Eesti in brief - 2007-04-04

  • 2007-04-04
An Estonian man has been charged with beating a waiter to death after being presented with a large bill. The man, identified as 26-year old Aivar Paphose, was arrested on the island of Cyprus and remains in prison awaiting court proceedings. Police allege Paphose had been drinking at a nightclub and became violent when asked to pay a bill of 150 Cypriot pounds (258 euro).

Advertising figures from the recent election period show that big spenders do not necessarily win big votes. The Center Party was the biggest advertiser between January and March. Reform, the People's Union and IRL were also in the top ten advertisers' list. However, the Centrists came second to Reform in the election vote tally, while the People's Union bombed out in sixth place behind the Estonian Greens, who had virtually no advertising budget at all.

Environmentalists want to build frog tunnels under Estonian roads to help protect the migration paths of amphibians. The National Nature Conservation Center and the National Road Administration have begun charting frog migration paths, and have asked residents to keep an eye out for frogs crossing the road as they move to their spawning areas. Surveys suggest that up to 95 percent of frogs are killed as they cross busy roads.

A Georgian university student has been awarded the first Lennart Meri Memorial Scholarship. Lela Rekhviashvili was presented with the inaugural scholarship at the end of the recent Lennart Meri Memorial Conference on April 31. Rekhviashvili is one of a handful of Georgians studying at Estonian universities under a program to support students from the disadvantaged nation.