DOC SAYS ESTONIA CAN'T HANDLE DISASTERS: According to Ralf Allikvee,
chief doctor of Tallinn's Mustame hospital, Estonian state structures
are not ready for a major accident like the recent train collision in
Norway, Postimees reported on Jan.6. Allikvee, who heads the Estonian
capital's main emergency hospital, said that catastrophe medicine in
Estonia can be described as vegetation over the past five years. If
a train crash like the one that claimed the lives of some 20 people
in Norway on Jan.4 happened in Tallinn, the hospitals might be able
to treat only about 25 people at once. Allikvee told Postimees that
no significant progress in practicing catastrophic medicine has been
made in Estonia in the last five years. In the case of a major
disaster, much would depend on the coordination between various
organizations which, in his words, is too weak at present.
Hospitals, ambulance services and rescue units have different views
and act upon different plans of actions. A catastrophic medicine
center was formed at the Tallinn Mustame hospital in 1995 but the
state has not supported its development as planned.
POLICE 1, WOLVES 0: The chief police commissioner's office of Kaunas,
Lithuanian's second major city, received a call from a taxi driver
early on the morning of Jan.6, who reported that a wolf was wandering
in the street near the Dainu valley. The hunt for the wolf, which ran
way from the Kaunas Zoo, was carried out by two crews of security
police, a spokesperson from the police office reported to ELTA. The
police reportedly surrounded the wolf near a student hostel of the
Kaunas technological university. On checking that nobody was present
in the area, the policemen fired a shot at the wolf. The staff
members of the zoo asserted that the wolves had escaped after gnawing
through the fence of their enclosure. One of the wolves had been
killed on the spot by the zoo guards.
ALL THIS AND NUDITY TOO: After another "visit"from Internet hackers,
the popular Latvian men's magazine "Klubs"has decided to become a
training ground for developing the skills of local hackers, LETA was
told by the magazine's editor, Lato Lapsa. Lapsa said that the
"Klubs"Internet home page has been visited by hackers on several
occasions, but the latest visit has been their crowning achievement -
the magazine's first page of its English web site was "defiled".
Despite the fact that Latvian legislation calls for criminal
proceedings for offenses committed on the Internet, "Klubs"will not
turn to the authorities as it backs "young people who are eager and
smart," commented Lapsa.
YOUNG AND ADDICTED IN LATVIA: Statistics show 43.5 percent of
registered drug addicts in the past year were under the age of 19,
State Narcotics Center Director Astrida Stirna said at the opening of
the conference "21st Century without Narcotics."Stirna said there is
still a tendency for illegal drug use among young people. In total,
some 83 percent of addicts were under the age of 25 last year. In
addition, the number of women among drug addicts has increased over
the last year, and heroin is being used in larger amounts with 65
percent of all registered addicts using it. According to Stirna,
drug-related deaths increased in 1999 with 100 cases registered.
HANSAPANK BIDS RSE GOOD-BYE: The board of Hansapank on Jan. 10
applied to end the listing of its shares in the Riga Stock Exchange.
The decision was made after the Riga bourse urged Hansapank to leave,
saying there was no need to be listed on both Tallinn and Riga
bourses at a time the Baltic stock exchanges cooperate more closely.
This year the three stock exchanges launched their joint list which
includes the most liquid stocks of the three countries. The list is
unofficial and does not carry an index but will give foreign
investors a better understanding of what is happening in the three
bourses.
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