Summary of BNS's top news on Thursday

TALLINN – A summary of BNS's top news from Thursday.

- The Estonian state will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the restoration of its independence on August 20. On this occasion, President Alar Karis and Sirje Karis have invited guests to a reception in the rose garden of the presidential office.

- According to the Environment Agency's weather forecast, temperatures will reach up to 26 degrees Celsius in the coming days.

– On August 11, police in Paide detained a 20-year-old man and a 32-year-old man suspected of installing a SIM box device in Estonia for making scam calls.

– A total of 62 members of the Riigikogu have signed their support for nominating Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise as a presidential candidate.

– As the government coalition is in the minority, it will need extensive negotiations to ensure support for its state budget, with a greater role now falling to unaffiliated MPs.

- According to the Environment Agency's weather forecast, temperatures on Friday will reach up to 25 degrees Celsius.

- On Thursday, the Estonian government supported a European Union regulation that will grant temporary trade concessions for Armenian products to enter the EU market.

- The government approved and sent to the Riigikogu for deliberation a bill that will make accessing rehabilitation services easier for people.

- The government extended temporary protection for Ukrainian war refugees in Estonia until March 2028, but excluded those who have not fulfilled their military service obligations in Ukraine and lack permission to legally leave the country.

- According to Kadri Klaos, head of the public finance department at the Ministry of Finance, tax revenues increased in the first half of the year.

- The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has sent for coordination Estonia's first draft space activities act, which will create a comprehensive legal framework for organizing space activities in the country.

- Meelis Kiili, a member of the Riigikogu who recently left the Reform Party, believes that it is not sensible to rush into changing the presidential election procedure in the current situation; instead, the existing system must ensure a real choice with at least two substantive candidates in the presidential election.

- On Thursday, Minister of the Interior Igor Taro will propose to the government that Tarmo Miilits be appointed as the secretary general of the Ministry of the Interior for a second term.

– Lithuanian border guards, along with their service dogs, helped Latvian authorities detain two groups of illegal migrants totaling 55 people, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported on Thursday.

– Allocating five percent of Latvia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense is not enough to ensure the security of Europe's eastern flank, and the European Union should therefore provide more support to these countries, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs told LETA on Thursday.

- Germany should increase pressure on Russia in response to its hybrid threats, including by starting to train Ukrainian soldiers to use Taurus missiles and imposing new sanctions on Russia, Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of parliament for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform on Thursday.

- On Thursday, Russia dismissed as unfounded Japan's remarks following President Vladimir Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands in Russia's Far East, which are also claimed by Japan.

– Ukraine, through a mediator, proposed to Russia that it cease attacks on civilian targets in the Black Sea, but Moscow has not yet responded to Kyiv's initiative.

– Overnight into Thursday, Ukraine attacked Russian military targets in Russia and occupied territories, destroying, among other things, a $100 million Nebo-U radar complex in Sevastopol.

– Poland has arrested a Russian citizen who was planning to assassinate a person with dual Ukrainian and US citizenship in Warsaw on Moscow's orders, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

– Ukraine and Russia exchanged the bodies of fallen soldiers on Thursday at the Novaya Huta border crossing in the Gomel region of Belarus.

– A Ukrainian long-range drone attack on a major oil refinery in Orsk, Russia, has halted its operations for about six months, the governor of the Orenburg region announced on Thursday.

– The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine rose in July to its highest level since the first months of Russia's invasion, as Moscow has intensified its long-range missile attacks, the United Nations reported on Thursday.

– The head of the Russian regime, Vladimir Putin, visited the disputed Kuril Islands for the first time, a move likely to worsen relations with Japan, which also claims part of the archipelago.

- Russian forces have executed at least 345 surrendered Ukrainian military personnel since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said at a press conference at the Ukrinform news agency on Wednesday.

- First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal met with Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Masashi Nakagome on Wednesday to discuss cooperation and additional support for the energy sector.

- Unidentified drones flew over one of Australia's most important air force bases, where the country's F-35A fighter jets are based, the Daily Telegraph reported, as cited by the Ukrainian news agency Unian on Wednesday.

– Ukrainian armed forces attacked the port of Novorossiysk in Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight into Wednesday, damaging four Russian naval vessels, according to media outlets Kyiv Independent and Unian.

- Russia can and must end the war it started against Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday evening, as reported by the Ukrinform news agency.

– The Swedish parliament voted on Thursday to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 14, local media reported. Sweden has been shaken by gang-related score-settling for over a decade, primarily over control of the drug market.

– A train derailed near the town of Lewes in southeastern England on Thursday. Emergency services rushed to the scene, but there is currently no information about possible injuries to passengers, police said.

– The Turkish fighter jets that arrived at Ämari for the first time at the end of July are a visible sign of a process that has been quietly growing for several years: the southern ally, otherwise rather inconspicuous in Northern Europe, has made a noticeable footprint in Estonia.

– The Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas has been chosen to host the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, organizers announced on Thursday.

- According to Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian presidential commissioner for sanctions policy, about 700 vessels involved in the transport of Russian oil are currently under international sanctions, the Ukrinform news agency reported on Thursday.

– A United States Army helicopter crashed in Texas on Wednesday, killing two soldiers, officials from the Fort Hood military base and US authorities reported.

– During a visit to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk for the final stage of the Pacific Fleet exercises on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on ensuring the security of the country's eastern borders.