Customs officials at Tenerife's Reina Sofia airport said they had apprehended an Estonian and a Latvian attempting to smuggle more than 2 kilograms of cocaine in their stomachs. The Estonian, 27, and the Latvian, 18, who arrived in Tenerife from Amsterdam, Netherlands, had swallowed a large quantity of cocaine in capsules. During a medical inspection customs officials allegedly found 89 cocaine capsules weighing a total of 1.15 kilograms in the stomach of the Estonian and 75 capsules in the Latvian's stomach. Police said they were holding the men in custody.
Tallinn's new municipal administration building will be constructed on a vacant lot overlooking the city's passenger ferry harbor. A joint commission of the City Council and architects on Jan. 5 named the site on Petrooleumi Street as the favored location. It was one of two sites shortlisted by the commission, which has come under fire from the Estonian Architect's Union for failing to consult widely enough. Architects favored a different site, one with more public access, but the commission found in favor of Petrooleumi, which currently belongs to the government-owned Port of Tallinn. A previously announced international design competition was called off while the commission resolved its differences with the architect's union.
The Economist named President Toomas Hendrik Ilves as a "star in the making" in an issue dedicated to Central and East European politics. The magazine said Ilves was "suave, savvy and cynical." "Whether delivering the West's message to Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, charming George Bush, or hobnobbing with Carl Bildt, his Swedish foreign-minister chum, Ilves had a flying start in 2006 and will be the ex-captive nation's best spokesman in 2007," the influential weekly magazine wrote.
