Baltic News

04/09/2020

Health Minister Ilze Vinkele (Development/For) agreed with the prime minister's position.

RIGA, Sept 2 (LETA) - Since Covid-19 cases in Lithuania and Estonia continue to rise, the so-called "Baltic Bubble" will cease to exist as of this Friday, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) said at a government meeting today.

04/09/2020

Latvia has a negative assessment of the 2 September 2020 decision signed by Vladimir Putin...

Latvia has a negative assessment of the 2 September 2020 decision signed by Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, on the bestowing of a monetary reward upon military officers and members of security agencies who were part of the former Soviet occupying regime, and who from 1944 ti...

25/03/2020

Here’s some guidance on what we all need to be doing to slow the spread of novel coronavirus, based on guidelines from THL, the Institute for Health and Welfare. Feel free to share the post, but not the virus.

EDIT: Please note we have removed and replaced an older version of this graphic.

17/10/2019

A student restaurant's Unicafe which provide catering for Helsinki University decision to stop serving to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused absolute uproar among sections of the Finnish political class this week, and the follow-up stories have been plentiful.

What do you think about it, is it a culture war or should Baltic's follow this way?

The Finnish press on Thursday covers the national uproar over a menu change at a Helsinki cafe, along with good news for the Greens.

01/09/2019

The Posti CEO's monthly salary is reportedly 82,500 euros while the average worker earns 2,200 euros a month.

17/07/2019

An Istanbul court on Wednesday acquitted the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and two other campaigners on charges of making “terror propaganda” for Kurdish militants, an AFP correspondent said. Spectators in the courtroom erupted into applause after the acquittals of RS...

15/10/2018

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A young woman's promising phone interview for a sales job went nowhere when the employer learned she was originally from Rwanda.

26/09/2018

For Finns, silence seems to be golden as the proverb says. Images of Finns standing meters apart at a bus stop have circulated the web for years. Even one of the most famous Finns in the world, Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen has built his iconic image around his lack of talking. Stereotype of t...

04/09/2018

Silence seems to be golden as the proverb says. Images of Finns standing meters apart at a bus stop have circulated the web for years. Baltic Nations have been called introverts by some but how much this is true?

For Finns, silence seems to be golden as the proverb says. Images of Finns standing meters apart at a bus stop have circulated the web for years. Even one of the most famous Finns in the world, Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen has built his iconic image around his lack of talking. Stereotype of t...

08/03/2018

Barbie introduced dolls based on real life celebrities such as Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Katherine Johnson and Chloe Kim. (CNN reports) Barbie dolls have long inspired young girls with their beauty and fashion sense. Now they’re inspiring them with their brains and bravado, too. On Tuesday, jus...

08/03/2018

Brussel based Turkish journalist Selcuk Gultasli wrote an open-ed for euobserver.com on 5 March. Mr. Gultasli voiced his criticism against European institutions for their discriminating attitude towards the jailed journalists in Turkey. Here is Gultasli’s open-ed article: It is getting increasingl...

08/03/2018

Lisbon, Vilnius, Tallinn, Kraków and Edinburgh are among the cities that have become popular for the industry. New technology centers are mushrooming throughout Europe, boosting office markets in unlikely places. Technology and related companies are fueling 20% of the office space demand in small c...

08/03/2018

Russian spy is poisoned by unknown substance in Salisbury and critically ill. (Source: telegraph.co.uk) Russian agent convicted of spying for Britain was fighting for his life last night amid suspicions he was poisoned in a shopping centre in Wiltshire. Sergei Skripal, 66, was in intensive care afte...

01/03/2018

European Commission warned three Baltic States that they have to come to an agreement on a number of issues related to the Rail Baltica railway project by March 21st, 2018.

European Commission warned three Baltic States that they have to come to an agreement on a number of issues related to the Rail Baltica railway project by March 21st 2018. The project will cost approximately 6 billion Euros and the first payment, 110 million Euros, depends on the agreement of Latvia...

27/02/2018

2017 Corruption Perceptions Index highlights that the majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out. According to the index, Estonia and....

27/02/2018

Scientists say they have settled one of medicine’s biggest debates after a huge study found that anti-depressants work.

Scientists say they have settled one of medicine’s biggest debates after a huge study found that anti-depressants work. (BBC reports) Scientists say they have settled one of medicine’s biggest debates after a huge study found that anti-depressants work. The study, which analysed data from 522....

27/02/2018

The phone itself does not look radically different to the Galaxy S8, but analysts said that might not be a problem because Samsung is trying to attract users on older phones. Globally, the most common Samsung flagship models in use are the S7 and S7 Edge, which were released in 2016 with a combined market share of 5.26 percent, according to IHS. The Galaxy S6 from 2015, and the four-year-old Galaxy S5 are the next most popular.

Samsung launches the Galaxy S9 smartphone aiming to take over I-phone X. (Source: Arjun Kharpal, CNBC) Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 smartphone at Mobile World Congress on Sunday. Samsung released two versions of the device: a 5.9-inch S9 and 6.2-inch S9+. Both feature an almost bezeless display th...

27/02/2018

The Baltic trio are among only eight NATO allies expected this year to meet the defense spending benchmark repeatedly insisted upon by Trump.

US President Donald Trump will welcome his counterparts from the Baltic states in Washington on April 3 to discuss security and economic ties, the Estonian presidency said Thursday. The presidents of fellow NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — Kersti Kaljulaid, Raimonds Vejonis and Dalia G...

27/02/2018

Since 2013, Latvian youth unemployment rate was lower than the EU average. In 2016, Latvian youth unemployment rate (constituting 17.3 %) was 1.4 percentage points lower than the EU average (18.7 %). In 2017, Latvia still had the highest youth unemployment rate in the Baltic states (12.1 % in Estonia and 13.3 % in Lithuania)

Results of the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that 85.4 thousand people aged 15–74 were unemployed in 2017. Compared to 2016, the number of unemployed persons has dropped by 9.9 thousand or 10.4 %. Last year, Latvian unemployment rate constituted 8.7 %, ...

27/02/2018

Patriot air defense missile system was presented in Tallinn

Patriot air defense missile system was presented in Tallinn. U.S. military personnel presented a Patriot long-range air defense missile system in Tallinn on Friday. The system was brought here to rehearse cooperation with the Estonian Air Force. The launcher currently on Estonian soil will also be p...

27/02/2018

Next week Latvia will experience the coldest days of this winter. The freezing cold weather to arrive in Latvia from Russia next week. It is expected that on Tuesday, February 27th, even in the middle of the day the tempererature will be between -11 and -18. According to the Weather Forecast Office....

20/02/2018

It amounted to a 60 percent decline from the 511,000 illegal border-crossings in 2016, and far below the 1.8 million in 2015, according to the report.

The European Union saw in 2017 the lowest number of detected illegal border-crossings since the migrant crisis began four years ago, the EU border agency Frontex said Tuesday. (Warsaw – AFP) “The annual total of 204,700 marked a significant decrease compared to recent years, but not yet a return...

20/02/2018

Nine people injured in train-truck collision near Keila town, Estonia.

Nine people injured in train-truck collision near Keila town , Estonia. According to the North rescue center, the number of people injured when a passenger train and truck collided at the Kulna railway crossing near the town of Keila in Harju County on Tuesday morning has grown to nine. The accident...

19/02/2018

Ilmars Rimsevics , Head of Bank of Latvia Governor, is suspected of demanding and receiving a huge bribe – at least EUR 100,000

Bank of Latvia governor accused of demanding bribe of at least EUR 100,000. Ilmars Rimsevics , Head of Bank of Latvia Governor, is suspected of demanding and receiving a huge bribe – at least EUR 100,000 Latvian Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) officials announced a that the criminal proceeding...

18/02/2018

Ilmars Rimsevics, the governor of Latvian Central Bank, is detained by the anti-corruption forces. Anti-corruption forces raided Mr. Rimsevics’ home and office.

Latvian central bank governor detained in anti-corruption probe. Ilmars Rimsevics, the governor of Latvian Central Bank, is detained by the anti-corruption forces. Anti-corruption forces raided Mr. Rimsevics’ home and office. No details are given about the nature of the probe by the anti-corrupton...

17/02/2018

Latvia is unique in a sense that left alone in its education program ‘School 2030’ by not integrating media literacy in its curriculum. Western countries have common consensus that media literacy is one of the main social and communicative competence of every human. From this it is not clear, wh...

17/02/2018

None of the false news websites we considered had an average monthly reach of over 3.5% in 2017, with most reaching less than 1% of the online population in both France and Italy.

The first research into false news sites in Europe reveals that fake news sites in France and Italy have a far more limited reach than is often assumed. (Ferd Minnas / VoiceBaltica.com) Engagement with these websites is also very low compared to most established news outlets. Factsheet from Reuters....

16/02/2018

European leaders and royals gathered Friday in Lithuania, which is celebrating the centenary of its independence declaration with festivities and church bells tolling across the small Baltic nation. President Dalia Grybauskaite says “we got our statehood back,” adding Lithuanians will continue m...

16/02/2018

Deniz Yücel, a German journalist who had been in jail in Turkey for a year without any charges , is set to be released pending trial. State-run news agency Anadolu reports that prosecutors are seeking up to 18 years in jail. Yucel’s arrest has been a deep concern between German and Turkish govern...

15/02/2018

Bitcoin rose above $10,000 on Thursday for the first time in more than two weeks, as investors bought back the digital currency after having fallen 70 percent from its all-time peak hit in mid-December.

Bitcoin rises above $10,000, strategist sees new high by July. (Reuters) – Bitcoin rose above $10,000 on Thursday for the first time in more than two weeks, as investors bought back the digital currency after having fallen 70 percent from its all-time peak hit in mid-December. Bitcoin has been buf...

15/02/2018

Latvian Book Fair 2018 “23-25 February”

From 23 to 25 February, the International Exhibition Centre Ķīpsala will turn into an inspiring book town, where writers, translators, publishers and readers will meet. For three days, Ķīpsala will host the most essential book event of the year – the International Book and Publishers Exhibitio...

15/02/2018

Jacob Zuma resigns as South Africa’s president. (The Guardian reports) Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, has resigned after days of defying orders from the ruling African National Congress to leave office and on the eve of a no-confidence vote in parliament. In a televised address to the ...

14/02/2018

Latvia has highest share of environmental taxes, Luxembourg lowest: Eurostat. The Baltic country had the highest share of environmental taxes in 2016, while the small western nation of Luxembourg scored the lowest. Latvia had the highest share of environmental taxes (11.7%) in the European Union in....

14/02/2018

A single atom is visible to the naked eye in this stunning photo. (Resource: newscientist.com) An image of a single atom of the metal strontium suspended in electric fields has won the 2018 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council science photography competition. David Nadlinger‘s photo,...