct research and training on cyber warfare and have a staff of 30, half of them IT experts from the participating countries. The choice of Estonia is no accident: besides having first-hand experience of a cyber-war, the country is home to a flourishing hi-tech industry which has earned it the nickname E-stonia.

Estonian economy slows down to 0.4 per cent, flash estimate shows

We can say there was a very fast slow down in real estate, which doesn t only include development. And we can see railway and transport slowed down significantly, the head of national account service at Statistics Estonia Tonu Mertsina told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa. Slowing domestic demand, rapid wage growth and a cooling real estate market have forced Estonia s government to cut its budget, delay plans to join euro and lower its 2008 economic growth forecast. The gross domestic product grew by 4.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2007. Economy experts predicted the growth to slow down to 2.5 per cent. Detailed economic statistics will be released on June 9. Estonia s expansion slowed to 7 per cent last year from more than 11 per cent in 2006.

Estonia Taxes Farmers for Cow Farts

Following the issues of global warming, Estonia cited that a single cow produces 350 L of methane gas and 1500 L of carbon dioxide a day from flatulence and burping. Can t you see it now! The economy in the United States is approaching the tank, the liberals are examining every source of potential revenue they can find to pay for their failing feel good programs. How long do you think this will take? It will reach us faster than the killer bees did I m afraid. Imagine, Al Gore getting in his Eco Friendly Private Jet and holding a news conference about cow farts and global warming! Lets see, were paying the farmers to produce grain for ethanol, supporting the research into the mating habits of exotic flies, taxes up for the smokers to pay for a mandatory health care program that was never funded, schooling and health care for illegal aliens.

Elcoteq reduces staff in Estonia

Elcoteq has decided to initiate procedures with its Tallinn-based personnel regarding compulsory holiday with partial pay and personnel reductions. Some 330 persons will be affected, of whom the majority will be laid off with partial pay. The exact number of persons involved will be settled after consultation with Labor Inspectorate officials. As manufacturing volumes fluctuate significantly, Elcoteq s policy has been to maintain extensive flexibility in its workforce. As part of the February 2007 Action Plan to improve the company s competitiveness, profitability and cost-efficiency, and because of delays in some customer projects, the company has now decided that the extent of this flexibility should be reduced. Actions already taken to improve operational efficiency also mean that reductions in personnel numbers are now possible. Using the option of compulsory holiday with partial pay maintains the capability of upgrading volumes at short notice while at the same time reducing costs.

Bulgaria Opens Embassy in Estonia: Bulgaria Opens Embassy in Estonia

The EU membership of Bulgaria and Estonia has strengthened bilateral relations and increased business dialogue, which provoked opening an embassy in Tallinn, authorities said. The embassy is also believed to help intensify relationships in the political, economic and cultural spheres. Click here to receive realtime news about this topic in the future. Post your opinion here. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper Sofia Morning News. Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. Source http: novinite.com view news.php

Estonia inflation hits 10-year high as economy slows

Rising inflation, coupled with slower growth, is increasingly clouding economic prospects for the small nation, once known as one of the Baltic Tigers along with Latvia and Lithuania. Estonia s consumer prices rose the most since a 12.6-per-cent spike in April 1998, the government s statistics office said. Slowing domestic demand, rapid wage growth and a cooling real estate market have forced Estonia s government to cut its budget, delay plans to join euro and lower its 2008 economic growth forecast. Estonia s expansion slowed to 7 per cent last year from more than 11 per cent in 2006. A further slowdown is expected this year, partly due to falling retail sales. A Danske Bank report forecast that Estonia s economy will grow by only 2.5 per cent in 2008. Real estate transactions declined to 2004 levels last year and prices dropped by 10-15 per cent year-on-year, the report said.