Police have arrested two people suspected of stockpiling more than 20 kilograms of explosives in a Tallinn apartment. Officers investigating a robbery found a large quantity of an explosive, believed to be TNT, in a third floor apartment in a building in Joe Street near Tallinn's harbor on March 12. The discovery triggered a major operation to clear the building that closed city streets and brought traffic to a halt. A man and a woman have now handed themselves in for questioning after their names were broadcast, while another man, Vladimir Muravyov, is still wanted for questioning.
The European Union will hand out 600,000 kilograms of macaroni to low income residents of Estonia. The pasta is being sent as part of an EU program to buy stocks of certain products to regulate supply. It will be made using wheat stockpiled by the EU to prevent a market glut. The Red Cross has been tasked with distributing the macaroni, and expects to give 10 kilograms of pasta to 60,000 residents across Estonia.
People applying for a long-term residency permit in Estonia will have to pass a language exam under new requirements to be introduced on July 1. The Interior Ministry said basic Estonian language skills would now form part of the application process. Those who wanted to avoid the language requirement now have two months to file their application, the Citizenship and Migration Board said.
Tallinn will host a major conference of the World Health Organization in June 2008. Estonian Social Affairs Minister Jaak Aab signed an agreement to bring the WHO European regional conference and its 500 delegates to Tallinn. The meeting will see health ministers of 53 WHO member states discussing health systems.
An Estonian man has been sentenced to 11 years in a British prison for his role in two armed robberies last July. Kulder Ojaaar, a resident of Saaremaa, was found guilty of being involved in two jewelry store thefts. The 24-year old was found to be part of a three-man gang that stripped 2.3 million kroons' (147,000 euro) worth of watches from jewelry stores in Cambridge and Norwich. Police tracked down Ojaaar using a DNA sample found on sunglasses that he lost during the Cambridge robbery.
