A crew performing road construction between Tallinn's Tehnika and Veerenni streets on Oct. 30 uncovered a 100-kilogram aviation bomb left over from World War II. Police sealed off the area and called in a team of experts for its removal. A similar find was made during the construction of a house in the nearby Vana-Louna Street on Aug. 7. Experts said bombs of this size are rarely found in Estonia and uncovering of two such devices in just a few months is extraordinary.
Latvia's ambassador to Estonia Rihard Mucins was recalled to Riga on Oct. 25 after it was revealed he had been caught driving drunk by police in September. Mucins was stopped driving in the wrong lane along a street in the Tallinn suburb of Lasnamae. He was found to have a blood alcohol content of 2.2 promils. However Mucins was not punished due to his diplomatic immunity, and the incident was suppressed by the police and the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The Latvian Foreign Ministry recalled Mucins after the incident was revealed in the Estonian press on Oct. 24.
Police stopped another attempt by a protester to carry out a silent demonstration at the former site of the Bronze Soldier monument. Roman Yelfimov, a leader of the local branch of the Russian political youth organization Nashi, was arrested as he stepped from a taxi clad in a Red Army uniform on Oct. 22. Police had earlier refused Yelfimov's request to hold a public meeting at the Tonismagi park, citing public safety and health concerns. Yelfimov, who has previously defended Estonia against accusations of fascism, said it was important to remember Russia's victory over the Nazi regime.
Talks between trade unions and employers over next year's minimum pay will continue in November after the Confederation of Estonian Employers refused to sign an agreement that would have increased the minimum monthly wage from 3,600 kroons to 4,800 kroons (307 euros). Harri Taliga, leader of the Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions, told BNS on Oct. 25 that the employers did not sign the agreement but did not make their own alternative proposition, either.
