BNS weekend news roundup

TALLINN – The following is a summary of the top news stories from BNS over the weekend.

– Military security in the Baltic states has significantly improved since NATO developed a clear strategy and firm action plans, and significant progress has also been made on logistics issues, emphasized Lieutenant General John Mead, Deputy Commander of NATO's Joint Force Command Brunssum, in an interview with the news channel LETA.

– Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna will attend the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York from Monday to Thursday, where Estonia will focus on supporting Ukraine, increasing pressure on Russia, and strengthening the UN.

– A 16-year-old youth was arrested on Sunday at the request of the prosecutor's office and with the court's permission. On Friday, shortly before 4 p.m. in Tallinn, he attacked a district police officer in a police car after being taken into the vehicle for procedural actions.

– Police announced late Sunday evening that 40-year-old Ülo, who went missing in Tallinn, was found by volunteer searchers in the evening, but unfortunately deceased. There is no reason to suspect foul play in the man's death.

– The weather will become increasingly rainy and windy in the coming days, with wind gusts potentially reaching 18 meters per second on Thursday.

– On Monday, ministers will answer interpellations in the plenary session of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) concerning the deepening personnel crisis in the police force and security risks related to the economic activities of Russian citizens.

– Supported by a low-pressure system concentrating over Northwest Russia, intermittent rain and occasional thunderstorms are expected on Monday.

– Chairman of the Riigikogu's Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson, is in Canada from Sunday to Thursday, participating in a joint visit of parliamentarians from six countries and attending meetings in Toronto and Ottawa.

– Chairman of the Riigikogu's Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson, writes on social media that an election show is underway in Russia, which has no real impact on shaping the country's political course because the free opposition has been destroyed.

– The Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association (EDIA) and the Korea Defense Industry Association (KDIA) signed a cooperation agreement at the Estonia-Korea defense industry seminar on Wednesday, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the Estonian and South Korean defense industries.

– In an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel FREEДOM, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Marko Mihkelson said that Russia is increasing terrorist pressure on Western countries, and Western countries must respond more decisively than before.

– Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Urmas Paet, met with Uyghur human rights activist Jewher Ilham in Strasbourg to discuss human rights and the situation of Uyghurs in China.

– Ukraine launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on Russia overnight into Sunday, causing a massive fire in Moscow on the final day of Russia's parliamentary elections, the Kyiv Independent newspaper reported.

– Warehouses in the Kyiv Oblast caught fire following a Russian drone attack on September 20, and businesses and vehicles were damaged, regional authorities reported, according to the Kyiv Independent newspaper.

– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he had agreed to a meeting in New York after a telephone conversation with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

– Russia's ruling United Russia party has reportedly won the country's tightly controlled parliamentary elections, according to an exit poll released Sunday after voting ended. The poll by the state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) showed the ruling party received 49.4 percent of the vote, about the same as in the 2021 elections.

– The mayor of Moscow accused Ukraine of organizing an unprecedented attack on Russia aimed at disrupting the country's parliamentary elections, involving the deployment of over 1,600 drones.

– Russian authorities claimed overnight into Sunday that they had successfully shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow, and that a more extensive overnight attack occurred in several regions, wrote The Kyiv Independent.

– Russia cannot influence French policy through intimidation, said far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her party's leader, Jordan Bardella, on Saturday.

– Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, sexual violence has been used against civilians and prisoners of war as part of a shocking pattern of torture, intimidation, and coercion, Ukrinform reported, citing a report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published on Friday.

– The party of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was voted out of the state parliament in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Sunday after a heavy election defeat, with the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) winning, according to exit polls.

– Iran's economy shrank by more than ten percent during the Middle East war.

– The U.S. State Department on Sunday restricted travel for American government employees to the Saudi Arabian cities of Taif and Yanbu, citing a deteriorating security situation.

– Italy will ban the wearing of burqas and niqabs in schools and limit the number of foreign students in classrooms, right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday.

– British Prime Minister Andy Burnham congratulated his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen on Sunday on an agreement reached between the US, Denmark, and Greenland.

– French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday received Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the small French North Atlantic territory of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, located just off the Canadian coast.

– US President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that Yemen's Houthi rebels have agreed to refrain from attacking the United States, despite the Iran-linked group intensifying its war against Washington's ally Saudi Arabia, Fox News reported.

– Iran's chief negotiator announced on Sunday that Tehran has conveyed its conditions for reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked throughout the Middle East war, to Washington through intermediaries.

– As part of an offensive operation, Ukrainian forces liberated the settlements of Shandryholove and Deryholove in the Donetsk Oblast and took full control of Drobysheve, announced Brigadier General Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps, on Telegram on Sunday, as reported by the news portal Ukrinform.

– The price of diesel fuel in France set a new record on Sunday, according to an AFP analysis, as the war in the Middle East disrupts oil supplies worldwide.

– Ukraine has officially called on world governments to restrict or close Russian state cultural centers, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on Saturday, accusing the network of being used for disinformation, destabilization, and espionage, wrote The Kyiv Independent.

– US Republican President Donald Trump sharply criticized opponents of artificial intelligence and data centers on Saturday, saying he would not allow the industry's destruction and announced the creation of a new government AI Force.