Most Estonians think too much of the forest is being cut down

“It is therefore understandable that the opposition to deforestation is intensifying. We see this manifesting itself in people's protests against the felling of forests close to home, the violation of forest habitats, the clear felling of nature reserves, but also, for example, the mass burning of wood.” - Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE), member of the Riigikogu's Environment Committee  (translated)

Metsade raiet tuleb vähendada

(Postimees)

“Uuringute kohaselt arvab enamik inimesi, et Eestis raiutakse liiga palju metsa. Seetõttu on mõistetav, et vastasseis metsa raiumisele aina teravneb. Näeme seda väljendumas nii inimeste protestides kodulähedaste metsade raie, metsaasukate elupaikade rikkumise, looduskaitsealade lageraiete, aga ka näiteks puidu masspõletamise vastu. Eesti metsa ökoloogilised väärtused vajavad jõulisemat kaitset ärihuvide eest,» märkis riigikogu keskkonnakomisjoni liige Ossinovski.”

https://www.postimees.ee/7206931/ossinovski-metsade-raiet-tuleb-vahendada

RMK plaanib raiuda üle Eesti tuntud puhkemetsi

(Postimees)

“Riigimetsa majandamise keskus (RMK) plaanib hakata raiuma üle Eesti tuntud puhkemetsi, jättes inimestele endisest rohkem aega selle kohta arvamust avaldada. Kuid võimalust pole kaasa rääkida selles, kas mõnes kohas üldse raiuda ja milliseid raieviise kasutada.”

https://lounapostimees.postimees.ee/7208538/rmk-plaanib-raiuda-ule-eesti-tuntud-puhkemetsi

“Lageraie kodumetsas ei meeldi? Teadlased pakuvad lahenduse.” - Maaleht

“Metsanduse arengukava uues juhtkogus jäävad samaks vaid riigi esindajad.” - ERR

“Metsanduse arengukava juhtkogus domineerivad intensiivse metsaraie pooldajad.” - Postimees

“Ossinovski: keskkonnaministri korraldus on sigadus ja rikub ka metsaseadust.” - ERR

Bioenergy demand from European countries is driving intensive clearcutting in protected forests in Estonia and Latvia

(Eestimaa Looduse Fond)

“The rise in logging intensity has negative consequences for biodiversity in both count- ries. The last remaining old-growth forests, rich in rare species, are in notable decline. Destructive logging (including clearcuts) is happening regularly also in Natura 2000 network forests, the pan-European conservation network enforced by EU directives. Fo- rest bird numbers are in decline in both countries and the habitat destruction by logging is an important contributing factor.”

https://media.voog.com/0000/0037/1265/files/Biomass_report_ENG%20_2020.pdf

“British biomass energy consumption is a burning issue for Estonia.” - Institution of Engineering and Technology - UK

“Estonia's 'holy forests' threatened by demand for biofuels.” - National Geographic - recently updated article from Oct. 2020

“A Timeline History Of Estonian Forests.” - Eesti Metsa Abiks

Latest COVID cases in the Baltics: 

- 1,151 in Estonia

- 638 in Latvia

- 816 in Lithuania

(BNN)

https://bnn-news.com/latest-covid-19-cases-in-baltics-638-in-latvia-816-in-lithuania-1-151-in-estonia-223370

“Koroonaviiruse andmestik.” - Eesti Terviseamet

“Kallas: soovime suve lõpuks 70 protsenti rahvast ära vaktsineerida.” - Õhtuleht

“Esmaspäevast ei pea Eestis liikumist piirama kuuest Euroopa riigist saabujad.” - ERR

“Estonia's coronavirus infection rate R is still above 1.” - ERR

“Estonia to issue digital vaccine certificates from April.” - Medical Press

“Kallas: Eesti soov Ülemkogul märkimisväärset mõistmist ei leidnud.” - Pealinn

“The EU has jabbed just 13 out of 100 people while Britain’s equivalent figure is 45, and the US is on 38.” - The Guardian

“The COVID-19 crisis has cost the Estonian economy at least €1.57 billion and 20.8 million work-hours.” - ERR

“Despite travel restrictions, Finland receives over 10,000 weekly visitors from Estonia.” - Helsinki Times

“Warsaw will send 3,500 vaccine doses to NATO headquarters in Brussels.” - Politico Europe

“EU leaders struggle to grip coronavirus vaccine crisis.” - Politico

“Valitsusliikmed käisid vaktsineerimas.” - ERR

— Friday 26. March —

Tarmo Kõuts and Chinese Intelligence

(Clearance Jobs)

“Tarmo Kõuts, a world-renown scientist within the world of environmental physics, gets three years in prison. He pleaded guilty to committing espionage on behalf of Chinese military intelligence … Kõuts provided to China information from the Estonian Ministry of Defense Scientific Committee and from the Scientific Committee of the NATO Undersea Research Center.”

—

“Tarmo is a leading scientist from the Tallinn University of Technology – Marine Systems Institute. The author of over 60 published pieces, a PhD, who carries the title of “senior researcher.” Among those topics which he has published include research on “circularity polarized X-band coastal marine radar” used to estimate wave height; “system for monitoring and forecast ship resistance in ice” useful when navigating ice channels; and numerous others with focus on navigating in and through ice.”

https://news.clearancejobs.com/2021/03/26/china-strikes-at-nato-by-recruiting-estonian-military-defense-scientist/

Märtsiküüditamisest möödub 72 aastat

(Postimees)

“President Kersti Kaljulaid ja justiitsminister Maris Lauri asetasid Maarjamäel Eesti kommunismiohvrite memoriaalile pärja Eesti rahva nimel.”

https://leht.postimees.ee/7210476/martsikuuditamisest-moodub-72-aastat?_ga=2.150123574.1097584416.1616611965-160966067.1614717826

“Patarei vangla värvus küüditamisohvrite mälestuseks punaseks.” - ERR

“Patarei Prison illuminated to remember March deportations.” - ERR

“Märtsiküüditamine - "orjaturg" ja esimesed eluasemed.” - ERR

Lennujaam prognoosib selleks aastaks mullusest veel väiksemat reisijate arvu

(ERR)

“Tallinna Lennujaama käive kukkus mullu 56 protsenti võrreldes 2019. aastaga, mil lennujaam toimis tavarütmis ja reisijate arv ületas rekordilise kolme miljoni piiri. Puhaskahjum oli eelmisel aastal kaks miljonit eurot, reisijaid oli 860,000.”

https://www.err.ee/1608157084/lennujaam-prognoosib-selleks-aastaks-mullusest-veel-vaiksemat-reisijate-arvu

Kolmveerand merekonteineritest jõuavad Eestisse läbi Suessi

(Postimees | ERR)

“Suessi kanali ummik lööb tugevalt uppi ka Eesti ettevõtjate plaanid, sest kolmveerand meritsi Eestisse saabuvast kaubamahust jõuab siia läbi maailma tähtsaima kaubavahetuskoridori, ütles rahvusvahelise laevandusgigandi A.P. Møller – Mærsk Eesti tütarfirma Maersk Eesti tegevjuht Margus Indus.”

https://majandus24.postimees.ee/7210998/laevandusgigant-kolmveerand-merekonteineritest-jouavad-eestisse-labi-suessi?_ga=2.107583490.1097584416.1616611965-160966067.1614717826

—

https://www.err.ee/1608157051/laevaliikluse-takistus-suessi-kanalis-mojutab-ka-eesti-ettevotteid

USA analüütik ei välista Venemaa rünnakut Eestile

(Postimees)

“USA ja Venemaa suhete madalseis võib endaga kaasa tuua Venemaa provokatsiooni näiteks Eesti ründamisena, leiab USA politoloogiaprofessor Alexander John Motyl.”

https://leht.postimees.ee/7210405/usa-analuutik-ei-valista-venemaa-runnakut-eestile?_ga=2.115980294.1097584416.1616611965-160966067.1614717826

“Could Putin Launch New ‘Short Victorious War’? Yes, But…” - Warsaw Institute

Intervjuu: Martin Helme (EKRE)

(Postimees)

“Eesmärk pole võimul püsida, vaid midagi ära teha.”

https://leht.postimees.ee/7210491/martin-helme-oleme-eesti-koige-rokkivam-erakond?_ga=2.179427236.1097584416.1616611965-160966067.1614717826

Eesti riigivõla tase kasvas 2020. aastal 18 protsendile SKP-st

(ERR)

“Statistikaameti esialgsetel andmetel oli Eesti valitsemissektori eelarve puudujääk 2020. aastal 4,8 protsenti ja riigivõla tase 18 protsenti sisemajanduse koguproduktist (SKP).”

https://www.err.ee/1608154126/eesti-riigivola-tase-kasvas-2020-aastal-18-protsendile-skp-st

Navalny Shares Leg Amputation Fears in Russian Prison Update

(Moscow Times)

“Once [exiled former oligarch] Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who served 10 years in prison, told me the main thing is not to get sick,” Navalny wrote. “If you get seriously ill, you will die. Now I’m learning this fact for myself.”

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/03/26/navalny-shares-fears-of-leg-amputation-in-prison-update-a73386

— Thursday 25. March —

Imbi Paju: “Pätsu aja” ideaalpildi purunemine aitas Eestit lõhki ajada

(Maaleht - “paywall”)

“Kremli info- ja psühholoogiline sõda on aastakümneid püüdnud Eesti ühiskonnas ajaloojutustamise abil lahkhelisid tekitada.”

https://maaleht.delfi.ee/artikkel/92911187/imbi-paju-patsu-aja-ideaalpildi-purunemine-aitas-eestit-lohki-ajada

Geoloogilise Liivi keele sünnilugu sai selgemaks

(Novaator)

“Eesti alasid kattis umbes 445 miljoni aasta eest meri, mis polnud aga kõikjal ühtmoodi sügav. Kui Põhja-Eesti heledavärviline Ordoviitsiumi lubjakivi on moodustunud rannalähedase madalvee setetest, siis Lõuna-Eesti maapõue lubjakivi punane värv pärineb Liivi keele nimelisest sügavamast meresopist. Nüüd pakuvad Eesti geoloogid välja mõistatusliku Liivi keele tekkeloo. …”

https://novaator.err.ee/1608154642/geoloogilise-liivi-keele-sunnilugu-sai-selgemaks

Report:

https://kirj.ee/wp-content/plugins/kirj/pub/earth-2-2021-94-106_20210323103948.pdf

Välispoliitika: Tsivilisatsioonide piiril ei tohi mugavaks minna

Matti Maasikas, Diplomaatia

“On paljukorratud tõde, et diplomaatia on riigikaitse esimene liin, kuid kuidas Eesti seda põhimõtet tegelikkuses järgib?”

https://diplomaatia.ee/tsivilisatsioonide-piiril-ei-tohi-mugavaks-minna/

An EU ban on vaccine exports would make its wretched rollout take longer

(The Guardian)

“Vaccination rates across the EU are a fraction of those in Britain, and way behind where the bloc had hoped to be at this stage. The EU has jabbed just 13 out of 100 people while Britain’s equivalent figure is 45, and the US is on 38. The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, still says that 70% of adults can be fully vaccinated by the end of summer, but at this pace it will be well into 2022 when the EU reaches its target.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/25/an-eu-ban-on-vaccine-exports-would-make-its-wretched-rollout-take-longer-still?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

— Wednesday 24. March —

Baltic foreign ministers met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

(The Baltic Times)

"We share our views on the future of NATO with the new U.S. secretary of state. NATO must address new threats and continue to focus on collective defense. … It is still important for Estonia that the cooperation between NATO and the European Union is further strengthened and that we involve other partners more as well."

https://www.baltictimes.com/baltic_formins_meet_with_us_counterpart/

“Secretary Antony J. Blinken  Brussels Press Conference transcript.” -

US Deptartment of State

Estonia’s Fifth Season

(BBC)

“Every year Estonia’s Soomaa National Park disappears underwater …”

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20210322-estonias-unlikely-fifth-season?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2F

Estonian military launches campaign to attract female conscripts

(LRT)

“The field of national defence is still engulfed in many misleading myths and ignorance, which is why many women do not even consider this as a possible career path.”

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1372075/estonian-military-launches-campaign-to-attract-female-conscripts

The near crash of SmartLynx Estonia flight 9001 in 2018 - Tallinn airport

(Medium)

“The near crash of SmartLynx Estonia flight 9001 represents one of the most serious malfunctions of Airbus’s fly-by-wire technology since its introduction in 1988. At the same time, this sequence of events was wildly improbable. A dizzying number of specific events with specific timing had to come together to override all the layers of protection built into the A320’s advanced computer systems. Even without changing anything about the airplane, the odds are not necessarily in favor of this ever happening again.”

—

“Perhaps the best takeaway from this accident is just how safe modern airliners have become. Four flight control computers failed consecutively, both engines quit, and electrical power was lost. And yet, even after so many things went wrong, there were still more backup systems. The A320 was designed to be flyable using only the mechanical backups for the stabilizer trim and rudder in the event of the complete failure of all its computers. And in practice, it turned out that this worked.”

https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/the-dark-side-of-logic-the-near-crash-of-smartlynx-estonia-flight-9001-68b9f42b1fb2

— Tuesday 23. March —

Virtual forum seeks to involve diaspora in Estonia's development

(ERR)

“The online event will be held on 13. April and is being organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The forum is a continuation of the survey conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs among the diaspora last year and is the next step in strengthening co-operation between Estonia and Estonians living abroad.”

https://news.err.ee/1608151753/virtual-forum-seeks-to-involve-diaspora-in-estonia-s-development

Unfriendly countries use Covid-19 to study reaction of Latvian institutions in case of potential military crisis

(Baltic Times)

“Like in previous years, the most significant threat comes from Russian foreign services.”

https://www.baltictimes.com/unfriendly_countries_use_covid-19_to_study_reaction_of_latvian_institutions_in_case_of_potential_military_crisis_-_state_security_service/

— Russia —

Punitive Psychiatry Returns to Russia

(Window on Eurasia)

“In Brezhnev’s time, the use of punitive psychiatry in conformity with the typical hyper-centralization of Russian states was so much confined to Moscow that it became identified with a single structure there, the Serbsky Institute. But now the more media savvy Putin administration is using it far from Moscow, most recently in the Sakha Republic and Bashkortostan.”

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/03/punitive-psychiatry-returns-to-russia.html

Navalny’s health is deteriorating in prison, his lawyer Olga Mikhailova says

(Meduza)

“Yesterday his leg went numb. Before that his back hurt for a long time. On Friday, he was seen by a local neurologist, on Monday he was given two ibuprofen tablets, and that’s it. Naturally, he didn’t get better.”

https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/03/24/alexey-navalny-s-health-is-deteriorating-in-prison-his-lawyer-says

“Russian prison service claims Navalny's health 'stable and satisfactory’.” - The Hill

Artificial intelligence in the Russian army

(Riddle)

“AI is neither a panacea nor a magic wand. AI solutions are simply technologies. When used properly, they assist weapons system operators, commanders as well as military and political leadership with the complex and time-consuming calculation of all available quantitative information in the decision-making process. However, they cannot improve military and state governance, nor can they devise political aspects of military campaigns, nor can they substitute the thinking and actions of officers and soldiers on the battlefield.”

https://www.ridl.io/en/artificial-intelligence-in-the-russian-army/

How the USSR’s collapse is remembered in Russia today

(BNE)

“Thirty years on and the jury is not out on this question. When it comes to the Soviet collapse, Russians increasingly regret this momentous event. … Granted, today there is a generation with no memory of Soviet socialism. The 1990s for many is also a distant memory and the economic woes of today pale in comparison to 1998, 1993 or any other time in living memory. When one looks at Russia’s economic picture today, it seems, in some ways, a logical conclusion. Shrinking incomes (11% since 2013), rising food prices, devaluation of the ruble and new sanctions are all factors contributing to the political mood.”

https://www.intellinews.com/comment-how-the-ussr-s-collapse-is-remembered-in-russia-today-206317/?source=russia&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Edpicks

Russia’s Ill-Fated Aircraft Carrier Projects ‘Will Never be Built

By Paul Goble

“Not only is corruption blocking progress on the refitting of Russia’s only existing aircraft carrier (tass.ru/proisshestviya/10952429), but the five competing proposals Russian planners have come up with exist only on paper and “will never be realized” because they would cost more money than Moscow has, Aleksandr Ivanin says.”

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/03/russias-ill-fated-aircraft-carrier.html

Putin Reignites Ukraine Conflict as Rift With Biden Blows Up

By Anna Namtsova, The Daily Beast

“The war in eastern Ukraine, which had cooled down over the past year, is reaching boiling point again. A 2020 ceasefire with Russian-backed militants has broken down. Soldiers on both sides are dying almost daily. Ukrainians are asking for an early, forceful move by President Biden, whom sources consider “Ukraine’s big friend.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-reignites-ukraine-conflict-as-rift-with-biden-blows-up?via=ios

“In Response to Biden’s Words, Kremlin Must Silence and then Crush West’s ‘Agents of Influence’ inside Russia.” - Paul Goble

“Putin Finally Gets Vaccinated and Lavished with Praise for Showing Russians the Way.” - Paul Goble

“Moscow, Ready to Enter New Cold War, Appears to have Forgotten Costs of Such Conflicts.” - Window on Eurasia

Apple Inc. won’t leave Russia

(Meduza | 9to5 Mac | Wired)

“Apple has agreed to comply with a law that requires the company to pre-install Russian-made applications on new mobile devices. … Beginning on April 1, customers activating their new iPhones and iPads will be prompted to install applications from a government-drafted list of domestic-owned software.”

—

“The apps include browsers, antivirus software, messengers, and mail apps.”

https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/03/16/apple-won-t-leave-russia

—

https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/16/russia-pre-install-iphone-apple/

—

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-russia-iphone-apps-law/

“За торговлю смартфонами без российского софта введут штрафы.” - Russian government publication

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